Interview on PNCA's Website

As you may know, I teach occasional photography and art workshops at Pacific Northwest College of Art. This past week, PNCA just published a brief interview with me, as I talk about teaching Photography and Art. I talk a little about artists and photographers who influence my work, the way I like to teach, and more. Enjoy.

Fritz Photography wins Bride's Choice Award at WeddingWire!

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Fritz Photography has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Portland, Oregon Wedding Photography!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Fritz Photography is one of the very best Wedding Photographers in the Portland, Oregon area!

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

I would like to thank our past wedding photography clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award! If you are a past wedding client of FritzPhoto, and would like to leave us a review, please do so here at WeddingWire.

Fritz Interviewed on the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers

Would you like to hear the story about how I saved a girl's life at a wedding? Or about my addiction? Or about my trip around the US in a turquoise Datsun B210 with my dad? Or about the fire-breathing bride and her Cheez Whiz? I tell all these stories, and give a lot of good advice about how to hire a great wedding photographer, in a new interview.

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers just published an interview with me on their blog. Check it out! There are a lot of great stories, good information about wedding photography, and beautiful photographs. You'll get to know me and my passion for photography a little better, and there are lots of links to other photographs and stories you can view online.

When you are looking for the best Portland wedding photographers, call FritzPhoto!

Enjoy!

Cambria and Chantael on the Beach in Florida

Model portfolio photography is some of my favorite photography.  Especially photographing on the beach in Florida!

Models Cambria and Chantael, of Ft Myers, Florida, did some modeling work with me while I was photographing there. We were aiming for a lifestyle look to the photographs: that warm, light, natural light look that I enjoy creating. Reminds me of a J Jill catalog.







I'm regularly posting new images in my website, of model portfolio photography in Portland, Oregon. They also make it into my travel and editorial photography website. Take a look!

On the Beach in Florida

I spent the last week in Florida, photographing alligators and models. Never together, mind you. Which is a disappointment.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting time. I love lifestyle photography!  The light on the beach was fantastic. And the resulting photographs have a wonderful glow.

Working with a model that can handle strange weather patterns, flying sand, high winds, and a bit of a chill, and still keep her cool and look great, sure makes my job a lot easier. Shannon did a great job on all fronts, and we're all pleased with the results.

One other interesting note: Neither Shannon nor I are based in Florida; we converged from very different places for this shoot. She's from frigid Toronto, Canada, while my photography business is based in Portland, Oregon. So we made a neat little triangle, coming from 2 different countries, to merge for a job in sunny Florida.

FritzPhoto Wins in ISPWP Photo Competition

I was privileged recently to be accepted into the exclusive International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. As the ISPWP describes itself: "The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers is a rarity among online wedding photography directories. We’re small. We’re exclusive. We’re picky. We are a worldwide group of top professional wedding photographers who have the experience, talent, and reputation to deliver outstanding wedding photography to our clients."

The ISPWP has quarterly contests for its members, and I just received noticed that the entry I submitted placed in the top 10 of my category, Movement and Motion. The image is from a wedding I photographed this past summer at Youngberg Hill Vineyard, in Yamhill County, Oregon. (This wedding's photographs are also featured on my new Portland photography website.) These folks could dance!

Vote for Fritz Photography on Oregon Bride!

Oregon Bride Magazine is currently accepting votes for the Best Portland Wedding Photography Vendors 2009. Anyone can vote! I'd be honored if you'd take a moment to vote for Fritz Photography. The winners will be featured in their next issue, and I'd love to be one of them.

You can go here to vote!

