Over the years, the word I hear most when people are describing Andy Anderson’s photography is SOULFUL. That is because he has a powerful connection to the people and places he photographs. He doesn’t just take pictures, he makes friends. Life long friends.
On a recent trip to Northern Minnesota to shoot personal work of the ice fishing sub culture, Andy met some new friends. Link to Andy’s blog to read what he shares about his trip and why he thinks the ice trolls invented drinking.
I love how when I see a Kevin Twomey image on Instagram, I never know it is his. That is because he isn’t taking photographs of the things he does in his studio. Instead he is photographing exactly the opposite. And, being that he is a still life photographer, his world has opened up!
Enjoy a recent blog post he wrote confessing his latest obsession.
“If you have not yet succumbed to the crack-like lure of instagram, all I can say is, don’t start.
It began simply enough, with me capturing stills on my iPad. The iPad, as it turns out, is but a gateway drug: as a professional photographer, the limitations of its vastly inferior camera soon had me hijacking my wife’s iPhone to capture interesting images during our weekend hikes. First, it was with her permission, but after I vomitously filled up her phone with my addiction, she cut me off.
I wandered the streets, desperate to fill that 16Gb void in my soul, and soon found a smartphone dealer who would sell me an iPhone. As a still-life photographer, I had been so used to the 4×5, taking my time, carefully crafting my shots, that using something a fraction of its size and weight was absolutely liberating! I spent more and more hours under the influence of its euphoric filters, convinced that the next hit would yield that elusive high of PhotoShopped wonder. I found acceptance in the Instagram community.
Instagram takes care of me. It provides me with apps to nurture my creativity (first one is always free). It feeds my desire to observe and my obsessive need to shoot. After all, they are parented by Facebook, known for respecting -many- of the privacy filters they offer. Except on January 17th. Need I say more?
I can stop any time, though. I can control it. I’m not like those obsessive users driven to enter competitions, instacanvas and type-those-endless-keywords-on-a-scren-so-tiny-you-might-suck-it-up- your-nostrils-if-you-look-too-close.
It is just that it is my civic duty to mentor the social media generation, to impart professional wisdom gleaned from years of practice.
Or so I tell myself, as i watch my images flash by on my niece’s iPhone, shared and re-shared in a blindingly-fast display of teenage thumbwork.”
To view more of my instagram images please go to : kevintwomey.com/instagram
Last year, we decided that it was a good time to create an AGENCY PORTFOLIO. We had a fantastic group of photographers and many opportunities to show it off. We didn’t want it to be a typical group book that had a section for each photographer. While we like those and they are always very strong, we wanted ours to be a little different so that it would stand out more at events such as Le Book’s Connections.
What we came up with was a portfolio divided by SPECIALTY instead of by PHOTOGRAPHER. We liked this idea because it allowed us to showcase the type of work our group can offer while allowing the viewer to file our group away by different specialities. Of course it is always our main goal for a creative to learn who our photographers are and what they shoot individually. This will never change. But, by offering an alternate way for them to view the work in our group, we are opening up another opportunity for them to remember the work.
More often than not the Agency Portfolio is shown in conjunction with the individual portfolios so if a viewer is interested in seeing more, they can choose to do so right then and there. This is particularly helpful in a setting like Le Book Connections because there are so many books to view and it can get overwhelming for some. We have found that our agency book provides a breath of fresh air in a crowded market.
Take a look for yourself and see. It is no mistake that we chose the song, Breathe by Sia as the background music. Enjoy!
Click here to see the video of our Agency Portfolio
Last night, I watched on Facebook as people commented on the Superbowl commercials. The best post came from my friend Will Burns, President of Ideasicle, around the third quarter. It read, ” Do the ads know it is the Superbowl?” By the amount of similar posts it was obvious that people agreed.
I agreed until the Ram Farmers ad created by The Richards Group aired. Once that spot hit, Facebook was a buzz with cheers and recognition for a spot well done. The Paul Harvey speech was powerful, the message was powerful, the farmers of course were powerful. But, for those of us in the industry, it was also the photography that was powerful. How nice to see a tv spot, let alone a Superbowl spot, be a hero with photography. Wasn’t is just a few years ago we were hearing that commercial photography was dying? Well, thank you Ram Trucks and The Richards Group for reminding us that is still very much alive.
I am proud to say that our photographer, Andy Anderson, was one of the ten photographers that participated in this wonderful project. Andy was humbled by the opportunity and honored by the chance to document visually his connection to the farming community. To see what Andy had to share about this project, link to his blog here.
Special thanks need to go out to the Ram Trucks client, The Richards Group, Jimmy Bonner, Rob Baker and Deb Grisham for their commitment to their vision. And of course to the ten talented photographers: William Allard, Andy Anderson, Jim Arndt, Daniel Beltra, Mark Gooch, Andy Mahr, Kurt Markus, David Spielman, Matt Turley and Olaf Veltman.
There is nothing quite like an RL Burnside song. And, there is nothing quite like an Andy Anderson portfolio. You can enjoy both here. Welcome back!
Link here for video of Andy Anderson portfolio.
And if you are interested in seeing any of the other video portfolios from our group, please link here.