Sundance Wrap 2009

The hard work is done. We put out our 10th and final issue of The Daily Insider. This year was a very efficient and fun year. The the work was easier after my third time to The Festival combined with a super proficient production team. Having a strong staff makes the work less like work and more like fun. It doesn't hurt to be working with some of the most intelligent, committed and passionate people I've been blessed to encounter in my professional career. Here are some of my favorite portraits from The Sundance Film Festival 2009. Subjects are: Director, Video Artist and Photographer Laurel Nakadate, Artist and Technology Guru Nathan Hemenway, Daily Insider writer Clay Smith, director Ross Katz, Daily Insider Managing Editor Bridgette Bates, Street Talk subjects Sara Basso, Lee Toland Krieger and Larabee, Actor Lou Taylor Pucci, Daily Insider Production Coordinator Shawn Sherril, Actor and Director Joseph Gordon Levitt.

Sundance Kids Wear Ad

Yesterday I had the opportunity to shoot for the kids wear advertisement for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival line. A special thanks to Jessica, Victoria and most of all Roxie for all the help on the shoot!

Sundance and fiinally, a screening

Today I got a chance to see my first film of The Festival. 5 days in. It's a busy festival and it's a lot of work. After the first weekend the crowd lulls - some head back to LA and the locals come out. Today I caught a film by Laurel Nakadate, Stay The Same Never Change. This movie was filmed entirely in Kansas City and in several locations I've been in for shoots with my first job out of college, The Kansas City Star. It was a wonderful non linear film full of vignettes of teenage girls awkward moments in one summer. I was very excited to see this movie when I first read the Sundance press release in November. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the director randomly earlier in the week. The following photos are completely unrelated to The Festival and were just something I shot waiting for a ride.

Sundance STREET TALKING

Part of my role as photo editor for The Daily Insider is to do a daily- or mostly daily depending on ad space, section called STREET TALK. We head out with a question, usually quirky in nature. For example the first session's question was 'if you could make out with anyone at Sundance, who would it be and why?' Usually the responses are quite interesting. People like it when the press pays special attention to them. I head out with Evany Thomas a Bay Area local. Usually I meet everyone from film zombies - the living dead who slowly wander Park City with vacant eyes mumbling about movies, to celebrities - mostly small time reality stars from The Hills or recurring characters on It's Always Sunny In Philedelphia (my favorite show!!!). The first photo in the series is the intrepid Evany followed Holly Montag (The Hills), Ben Kasulke (Humpday), Conrad Smith, Laurel Nakadate (director and writer of Stay The Same, Never Change - shot in Kansas City), Haydee Cifuantes, Sophie Islip and Jeff Dowd. The later is the alleged inspiration for The Cohan Brother's 'The Dude' aka The Big Lebowski. He also made out with Evany, much to her surprise and disbelief when she asked him the question of the day.

SUNDANCE PORTRAITS

Annually I head to The Sundance Film Festival to work as the Photo Editor for The Sundance Daily Insider. This year we're in a new space, implementing new styles for the paper, putting more emphasis on live coverage and pushing the videos on our site -www.sundance.org/festival. I'm most excited to work in the portrait studio I have set up for our exclusive coverage. My first subject, Calvin Knight is a veteran photojournalist. He's covered shuttle launches, professional sports and is on The New York Times speed dial for coverage in his native area Florida. Next two images are of Duane Trower. Duane is one of our go to guys to get things done while we're tethered to our laptops. Duane drives with the precision of a surgeon as he cuts through side streets to avoid traffic taking us to and from appointments. He also gets up early with Shawn Sherril to deliver the paper we publish everyday. Cheryl Carlson leads our distribution and production. She's an unsung hero who goes to Salt Lake City every night for our press checks. Joe Beyer leads the video team during the 10 crazy days of The Festival. He's sharp, knows what he wants and never stops working. The man is tireless. Here I'm sure he's conjuring the spirit of Lou Reed circa White Light/White Heat. I had hoped to post more but have to go into a budget meeting about tomorrows issue. Please check back again and support indie film.

GUARDIAN SCENE winter 2008

The Guardian published their quarterly guide to nightlife this last week. Included is a review of several bars and restaurants. I shot images for Uva Enoteca and Gitane. The former is a wine bar in my neighborhood, Lower Haight and the later is off Union Square.

Uva Enoteca has a hidden quiet wine bar feeling. The food is worth checking out as well. My wife and I split the verdure of celery root, pomegranates and sage along with the pizze of caramelized onions, prosciutto cotto and fresh mozzarella. The pizza was larger than I expected and quite delicious. The space is quiet and the staff is friendly and helpful. It's a place to check out when you're in the mood for a wine bar in the city.

Gitane is a beautiful bar tucked off Claude Lane and Sutter. The bar is enticing and has quite a selection of fine spirits. I did not have a chance to sample any of the drinks I photographed as I was on a time constraint. However the ambiance and knowledgeable staff will draw me back for an Old Fashioned or a good rye whiskey on the rocks.

The Norwegian and The Nebraskan

Sunday I photographed some people near to my heart, Jon and Whitney. Jon is a physics student at UC Berkeley and Whitney is a teacher in San Rafael. It's nice to photograph people who play a special part in my life. Creating a shared moment together keeps my photography not just a job or an art form but a truly tangible reference to the station and place I'm at in life. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be friends and photograph these two people.