Environmental Portraits Class at PNCA

Travel Writer Rolf Potts

This February and March, I'll be teaching my popular course The Environmental Portrait at Pacific NW College of Art. I love shooting Portland location portraits, and enjoy teaching others how to do it well. Here's the class description:

The Environmental Portrait places a person in the context of their natural surroundings, and communicates more about them than is possible in a studio or simple headshot. Photographers use environmental portraiture to document figures in popular culture (Annie Liebowitz), make social commentary and documentary (Dorothea Lange), and more. In this class we will look at master location portrait photographers; review and critique each others work; and discuss how location portraits say much about the subject, as well as their social and political context in which they live. We will be working with models, available and artificial lighting, composition, camera and media choices, output and presentation. Both film and digital are welcome. The class will culminate with a portrait series as a final project.

You can read more, and sign up, at the Continuing Education portion of the PNCA website.

Learn to Design Your Own Photography Books

This term at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, I'll be teaching a 5-week workshop on book design and self-publishing.

In this class, you'll have the chance to make your very own photography book - from start to finish! Personal photography books make magnificent gifts, are great complements to portfolio presentations, and can tremendously aid in marketing your work.
Through a hands-on process of editing and sequencing your work, sizing your images for printing, and experimenting with basic design, layout, and digital printing options, you'll learn how to create a beautiful presentation piece that expresses your artistic vision. The best part? At the end of class, you'll have a finished book, fresh from the print shop!
I'll be helping fashion a concept for your finished book, prepare your images, and produce a volume that truly represents your artistic vision.

Read more, and sign up, at Newspace.

Amanda and John taken to The Cleaners

We had so much fun with our wedding photography at Portland's new Ace Hotel in downtown Portland this past weekend. John and Amanda were married in their event space called The Cleaners (yes, a converted dry cleaners, complete with the faded Peacock Clenaers sign still hanging outside). The wedding was cozy and intimate, and the Ace staff were super friendly.

We also had fun at their wedding photographing people in our Portland PhotoBooth. We set up a simple studio in the corner, and people come and goof around in front of the camera all they want. It's a lot of fun. People love it!

New Model Portfolio Images: How Old Are These Kids?

You'd probably never guess this lovely young lady is only 12. It still amazes me how mature an older child can appear when photographed right.

In the past couple weeks I've had several new model portfolio photography sessions in Portland, both on location in NE Portland, and in the studio in the Pearl District. I love working with young people; it's refreshing (if a bit chaotic at times) and the resulting photographs are always fun to review.

If you haven't had opportunity, visit and browse the updated modeling portfolio photography section of my new website. It's perty!

John Weinland at Transitions' Awareness Event

Last night I photographed an awareness event put on by Transitions Global, regarding their work here in Portland to help girls trapped in sex slavery and prostitution. We were privileged to have Weinland playing music for the event. Beautiful music; check it out on their MySpace page. They're likened to Neil Young (in a good way), and I hear a little of Iron and Wine in there as well. Good stuff.




To see more of our Portland editorial photography, visit us at Fritz Photography.

Shooting Meredith in the Snow

With the record levels of snow we've been getting around here lately, I've been wanting to get out and photograph a Portland model in it. I was blessed to have a young lady I've photographed with in the past volunteer to work with me again this past weekend. So we went to the highest point in Portland--Council Crest--where it was still 32 degrees and very covered in snow. Meredith was a real trooper, wearing a party dress in this kind of weather for quite a while. And it paid off. We photographed some great, quirky images for her fashion photography portfolio, and were treated to a beautiful sunset at the very end.

2008 Cosmic Paper Redux

When I was in high school, my English teacher, Mr. Demkowicz, had us write Cosmic Papers a couple times a year. A Cosmic Paper was something of a personal review of one’s life, a way of taking stock of what we’d learned so far in his class, how we might have grown and changed, and how it related to everything and anything. Thus the “Cosmic” portion of the title.

For a number of years after high school, I would sit down at the end of the year and write my own cosmic paper. It was a good, reflective discipline.

I don’t intend to write a complete Cosmic Paper here, but I have been thinking about the year past, and want to take a few minutes to reflect on it.

Ten years ago, it was hard to imagine a year like 2008.

