Now that summer is nothing more than a fleeting memory, drowned out by the icy downpour that is winter in the valley, I figured it was time to go through my photos from North Carolina. I'm greeted in the morning by a thick frost on my windshield, and I wistfully remember how just a few short months ago I dreaded sitting in that oven of a car, which lacks a proper air conditioner. The days go by faster and faster.
This past summer was filled with a few big firsts, the best of which was my first trip to North Carolina. It's a place that I've romanticized for years, hearing stories from friends of summers spent at watering holes, diving off boulders, green, lush forests and a mild, humid climate that you never really get in California. Good friend Bryan Derballa rounded up the troops in an effort to share his hometown memories with us. We rented a giant cabin next to a waterfall and spent the days hiking and swimming and the nights cooking together, lighting sparklers and watching the stars.
Here are some pictures from the adventure - really just a glimmer into the epic few days lost in the woods.
Side note: new friend Christine Huang and her man, Dwight, put together the first issue of their labor of love, seasonzine. The summerzine issue features a big photo spread by some of us kids on the trip, including Bryan, Mike Belleme, Danilo Parra, and Alex Welsh. Check it out here, and get a copy! It's a great little zine, and I'm excited to see them take it on throughout the year.
Double side note: Throughout the trip, Matt Jacoby and Danilo Parra (with help from Annelise and the rest of the crew) worked their butts off shooting a music video for Brett 'Sweet Tooth' Nelson. Every day they'd be off shooting something, running through the woods with smoke bombs, covering Brett in fake blood, making him jump off the highest cliff we could find. It was incredible to watch. But even more incredible is the final video they put together. Check it out here, you won't regret it.
In April, I had a chance to photograph someone who's music always reminds me of summers during high school, of friends and soccer practice. Even though I eventually "grew out" of regularly following the band, albums like 'Pinkerton' will always have a fond place in my heart and my CD collection. So I was pretty excited to find out that I'd have a chance to meet Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and photograph him down in LA for a cover story for British magazine Huck. Even though I wasn't able to have a conversation with him beyond an introductory "hello," it was really interesting to see behind-the-scenes of a few hours in the life of a rock star... especially when part of that time included a shoeless soccer practice.
The other awesome thing about this issue of Huck was seeing that once again I got to share the pages with a couple of my friends and fellow photographers. Bryan Derballa was sent to New Zealand to photograph surfer Cory Lopez, and Mustafah Abdulaziz pulled double-duty, photographing Slavoj Zizek and also having a small article about his personal work. It's always nice to see page after page featuring the work of good friends, and it leaves me with a warm feeling of camaraderie that I've missed since my days at the paper in Stockton. So I scanned each of our articles (since it's a little tricky to find the actual magazine in these parts), and you can check out more on the Huck website.
And one last bonus: the photo I shot for the story ended up on a limited run of beer bottles, given out at the launch party in London! I didn't get to go, but my awesome editor snapped a picture of it for me (rad!):
Things have been a little crazy over the last few months, but it's about time I updated this blog with some fun stuff. And what better way to start than with the Cults! I'd spent a couple of weeks in LA (more on that soon, I promise), and the day after I got back to Northern California I had the pleasure of teaming up with Vice/Noisey to check out the Cults playing at the Independent in SF. It was a great show, and all the bands were incredibly open and gracious. Not having known much about the band before I got to the venue, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised... and I'll definitely be adding their songs to my regular rotation. So check out the awesome videos, photos, and all that fun stuff on the Noisey website (click the screencap below, or just go here), and if the Cults come to your town, give 'em a try; I'm sure you'll dig 'em.
... And here are some of my favorite shots from the evening. Enjoy!
January has been a crazy month, both personally and professionally. Which is why I haven't been updating the blog with all the awesome assignments and personal work I've been stashing quietly on my little hard drive. I promised myself that this year, 2011, would be different: more posts, more writing, and hopefully more input from everyone following along out there.
So here's some outtakes from an assignment I did a couple of weeks ago for the Wall Street Journal. I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing Steve Andersen, a former employee at the Nummi auto plant in Fremont, CA (This American Life did an awesome piece about the closing of the plant; if you missed it, you can listen here), who now works for Solaria, a clean-energy plant that produces solar panels. Steve was incredibly welcoming, talking about getting hired by Solaria after only a few months of unemployment, and going to work at the old site across the street from Nummi.
Every year since I've become a freelancer, I've tried to make a post with my favorite photos from the last 365 days. I was fortunate enough to travel across the country a few times, to get in a few good road trips, to see old friends and make new ones, to shoot some amazing assignments for talented editors, and perhaps most importantly I learned to step back and remember that sometimes life just needs to be lived and not constantly photographed. Although you probably couldn't tell that by looking at the pictures below. Ha.
