We were able to spend a bit of time with Andrew and to get to know him better. Many small towns across Canada have fire departments that are staffed by volunteer firefighters like Andrew. After we were done with photographing “Andrew the cowboy”, he asked if we would photograph him in his firefighting gear–well some of his gear. I was curious if he would rather be a cowboy or a fireman so I asked him if he could be anything in this world, what he would be?
His answer? A fireman.
This is probably my favourite image of Andrew. The firehouse was lit by fluorescents and I just couldn’t get the lighting right. Then I remembered my friend Ray telling me that black and white was an effective way of handling fluorescent lighting so I knew I could process these images with Nik Silver Efex. As Andrew was posing for us, I was reminded of these strong images from my friend Mark Krajnak’s “100 Strangers” project. By the end of the shoot, I gained a deeper appreciation of how difficult it is to photograph firefighters at the firehall. Using the fire engine as a backdrop for a portrait is a tricky proposition because there are too many visual elements that distract from the person. In the end I settled on this tongue-in-cheek vertical orientation.
A big thank you to Andrew for indulging Josh and me on our photo shoot; I hope by now you have an agent!
I was rather amused at the “Dial 911″ text next to him when I first landed on the page, and reading your remark about “some of his gear” didn’t help this at all. Heh.
I need to stop commenting now.
I am curious though – if you could be anything you wanted in the whole wide world, what would you be?
Now I’m chuckling at your need to stop commenting
That’s a great question you’ve posed, Charlene. I know for sure I want to be a photographer but I also know that I’d want to be other things as well. An educator. A mentor of sorts. A writer. These last three things I already do in my day job but I’d like to apply them to a different field. Some days I’d also love to be an interior designer or an architect.
Now that I’ve written that all out, I’m wondering if I sound like I’m a bit of a cheat with so many interests.
What about you?
Sabrina, never let anybody force you to believe that you must define yourself with one profession. You can be all those things and more. Perhaps the saddest thing in the world is being able to answer the simplistic question of “what do you do?” with just one, succinct sentence. In fact, a guy once offered to help me develop a 30-second elevator speech. I laughed at him. Literally. I’d never want my life to be so boring that I could explain it in 30 seconds. Never!
Thanks for that pep talk, Jeffrey. I have a feeling when we meet up in New York, we are going to have so much to talk about that we won’t have enough time. Perhaps a week Venice might be required
With that as the possible overflow, expect to find me speaking really, really slowly!
Not sure, if this is a little off topic or not but I think it’s related to “what we are”. We are all here because we love photography. Some of us maybe have the intent of going pro. One thing that I has me wondering lately. What kind of personality traits people are the pro’s? I mean, it seems that the pro’s that I read(their blogs and such) are Type A personalities with Obsessive Compulsive Disorders.
Unlike, those OCD type of people, I have many interests. I love photography but I also love travel, motorcycle riding, mountain biking, and dogs. According to Vision Mongers, I should create a niche product. Thing is, I am not a niche person. I have many interests. If you believe in the astrology stuff, my horoscope tells me I am good at many things but not excellent at any one thing particular. I think that describes me perfectly. Question is, can a non-OCD personality make an impact as a photographer?
Hmmm, Chris, that’s an interesting observation. Do you believe that I’m a Type A personality and/or have OCD? I’m not even certain what characteristics a Type A personality has; so it could be the case. I’ve never really thought about either. Is this me? Is this others? Are there identifiable characteristics that define us? Again, I don’t know the answers, but it’s an interesting theory.
As for the niche part, I’m going to come at that from perhaps a different angle. I don’t think that somebody has to find a niche. I do, however, think that they have to avoid trying to avoid being in a niche.
I think that each of us has to be true to who he or she truly is. If one’s passion is shooting weddings on Saturdays and still-lifes on Tuesdays; then so be it. Just don’t do those two things because you’re afraid the one you truly love will fail. Do both because you love both. Definitely don’t pursue just one niche if it means abandoning a different passion. That would be extremely regrettable. However, you might have to market them differently and even separately.
More than finding a niche, one has to find oneself.
“More than finding a niche, one has to find oneself.”
Truer words have never been spoken, my friend.
Mark
if you are asking about the ‘price’ you probably aren’t ready to spend it. Follow your passion but first make sure it is.
Whoa, how’s that for response!
A bit after I posted the question, I found this: http://www.officeworks.com/ And then wondered how I would have answered the question myself.
As a kid I had generally boy-like ambitions: astronaut, fighter pilot, firefighter (heh heh heh), but always somewhere in there I had always wanted to be an artist, as I was partial to sketching, painting etc. Most of my life has been filled with one image making hobby or another.
