I’ve photographed a few performances. Small to big, I’ve found that the instruments of music are among the most beautiful of subjects. Part of it is the interplay of light on the workmanship of guitar, bass, drum, flute, fiddle and horn. Part also is the reverent and entranced joy of the musicians as they breathe life and song into the wood, metal and world.
Something I might have missed is what happens when that music falls upon ears that can hear it.
I don’t think that magic ever escaped Mike Vanderberg’s notice. How the eyes light up, a smile quirks, muscles unknot, feet move and for moments or hours the world is a better place.
There were times when he’d call me, having added yet ANOTHER artist to the lineup for Dunegrass that he wanted to be sure was reflected on the page at leelanau.com/dunegrass, when I’d want to tell him “That’s ENOUGH MUSIC ALREADY.”
I also use quotes alongside my photography. Quotes are something that I’ve always enjoyed and have vowed to gather, use and share. Pairing words with images seemed like a natural combination which adds more to both the written thoughts of an individual and the visual image captured by another.
Patrick went to the Techno Parade in Paris. If you click that link, you’ll see an amazing and energetic slideshow that I hope brightens your day as much as it did mine!
It’s not all that often you see someone walk away from the light of stardom … it can be pretty nice though. Here’s Brian Vander Ark performing Procol Harem’s Whiter Shade of Pale at a show last night at the Inside Out Gallery in Traverse City.
Brian played a great show accompanied by Randy Sly - keyboardist from bop (Harvey). I also have a video of him singing one of my favorite songs, I Don’t Want To Be A Bother (and a couple photos). Brian gave an entertaining account of being KISS’s warmup band for 30 shows while with Verve Pipe. At the end of the last show, he put in some fake teeth and sang We Are the Champions to the German crowd - here’s the link.
The above photo is one I found while looking for something else. The caption reads John Howell, An Indianapolis Newsboy Makes $.75 some days. Begins at 6 A.M., Sundays. (Lives at 215 W. Michigan St.) Location: Indianapolis, Indiana. It’s from Lot 7480 by Lewis Wickes Hine, a 3 album, 861 print collection by taken from 1908-1924 for the National Child Labor Committee.
Photographs show primarily newspaper sellers (including boys, girls, and a few adult “newsies”), bootblacks, messenger and delivery boys, and food vendors, but other service workers such as bowling alley pinsetters, movie theater ushers, delivery wagon drivers, and one youthful automobile chauffeur in Oklahoma are also included. Images include posed portraits; work activities, emphasizing hours (including night work) and weather conditions in which children worked; recreational activities (”rough-housing,” street games); habits considered potentially damaging to children (unsafe streetcar riding practices, smoking, spending earnings on movies); and facilities and activities offered by organizations such as the Newsboys’ Protective Association (e.g., reading rooms, showers). Some images document street life in the city–including outdoor markets, signs, and modes of transportation. Locations include: Alabama; California; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Indiana; Kentucky; Massachusetts; Missouri; New York; New Jersey; Ohio; Oklahoma; Rhode Island; Tennessee; Texas; Vermont; Virginia; Washington, D.C. Also included are photographs of exhibit panels that use the images to protest child labor practices in the street trades.