Looking through thousands of photos from stories, assignments, and my own life... it's daunting, but it always reminds me that I'm surrounded by incredible people and incredible situations. It helps me remember I'm not alone in this.
So here's a selection of my favorite photos from 2010. Better late than never.
Every year, the Stockton Record (the paper I used to work for as a staffer) does a series right before Christmas. It is called "The Giving Spirit," and it is a collection of stories that highlight the work of local non-profit organizations that give to the community. This year, the Record hired me to work on the project with amazing writer Jennifer Torres. We battle-planned out the 7-part series, and tried to tell the stories of the good works of these organizations through the eyes of individuals who directly benefit from the services.
I loved working on these stories and getting to know folks who were willing to open up their lives to us during the good and the bad. Hopefully next year we'll have the chance to try it again and turn it into a deeper look at the holiday season for those in need. Either way, it was great to be a part of the Record team again, and I have to give mad props to Jennifer for putting in so much work to get access to just the right folks on a tight deadline, and also to Jeff Criesi for being a bad-ass designer and making them look good on the page.
So here's a gallery of how the stories ran in the paper, in date order. If you want to check out more photos and read the stories, you can see them online here.
And, just for fun, here are some of my favorite photos from each story that may or may not have made it into the paper. Enjoy!
Now that it's a new year, it's time to sort through the old hard drives and finally catch up on some blog posts from the last couple of months! So let's start from the last assignment of the year and work backwards.
I couldn't have asked for a better assignment to round out 2010. The Wall Street Journal asked me to photograph the McLaughlin family in Sacramento for a story about the lasting effects of the economy crisis. The McLaughlins have been trying to sell their home for several years, hoping to upgrade to a three-bedroom house to accommodate their growing family. But with the housing market in the region at a standstill, they are stuck in a kind of limbo, waiting for something to give.
Here are some of my favorite photos from that evening. The McLaughlins and their children were incredibly sweet and open, allowing me to spend hours photographing their nightly activities. Since it was the day after Christmas, the kids excitedly showed me their new toys... and I got to practice taking pictures while being shot at, which is a skill that could come in handy in the future.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing Bay Area forager Connie Green in Napa for the Wall Street Journal. We spent a few hours driving through the Napa Valley, finding hidden (and sometimes not-so-hidden) pockets of native plants, climbing through thickets and picking all kinds of fresh foods from public land. I'd never been foraging before and didn't really know what to expect but Connie was incredibly accommodating, showing me how to collect black walnuts and how to find wild fennel. She even gave me some tips on the plants that grow wild in Sacramento, so maybe I'll go foraging in my neighborhood instead of going to the grocery store this week.
I finally got around to processing and scanning about 8 rolls of random expired film that I shot on my little Holga over the last year or so. Not a whole lot came out, but there were a few fun surprises in the mix. And at least now I know where my camera has light leaks... haha. Enjoy!
This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in my first zombie walk! We met up with hundreds of zombie-enthusiasts to walk the streets of Sacramento for this month's Second Saturday Art Walk. It was amazing! But I have to say, it would probably have been easier to photograph if I wasn't covered in fake blood. Here's some photos I managed to snag between zombie-groans and utterances of "braaaaaaains!" Enjoy!
I'm really excited to be featured today on the Verve Photo blog! I read it weekly, and am always impressed with the quality of work of the photographers Geoffrey Hiller displays. Go check it out here! And to see the rest of Elena's story (which is still in the works), take a look at the photos on my website.
Just wanted to share some clips from the latest issue of Fader. I was really excited to go down to Los Angeles to photograph Active Child and Freddie Gibbs. It was especially rad to meet up with Gibbs again, since I'd photographed him at SXSW for Oh Dang! Magazine and he was a pleasure to work with. I got to go with him and his crew to Venice Beach to get burgers and walk his super-sweet pit bull puppy. Photographing Active Child was like a blast from the past once we realized we'd gone to high school down the street from each other. We traded stories from living in LA, and for the first time in a while, I felt at home in my home town.
Here are a few outtakes that I liked from each of the shoots. Enjoy!
I was really excited to work with Wired.com on a shoot with Ex-Hacker Adrian Lamo just outside of Sacramento. It was a fun shoot, and definitely a little challenging to try to take interesting and dynamic portraits in a single office-room in the middle of the day, but I think overall it went really well. Here's a couple screenshots of how the photos ran, and if you click on them you can see the whole story. It's an interesting read, for sure, and Adrian is definitely an interesting guy with a wild backstory.
And to close it out, here's an outtake from the shoot that I especially liked. Enjoy!
