Art of Seeing 2010

Kevin's photograph, Cover Girl is being featured in the 2010 edition of The Art of Seeing an annual collectors book featuring some of the top creative photography from around the world.  This is the second such honor for Kevin after his black and white image, Curious Mustang was featured in the 2007 edition.  The book is published by Alcove Books who also publish the respected American Art Collector annual which featured Kevin's, Beam Me Up back in 2006. 

Here again, is Kevin's story behind this evocative image:

I made this photograph of a hilltribe (a.k.a. montagnard in Vietnam) girl at the outdoor market in Bac Ha Vietnam. Although only 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Sapa, the trip took over five hours in the old Russian built 4X4 I rented. Getting there was truly half the fun! The remoteness of Bac Ha also makes it a photographer's paradise. Upon arrival at the market, I found no tourists and had the bustling collage of the ten different hilltribes that live, farm and raise livestock in the surrounding hills to myself. As much as it is obviously a place to buy, sell and trade their goods, the market also serves as an important social gathering place to all of the tribes in the region.

This young girl, as with all of the women at the market, uses this large social gathering to showcase her most elaborate handmade headdress and silver jewelry. Individuals take great pride in their attire because it reflects not only the tribe the belong to, but also their families social status and wealth. Just as I had framed her gnawing on her favorite market treat, a stalk of sugarcane, she took a break and glanced perfectly into my lens providing me with this image and the knowledge that having a sweet tooth is truly cross-cultural.

Pink Lotus

Even though I've never specialized in the genre of botanicals, and it's never been my style to carry around a spray bottle, I know enough about shooting flowers to know that they always look better after a rain shower or nice morning dew. Well. as so often happens on the road I had a serendipitous moment. I was having lunch with my favorite travel partner (my camera) one rainy afternoon inside the beautiful grounds of the Pura Taman Saraswati Temple in Ubud, Bali. In between the patio I was dining on and the front entrance to the temple was a lotus pond spanned by a bridge made from the same brick and sandstone as the temple. I knew it would be the perfect vantage point for some great shots of the lotus blossoms. Having a few years worth of experience with tropical showers in Southeast Asia, I figured the deluge wouldn’t last long. I was right and before I had even finished my iced coffee the sun was back out once again turning the forests of Ubud into a giant steam room. Nature having done most of the work for me, it was simply a matter of finding the most perfect blossom, setting up my tripod, getting the right readings and... snap!
For centuries, the lotus has been the spiritual flower of Buddhist and Hindu cultures all across southern Asia. Buddha himself is often depicted sitting in a meditative pose on a lotus flower and when Thai people greet each other or "wai" they press their hands together, slightly cupped in the shape of a lotus bud in front of their heart. It not only has religious significance but not unlike sakura blossoms in Japan, it also has a philosophical one. The great Eastern philosophers have often used the lotus as a metaphor for it's ability to grow something so beautiful out of such muddy, stagnant water.  Indeed, I find myself looking at this photograph I made to remind me that sometimes the we have within ourselves comes out during the most challenging of times.

AWIF Photo of Mt. Ama Dablam Featured in April Issue of Popular Photography Magazine

My photograph of Ama Dablam is one of the featured photographs for Popular Photography's feature article, Top Professional Photographer's Favorite Destinations.  On newsstands now!

A World In Focus Art Exhibit

Lanterns In Gion

This photograph was one of the last frames I shot during a culturally rich and photographically prodigious week I spent in Kyoto, Japan. Walking back to my "minshuku" (Japanese bed and breakfast) after a long day of sightseeing, strolling and of course shooting, I came across this town square with rows and rows of traditional Japanese hanging lanterns. Rather than having to brainstorm ideas, I had compositions and exposure values flooding my head before I could even fully extract the legs of my tripod. This was going to be a fun session! After all, there are so many different aspects of photography to get creative with here. The inner glow of the lanterns being the only light source enabled me to play with some really long exposures, the depth and length of the rows allowed for countless composition options and the Shogun Era "kamon" (family crests) and Japanese characters made perfect visuals for some great "sense of place" photographs.
For this exposure, I decided to place three rows of lanterns running lengthwise and diagonally through the frame. This really leads the viewers eye through the entire photograph, starting with the large, sharply focused lanterns in the foreground on the left hand side of the frame and moving towards the distant, softer ones in the right hand side of the frame. Everything else being equal, I find it usually best to move through a frame from left to right as this is the direction most people read and therefore find the most natural.
Taking this principle to a whole new level and applying it to fine-art, we created this triptych which really does seem to light up a room, even if it doesn't do so literally.

