Black Hawk

So, after 3 months I finally got around to sending my camera to canon for repairs, and now its back and fully functioning. To celebrate I took a little photo field trip to Black Hawk, CO. I was curious about black hawk because its a remote mountain town, its the least populated town in the state, and its a former mining boomtown. I also knew that there was supposed to be "a casino" there, but I had no idea that the entire town was pure casino. I walked around for much of the afternoon with a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach from all the debauchery going on in such a beautiful place. Everyone seemed so zombified and oblivious to the mountain scenery surrounding them--they'd come for a different fix. Only about 150 people live there, and yet thousands of visitors flow through everyday to gamble. I find this town pretty interesting, and I'd like to explore it a little more with my camera, but I feel like doing this kind of work involves a little too much soul sickness for me. Also, in the casinos I literally have to shoot from the hip with my arm hiding the camera, so that no one knows I'm shooting. This makes it rather difficult to focus and compose in a deliberate way. The one's above worked out half decently, but I suppose I could get better with this method with some practice. 

On a side note, I got an offer to work on an organic farm from mid-March to May in Paonia, CO. I'm psyched. I've always wanted to experience what its like working closely with the land like that and learning more about the food process. 

Also, check out my new website edit at sergegiachetti.com if you get the chance. Feels a lot more 'me' then my last portfolio. 

Around the Bend

Oregon Coast: Thea

Montana Nostalgia

If you're ever in the area, Polebridge MT is a truly special place. Although at least 1/5 of the town is portrayed within this frame, I assure you its well worth the 15 miles of dirt road it takes to get there. Just to give you an idea of the laid back earthy attitude that permeates the place, my brother and I were taking refuge in the shade of a nearby yard as we waited for a hitch into the NW part of Glacier national park. When the women who lived there walked out on her porch I apologized for sitting on her lawn, to which she responded "if its a good place for you its a good place for me." Wow.
And the baked goods at the mercantile are delectable.

Portland Lowlands

Feeling blessed with great old and new friends.

Far and Away

Hello, again. Please excuse my long blog absence. During my month and a half in Glacier National Park, I had very little internet access (rather nice, actually). And to think, I subsisted without constant snacking on those little tidbits of web simululacrum we're all so hooked on. I worked, I walked, I met and photographed interesting people, and I breathed in the bigness of the Montana sky.
My project on the Blackfeet Indian Tribe is still very much a work in progress. I've got pictures to show, but I really don't want to post them out of context on this blog. It looks like I'll be going back to continue work on it next summer, and possibly even this winter. We'll see. Feeling good about the interactions, but less so about the photos. Thats OK.
As for now, I'm on the road again visiting friends. Missoula MT, Bellingham WA, Portland OR (now), Eugene OR, Zion NP UT, Carbondale CO, Boulder CO and back home to Chapel Hill NC. Somehow enamored with the NW in a way that I wasn't when I lived here. Its probably just the people I'm spending time with. Lots of nice moments.

Back to Montana

In brief: I'm done with my internship in IN, just came off a wonderful roadtrip with my brother toby (shown above catching a hitch in a truck bed in Glacier National Park), and now I'm working at a cafe on the border of the park which I used to work at in college. I'm splitting my time between hiking, working on a project on the nearby Blackfeet Indian Tribe and spending time with the wonderful crew here at the cafe. Oh, and working. That too. This is the good life. I would write more, but internet is $3 per 15 minutes here. So for now I'll just include a couple more pictures.

Dog Show

At the Zoo

There's a tube that goes right through the otter tank at the Evansville zoo.

Ruthless...

but,
he cannot escape his kharma.

Kanna's Fight

I had a pretty neat assignment over the past couple days to photograph a model who's training to be a mixed martial arts fighter. She's struggled with being hearing impaired from a young age, and she's sees her training as a way to sort of overcome that. A really cool person.

Kid Leisure

Shadow Chorus

Grief Camp

These pictures came from a 2 day long grief camp. It was designed for kids who have lost a family member to get together, share their experiences and to let loose and have fun. I did get some fun pictures, too, and thats what ran in the paper.

Little Dragons

This is from a photo column I shot and wrote about a tae kwon do class for 4-6 year olds. Actually, it was mainly about the hard-core martial arts instructor who taught the class. "I'm not your baby sitter, I'm your martial arts teacher," he'd tell those little guys. Damn strait. Put 'em in their places.

Buddy Ball

A couple things: 1) I just finished my multimedia project on Buddy Ball, a T-ball league for kids with special needs. 2) I also just finished my portfolio website. You can find it at sergegiachetti.com
Take it for a spin and let me know what you think. The interface makes it really easy to adjust the site content, so hopefully I'll be replacing and adding content to the site frequently. If you care to to take a peek at my buddy ball piece you can find it on my website under multimedia. After photographing these kids for a few sunday's, I'm hoping to get out there and volunteer to be a Buddy in the next couple of weeks. I already miss going out there.

Safe at Home Base

Graduation Weekend

I photographed 3 graduations this weekend, two of them back to back. Fun. Tiring. Good practice for the high school graduations I'll be shooting next week.

Hurdles

Mattie

I've got a little mock portfolio setup to show others what I'm thinking about submitting for The Eddie Adams workshop. 100 newish photographers get accepted every year and are treated to an all expenses paid workshop with a lot of tops people in the industry. Feel free to comment if you have preferences on what I should submit. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.