Pepper Schwartz at WBE

You have the chance to see and hear Pepper Schwartz, who I recently photographed, talking about her book Prime. She will be at the Women's Business Exchange Breakfast on this coming Thursday morning, that is, October 11th, 2007.

The Women's Business Exchange is one of Seattle's largest networking organizations. Each month on the 2nd Thursday they have the breakfast meeting from 7 to 9am at the Washington Athletic Club downtown.

I still remember the first time I went to a breakfast around 4 years ago. I was impressed by seeing ca. 150 business women buzzing around. The air was full of sparkle and energy. Everything seemed possible.

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Here again is the picture of Pepper Schwartz for the cover, this time without the text:


I love the light on the wall. It was not easy to find the right spot to take the photos in and around her house. We looked at everything, Pepper's horse stable, the beautiful garden and rooms in the house. In spite of being beautiful, it all did not seem to be the right spot. So many things have to come together: the light, the colors, not distracting from the person, working for the cover and the text position, and in the end, it has to give the person the right "frame" and make them feel comfortable. All of this will affect the position of the body and the expressions.

I finally decided for this small spot in the kitchen. The warm yellow color and the streams of light seemed to be the right background for Pepper. I felt it connected with her ability to enjoy the moment, being exuberant and glowing from inside.

The dog who peeks in on the bottom of the picture contributed to the fun as well. Meanwhile her other big dog was lying on the opposite side under my tripod and between my feet. They wanted to take part too.

By the way, the cherries in the other picture were just there, we were eating them. They tasted so good. No bigger meaning, I just liked the little splash of red color...

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Cover Shot: Pepper Schwartz

I was away for a while, in Germany. Some good photos came from this trip, and I will put them up later. Meanwhile, I did these photos of Dr. Pepper Schwartz for an article in Seattle Woman Magazine:



They did an especially great job on the layout this time. The one below was used for the article inside:



Seattle Woman is a print magazine, but you can also download the latest issue here.

I did them at her ranch, about an hour's drive from Seattle. A beautiful place inside and out. Pepper raises horses there, but is more widely known as a sociology professor at the University of Washington and now as the author of Prime.

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Cover Shot: Laura Love

Laura Love Cover

Cover I did for September 2007 Seattle Woman Magazine. Laura is a wonderfully unique singer and musician.

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Cover Shot: Ashley Lodree

This is Ashley Lodree, an amazing athlete. I photographed her for the cover of Seattle Woman Magazine in July. Not sure why the faint lines are there; they appeared when I downloaded the online version. I wanted to show the cover as it was laid out. This July edition is no longer available, but the latest one can be downloaded and is usually displayed in the upper left corner at Seattle Woman Magazine's site . I did the cover for the August issue as well.

[ETA: at least for now, the July issue can still be downloaded directly from this link . <-Fixed this link and some other things on 8/30/07]

I have to say that I am not really a sports photographer, and I don't know a lot about sports or the well known outstanding sports VIPs, but there was something special about her that touched me very much. When I worked on the photo I did of her in post production on the computer, where she is on the starting track looking into the camera with her hands on the ground, I could not stop looking. I think it was the combination of the softness in her eyes and the strength that showed in her arms that moved me so much. I think for the first time, consciously, I saw the commitment to reach a goal in her body. I had a glimpse at it, what it can mean for somebody to make a decision and then to follow up on it and not to give up.

You can see her beautiful soft eyes also in the close up:



This shot, made just a moment after starting, shows what a good athlete she is:



In the moment where she collects all her strength to push forward and get out of the blocks, it looks nearly as if she is flying forward without investing her own energy: yet her face is totally relaxed, nearly as if she is surrendering to another force which would carry her.

[ETA: Some of the photos here are not always showing up, perhaps from being viewed too many times on Flickr. Will see what we can do to resolve this. 8/30/07]

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Eleanor

A while ago I had the pleasure to do a photo shoot with Eleanor for her new and first CD. (I did not see it yet. It will be available this evening)

It's her jump into presenting herself to the world as a singer on her own, after years of being in the corporate world "working for the man".

She has a beautiful voice and I love her writing for her songs. I admire to be able to create poetry out of your life.

Much luck and love to you Eleanor!

The release party is today, Friday evening, at Victor's Coffee Company in Redmond:

July, 6 2007 at Victor's (CD release party!)
7993 Gilman St., Redmond, Washington 98052
Cost : free

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Two More of this Beautiful Child

Two more from the same session as yesterday's post.





Yes, those are finger puppets! I usually use them off-camera, as they can help the child relax.

My downtown studio has huge windows, one reason I chose it. As they are here and in the ones I put up yesterday, whenever possible, I use natural light. I love the look and enjoy working in the environment. I also believe it is easier on client, however old they are. The professional models I work with are comfortable with bright lights and flashes, but most people seem to find it easier to relax and be natural without them.

