Sharyn Shoots

Always the Sun
Until last week I hadn’t flown with my son in over four years. We’ve been taking vacations separately instead. It’s just the two of us – all the time – we do need to give each other a break now and again. The last several years I’ve been flying to Los Angeles without him, to visit friends. And he’s been flying solo to his grandparents’ place. A little nugget I just learned? These last few summers when he’s been flying unaccompanied, the flight attendants have been giving him a free upgrade to first class! It’s probably easier to keep an eye on him there. And I sure feel better about it. One highlight of last week’s trip was a Sunday drive up the PCH and a visit to Malibu. Though I couldn’t help snickering when I thought about the sheriff from The Big Lebowski.

Earlier in the trip we’d engaged in a lot of touristy activities at a break-neck pace, some of which weren’t photographed. Our morning at the Fairfax Farmers Market. A day of walking around LACMA (where my son isn’t considered a child but rather “Next Gen”). But I did get some good snaps in and around Griffith. We planned to get to the observatory right as it opened, at noon, but arrived super early. My son noticed the signs for the LA Zoo. I am not a great fan of zoos. I could have said no and found something else to do. But we had a good chunk of time on our hands and it was RIGHT THERE. So we went in. And my son, in true pre-teen form, was as difficult as possible when I pointed my camera in his direction. Even so I like the shots.

Follow the Leader
It has been an exceptionally hot and generally dry summer, filled with activities. I’m pausing on this rare rainy day to look back at a subset of these outdoor activities. Marching band parades. One was a dry run along the West Bank, from the Mixed Blood Theatre to The Nomad World Pub. That was just a week before a bigger performance with the full band, for the 2012 Northern Spark festivities on the Stone Arch Bridge.

Saturday, June 9th, 2012 – for Northern Spark

Saturday, June 2nd, 2012 – on the West Bank

Heliotrope Nine at The Lab Theater
I’m still in happy blissed-out mode after three days of Heliotrope – an annual experimental music festival. This year marked its 9th installment. The week before a “Players Without Instruments” interview was posted with me, where I tried to namedrop Heliotrope as much as possible as it really is my favorite live music event in the Twin Cities. A gathering for and by our “oddball music community” as Zak Sally put it in this City Pages article. This year I was in attendance for the entire thing and saw (and photographed) nearly every performance. If chronological order is your thing or you are a completist you can view all the photos here:

• Day One
• Day Two
• Day Three

Otherwise my favorites are posted below. I took nearly as many candids as performance shots and have divvied them up into those two groups.

Photos of People

Photos of People Playing Music

Another Walk About, After Dark
Intentionally or subconsciously…lately I’ve been shooting plenty of pairings. Often completely random – or random-ish – in compelling combinations. Friends, lovers, co-workers, but also people meeting for the first time. I’d like to do more of the latter. Another photo project to assign myself!

Are you listening, more or less?
Last week I had the pleasure of being in the presence of the legendary Genesis P-Orridge not once, but twice. Genesis (born Neil Andrew Megson) is known for pioneering industrial music with Throbbing Gristle, and later for performing with Psychic TV and Thee Majesty. In 1993 Genesis married Lady Jaye and they started their project to become Breyer P-Orridge, a single pandrogynous entity. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge continued this project after the death of Lady Jaye in 2007. Genesis was at the Walker Art Center with film maker Marie Losier for a screening of their movie The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye last Wednesday:

Pandrogyny is a very serious attempt by myself and Lady Jaye to push the boundaries of how people perceive humanity and the body in order to jump-start evolution. We came to the conclusion that this is a larval stage. The human body is not sacred. It doesn’t have to be male or female, that’s just an approximation that came out of primitive nature and we’ve got to a point where we can actually make decisions about how we evolve physically, mentally, spiritually and that’s what pandrogyny is all about.

The film and the Q&A afterward were interesting. I enjoy discussions surrounding different ways of being. Saturday night our local “Institute for the Advancement of Visual Culture” put together a private after party with a performance by Genesis with Thee Majesty. It was AMAZING. And so far beyond my expectations. One of the most memorable shows I’ve ever attended. Punctuated at the end of the performance by a super fan who grabbed the mic at the end to perform her own rendition of Throbbing Gristle’s Discipline. Naturally it turned out to be an old friend of mine.

9th Annual Fools Day Variety Show
Spring sprang and suddenly it’s April. Which means today is APRIL FOOLS DAY. A day I generally try to ignore (ever since my son learned about whoopee cushions) but this year we were invited to a backyard variety show. Billed as “a time for feeling foolish, and acting on those impulses for idiocy!” We only caught the middle part but that included an adorable duo with a guitar and an accordion, a man who sang a funny Irish song about itches in britches, several comedians, a poet, someone banging on pots and pans, and a guy performing yo-yo tricks (while wearing a Blade Runner hoodie).

