to move up and down
Retired senator Alan Simpson for Bloomberg Businessweek.
Alan Simpson at his home in Wyoming for Bloomberg Businessweek. The story so nice, I shot it twice. When he got out of the elevator in NYC on Tuesday and saw me standing there it took him a moment to recognize me and then he chuckled and said “OH SHIT, it’s you again! Here to pester me some more!” Still the most fun I’ve had shooting a portrait of a human being.
This is Alan Simpson the first time I photographed him at his home in Cody, Wyoming for BBW. There is no way to really explain how crazy he is unless you meet him in real life but he was full of good stories, dirty jokes and some straight talk about the finances of our great nation.
He was incredibly welcoming and got my assistant and I into the Buffalo Bill museum for free since we had some time before our flight and even told us where we could find “Beer that would make us shit through a screen door at a thousand yards” (still not sure if that is good or bad).
Article here.
Last week while shooting another assignment in town for Businessweek, I get a text from one of the editors saying “Mike! Call me back, I want to put you in a helicopter.”
The next day I got on a plane and spent three days in the suburban wasteland know as Phoenix, Arizona for a story about the housing boom currently going on there. It was on of the most challenging stories of my life from a visual standpoint but in the end, after spending hours driving around in circles in a never ending sea of shopping centers and mile long blocks (seriously), I am really happy and proud of what I was able to do.
Pete’s Barber Shop. Paonia Colorado. Full edit here.
Kerry Noonan, an organic farmer in Paonia, Colorado for Bloomberg Businessweek. Full story here.
Nobody ever shouts out their assistants anymore but I’m going to make it cool again. Thanks to my dear friend Evan who isn’t a photographer but can hold a damn good reflector and drove that rented chevy aveo like he was travis pastrana on a rally course.
Bobby Reedy for the aforementioned fracking story for Businesweek.
Bobby is one of my favorite people I have ever photographed/hung out with on a story. He operates pretty much the only filling/fix it station in town. I was told he was the guy with the local knowledge and to touch base with him as soon as I got there. I showed up at his shop at 6:30 in the morning and drank coffee/tar with him as a stream of local good old boys came by to shoot the shit before the days work started. There were three generations of Reedys running the shop. It was pretty cool. He still pumps everybody’s gas for them. While he may seem like a character from the Andy Griffith show, he could curse like almost nobody i’ve ever heard.
I spent two days in the beautiful town of Paonia Colorado for Businessweek last month for a story about the battle over fracking coming into the area. This was one of the best shoots of my life. Not just because it was interesting and pretty looking but the people I encountered in Paonia were top notch. I didn’t meet anybody I didn’t like there. Everybody was incredibly helpful and totally willing to help me out. Add that to the incredible, healthy, local food I got to eat most of the time and I was totally living the dream. I would shoot for 16 hours (which I did) a day all day every day if it was always like this. Check out the gallery on my website.
Berkeley Geddes for Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.
Businessweek is a great example of how a magazine with subject matter that could potentially be boring photographically, has decided to do great work visually. I think AARP is a great example of this as well. Some good art direction and photo editing goes a long, long ways. I’ve worked for Businessweek twice in the last week and the creative latitude i’ve been given has been truly refreshing. As a result, I’ve been really happy with the results and so have they (I think).
Berkley Geddes for Business Week Magazine. I think i’m sharing this issue with the honorable Kyle Johnson as well. I read this magazine it’s so good and I don’t give a flying crap about “business”. Also, their offices are like something out of the future…
