Award of Excellence in Communication Arts Magazine

An image I made for Jon Ferguson Theater's production "Supermonkey," performed at the Guthrie Theater in 2009 was awarded a place in the advertising section of the prestigious 2010 Communication Arts Photography Annual. The original piece of theater was created by Jon and the ensemble out of improvisational exercises. It explored the lives of tenants in a chic modern high rise who feel very avant garde but are revealed to not be as evolved as fully as they would like society to think. The image we created needed to show the evolution of man in one image - ape to modern man. I lit the image with a stark feel - like a diorama at a natural history museum - to highlight our lack of evolution. I worked closely with talented actor Tyson Forbes to transform his physicality - posture, hand positioning and gait - to fit the feel we were looking for. The tragicomic image was chosen as one of 300 images from a juried 13,000 image contest of over 6,000 entries. I've included the printed version which was designed by innovative theater maker Jon Ferguson. See his link and links to Communication Arts and the Guthrie above.

Supermonkey Cast Potrtaits

I was commissioned to created a series of character portraits for the Supermonkey show after I created the lead image that won a place in Communication Arts Magazine 2010 Photography Annual. I art directed these as well as shooting them because they were done while rehearsals were in progress. I scouted exterior building walls in different parts of the warehouse district and the Seward neighborhoods in Minneapolis that matched the characters' costumes. My vision for this series of images was to create monochromatic portraits that would give the characters as they saw themselves in the play a one dimensional feel - a commentary on our public faces that often stand in opposition to our private selves. I also find that the character faces stand out more prominently when I match wardrobe to background. I matched the lighting in this series to the main promotional image that we'd created two weeks before. The scouting took some time but I was amazed at how many colored walls and doors I found in such close proximity to the rehearsal space. The nuance came in finding the wall textures that best helped to support the specific portraits. I created 13 portraits in 13 different locations for this project.

Photovoltaic

"I don't see anything, do you?" came the question from the art director. "No, let's try going around that irrigation canal," I said. Directions on the back of an envelope and dirt roads in the middle of the desert aside, it took us three passes to see 350,000 solar panels from the front seat of our rental car. We couldn't believe how low profile the solar farm was. Windmills aren't difficult to spot, we'd done that earlier this spring. They move, they stand 300 feet tall and of course the blades make a whooshing sound as they cut through the air. We could barely see the solar farm from the interstate which was at a higher elevation. When we arrived it was quiet, clean, and simple. It was on this assignment for NRG Energy in the Mohave Desert when we realized how utterly insane it is that we produce the bulk of our energy from unclean fossil fuels. The only mechanicals that stood more than 6' high were the conversion houses. Looking like something from Area 51 they're small units with large numbers painted on the side where power is converted from DC to AC and transmitted to the grid. 27 MW of power are produced on this impressive farm and after transmission roughly 21 is left, even on a somewhat cloudy day. It took for me to get up above it in the Ultra Boom we'd rented to see its expanse. With photo voltaic there are no moving parts, dust that might block the sun's rays is cleaned off of them by occasional rains, they're low profile, they don't make any noise or put off any emissions and they're connected with simple cords. Especially in light of what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico, it's odd that these farms aren't ubiquitous.

Dr. Seuss or Biblical Prophet?

Is Joshua Tree National Park more parts Dr. Seuss fantasy or the prophet Joshua's Biblical imaginig? Good question. What is clear is that it's no ordinary place. Many of the trees are so unusually human in posture that it somehow wouldn't be a surprise if one started speaking to you, especially when they are silhouetted against the night sky. I rock climbed here years ago with my brother and I never forgot its alpenglow or the rocks' rough moonscape texture. The rocks lean against each other in intimate clumps - evidence of suboceanic volcanic activity. Paired with the odd forests of trees there is no place as original or interesting. In late spring the colors of the Mojave bust out of the gritty desert ground like they were designed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. This is the first time I've witnessed the desert blooms and it didn't disappoint. Only 200 miles from LA it's an easy and worthwhile trip for anyone who's interested in seeing Mother Nature in new clothes.

The Spin on Green Energy

"Do you need me to set down in that field over there for a minute so you can walk 'round and get your bearings?" I hadn't flown in an R22 before. It dropped out of the sky into the field we stood in like an oversized mosquito piloted by a vet who was straight out of Wild Kingdom. It wasn't much bigger than my rental car. Shooting out of the tiny cockpit with no door using a 200mm lens on my Canon 5D Mark II I almost lost my lunch a few times because of the magnified motion that I didn't control. I used to work on boats in Alaska and have a strong stomach but this was different. We flew in between sets of the giant rotating windmill blades in heavy gusts and got some nice angles. Our flight time was later than I'd wanted and so we concentrated on dusk/dawn images for the rest of the shoot for more saturated horizon color. The units stand along ridge lines like futuristic versions of Don Quixote's dragons spinning their way to create a 150MW of green West Texas power. I had the privilege of climbing the inside of one of the nearly 300 foot units with NRG's CEO and other visitors. It was an exciting assignment, seeing up close the workings and benefits of green energy production.

Flip-Flop Basketball

Even off-piste travel guides challenge gypsy notions of discovery. I sometimes end up feeling stifled when I'm on the road like a package on a shelf following the same routes other visitors choose. After cursory looks at tourist spots for me it's best to search out something that feels more local when I can. As I rolled into Kahului after driving the wearying road along the coast of West Maui, I came across a pick-up basketball game. I pulled over and asked if I could shoot some pictures of the players. Everyone seemed really welcoming. There just isn't anything more authentically Hawaiian than basketball in flip-flops. It's not something you'll see on any other American street. I shot a few portraits and some dodgeball while I was there and felt a real sense of Hawaiian community that I wasn't finding other places on the island.

Surf's Up, Aw Shucks

Arrival in the fall-off-the-planet town Hana, Maui is pleasantly anti-climactic. I wasn't sure at first if I'd missed it. Pulling off at a farmer's market for a cup of Kona to take the edge off of the dizzying two hour, switchback, sheer-cliffs drive, I asked directions to the games. A mellow, sun leathered local steered me down the road on the far end of town to a surfboard hung on a farm field fencepost with bailing wire that pointed toward a park. The park sat nestled at the end of a little road that was fully dunked in cliche´s : boards strapped to beaters, roiling ocean, burly waves, beautiful women, beach cruisers, muscle-bound studs, coconuts, and heaps of attitude. I have to admit to feeling a bit put-off at first because it all seemed so canned. As I got into the rhythm of shooting though my slanted judgment of the scene fell away. Especially watching the kids and a balsa wood board rider I met I realized I had been seeing surfing through the eyes of someone who'd been spoon fed surf culture myths. From the Beach Boys to Spicolli media had packaged surfing and sold it to me in a Quicksilver bag. The true essence of it is simple : a love of playing in big waves. The games were really fun to shoot. It was an inspiring, all-ages salt air community event celebrating local sport. The well fed crowd gorged itself on great music, cheap breakfast burritos and big surfing all day. An almost midwestern wholesomeness wraps itself around a competition whose winners are awarded coconuts hand-painted by a local artist. An aw shucks feel wasn't what I expected to find shooting the world's hippest sport in a speck of a town on a speck of an island in the middle of a very big ocean. This profession always delivers surprises.

See more of my images from the competition on my site : www.ericmelzer.com and my fine art images at www.ericmelzerfineart.com