Two Geishas

This photograph has special meaning for me. Not only has it become one of my most popular portraits, it also serves as a reminder of several core principals that have helped me over the years. That is, persistence and stepping outside of your comfort zone can sometimes lead to great luck.
As the name would imply, I took this photograph in the Gion district of Kyoto. In its prime, Gion was the most exclusive "hanamachi" (geisha community) in all of Japan. In fact, working in Gion was so prestigious that the geisha of Gion were referred to more respectfully as "geiko" or a woman of art. Nowadays, Gion is famous for being one of the few "hanamachi" left in Japan. Due to the rapid development, modernization and globalization of Japan, ancient cultural traditions and art forms have suffered atrophy. This, coupled with the fact that very few girls are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to carry on this unique tradition and it seems to be only a matter of time before geisha slip into historical lore like the the samurai.
I spent hours each afternoon in Gion strolling up and down the narrow streets lined with "ochaya" (tea houses), hoping to catch a glimpse of the famously illusive geisha. After two days of shooting everything geisha except, well, a geisha, I was beginning to think that they were just a figment created by the Japanese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Then, in the late afternoon of my last day in Kyoto, a chance encounter of a photographer's dreams. As a rounded a corner I saw them, two of them! I walked slowly behind them taking some environmental and detail shots as they shuffled down the street, careful not to disturb the harmony. Once they sensed my presence, stopped and turned towards me I thought my ideal photo shoot was over for sure. After all, I have no idea how geisha feel about being photographed and even I felt a bit uncomfortable, like some kind of geisha paparazzi. Realizing this was my only opportunity, I smiled, showed them my camera and non-verbally asked them for a quick shot. Surprisingly, they giggled at each other and almost seemed flattered by my eagerness. I worked quickly around them, instinctively finding the best possible light and background and then took two frames before giving them a deep bow and letting them once again slowly shuffle towards their destination. "Arigato goziamasu" (thank you very much) indeed!

Silhouetted Seaweed Farmer

I made this photograph from the beach on Nusa Lembongan, a small island in the Badung Strait between the popular islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. As you may suspect, the 7,000 or so inhabitants of this laid-back island depend almost exclusively on the ocean for their livelihood. Sitting like a speed bump in the deep Badung Strait between the Pacific and Indian Oceans has some distinct advantages. The shallow coral reefs surrounding the island provide not only protection from the strong currents, but also most of the locals diet. What's more, the entire economy of Nusa Lembongan relies on the reefs as they also allow for the cultivation of seaweed, not to mention the sea-loving tourists there for the world class surfing and scuba diving.
As I was photographing some of the farmers carrying their daily harvest of seaweed onto the beach, I happen to look up and catch inspiration. I saw this one last seaweed farmer guiding his flat bottomed skiff across the horizon. Knowing he would soon be crossing in front of the golden sunset, I framed my shot and waited for him to pass through so I could catch a perfect silhouette of him.

Little Emperor

China's draconian one-child policy, first instituted in 1979 in an effort to curb the population growth, is now revealing some startling side-effects. As you may imagine in a country where almost all of the children are an "only child", there tends to be a severe amount of doting parents who spoil their children incessantly. This is especially true for boys. So much so in fact, they have given these children the nickname, "little emperors".
I first noticed this adorable little emperor as he was squatting in the grass going pee through a slit in the crotch of his pants. Only later did I realize that this is the common practice in China. Rather than using diapers, parents simply cut a slit in their children's trousers so they can squat outside and go whenever they need to. The only thing more out of the ordinary to my occidental eyes than seeing toddlers relieve themselves in the middle of a city park, is the sight of their parents who often stroll the park in their pajamas! Anyway, I interrogatively gestured to his parents if it would be o.k. for me to take his picture. Of course they were honored and proud as peacocks. He was far more interested in playing peek-a-boo with me than having his portrait taken, but as you can see, I couldn't have asked for a cuter, more natural pose.
They say children are one of the most challenging subjects to shoot because you can't give them direction as you would an adult. I however, disagree. You simply have to think the way the do, get down to their level, play a bit and shoot the action.