Maine Wedding Photographers Explore the Photography/Music Relationship
Oh, how to begin this story? Maine wedding photographers explore the relationship between photography and music? There is so much to say about how music and photography go together, hand-in-hand. To me, it’s like bread and butter, stars and stripes, pizza and beer. That kind of thing. Think of slide shows (when they really were SLIDE shows! [I bet most young people don’t have a clue why PowerPoint calls it running a ‘slide show’]) I used to do back in the days of film with a Kodak Carousel projector and a cassette player, trying to sync the changing of the slides (and to impress my audience of usually maybe one or two!) by pressing the remote control button in tune with Cat Steven’s Morning Has Broken… Fast forward to today…. I work at my computer editing wedding images with either Enya, George Winston, or better yet Paul Simon entertaining in the background. Or is it Vivaldi that inspires me the most? I love, too, the amazing sound quality from sources like Pandora playing through a modestly-priced 3-piece Bose computer speaker system… and the enjoyment actually surpassing my powerhouse component stereo of the 70’s and 80’s. And how the device, our Macs and PCs, so central to our work as photographers, is also central to how music is obtained, stored, and played today. So, why would Maine wedding photographers explore the photography/music relationship? This is why:
A few months back, I entered four images into a photography competition from my alma mater, The Maine Media Workshops+College. The theme of the contest was ‘seasons’ and I entered my favorite-ever fall image of a orange-leaved tree in a field blanketed with fresh snow from a Halloween snowstorm in 2011. When I entered, I noticed that it would cost no more to enter four images than just the one, so I tossed in seasonal images I found in my repertoire from winter, spring, and summer. Lo and behold, I received in the mail, just about when I had even forgotten about having entered this contest, the certificate shown at left. I had won, it seems, Curator’s Choice for an image in the Single Image Category. Funny thing, though. It wasn’t for the autumn image, it was for the image I submitted in the ‘summer’ category, Cape Porpoise Summer Evening, shown below.
A nice letter accompanied the certificate; it was from Manuel Bagorro, the Artistic Director of Bay Chamber Concerts. The Seasons contest, which also included writing and video components, was a joint collaboration between his organization Bay Chamber and the Maine Media Workshops. The concept was to generate artistic energy and attention around a special concert that was held Thursday, July 24th at the storied Rockport Opera House. The best part is that we were gifted two tickets to this concert, featuring the Curtis On Tour Ensemble. And what a concert this was! The concert featured portions of The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, often part of weddings, so the tie to us as Maine wedding photographers was pronounced. Both Liz and I felt our jaws drop, our spines tingle, and goosebumps as this extraordinary group of 9 ultra-talented young musicians played the opening notes of La Primavera (Spring) featuring Jung Min Choi on violin. We’ve both attended many live music events over a wide gamut of genres, and we both agreed that this concert was one of the most spellbinding and enjoyable works we have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. We could not believe how much music strings alone could produce. It was simply real music played exceptionally well with enthusiasm and boundless energy. Bravo!!
Continuing the treat was getting to see a slide show of all the winning still images and video not only in the Opera House before the concert, but also projected outdoors after dark (below) at Union Hall in Rockport, a location near and dear to my heart as it was the classroom for much of the programs of study for me at Maine Media Workshops.
So, all in all, the tie to wonderful music and photography for us is stronger and better than ever.
We arrived in Rockport just early enough to stop by the always-picturesque harbor for some scenic photos. Enjoy! (and have your favorite music playing in the background!)
Thank you for reading!
-Russ-