After South by Southwest was over, I drove my car up to Dallas to pick up friend and fellow photographer Brandon Thibodeaux. We took about 5 days to drive Highway 40 (and the Historic Route 66) back to San Francisco, enjoying the sights and taking more pictures than is probably healthy. When we got back, I realized I'd taken a ton of photos on my iPhone and that they were a fun way to trace the journey. So here's a little slideshow of those little pictures (run through the CameraBag application). It's a couple minutes long, but it definitely hits the highlights of the trip. Enjoy!
With how much the industry feels like it's splintering off into a million unmanageable pieces, it's always comforting when I can share a little piece of camaraderie with my peers and friends. Which is why I was so excited for the current issue of Fader. Not only did I have a blast photographing a great band, Moon Duo, but flipping through the pages I saw the names of some of my favorite people: Alex Welsh, Bryan Derballa and Mustafah Abdulaziz. Mustafah was kind enough to put together a little slideshow shout-out with outtakes from the issue, and you can see that here on the MJR blog.
One last day of South by Southwest to show you, and one last day of crazy running around to catch countless shows.
Started the day with back-to-back photo shoots, first with Freddie Gibbs and followed up with Freeway and Jake One. Zoneil and I met up with Freddie in the Marriott hotel restaurant, where I set him up in a couple of different spots. What I love about photographing rappers and hip-hop artists is they're really used to posing for photographs, so they require very little direction and usually know how to make themselves look good. Freddie was awesome because not only did he pose however I asked him, but when his manager said, "Don't smile, keep tough," he burst out laughing. Gotta say, the man has a lovely smile. After the interview, we bounced over to the Embassy Suites to meet up with Freeway and Jake One. I joked about getting the two of them to pose in the bed, under the sheets, but because of the reputations they have, they politely declined, haha. They were cool enough to let us hang around with them in the hotel room a while, and I got what I'd consider one of my favorite photos from the whole week, with the two of them on the couch and Freeway yawning. It just seemed so relaxed, so unlike how most in the rap world present themselves.
After all that, we met up with Todd Spoth over at Ace's Lounge to catch Hey Champ and Bad Rabbits. I was pretty stoked on both sets, but especially by Bad Rabbits, who I'd never heard of before. Full band, minor choreographed dance moves, and just a lot of energy made for a pretty epic set. If you're interested, hit up their website (link above) to download their EP for free. It's definitely worth a listen.
When that was done, I wandered over to the Fader Fort with Todd to see what was going on. Ran into JFP and photographed a bunch of folks having fun dancing in front of the DJ booth. Around 7, walked around the corner to the Independent to catch iLL-Literacy (remember this shoot?) play their set at the Audible Treats showcase. It was totally rad to see their new set in action, including the lego heads and a giant audio/video presentation projected over the audience. Once that wrapped, we hustled back over to Fader Fort just in time to catch a set by Sleigh Bells, which pumped up the audience, and then the headliner for the evening, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony! All-in-all a pretty epic set with all the old jams.
To round out the night, Todd and I headed over to Emo's to catch a set by what was listed as Cokie the Clown... which ended up being NOFX's Fat Mike dressed as a clown, playing a guitar and telling some of the most traumatizing stories I've ever heard on a stage. There's a great recap here on Pinpoint Music, which includes him pranking the audience into drinking his pee. Absolutely legendary.
Overall, it was a great week and I think I might still be recovering weeks later. Here's a few photos from the last day, and I hope you've enjoyed the slow-coming installments.
Day three was jam-packed. Started off the day doing a quick photo shoot for Oh Dang! Magazine with a hip hop group called Bin Laden Blowing Up [BBU]. They were pretty funny and a little goofy, and provided a great environment to work in. Houston-based photographer Todd Spoth helped with the shoot, which was in the alley behind the Soho Lounge, holding the strobe and even sacrificing a couple of his promo cards for the creation of a snoot.
After the shoot, Todd and I headed over to the Relix Magazine showcase at Antone's to check out the Watson Twins and Minus the Bear. I was really stoked to see both bands; I saw Minus the Bear a few times in college and love them, and I've loved the Watson Twins' music since their album with Jenny Lewis. Once that goodness was through, I met up with Todd at the Shirts for a Cure show at Red7. I was only able to catch a few songs by 7 Seconds (I can't believe they're still playing shows. Amazing.) before Zoneil called me up for a last-minute shoot with Alabama rapper Yelawolf. It was great to meet him, and I totally fell for his southern charm. There was also a lot of pressure (in my head, at least) to do a good shoot with him after seeing photos that Bryan Derballa shot of Yela last month. In the gallery below are just a few outtakes from the shoot; I'm saving the best for publication, and I'll link that when it's up.