In 1998, I was still struggling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and was living in subsidized housing. But things were looking up; I’d just traveled to Taiwan to photograph a wedding, was looking into finishing a BFA in Art, was best friends with a wonderful girl, and was planning our wedding.

Fast forward 10 years:

I’m now preparing for my 10 year wedding anniversary, which is hard to believe. Shannon and I are better friends than ever, and we’ve racked up some precious memories in a short stint of time.

In the past year, I’ve photographed in 10 countries outside of the USA. (Mexico, England, France, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Morocco, Cambodia, and Thailand.) That’s an incredible dream come true. I’ve photographed for magazines and stock, weddings and models, street shooting, documentaries, and portraits. I’ve met many wonderful people and been able to tell some interesting and meaningful stories. I wrote my first travel magazine article on Bicycling in Budapest. I’ve been vomited on in airplanes, hiked the Yorkshire Dales, explored the Bories of southern France, worked with women struggling with eating disorders and the aftershocks of sex slavery, and come to enjoy chocolate.

Back at home in the past year, I’ve photographed some beautiful weddings and portraits, created some new websites, moved on from a leadership position at church, sent my wife to nursing school, and submitted my Skeleton in the Closet series to book publishers. It’s been a year of ups and downs in both photography and real estate investing, but overall a year of rest, growth, and discovery.

That’s a long ways from subsidized housing and CFS.

I say none of this to gloat. I'm sure plenty of people are jealous of what I've been able to do this past year, just as I remain jealous of what others are able to do that I'm not. So counting one's blessings, and expressing gratitude, are good practices. I have a lot to be grateful for, and I am blessed. (Although it’s also true that I had a lot to be grateful for and was just as blessed 10 years ago.) God is good.

Liya's Story

I’ve been struggling to know what to post about my humanitarian photography work in Cambodia and Thailand, related to human trafficking and child sex slavery. I’ve talked about it only briefly in previous posts, regarding red light districts and some of the outreaches for whom I was creating imagery.

In preparing for this trip, I spent a lot of time talking with Seth Johnson (of For Their Rescue), James Pond (of Transitions Global), and Brenda Dolan (also of FTR). I also did other research, reading, and viewing of other documentaries on the subject, including Tim Matsui's photographic work there. It became difficult to think of the issue--and of portraying it--without seeing everything in dark and depressing hues. The atrocities humans commit against other humans is mind-boggling and gut-wrenching. And the statistics are overwhelming: 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world. Human trafficking is the third most profitable crime in the world, right after dealing in drugs and weapons; billions of dollars a year are made in the trade of human lives.

Yet I’ve been frequently reminded of a quote from, of all people, Josef Stalin, in which he said, “One death is a tragedy. A million is a statistic.” And it’s true: any number more than one is an abstract statistic to us. To say that six million Jews died in the Holocaust is a number we grimace at; but to watch the life of Wladek and his family in The Pianist makes us weep and have nightmares. We empathize, and think to ourselves, “That could have been me, or my family. What would I have done?”

Liya ran into her mom as we were filming outside of the slum where she grew up.

This has been my approach to the brief documentary I’ve been working on during this trip. Among other things, I have endeavored to tell the story of one girl, Liya. Her story is both common in its elements, and uniquely hers in its particulars. She grew up in a slum, was tricked and sold into a brothel at 16, was forced to service men who paid for her every day and night, was beaten and drugged and abandoned and abused. One day the police raided the brothel, and she was pulled from its grip, abused by the police, put in the system, and eventually placed at Transitions. A year later, I met her.

Liya at the slum where she grew up and worked at the brothel, also known as The Gray Buildings, and Anarchy.

To hear her tell her story is painful. Yet even as we interviewed her and recorded her story, in the background we could clearly hear the other 14 girls and staff giggling and playing and reciting their ABCs. It was a beautiful meld of the past and present.

