The Headquarters for the Work of Ben McKeown
In a plane,
home I’m going.
I feel it - for the first time in a long while:
home.
I’m coming.
I spent the weekend in a city of sound
a city of rust, of dirt, of peeling paint,
of distance.
Now I’m coming to a city of trees
a city of art, of windows, of conversation,
of progress.
What I wonder
is if I make this city so perfect
or if this city makes me know it.
It must be the city, I believe,
for its allure never fades.
I’m very tired. I’m sitting now at the dining table of the Appalachian State Loft in New York City. The sheer plethora of information that I received over the course of this weekend is quite overwhelming to me at this point. It is, however, more than exciting, for I feel like a kid on the day after Christmas - I have all these new toys to play with.
Still, though I have a lot of work to do before I can start playing. I have 10 full pages of notes written, along with a five pound stack of handouts, brochures, magazines, and business cards, all of which need to be meticulously sorted through if I’m going to get the most out of my newly obtained information.
The people I met this weekend are amazing. When you have a moment, please take a look at their websites. The work that these photographers produce is first rate, though their most admirable quality, I’ve found, is their openness and candor when it comes to sharing their experiences. Just a quick look through their portfolios is a learning experience. Be inspired, as I was.
On Friday morning, I had the opportunity to meet one of my heroes, Walter Iooss. Mr. Iooss is one of the best sports photographers alive today, his work ranging from action to editorial. In 1993, his photo book called “Rare Air”, about Michael Jordan made such a huge impact on me that I still have it sitting on my coffee table in my living room today. It is not an exaggeration to say that Walter’s book is a huge reason I’m passionate about both photography and basketball
Donald Miralle, like Iooss, is a sports-photography genius. Unlike Ioos, however, Miralle is in his 30’s. He proves that sports are naturally artistic, displaying fervently in his images a passion for capturing this artistry.
From 30’s to 20’s: Dustin Snipes sees things that many sports photographers do not see. You may think that an old woman and a chihuahua could not be in a sports photograph - Dustin proves you wrong.
Also on Friday, I was privileged to meet Joe Buissink. I first became aware of Joe when I saw him in a promo for Apple’s photo editing software, Aperture. As a wedding photographer, Joe has an uncanny ability to capture not only images, but also the feelings that came along with those images. Looking at his portfolio is like attending the perfect wedding. Even as an acutely observant photographer, I found myself looking at his images from a solely sentimental perspective. His work provokes this reaction.
Saturday was incredible. To start my day, I met three young photographic geniuses, all of whom were selected for PDN’s 30, a feature profiling the best young and emerging photographers around the world I won’t say much about their work, for the images speak for themselves. Suffice it to say that as people, these three are among the most accommodating and kind photographers you’ll ever meet.
Finally, my weekend concluded with a chat with Judy Herrmann and Mark Starke, a husband and wife photographer team. At this time, Judy serves as the president of the American Society of Media Photographers. I was particularly inspired to learn that Judy and Mark live in the small town of Elkton, Maryland and they are still able to do business with clients based in the big cities (New York, LA, etc).
Today was my rest day. I took an interesting walk through New York City with my camera (I am now able to say that I’ve been yelled at by a member of the NYPD.) I’ll show you some images of the city sometime soon.
I am going to try to hit the sack early tonight. Travel tomorrow.
It was a Very. Long. Day… Good day, nonetheless.
I’ve been going at it since six this morning, when I felt my way (quite clumsily) through Manhattan to the Jacob Javits Convention Center for the Photoplus Expo. I stepped out onto 24th St, somehow found my way to the subway station, ended up somewhere else, didn’t know where I was, turned around in circles for a few minutes, walked several blocks, still didn’t know where I was, stood and looked around stupidly, then saw a bus that said “Javits Center”. I hopped on the bus and it took me straight there. It was that easy. Who says New York City is intimidating?
I’m so exhausted.
At some point, I’ll elaborate more on this and the following topics, but at this point I’m just going to throw you a brief summary. I was privileged to hear the following people speak:
Denis Reggie. As a world-class wedding photographer, his client list is full of celebrities. Mr. Reggie gave quite an entertaining and interesting presentation about different techniques regarding wedding photojournalism, a field and philosophy which makes up a significant portion of my work.
Platon. Simply the highlight of my day. Highlight of my autumn so far. Possibly the highlight of the year. Certainly one of the high points of my life. Platon’s presentation was more than inspiring, it changed the way I think about a lot of things. Unfortunately, I cannot re-create what happened in the seminar room today for you. Suffice it to say that the man’s humility trumped that of most any other person I’ve ever met, while his work (perhaps quite reflectively) is that of an artistic legend.
And lastly, Brian Storm. Brian is the founder of MediaStorm, a multimedia documentary delivery platform. Please check out his website and take a look at the content. The stories are breathtaking.
Tomorrow, up at 6am again. Hopefully the Manhattan commute will present me with more of an exciting challenge in the morning. I’ll be tired, don’t want to fall asleep on the way there.
Cheers!
As I write this, I’m flying about 34,000 feet somewhere above the east coast of the US. I’m on my way to New York City for the annual Photo Plus Expo. This will be my first visit to the Big Apple, and as a result, I’m quite excited.
Earlier this summer, I visited the city of Chicago with my dad and my two sisters. It is sincerely not an understatement to say that I absolutely fell in love with the city. Among the throngs of pedestrians, I felt more at home than I have in a while, all while still feeling a sense of excitement that I’d never experienced before. I loved the way that the city grew vertically rather than laterally, many buildings containing more shops, apartments, and businesses than is contained in ten square miles of my hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. Everything about the city indicated a deep concern for progress - a simple glance at the evolving architecture showed it. Even the old things look refreshing (I stayed in the Palmer House Hilton hotel, built in the 30’s), which is quite a change from the sight of the rusty, quickly deteriorating old buildings in Boone. In short, the city stole my heart.
And now I cannot wait to see the city.
I almost feel familiar with New York already, what with the thousands of images I’ve seen in many of my favorite movies. Most recently, the film Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney offered me a view of the town. As it stands now, simply after my visit to Chicago, I am seriously contemplating one day moving North to a big city. I’m hopeful that my five nights in New York will be as illuminating as those I spent in Chicago.
Keep in touch, as I will. More thoughts soon.