Exploration with Culture
For the Gun Buy-Back Program project, I had to purchase an armory of squirt guns. Instead of letting them go to waste, I laid them out in a different scenario. Could this represent the gun collector at age nine? Or does our adult behavior represent the love and care of our parents and the environment in which we’re raised?
An idea pops into your. You’ve been listening to the radio, following current events, examining your place in the constant shifting world. Then the idea takes shape, morphs into words, thoughts, conversations and a variety of imagery.
The gun buy-back program has been incorporating our society. The process flowed through my brain-waves and thus the above image. I wondered about the origins, the beginnings of such violence permeating humanity. Then I read an article in this month’s National Geographic entitled The Left Bank Ape, which explores the unique adaptations between two species along the Africa’s Congo River. The north side (or right bank) are our common ancestors, the chimpanzee, whom we share 98.4% of our genetic DNA, while the south side (or left bank) is the bonobo. And what makes these two species of primates markedly different are their social behaviors; during disputes the chimp is more aggressive, often resulting in death, while the bonobo prefers the tender acts of affection and using sex to solve issues within the community.
Observing today’s violence around the world, I ask: Where did we come from? Where are we going? And what are we doing to get there?
Aaron Kuester is a busy man. With a wife and 3 year old son, work as a steel-shaper of sorts at Kitsap’s Naval base, and an enthusiastic car builder and racer. Currently, he’s working on building a custom Volkswagon Beetle Baja Desert Racer, not necessarily for the Baja 2000 Off-Road Race, but some day… some day.
But with The Sequester approaching on March 1st, 2013, government spending-cuts will affect Aaron and his family. As an employee repairing the steel parts of submarines and naval ships, the full-force of the $85 billion-dollar cuts would mean his 5 day work-week will crunch to 4 days within the 22-day furlough. Anything longer will be technically a lay-off, which Aaron, as well as every other government employee, hopes will remain a distant impossibility for him, his family, and his hobby.
On a quiet President’s Day afternoon, Aaron invited me into his garage, and below are some of the images I created with four strobes, some daylight fill and a little PS6.
By approaching Rwanda Partners and offering them my help, I scored the opportunity to take a selection of their bowls into the studio and photograph them for their website. With three lights, some plexi glass and fishing line, I was able to create a clean, depth-defining product shot to help them better portray their products. Hopefully, more opportunities will arise with Rwanda Partners after the initial shoot. Visit RwandaPartners.org for more.
Location: SCCA Studios
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark III with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens
100mm, 1/160 sec at ƒ/16, ISO 100, tripod.
Post: Capture One & Adobe PS6
I had the opportunity to connect with CannaTest, LLC. to explore the new changes in Washington State regarding the passing of Initiative 502 and the legalization of recreational marijuana. CannaTest’s tagline “What’s in your medicine?” legitimizes the professionalism of medical cannabis in the emerging industry, breaking down the percentages of Cannabinoids that are within each strain of plant. From THC to THCV, CBD, CBG and other active ingredients, CannaTest provides qualitative numbers for accurate labeling to insure clients are receiving the necessary medicine for their specified therapy.
Visit www.Canna-Test.com for more information.
Found within a friend’s basement, these bottles were too characteristic and entirely toxic to pass up. Setting up in an open-air carport settled the minimum level of fumes and maximum amount of ventilation.
Location: CK Studios
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark III with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens
100mm, 1/25 sec at ƒ/16, ISO 100, tripod.
Post: LR4 & Adobe PS6
From my last studio shoot, left over was a classic-looking baby bottle. So before I found another home for it, or fulfilled it’s recycled destiny, I wanted to shoot it as a product spewing milk. Viola.
Location: SCCA Studios
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark III with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens
100mm, 1/200 sec at ƒ/10, ISO 100, tripod.
Post: Capture One & Adobe PS6
America’s recycling program. It’s fantastic in my city, sucks in others. So I took the idea of recycling into the studio, and placed one shot in context (above) and took the other two slightly out of the box.
Composting. Try it, you’ll cut back on your weekly load of trash and also create a healthy garden
CPS: Child Protective Services or the Department of Social Services. Putting children through America’s foster care system since 1974.
I had the opportunity to shoot some promotional material for Bainbridge Island Boxing Club. The owner, Ben (i.e. The Bear), is an ex-pro, coaching his students in both traditional boxing as well as Muay Thai, or Thai boxing. It was thrilling to spend a couple of evenings with them, watching as they used every muscle in their bodies with agility and speed. Next time I step foot in the gym, hopefully it will be without camera and only gloves.
After traveling to Ambergris Caye in Belize, photographing various artists utilizing the skill and exactitude of their hands, I purchased one of the wooden bowls from Graniel’s Dreamland as a gift, gifted, took it back and brought it into the studio… whew. And now it’s done.
Full bowl studio shot
Close-up bowl studio shot combined into catalog spread with on-location workshop shot
Cameron Karsten's Imaginarium 