Monthly Archives: June 2015

Erik Isakson: Sports Lifestyle Imagery

June 12, 2015Garrick Infanger

Erik Isakson got a free plastic camera with a Sports Illustrated subscription when he was 11 and the rest, as he says, was history. The Orange County, California-based photographer graduated from the BYU Photography program in 2000. Among his many credits, he is the official photographer for General Authorities that throw out the first pitch for Mormon Night with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Explain how your commercial career developed. I started off as a studio manager for a photographer in Los Angeles and learned the ropes quickly, as far as producing shoots, working with clients, estimates, lighting, etc. I considered my time assisting as my graduate school. Sept. 11 happened and work slowed down and I was let go from my full-time position. Although scary and unknown, I was able to start freelance assisting, while slowly building up my own clientele. Within a few years I was able to quit assisting and focus on my own career entirely. I really enjoyed that time in my life when I was learning so much from so many amazing photographers. For the first six years of my career I was exclusively doing editorial and advertising work for clients. In 2006 I was hired on at a stock agency to shoot full-time for a stock photo collection. I was there less than a year, but that experience really blessed my career, as I started to shoot stock as well as assignment work. For me it’s been so important to have my eggs in multiple baskets. Although I shoot a lot of sports lifestyle imagery, stock photography has allowed me to shoot all sorts of other interesting subjects that I wouldn’t have normally shot before.

You have done a lot of athlete images over the years. What are the challenges with these portraits? As with any specialty in photography, photographing celebrity athletes does present its own unique set of challenges. For instance, most of the time with pro athletes I have between 5-30 minutes–if I’m lucky. My time with them goes VERY fast, so it’s important that I have every shot, every lighting scenario, every concept clearly defined and rehearsed beforehand. Since a lot of times there is movement involved, it requires some higher end lighting equipment and choreography to make everything come together. I always try to make a connection with each athlete as quick as possible, so they know I’m someone they can trust to get the job done right and respect their time. I also want to know something about them going into the shoot so I can have a conversation with them and put them at ease. For example, several months back I was photographing NBA All-Star Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers. I was photographing him at the end of a long and exhausting day for him. I started talking to him about his alma mater, Weber State, and how my parents went there. He immediately lit up and I had a great shoot with him.

What’s your favorite athlete story? I’ve got a bunch of stories, but one that comes to mind was when I photographed NBA superstar Blake Griffin of the LA Clippers. I photographed him right before the NBA draft in LA. This was literally days before his multi-million dollar NBA contract. I shooting him for the cover of a magazine. He was very quiet and cooperative. At the end of the shoot I had a small basketball I asked him to sign. He signed his name with the Sharpie then stopped and looked at it for a second. He said, “I’m not sure if you can really read that. Let me go over it again.” He proceeded to carefully write over his autograph so it was darker and more legible. I was laughing inside thinking, here’s a guy on the brink of super stardom, who will be signing so many autographs soon, he won’t have time to make sure each looks perfect.

What are you working on next? What I’ve enjoyed about how my career has developed is I’m not only photographing athletes these days, but I’ve been shooting for clothing companies, lifestyle/product shots for a client in the oil and gas industry, studio product shots etc., etc. I’ve really been able to broaden the sort of work I do. I would say that I’m primarily hired to shoot sports lifestyle imagery. Of the several shoots coming up, one that I’m particularly excited about is photographing Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh for one of her sponsors. It should be a fun day at the beach!

Visit Erik Isakson’s website.

Follow Erik Isakson on Instagram.

Fine Art

Sunny Taylor: The Objecthood of Painting

June 11, 2015Garrick Infanger

Sunny Taylor‘s website explains, “In her work, she is re-engaging painting’s geometric tradition, positioning herself within a network of influences who explored the “objecthood” of painting, as well as the surface’s potential for formal expression. Her works embody a built, almost sculptural aesthetic, with strong ties to architectural influences. Her compositions and patterns develop through meticulous, labor-intensive processes and spontaneous interactions with paint, color, texture and meaning.”

