you are beautiful

"On Tuesday September 18, 2007 during the 5pm rush hour we put 30 models & dancers on the streets of downtown Seattle to spread the message, "You Are Beautiful". This event was not announced to the general public."

--

THE STORY

If you would have told me that I would be part of a fashion show that featured 30 models walking in downtown Seattle during the 5pm rush hour, I would have never believed you. It's just strange sometimes how things work out and how sometimes you just have to be very lucky. But it didn't start out that way.

I was supposed to do a photo exhibit at Mode, just like I have done in the past. They were also having their annual fundraising event in April so it would have been a good time to get Shoot for Change involved to also help them with their event. We planned it and scheduled it and I started hanging all the photos in the salon. A few days later, I get an email from Chelsea saying that the event is canceled. Of course, I was disappointed.

When I got back to Seattle, the owners of the salon decided to invite me over to meet me and get to know me a little bit. So I met them for drinks at the Red Lion Hotel on 5th Ave. It was cool to meet Joe and Guy, talking about photography and fashion and things like that. During that time, I was actually considering doing a fashion event and was starting to organize it (in my head). Because they were disappointed about their fundraising event, we started talking about other things that the salon could do.

Without hesitation, Guy started discussing what had been in his head for a while. He wanted to do a fashion show in the middle of downtown Seattle. He wanted all the models to just walk out of Mode Organic Salon and do a fashion show in the middle of the street like it was some normal thing to do. He was so excited about the idea and as we were bouncing it around, I started getting into it. I had ideas about helicopters flying in the sky. =) I told him that I would love to be a part of this and if he needed more photographers, I figured I could find them (thank you Myspace). So the rest of the evening, we're bouncing around ideas and getting hyped up. Joe, I think, was a little hesitant at first. But the more Guy talked about it, the more the idea became real.

The next thing is that they wanted to promote a positive message, like save the environment, be healthy, or something like that =). Mode uses organic products in their salon so it totally made sense. At the same time, they didn't really want to just promote themselves. They wanted to promote a positive message. That's when "You are Beautiful" was coined. It was perfect because it was actually their tagline anyway! And we wanted different kinds of people from different backgrounds, different looks, different styles. Age, size, race - we wanted them all.

The final thing was that they wanted to also promote an organization or a cause. This is where it gets interesting. During that part of the conversation, I was a little bit quiet and was actually naming other organizations. One idea was to pass out business cards during the fashion show that had "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" on one side and then the organizers/cause on the other side. This was brilliant, but at this moment, I still wasn't thinking about Shoot for Change. I was, but I wasn't. =)

After a few minutes of discussing other organizations, Chelsea (bless her heart) quietly said, "Why don't we promote Shoot for Change???" Everyone kinda looked at each other with smiles on their faces when Guy turns to me and says, "What do you think?"

I couldn't believe it and to this day, I still can't believe it. Of course I agreed and immediately after that, we all started looking for models and photographers. Again, thank you Myspace. During the next few months, there were some ups and downs and some cancellations that almost forced us to lose our minds. But thankfully, the show wasn't canceled and Mode Organic Salon produced one of the most brilliant and creative fashion ideas to hit Seattle. And I will forever be thankful to everyone who participated, contributed, sacrificed, collaborated, and inspired.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

--

MODE
1424 4th Ave (4th Flr of 4th & Pike Bldg)
Seattle, WA 98101
206.623.0195
For more info about the show, click here.

pink martini in paris

When I found out that I had a "Press Pass" to the Pink Martini show in Paris, I didn't know if I could make it. The show was on a Thursday night and I couldn't fly out from Germany fast enough to make the show after work. So I asked my client if I could leave early on Thursday and take Friday off. They didn't have a problem with the idea, but there was a big meeting Thursday afternoon @ 1pm so it would have been a tight connection (if even possible) if I left afterwards so the idea of shooting Pink Martini in Paris became more impossible.

Anyway, on Thursday morning, I decided to pack my camera and my toothbrush, just in case there was a chance I could go. My client felt terrible for me considering he knew how much I loved Pink Martini and photography. He said that if there wasn't a meeting, he would have let me go for sure. I told him I understood and that work was first priority for me and it wasn't a big deal. My thought was that if I had a chance to shoot Pink Martini at a show with a press pass, there would be another chance. At 12pm, the meeting was canceled because someone else couldn't make it. The client quickly turned to me and said, "Go!"

One problem: I couldn't leave from Nuremberg because ALL flights were already sold out. But a "neighboring" city had some flights to Paris. So with my toothbrush, my camera, and my two laptops, I immediately took a taxi to the train station and rode to Frankfurt to catch a flight to Paris. I called my travel agent ON MY WAY to Frankfurt and she booked me a flight and a hotel. I made it just in time to catch the right flight. The train ride to Frankfurt was 2.5 hours and the flight from Frankfurt to Paris was just over an hour. If the meeting was canceled 15 minutes later, I would have never caught the right flight to make it in time to the show.

I finally made it to the theater with one hour to spare, but the place was a mess. I couldn't get a press pass because the agency wasn't there. And when they finally arrived, it was chaotic. I met my contact but she couldn't find my "Photo" pass. I stood there at the lobby and the show was about to start. Luckily, there were still a lot of people getting in so they couldn't really start the show. When my Photo pass finally arrived, I immediately ran inside and squeezed myself through the crowd. I finally made it in front of the stage and parked myself in the corner with only 5 minutes left.

Forget the fact that at this point, I had to pee and I was incredibly nervous. I was just happy I made it. My instructions were "no flash" and you are authorized to take photos during the first 3 songs only. No problem. When Pink Martini finally came out, everything was sublime. I've seen them about ten times now, but this one was different. I was at the very front of the stage about to take their pictures. There were 3 other photographers there and I had to make sure I didn't accidentally or purposely kick them out of my way. But everything worked out. When Thomas Lauderdale (leader) said a few words in French, it finally hit me that I'm taking their pictures in Paris. I fought hard not to pass out.

Much like a wedding I shot last year, it was pretty intense. There is something exponentially different between shooting "fashion" versus "live events". And even though this wasn't important for Pink Martini, these photos were very important to me. I wanted to make sure I got it right. I only had 10 minutes to get my pictures. I started at the right corner of the stage and after the first song, I went right in the middle. The stage is about 4 feet high so it wasn't too bothersome for the audience to have me in front of them. But the first 3 rows of people could definitely see me and I wanted to make sure I didn't ruin their Pink Martini experience. And because I couldn't quite stand up completely, my knees and legs started to hurt. I didn't care though, but you could definitely see me shaking. After 30 seconds, I decided to forget the audience and just stand up. I only had one song left so I wanted to make the best of it.

After it was all said and done, my clothes, which were the same ones I wore to work earlier in the day, was completely soaked. When I finally sat down at the corner against the wall, I put my camera down and enjoyed the rest of the show.