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Baby Session

Photographed two little girls recently. Did this first one at my studio in downtown Seattle. It's wonderful to see this little girl being surrounded by love and always amazing to me how much fun and enthusiasm and concentration these little human beings can have.











More later.

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Cover Shot: Organic Farm in Indianola, WA

So much happened since the last entry. I hope to catch up.

Here is the new and current cover I did for Seattle Woman:


Rebecca Slattery, with farm apprentice, Sonya Servine and the chickens.

Done at Persephone Farm, Indianola, WA.

It was very interesting to see the farm owners and their apprentices working with their hands. I realized that in my mind I picture farm work with big machines. It's comforting to see that the appreciation of hands on work, the direct contact with the earth still exists. It will effect the quality of the food we eat, that's the belief of Rebecca and her business partner who own and run this beautiful place.

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Dancer, During Filming at Dry Falls, Eastern Washington

I was running the video camera for my friend Diana who is making a film of her dance students for UW. Also did some photos of the dancers and the surrounding area.

They were first rolling around in the dust of this desert area, so that is why the clothes look a bit distressed. I will post more of these. They were all done in Dry Falls, Eastern Washington.

Note: Yes, that is the original background. We used a trampoline!

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Kissenschlacht (Pillow Fight)

Last week I went to the Northwest Film Forum's Wiggly World, a production facility for film people in Seattle, to use a 16mm editing table. I needed to look at a copy print of a 16mm movie I made 21 years ago. It was a little bit exiting. I did not use an editing table for nine years or since I live in America. In the 80s, I was very interested in experimental movies and created several myself which were shown at German and international Festivals.



This is a long time ago, and I gave up on film making for several reasons, so it was a surprise when I received a letter from Annette Brauerhoch from the University of Paderborn. She is a professor for film science and is putting together an archive and collection of experimental short movies by women filmmakers in Germany and wanted to include my movie in the selection. She saw one of my films - Kissenschlacht - 20 years ago on a festival and has it still in strong memory. I was surprised and touched and honored.

Interesting to look at the movie again: to see if the ideas I had twenty years ago are still of value or maybe just ridiculous. At that time, I was intrigued by newspaper pictures of politicians. I worked on that for my study at the University and analyzed body postures and structures of these photos. This went into a little 16 minute long movie . I "animated" these pictures and combined them with pictures I filmed of my sleeping boyfriend all aiming for one continuous movement. I was happy with the way it came out, although some may find it boring to look at a sleeping man and not much is happening.

At that time the movie was quite well perceived. It was accepted on festivals and often written about it:

"A masterpiece of the experimental storytelling . . . Ingrid Pape confirms with this calm and wordless study the 'sovereign' preciseness and musicality of her filmmaking."

- German film kritic Michael Koetz writing in the Frankfurter Rundschau, 1986.

While that was nice to read, the question is: Do I still understand and stand by what I did 21 years ago?

What I realize now is that very likely my intense studying of these pictures gave me a good base for my photography. My understanding of body postures in photographs, film and life goes into my work now.

The other thing that's satisfying to know is that the film will light up on a big screen again, projected from a celluloid film, will be shown to students and film scientists and not just sit in a dark box. It is still alive and not just a "sin of youth".

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Cover Shot: Lynne Barker and Lucia Athens

Here is the new Seattle Woman Magazine cover for April.



This photo shoot felt like a little adventure. Lynne Barker and Lucia Athens are both from the Green Building Program of the Seattle Department of Planning and Development. I did not have a chance to meet them before. When I waited for them at the City Hall, two woman walked towards me, looking at me. Then one said, "Are you Ingrid" and I realized these were Lucia and Lynne. Somehow I expected some 'outdoor' types. We laughed and Lynn said "Did we not fit your stereotype?" A little bit true.

We decided City Hall did not really work for the shoot and Lynne suggested the Municipal Court building on the other side of the street. It had a beautiful green opaque wall installation with water in front of it. This gave me a boost of energy.



I loved the green wall with Lucia and Lynne outfits. The black was great and the silver geometrical jewelry corresponded to the metal elements in the wall design. But it was hard to get it all to work. The sun was extreme, there was wind which blew over my reflector stand, the time was limited - this was Lucia and Lynne's lunch break - no assistant to hold the reflector, and the space with the pool in front did not seem to have "easy" spots for them to be. But in the end it all worked out: Lucia and Lynn were up to everything and had a lot of fun, a young man who worked in the building helped hold the reflector, we found the 'perfect' spot to stand, and the clouds showed just in the right moment, to cover the merciless early afternoon sun.

This is what I love about the shoots: in the beginning you have all these elements they are disparate and problematic and then, after just jumping in with trust and the willingness to bear it, all falls into place.

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You can also download the whole April issue here, but only for a while. It’s available in print form at many locations around Seattle, of course, and many of the their past articles are available for reading in text form from their site as well.

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