Then I went to uni and did film studies, which included a production component, and thought, “hey this isn’t bad at all” except the idea of doing news/TV/travel fun shows didn’t appeal at all (not much of a party animal). Then one little unit called Documentary threw the pieces together. There was image making with a wider purpose! All of those docos I’d spent a lot of my younger life watching, I could do too. This hadn’t occured to me until then for some reason. So I can say now, that I would like to be a documentary filmmaker, and have for a while.
But like everyone above, I have lots of unrelated interests, although they all seem to converge (at this stage of my life) at a point which involves exploration of the possibilities. I look at everything I enjoy doing and wonder idly, how it could be taken further, not for money, but for the sake of pure interest. Then I think, ok maybe not just doco filmmaker, but explorer.
If I could have any job in the world, I’d be an explorer, with output heavy on the image making side.
Right, there’s a not so condensed version of my thought process around that question!
Wow what an interesting discussion here.
Charlene I love how you’ve found a word that describes what you want to be and what a fabulous word it is.
Ray, I know there is more to your comment and I hope we will have a chance to talk about it further.
And I have to agree with you Mark, that one line from Jeffrey is priceless.
Chris, I don’t know what personality traits might be common to professional photographers but I’ll ask you this: If you found out what they were and you had none or very few of them, would knowing that stop you from being a photographer? I don’t think so. Maybe it would give you pause before deciding whether or not you wanted to make a living only at photography but that’s a struggle many artists face. As Stephen Pressfield said, the majority of us have two lives–our “lived” lives and our “unlived” lives and between the two stands Resistance. I’m no expert as I struggle with this every day but I would say that you will have more measureable impact if you can live your unlived life. My blog might well be living proof of this.
I like the “angles” you all take on my question. I will not give up my camera because I am not the next Ansel Adams. Creating images is an affliction for me. I ingest images daily and shoot when I can, not to mention, all the blogs and books I read on the subject.
I was a high school football player. I was pretty good at it too. It was my dream, at the time, to be a pro. I was fast, strong, had a good work ethic, and was easy to coach. However, I had a weakness… my height. That’s an obstacle that was impossible to over-come for the position I played. Today, I still enjoy throwing a football around.
Were there no cowgirls?
Ha, ha, that’s another great question, Jeffrey and one I hadn’t thought about until you posed it. The short answer is no, there weren’t any cowgirls. It isn’t a career that attracts too many women in general.
The long answer is that I’m wondering if there were if I’d have as much luck photographing them as I did the cowboys. At last year’s photo walk, I photographed a woman in a bikini and it just felt weird as I was doing it. I did like the end result though.
Jeffrey, how about a firegirl? Er… firewoman. Uh, firefighter?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssipahigil/4762959998/
I think I had in mind more something more along the lines of the bikini that Sabrina mentioned. After all, she seems to have a way of getting people to disrobe for her photos!
Oh Jeffrey, you have no clue how funny your last comment is…no clue at all. Charlene and I are ROFLOAO!
That sounds like a photo op!
Jeffrey, HAHA, I wouldn’t have guessed Sabrina was so good at getting people to disrobe either! Better watch out the next time you go photowalking with her
DD
OK this clarification will either redeem my reputation or end its short meteoric rise today.
The bikini model at last year’s photo walk was courtesy of David duChemin and Dave Delnea. I can’t claim any credit at all for that disrobing. Andrew was already shirtless when I spotted him and I wasn’t responsible for any further disrobing if you should hear such tales.
Ok ok, you’re just good at scouting out the partially (or otherwise) disrobed then.
(And is it just me, or was there a blush somewhere in that comment?
)
Gee, a cowboy and a fireman? Think he has any problems getting dates?
Trust me; he doesn’t
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ray Ketcham. Ray Ketcham said: @SabrinaHenry has a great new post on Cowboy Dreams http://tinyurl.com/2athvzv [...]
Quite a discussion going on here. Sabrina, I may have taken portraits of 50+ strangers…but no one has taken their shirt off for me. Kudos to you for really baring your subject.
Fun discussion
And a fun series of images to come out of your photowalk. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and suggest that out of the 33,000 people shooting that day, you experience was unique! And that’s what says with me out of this series… the great opportunities which can come about when we say ‘yes’.
Took some time this morning to read your blog and update myself on what you have been up to. Your photowalk photos are fantastic . . . just so you know that I think you are a gifted photographer and writer. I wondered what had happened to you at lunch . .. now I know . . you were otherwise entertained!!!
Kudos to you.
Thank you Carolyn; you’re too kind. It’s a compliment coming from you as I have seen your images from the day as well. That typewriter blew my socks off. I was hoping to spend more time with you but you were a popular lady. I do believe a trip to Edmonton might be in order!
I am thinking so . .. have some neat places to show you and capture on our cameras . .. will look you up next time we are in Vancouver.