Taylor received a BFA from BYU and an MFA from The Ohio State University. She taught as an assistant professor from 2008-14 in the Studio Arts program of BYU and now lives and paints with her family in Utah.

Sunny Taylor 1

How do you conceptualize your shapes, colors, and designs. Do you do color studies? Sketches? All of the above. I sketch patterns and forms often, and always in black and white. Color is so difficult. With most works, I begin conceptualizing color by compiling a rough color study sketch of my intended painting in photoshop. Then, I begin to paint. The painting NEVER turns out like the sketch, and at a certain point in the process, I stop referring to my sketches, and begin struggling with the paint and the painting itself. That’s where the real gratification comes for me. The process of painting can be so amazingly challenging. I use my sketches and studies to get me started basically, and then during the process of painting, color changes, surface texture builds, edges develop, and patterns and shapes move and change in order to “resolve” the image. Towards the end of the process, I spend a lot of time just staring at the painting. I stare, I turn it upside down – I experiment with cropping out edges and shapes – then I stare some more. I know the painting is finally complete when nothing leaves me feeling uneasy. It just feels “right”.

What is next for you and your art? I will be showing a couple of paintings in a group show at the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City this July. The show is about “Clothing.” The work I’m making for the show is killing me! I decided to make some paintings that have a really intricate fabric weave pattern, with the thought that the tedious and repetitive process would help me to understand and empathize with the countless individuals throughout the world who work in factories in the clothing industry. These paintings have been mind-numbing and physically exhausting. Although I will never understand what its like to perform tedious and repetitive tasks, day in and day out, for years — I do know now what it is like to do so for at least several weeks. I can empathize to a degree with those individuals behind the scenes of our garment production, and I appreciate them and my clothing much more than before. – I look forward to this show. It will be with several of my good friends and colleagues from BYU.

Visit Sunny Taylor’s website.

Follow Sunny Taylor on Instagram.

Design

Matt Page: The Curious Mind of Designer Matt Page

June 10, 2015Garrick Infanger

Matt Page has been called ‘a gifted Photoshopper’, a ‘Latter-day lampooner’, and ‘sheer genius’. He is an award winning graphic designer, illustrator, and humor writer based in Salt Lake City with a wife and three kids. His tastes run more Sheldon than Penny. He studied art and design at Salt Lake Community College and the University of Utah. For some reason, he maintained a successful blog called Axl Rose: Hungry Time Traveller that was featured at Spin.com.

Page was hired to design the book cover for The Book of Mormon Girl by Joanna Brooks. Here are a few rejected design choices and the final design that was featured on The Daily Show with John Stewart.

You seem to be doing a little bit of everything. I work for a crafting and scrapbooking company right now and I’m really enjoying it. Most of my time is spent illustrating cute things and I am learning a lot of techniques that I can incorporate into my personal work. As far as my personal work goes, I’ve been busy keeping work in some of the local galleries in Salt Lake and Provo and I am currently working on illustrating an ABC board book for kids that is zombie themed called B is for Brains: ABCs for the Zombie Apocalypse. It’s fun trying to keep the balance between creepy and cute but the hard part of it is working in the same style for so many illustrations in a row. I get restless and want to try out new stuff and switching things up. If I do another book after this one, I want to make it so the style can change from page to page, if that’s possible.

You’ve spoken about dealing with depression in the past (as have I). How did your art help to tame the black dog? I have suffered with Seasonal Affective Disorder for most of my adult life. But my S.A.D. is different than most because I experience it in the spring and summer months. In the fall of 2013, I started really pushing my art – getting into galleries and selling on line and at the local comic cons. Last year was the first year in a long time that I didn’t feel my depression hit me at all and this year so far has been the same. I think the success I’ve found and the fact that I have been constantly engaged in that side of my career has done a lot to keep the depression at bay. Of course I still haven’t found a solution to avoid the anxiety which makes it so hard to get to work most of the time.

