God bless us, each and every one.

So for the last two years I have been volunteering my services at the Downtown Chapel. They do lots of great stuff for the most marginalized members of society, i.e. the homeless, including the Portrait Project which started in 2007. It goes like this, over the course of four days in December their guests and volunteers are invited to get a portrait taken by moi or another fabulous shooter like Jason Kaplan who also organizes the whole thing. Then, a week before Christmas, the folks come back and get to pick up two 5"x7" color prints that they can give as gifts or keep for themselves. The Downtown Chapel even provides Christmas cards, stationary and postage for mailing portraits to family and friends. Cool right? Wanna feel even more warm and fuzzy? Check out their slideshow from last year. I have to say, this has become one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I always go in there thinking, ok, here I am, doing my volunteer work, giving back, aren't I so virtuous, blah, blah, blah. But man if I don't feel like I got the gift at the end of it. I get to connect, make people laugh and hopefully give them a few minutes to feel seen and heard.

Cuz' everybody likes a little attention.

Especially around the holidays.

Chillin' with Rich and Phil

Did a little assisting last week on this Track Town USA book project over at the Nike Studios. That place is sweet, and loaded with tons of gear and cute photo boys in skinny jeans. Not sure how I got involved in the whole thing since my assisting skills are dubious at best and I end up having to overdose on advil after a day of heavy lifting. Good thing I pretend real good. The project was through Rich Clarkson and his photo empire. Rich was the Directory of Photography over at National Geographic for awhile and in general a photo bigwig. Now he owns a company that shoots the NCAA national championships and puts out a bunch of books. I was helping with a picture of a bunch Oregon athletes AND Phil Knight (who I found out is not single...sorry ladies) for one of the afore mentioned books. Rich came into town for a tour of Nike and for a little book research. Our introduction went something like this.

Me (trying to be a kiss ass): "Hi Rich, nice to meet you, can I get you a seat?" Rich: "I'm not that old, yet." Me (now trying to be a smart ass): "Well, then you want to come and help me set up the lights?" Rich: "I'm not that young either." Me: "Uhhhh."

Turns out what he was perfect for was acting as a stand in as we got the lights set up. Here is a picture of him and I filling in for Phil Knight.

Hilarious.

But why does he look so cool and I look like I'm posing for my senior portrait? Thanks much to the photog Jamie Schwaberow who made this kodak moment happen.

Lessons on Being Grateful

Recently did a pretty intense shoot for the New York Times. I work for the paper probably once a week, as they seem to have a love affair with Portland, OR. And while I enjoy shocking people with how low their day rate is (don't ask) they do give me amazing assignments that take me all over the Northwest. Last week I spent a couple of days with some folks in danger of losing their home aid service. As states are trying to balance their budgets anyway they can, it has come down to slashing care givers for the disabled and elderly. Unfortunately, the result is that many of the folks who could get by with 20 to 40 hours of help a month are going to end up in nursing homes once that help is gone. It's a pretty sad and ironic tale of dealing with budget cuts in a no-win situation.

Enter Ken Poe, a former pilot who suffered from Polio as a child and as a result has trouble walking and standing. His house reminded me of a episode of the TV show Hoarders. Boxes, papers, and books formed a maze while a 25 foot oxygen tube snaked throughout the room. Ken agreed that while it looked like a tornado had touched down, in reality everything had its place and it was his way of "wall surfing," using the stacks to help him navigate around his house.

Throughout the day Ken told me bits and pieces of his life, how he got sick, what he studied in school, his escapades flying around Mount St. Helens right before it blew. Everything was told in a matter of fact manner, and Ken remained upbeat while I clicked away as meals on wheels delivered his lunch and old Perry Mason episodes played in the background.

At one point Ken wanted to move to his bedroom to lie down and needed my help. He could rise to a standing position but because he can't raise his arms more than waist high he needed me to take his hand so he could stand up right. It was almost like a dance, with both of us bowing and then rising at the same time.

I think Ken had fun that day. He had someone to listen to him, someone to pay attention to him. It makes me feel like I've given something then, something to Ken who allowed me into his fragile life where being able stand is reliant upon a pile of papers being placed just so. I love the work I do, I just hope that it makes some small difference and that I leave things a bit better than I found them.

After our time together I thanked Ken and went to my car to smoke cigarettes, cry and remind myself to always be grateful.

Goonies: Just one nonstop Truffle Shuffle

I really do have the best job in the world.  It's true.  At least that's what I thought when I got a call from the Washington Post to photograph the 25th anniversary of the filming of the movie Goonies.  You remember this movie... pirate's treasure, bank robbers, Sean Astin and the scary yet ultimately lovable guy named Sloth who kept eating all the Baby Ruth candy bars.  Well, even if you don't remember it, at least 16,000 other people do and a few weeks ago they all descended upon the town of Astoria, Oregon where the movie was filmed.  The 3-day event was packed with bus tours, trivia games, movie museums, costume contests..enough stuff to keep me perpetually glued to my "Goonie Weekend" schedule guide. I spent a fair bit of time snapping away at the autograph signings...watching Corey Feldman endlessly plug his band "Truth Movement" and the-now-slim-and-somewhat-foxy Jeff Cohen (the dude who played Chunk) shamelessly flirt with me and coyly repeat over and over, "Don't judge me!  Stop judging me."

Fans waited in line for five hours to have cast members sign autographs, their hands clutching old VHS tapes, action figures, and even a Goonies board game, for the actors to scribble on.  One guy had driven all the way from Buffalo, New York (granted this guy was wearing a handmade latex "Sloth" mask) and another group who had flown in from France...France, people!

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

This was some serious Goonies business and though I loved the movie I couldn't quite figure out what it was that had elevated it to cult status.  Endless childhood?  Endless possibility?  Whatever the case, it was pretty awesome to see so many folks unashamedly geeking out and throwing themselves headfirst into ridiculousness.

And that is something I can always respect.

Olympic Provisions | A well-lit haven of meat.

Recently photographed Olympic Provisions in the SE industrial area of Portland for the Finder section of Willamette Week.  They have bequeathed themselves with the title "American Charcuterie."  Oh, I love the hipsters of Portland, never taking themselves too seriously.  I will say that it is a beautiful space, the food is quite fancy and tasty and owner/Salumist Elias Cairo is a doll.  He let me into the super secret and protected back area to check out the shiny and pungent meat.  The only requirement was that I had to wear a white jacket and a rakish sailor style white paper cap (that I got to keep for my very own).  Who knew sausage could look so fabulous, plus OP is Oregon’s first USDA certified meat-curing facility, so that's pretty cool too.