Northwest Institute for Social Change: The Blog

The $50,000 Camera

Today is the day. Rather than blog about my anxieties or expectations, summaries or thoughts, here is a piece I wrote at the beginning of our NWISC summer. At Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood, Phil and Erin asked us to interview a stranger:

When Robert Capa, the famous war photographer who stormed the shores of Normandy, was asked why he was a photographer, he merely replied, “Because I like people.” But John Kelly does it for the freedom.

Photographing his great black dog at Mt. Hood, under flocks of Tibetan Prayer Flags whispering beneath a great blue Western sky, photographer John Kelly fidgets with different buttons and dials. He searches up and down for the perfect angle, desperate to seek the perfect shot.

I soon found myself holding his surprisingly heavy Contax camera, photographing him and his two companions. I snapped, he looked, and didn’t like it, so I took another. Then he walked back, approved the shot, thanked me, and said, “You know, that is a $50,000 camera you’re holding.” All of the sudden it felt like a huge rock in my palms; this camera weighed more than several years of my college education.

He took his camera back and cradled it in his arms as he told his tale of fighting in the Vietnam War and climbing the Himalayas, all the while seeking solace through his lens. “It gives you a reason to be in a place and also it gives you an unbelievable entrée to meet people,” said Kelly. “You want to make pictures that other people will enjoy . . . and buy.”

Kelly wore a brilliant blue cowboy shirt with white diamond snap buttons, Wrangler jeans, and black and white soccer sandals that exposed his pale feet and overgrown toenails. His blue eyes sat deep under his faded red baseball cap as he lifted his camera to his brow to adjust the aperture.

Later, leaning coolly against a hollowed out tree trunk as a particularly long piece of prayer cloth above caught on the brim of his worn out cap, Kelly boasted about the celebrity photographs that have funded his savvy lifestyle. He mentioned the time he shot Bjorn Borg’s victory at Wimbledon, or when Robert Redford, a good friend, hired him to be the official still photographer in both The Horse Whisperer and A River Runs Through It. Kelly did not hesitate to describe his perfect portraits of Mick Jagger, Kevin Costner, and Princess Diana.

Yet, Kelly finds peace in his work. After discussing lifetime aspirations and feats, he looked once more upon the Tibetan Flags against the vivid Western sky and added, “I’m still looking to take a better picture, like I’m going to take a better picture right now, because I realized, this was the better angle,” and so he clicked once more.

We remained atop the snow-capped mountain swayed by a warm July breeze, but as my interview came to a close I had time for one last question.

“Why are you a photographer?” I asked.

He looked right at me and said, “It’s free. It’s freedom. I’m a free man and I do what I want to do.”

Be sure to come to the show tonight, there are some really captivating, inspiring pieces to see and hear.

Perspiring Social Change

Today’s adventures at the Northwest Institute faced new obstacles on both cognitive and physical levels. We the fellows not only engaged with important political communications figures to Portland and the United States, but did so under the pounding July sunshine. If you did not get the weather update, Portland temperatures exceeded 105 degrees today . . . and I hear it will only be hotter tomorrow.

Besides the sweltering heat, today gave us insight on how our documentaries fit into the world of politics. This is who we met:

Josh Kardon, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden’s Chief of staff. Kardon advised us on grabbing political attention for our documentaries. Among other ideas, he stressed one-on-one interviews with elected officials, multi media strategies (even blogs!), and Authentic framing of our issues to not only gain credibility but to evolve our ideas in the public spectrum. When asked how he keeps his idealism in the gritty world of politics, Kardon responded that there was a point in his career when he did lose his ideals, that in D.C. it is easy to forget why one is liberal or cares at all on certain issues. While George W. Bush was in office, however, he was inspired to strive for idealism once again, and his move back to Portland has relocated those goals with reality, retaining what he says many politician in Washington can easily forget.

Adam Davis, the polling service guru. Sitting in a booth at the nearby coffee shop, I think we all gathered much from Davis’ discussion. he spoke of the significance of qualitative and quantitative data not just in our documentaries’ subjects, but also in our audience. The importance of gathering information on what your audience wants to know or gain from our videos is key to presenting an issue so that the viewer comprehends it.

Brian Young, the head of communications for Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. In our video conference with Young, though at times scattered by a poor internet connection, we discussed multi media techniques. Young displayed how important it is to either build your own network, or to find a larger social network to latch your ideas onto in order to reach a broader audience. Again blogs for instance, are growing in strength as a medium to expose our ideas and push them constantly to inspire social change.

And Pizza with Politicorps! While far too dehydrated to compete in a much anticipated softball game, the two summer programs met this afternoon at the Mississippi Pizza Pub to mingle and broaden our social networks. For me, it was awesome to hear what ambitious young people are up to this summer, learning how Politicorps fellows have been campaigning all summer for social issues, such as marriage equality and healthcare reform. Even if we never get to that softball game, I think we have all met some incredible people and hope to connect with them again soon.

In other news, Josh Kletzkin has been appointed our official video production manager. Recently seen at the Hollywood Theater for the Portland release of the film he worked on, Throw Down Your Heart (A beautifully shot feature documentary on Bela Fleck, his banjo, and the many musics of Africa), Kletzkin not only introduced us to many inspiring documentaries last week, but has taken the reins this week to aid the fellows in any video production mishaps soon before us.