Your genres tend to run the full spectrum. What gets you noticed? What is popular as prints? What is your favorite? My Mormon-themed art tends to get me the most attention and sells the best – especially the humorous stuff. I think people enjoy it as an inside joke because in order to get what is happening in the picture, you have to get both the Mormon reference and also the pop culture reference I have mixed it with. And it’s fun seeing the range of people who enjoy them: from active members who want to send the postcards to their missionary, to those who have left the church and want to send postcards to their mom because they know it will upset her – and everyone else within that spectrum. I love that work and I am very proud of it, but on the level of artistic fulfillment, nothing feels better than completing a painting and seeing it put in a frame. Unfortunately I don’t get to do that as much as I’d like – especially because of the anxiety I suffer from that most of the time makes it really hard to even get my paints out.

You have some great pieces poking fun at the Church. Why is satire important to our culture? Well I never feel like I am laughing at the Church – at least not in a mean spirited way. I take my faith seriously, but I guess I feel like I can love and respect something and still find humor in it. The attitude that everything surrounding our culture and history must be spoken of with reverence and in hushed tones is off-putting and feels very cultish to me. It’s my church and my culture and I reserve the right to laugh at myself. I’ve had plenty of experiences of people who get quite defensive when I make a humorous alteration to a ubiquitous Church painting or photo. I’ve been accused of blasphemy, as if the paintings themselves should be revered as sacred relics, but when they see that I am not attacking the church or criticizing their (our) faith, they tend to lighten up and appreciate what I am doing more. Last year my parody work was on display at BYU library in the Special Collections department as part of a display of Mormonism and pop culture – and that lent a little more credibility to my claim that I am not committing unforgivable sacrilege.

Where do you draw the line on your humor? I think everyone draws the line in a different place where they feel comfortable. I draw the line before anything that I feel is demeaning or mocking. I tend to not make any jokes or satire that could be seen as being disrespectful toward the Savior or His work. I am willing to laugh at a prophet’s beard or their human shortcomings, but I don’t laugh at their actual calling or mission. That is at least where I draw the line.

Follow Matt Page on Instagram.

Visit Matt Page’s website.

Self-portrait of Page and his wife.

Fine Art

Louise Parker: Women of South Africa

June 9, 2015Garrick Infanger

Parker 2

Louise Parker is a talented South African painter incorporating African designs, colors, and themes with gospel stories and characters. She recently moved from Port Elizabeth, a small coastal town, to Johannesburg. She and her husband have three daughters. Her painting African Proverb VI (Iron Rod), shown above, and others below display that marriage between the gospel and her native land.

Parker: The Widow’s Mite (below): The idea for this painting formulated just before conference and I was surprised during conference to hear a talk about the widow’s mite, so this painting felt as though it really needed to be out there.

Parker: African Proverb I (below): One of the first paintings I produced inspired by African women.

Parker: Price Above Rubies (below): In the eastern cape where I am originally from, the climate is harsh and the plants that grow there are hardy and not always pretty, I felt this was a perfect analogy for many good people who serve diligently and survive harsh conditions, and these wonderful people are worth more than rubies.

Parker: Blessings (below): This painting was all about how we fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. The three ladies have the same amount of apples, but because the middle figure’s basket is so huge, it looks as though she hasn’t got an equal portion. We make all sorts of assumptions when we compare ourselves to others – mostly incorrect and that’s the message I wanted to share in this work.

How did you join the church? I was 17 years old and felt a desire to join a religion. I felt dissatisfied with the religion I had grown up with and began to investigate different religions as a matter of interest with my Jewish friend. I had known a Mormon girl at school and I had admired her parent’s marriage and relationship. I felt that I wanted that type of marriage. After having the missionary discussions, I became a member of the church just before my 18^th birthday.

Describe your art career. I studied art at Nelson Mandela Metropole University, majoring in fine art. I participated in various local and regional exhibitions and taught art lessons. Around 2000 I began illustrating for Macmillan Publishers. I had never considered producing religious artwork – in 2006 I sat in a rebroadcast of conference and heard a talk by Sister Anne Pingree. She spoke about her husband giving temple recommend interviews to Relief Society sisters who walked for miles to attend the interviews. Long after they had completed the interviews, Sister Pingree and her husband were making their long drive back and saw these two faithful sisters walking back to their village carrying temple recommends that they would never use.