Finally, to round out the evening was the show I'd been waiting all week for: Matt Pryor at St. David's Episcopal Church. Yes, that's right, in a church. The scene was gorgeous, the acoustics were amazing, and even crazier, there were only about 35 people there sitting in pews and singing along quietly. Matt Pryor has been one of my favorite musicians since I was in junior high school, and to see a solo performance by him made all the nights of minimal sleep worthwhile.
Ahem.
Since there were really no other shows I really wanted to see that night, I wandered the streets with Todd, saw a set by a Los Angeles band called the Wallburds (on the street - always fun), listened to Neon Indian at their outdoor show from across the street, and saw Minus the Bear play one more time before calling it a night.
With that, here are some of my favorite pictures from the third day. The last day of SXSW will be posted up shortly, I promise.
Day two started off a little more mellow than the first. Wandered around the streets for a while and met up with Austin-based photographer Bill Reeves to talk shop and compare stories. He ever-so-kindly joined me to catch a set at Stubb's by Sacramento band Middle Class Rut. I've never seen these guys in my town, but friends Lite Brite opened up for them during last summer's Concerts in the Park, and have spoken highly of them, so of course I had to see what the fuss was about. Afterward, I wandered back to the Mariott to meet up with Zoneil for an interview with hip-hop artist Donnis. He was really thoughtful and soft-spoken, and amazingly focused through his work and his music. I'll be sure to post up a link to the article (complete with portraits!) when it runs in Oh! Dang.
Spent most of the rest of the afternoon at Light Bar on Congress to shoot the URB showcase, mostly to see a set by Don Will, and also to check out Nikki Jean. Zoneil had told me a little about Don Will and his latest album, Don Cusack, which was inspired by the movie High Fidelity. Totally. Killer. A reference I can appreciate; that movie was such a big part of my teenage life. As someone who doesn't actively listen to a whole lot of hip hop, it's always fun to check out these shows because the energy is pretty amazing. Everyone is singing along, or if they don't know the words, they're at least feelin' the music. Also, a constant theme of conversation throughout SXSW this year was how blurred the lines have become between the hip hop community and the hipster community, from style to attitude and even down to the music. Which is nice for a little former-punk, current tight-jeans-wearing kid like me. Punk and hip hop were born of the same revolutionary ideals, diverged, and are starting to come back together.... but that's a discussion for another time.
Finally, rounded out the evening with an outdoor set by the Morning Benders. Those kids played probably 8 or 9 shows in a 4-day period, which is seriously impressive. I've dug their music, and after meeting Jon during his brief stint as roommate to the (soon to be) famous Bryan Derballa in NYC, I knew I had to catch them live. And I have to say I'm glad I saw them at the venue I did because it was just beautiful. It was in a gravel parking lot on the other side of the freeway, and the stage was just a lifted platform surrounded by fans and friends. It was like being at a show as a teenager again, kids drinking tall cans and singing along to every song. I'd say it was the perfect ending to a lovely day.
So here are a handful of photos from the day. Days 3 and 4 coming soon.
It's been a while since I've updated, and so much has happened. I left California in mid-March to head to Austin, TX, to photograph South by Southwest for San Francisco-based hip-hop magazine Oh Dang! Magazine. I met up with editor and writer Zoneil Maharaj to do a couple interviews and cover some of the hip-hop showcases. We started off the afternoon with Hollywood Holt, who was a total character and a really fun interview. Afterward, we stuck around the Beauty Bar to check out a showcase featuring Ninjasonik from Brooklyn, Yelawolf from Alabama, Chicago's Kid Sister, Dam-Funk of Los Angeles and a few others. It was a small venue, but a total blast! Great energy from the crowd and the performers alike.
While wandering the streets, I ran into Jim Merithew, one of my college mentors and a photo editor for Wired.com. We caught a set in the street by San Francisco's Ferocious Few, who I saw a few months ago at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (and also on the street).
I ended up at the Fader Fort to meet up with JFP and check out the scene. I went up to the photo pit with him to catch the last set of the night, which ended up being Damian Marley and Nas. The light at the Fader Fort is always amazing, and it's a lot of fun to shoot there. Had a great dinner with JFP before heading to Ace's Lounge to catch one last hip-hop showcase with Zoneil. Sat through some interesting sets, including an unexpectedly entertaining performance by Kelley James where he covered (with an acoustic guitar) Kanye and Taylor Swift, and then proceeded to freestyle an intense diss on a couple in the audience. The night rounded out with performances by J Cole and Bun B.
All-in-all, a pretty epic night. Here are a bunch of photos from the night that I dug. Stay tuned for more updates... I swear I'll get 'em up quick!
freelance photojournalist based in northern california.
all photographs copyrighted by photographer or respective publication.
www.ARIELZAMBELICH.com ... or tumblr
Posts