As I spent a couple weeks with the girls and staff at the house, it became difficult to view these 14-19 year olds as victims or prey or prostitutes, and not just average teenagers who like to listen to music, make braided bracelets, and dream about their futures. In fact, the only visible reminder of their past in the house are the scars on their faces and arms, and the drawings in the Counseling Room depicting beatings by pimps and being chained to their brothels.


As I hung out in their schoolroom listening to their English practice, and in the yoga studio watching them learn medical basics and yoga instruction, I found myself thinking a lot more about their futures than their pasts. While they certainly carry around the scars of their past, at least they have counseling to help begin the healing process, and education and support to help them move forward. I begin to see why so many agencies make photographers sign forms promising not to portray their kids as victims. They aren’t victims, they’re people.

Last weekend, Liya moved from the Transitions house into an apartment with one of the other ‘graduates’ of the house. She has a job, she’s still going to school, and some day she wants to be able to afford to have her family move in with her. She’s not defined by her horrendous past, nor is her story really all that unique in her world.

The last afternoon I spent with her, Liya told me this: “Before I came here, I didn’t know who I was. I couldn’t control my emotions. Sometimes I get really angry and I want to let it out. But now I can control my feelings, and I know who I am. It’s all because of my ‘Mom’ Jaya [the director at TLC].” Jaya had just told me the same thing: when Liya first arrived, she was mean to everyone. As the year went on, she became more mature and calm. Now she’s a real sweetheart.

I’m looking forward to creating this little video documentary, telling her story. For me, it feels like a way of fighting back against the darkness by letting her voice speak into it. It’s a way of humanizing an otherwise impersonal ‘issue.’ It’s a way of drawing out from the mass of statistics a single tragedy, and finding that it doesn’t end with tragedy, but with hope.

People on the Streets in Bangkok

I'll post an amalgam of images from travel photography in Bangkok here, with accompanying notes. Much of these were shot while walking the streets with Iven and Kashmira. I was grateful (and a bit in awe) that they spoke Thai; and frequently, the locals were also surprised to hear their native tongue on the lips of a couple of white folks. We stopped and chatted with people frequently, including this beautiful grandmother above.


Tuk-tuks are a way of life in SE Asia. These little motorized carts (in Phnom Penh, they are like a burro and cart, except that the burro is an overworked motorcycle) take you wherever you need to go, for relatively cheap. The drivers are quite industrious, to the point that you literally cannot walk more than about 10 yards, or appear out of any doorway, without at least one guy saying, "Tuk-tuk, sir?"




One of my assignments while in SE Asia was to photograph images that in some way show Buddhism in the modern, urban context. One of the most visible and prevalent forms of this was the amulets and good luck charms found everywhere, especially in taxi cabs.








Not only was I blessed with the purchase of a new Canon 5D MkII just before leaving for this trip, but the good folks at LensBaby also sent something with me. They graciously offered to lend me their new Composer lens, which is their best invention yet. I shot some stills with it (such as this one, above, at a park in Bangkok), but was most excited to use it for some of my video work.



People in Bangkok can, and do, sleep anywhere and everywhere.






A young lady working the streets in the middle of the day.




This gardener cares for the landscaping along one stretch of a canal in Bangkok. Iven had me photograph some of the signs that he put up, that clearly indicated where the tuk-tuk drivers who stop by should and should not pee. He was tired of them killing all his potted plants.




One of the hilights of Bangkok life are the street vendors, which are everywhere. You can buy everything from fresh-cooked meat on a stick (deliciously marinated), to coconut ice cream, to fried bugs. The papaya we were purchasing from the vendor above cost 10 baht, which is about 27 cents.

Well, this isn't on the streets of Bangkok, but in the airplane on the way over.


My last night in BKK consisted of walking the streets late at night with Iven and Kashmira. We stopped by this street vendor, whom they know, and chatted for a few moments. She didn't like the pictures I took of her (she was 50, and didn't like how old she looked), so I took one last shot of myself with her. Notice the artificial flower behind my ear, which was her gift to me.