Battle(s) of the Bands
In some ways, winter in Minnesota can yield more inspiration than our warm weather months can. More time to sit still and allow plans to form. Not that I’ve been sitting still much. With this winter being so very mild I’ve been going out more, instead of falling into the cozy trap of couch and cats and comforters. But even with, and maybe because of, my active social life the ideas for my new photo series have been coming together nicely. I’ve been talking it through with friends and acquaintances and hope to start shooting in early Spring. I’m excited! In the mean time, here are some photos from a few lovely shows I’ve attended so far in 2012.

American Cream / Jabberjosh / The Deaf / Seawhores at Kitty Cat Klub

Cadette, Oaks, Crimes at Memory Lanes

Ice Rod Chatroulette, with Littlefoot and NV

Girls Night Out at the Amsterdam with Hot Rash, Cadette and The Pinsch

Perish at the Kitty Cat Klub, with Bloode Folke and Blood & Sun

The Deaf’s Saturday night residency at Grumpy’s

A Not-Quite-Winter-Wonderland
We’ve had an usually mild winter, for Minnesota. Especially compared to last winter’s epic snowfalls and brutal cold snaps. Right now the poor ice sculptures are melting in Rice Park. They had been championing St Paul’s annual Winter Carnival but it’s more like St Paul slush right now, with temps in the 40s. But the outdoor temperatures didn’t affect what was going inside the RiverCentre last Sunday! It was the St Paul Winter Carnival’s annual Saintly City Cat Club’s Cat Show. And this year I learned my favorite judge was once an opera singer.

Art Sled Rally
I keep missing the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, “an annual pond hockey event on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Though an amateur tournament, the competition draws hockey enthusiasts from all over North America, many of whom have pro and college hockey experience.” But we did make it over to the annual Art Sled Rally in Powderhorn Park last Saturday. There was just enough snow on the ground for the sleds to work with. Not that all of them even made it down the hill. Some just tipped right over upon launch. But aerodynamics aren’t the point. Creativity is king (or queen). My son was so inspired he already has a plan for his own sled for the 2013 rally.

Art Shanty Projects
Last but not least, the Art Shanty Projects returned to Plymouth! They are now only happening every other year on Medicine Lake. This year the project was even featured on National Public Radio. We made it out the first weekend (this coming weekend is the last).

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of Year
Since I last posted here I’ve moved house, for the first time in over twelve years. I was so preoccupied with packing and unpacking that the holidays snuck right up on me. But we do have a tree in our new home. Decorated even, with a few gifts under it. And now I’ve got some holiday deals up in my etsy store! Postcards, framed prints and unframed prints. Want to get 50% off your purchase? You have not one, not two, but three ways to do so:

1. Leave a comment here and I will send you the coupon code.
2. Like my Facebook page, leave a comment on the wall there and receive the coupon code that way.
3. Follow me on twitter and mention my etsy store and I will send you the coupon code.

Hooray for social networking. Thanks friends!

In my previous post I mentioned holiday portrait mini sessions. That ship may have sailed but if you would still like to squeeze a session in before the holidays, or perhaps the week between Christmas and New Year’s, shoot me an email.

By the way, the below photos are outtakes from my session with The New Standards, for their holiday micro-site. Enjoy!

A Tale of Two Henrys
Fall is my favorite time of year. The changing of the leaves, the onset of sweater weather, and my most favorite of all holidays – Halloween! I love it all. And I was thrilled when asked to take outdoor portraits during this season for not one but two little boys named Henry. I photographed the first Henry on the day of his first birthday, in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis.

The second Henry is double the age of the first. Not much of an age difference really, in the grand scheme of things – two years old versus one – but a huge difference in mobility! This Henry led us on a merry chase around Minnehaha Falls. Up and down stairs and across bridges and pointing out statues and throwing and kicking fallen leaves around.

My own son is just as enthusiastic about Fall and Halloween as I am. There are many spooktacular events coming up this weekend but we may go with an old-timey option, with the Old-Time Halloween at the Gibbs Farm Museum this Sunday, October 30, 2011 from noon – 4:00pm.

In the mid-1800s Europeans, especially Irish immigrants, brought their Halloween traditions to America. Trick-or-Treat at Jane Gibbs’ house; make popcorn balls in the Red Barn; find pennies in a haystack and enjoy a cup of cider!

Before you know it November will upon us and with it the holiday stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. I plan to schedule a few days’ worth of mini sessions at locations around town, like Krueger’s Tree Farm and Pine Tree Apple Orchard. Stay tuned!