As Sister Pingree spoke, I began to draw a figure, holding her temple recommend close to her heart. As I went home, that Saturday night I began to plan the painting. The parable of the five wise virgins came to my mind and I began painting the following week. It was one of the most extraordinary and blessed experiences I have ever had. Work on the painting went very quickly and in spite of the detail, I completed the work in a few weeks–I had a day job at the time. I sent the painting in to the church worldwide art competition and was blessed with a purchase award. The painting was used to promote the art competition on the website and published in the Ensign.

At around the same time, we had some families move into our ward from Zimbabwe and I became close friends with one of the sisters. She shared some stories about what they suffered and endured in Zimbabwe and ideas began to develop. I began to think of the scripture in Proverbs: who can find a virtuous woman? And it just seemed fitting to produce a series of paintings paying tribute not just to South African women who are industrious and brilliant examples, but also Zimbabwean and other African sisters. These sisters are so warm and kind and happy in spite of harrowing circumstances. I began to produce vibrant colourful patterned works to try and portray this. I don’t think I’ll ever quite portray the brilliant nature of my sisters, but I will continue to be inspired by their marvelous stories.

What has been the reception to your artwork? The reception to my work has been astounding – I have received emails from members who have shared experiences of how certain paintings moved them or made them feel the spirit and this is such a humbling experience for me. The success of these paintings has been limited to America and Europe. Religious themed artwork does not seem to be a popular in South Africa – especially not for an unknown artist.

What’s your next project? I have a large project that I am very excited to start. When we were still in Port Elizabeth, a member of our stake presidency spoke to me about an idea he had for a painting. President Wildskut was raised in the Cape and when the men went out to fish and they would return home in the dark, the women would stand on the shore and hold lanterns, open the doors of their cottages to let the lights shine and they would stand and sing to the men to guide them home. The men, in turn would sing to the women as they neared the shore. He suggested the title Lead Kindly Light. I would like to do this painting on a large scale on canvas so I’ve been experimenting with acrylics and canvas.

Visit Louise Parker’s website.

Other

Adam Bateman: Walking the Mormon Trail

June 8, 2015Garrick Infanger

Adam Bateman is in the midst of epic project—walking the Mormon Trail. Traveling with only his dog, Hannah, he recently crossed the halfway point on a journey from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake City. He began on April 28 and will walk more than 1,100 miles in total. Unfortunately for Bateman, this has been the rainiest May in 50 years in Nebraska.

Bateman is a graduate of BYU and received an MFA in sculpture from the Pratt Institute. Bateman says of his project, “My action is an investigation of the rhetorical and sculptural qualities of tourist and recreational travel in the west. It is an exploration of how a sense of place, and more specifically, travel though space is fundamental to experiencing the American West.” I spoke to him from Bridgeport, Nebraska last week.

How close do you stay to the Mormon Trail? That’s a tricky question. Brigham Young did one trail, but subsequent Mormons did variations on that trail. There are places where I have access to the exact trail and places where I don’t. There’s a real general sense of where the trail was. Sometimes I’ve gotten in trouble for crossing private land.

Where are you sleeping? Camping by the road for the most part. Campgrounds in bigger towns like North Platte add too much time as I might have to walk four miles off the trail and back to camp out. I tend to stay in a motel if there is severe weather. Like I had tornado warnings only 12 miles away.

What was unexpected? It’s taken longer than I anticipated to get over the blisters. Also, reading ancestors diaries. Official and secular accounts of the Mormon crossing. Interesting to learn about how it related to the California and Oregon trails.

What do you enjoy most? Living in the moment. This is so epic there is no way to think about it as a goal-oriented thing. I have a daily goal, but when thinking about it as a whole it is completely intimidating. Just have the mindset of this is what I’m doing right now. Where can I get food, where can I get water, and where can I camp. That being said, I’m 20 miles from the halfway point and that’s pretty exciting.

Visit Adam Bateman’s website.

Follow Adam Bateman’s journey on Instagram.

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