Dan Kitchens
patreon
Breaking a Block
🕑 Added 2019-01-09 17:00:15 +0000 UTCI have to admit that as the new year began, I was feeling a bit uninterested in working on this project. Life dragged me toward my actual work (as half of kozyndan), and social media censorship had deterred me from posting any of the work i have been making (a big FUCK YOU goes out to Tumblr and Instagram). I have kept up posting here, although a lack of interaction/feedback from the audience here (this is due to its size, not the quality of you, my patrons - I don't expect most people to be chatty on the internet, and I tend to be more of a lurker/observer myself) makes it harder than sharing on Instagram, where dialogue flows freely. With the upcoming changes in my life situation (moving to Japan half time) I had thought of just putting this whole photo project on pause.
Then my friend Moss called me up and asked me to tag along with him up into the mountains with a model to shoot. Its always a good time shooting with Moss - he is, unlike most photographers, very generous and sharing - he would rather trade and bounce ideas back and forth than guard his own out of insecurity like most photographers. He always gets beautiful results, which means beautiful models jump at the chance to work with him. Usually they are not really my personal taste, but I still get a lot from the experiences.
This past weekend I met him and our model//photographer friend Megan at a gas station at the base of the Pacific Crest Highway. While waiting for him, a parade of muscle cars, tuned-up import rockets, motorcycles, and high-end sports cars (i was parked next to a beautiful Lamborghini and saw a Porche that must have been $300K fill up at the station) - all of them getting ready to attack the windy highway that cuts through the Angeles National Forest. We all waited a while watching this auto parade until the model turned up. I had been so uninterested in shooting I hadn't even bothered to ask who we were working with today. Then Jay Marie stepped out of the car.
I can never understand what makes me want to shoot someone. jay Marie has very obvious assets, but for me it was that face - timeless and effortlessly emotive - that really got me. This wasn't my shoot though, and feeling unprepared (I didn't pick the location, and i didn't have any concept in mind for Jay marie as i had no idea i would get to photograph her) I hung back and just tried to shoot some BTS for Moss once we had found a spot just off the highway to do some shooting, but at some point I had to jump in and get some snaps anyway - I didn't want to miss the chance to make something with that face.
It was pretty cold (42° not including the wind chill), and all of us were bundled up except Jay Marie, who exhibited some major mental toughness, finding a posing style suitable for Moss instantly and working it as though it was a balmy summer day despite her quickly getting chilled to the bone.
I will be posting my takes on the shoot here this month, even though they are a bit too close to Moss' own images from that day for me. Luckily Jay Marie was really charming and easy to work with and agreed we should book a shoot of our own the next time she comes down to Los Angeles or I am up her way, so hopefully you all will get to see more of her here (in the meantime - go support HER Patreon!).
Previews below of the upcoming sets for my $5-15 Tier patrons.