Sandbox Art Show

The annual Sandbox Art Show Benefit has come and gone this last week. It's always nice to see the studio filled with lots of friends and family of Sandbox. I had three pieces in the show, one sold ("Rite") and there is interest in another from a close friend. I'm quite proud of the show and the pieces all the artists exhibited, specifically art from Jacqui Galle, Kelly Ishikawa, Charlie Maier and Naseema Khan.
The following images, "Reside", "Rite" (sold) and "Remain" mixed digital photography and painting.
The later two images are hand painted and one of a kind pieces.

SCENE cover

The Guardian publishes a quarterly guide to nightlife in San Francisco. This fall my work graces the cover. This was shot in North Beach on Broadway and Columbus. Please visit www.sfbg.com for the content.

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San Francisco Bay Guardian SCENE

The most recent issue of The San Francisco Bay Guardian's SCENE is on news stands right now and I hope you've had a chance to pick it up. Included are several great write ups of local businesses and people making San Francisco the eclectic mess of insanity it is. More importantly, as far as this blog is concerned, the center spread is a nice 13 inch tall 2 page spread from Brandon Joseph Baker. I was very pleased to be involved in this shoot. Mirissa Neff has done a wonderful job of putting extra emphasis into the visual content of The Guardian. I want to also give a special thanks to Silke Labson and Jes Wells of Meep.com, Marke and David and the models - especially Dexter and Lauren for keeping it all coherent with their styling and make up work!

UPDATE OF WWW.BRANDONJOSEPHBAKER.COM

My hope this weekend was to get onto the computer, run some images through photoshop and update my current website www.brandonjosephbaker.com. Best laid plans and a wife intent on a speedy recovery (i don't blame her. that collar bone has been a pain in the neck for too long, pun intended). None the less after the fourth of july holiday i should have a batch of new images here and on my website for your viewing pleasure.

If you're in San Francisco this week please pick up a copy of The Guardian and check out the center spread of SCENE, literally where the staples meet. It's not quite a center fold and not quite a double truck but there is some big play for my image!

announcement of upcoming art show

I have been working over the last 6 weeks on some new pieces for an art show on August 2. It's my first solo show at My Trick Pony, a gallery and custom graphic apparel store in San Francisco.
I've been putting together some illustrations for the shirts. I've been running with the idea of abundant little monsters, a theme I've been toying with for several years. For the hung art on the walls I've branched out into a new medium, sculpture. I don't want to say too much as the final pieces aren't completely finished.I'm sure as things build I'll put more up about the progress...

THE DETAILS: the show is on August 2 at My Trick Pony, 742 Fourteenth Street, SFCA. Arrive sometime after 7:30, drink some wine or Jameson, enjoy the gummy bears and Oreos and then buy a t-shirt or splurge on some limited edition art for your home.

lackadaisical effort at a blog

my most sincere apologies for anyone who reads (the past and future tenses of the verb "to read" as well) this blog. i have found myself in a bit of a crunch with time lately. there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get my hands and mind around the countless projects i've concocted and been paid to vanquish lately. of said projects this blog has fallen to the wayside. in a last ditch effort to finish what i've started here is an update on the things i've been shooting or working on lately.

earlier this year i shot some photos for a musician out of San Francisco named Chi McClean. the concept was to do some natural shots of him in his environment, playing some music, in the studio, ambient shots, etc etc. the usual stuff. he's a very laid back fellow and we thought that should reflect in the photos. the album hasn't been released yet but here are some of my favorites from the shoot.



I also shot some images for The San Francisco Bay Guardian. They are publishing a special section called Explore SF which publishes May 28. It's technically May 27 but I doubt leaking images 8 hours before the issue hits the stand is going to be a problem, even though tons of people sit anxiously with baited breath to read this blog.

the first (and my favorite) neighborhood i shot was North Beach. North Beach can be a real CF sometimes with the tourists, traffic and general madness that surrounds outside dining. I shot at night originally but didn't make it there in time for "magic hour" as i had intended (i blame the MUNI). i returned one early morning at sunrise to find the blue and gold light washing cooly over the sleepy nearly vacant streets.


The shots from Hayes Valley and Nopa went well though I don't really think the later constitutes a neighborhood. NOPA stands for North Of The Panhandle. it's also a restaurant on the corner of Hayes and Divisadero that is technically north east of the Panhandle. This area used to be called the Western Addition or Upper Haight depending on your perspective and or race. The idea of naming every inch of our fair city and hotly debating the bounds of said neighborhoods is a favorite pastime of many residents here. personally it just pisses me off to no extent. NOPA is just new fodder to the fire, the neighborhood, not the restaurant which i've heard is quite nice. the Inner Richmond is an interesting place. there is a lot of Asian restaurants, stores and fog (of course i thought dark brooding images of empty streets blanketed in fog would publish well. instead i went on one of the few days of cloudless days). a really solid bookstore is there, Green Apple Books, though i rarely frequent it as it's west of Stanyan and i have a disconnect with traveling west of Stanyan unless it's for several specific activities- the beach with Samson, the park with Megan or to traverse the Golden Gate Bridge on my way to Marin. none the less the neighborhood is quite popular despite my lack of enthusiasm.
I've also been busy shooting a series of photos for Catholic Charities CYO Camp. It's been a fun project with a great art director, Matt Viglione. We have had several shoots on the camp property and in Occidental, a mouse fart of a town in Sonoma county. We're headed back in July for more so check back then for more updates. I'm headed to Kansas City tomorrow to attend a wedding. I hope to update this with more regularity in the future but can't promise anything as I just got confirmed for a large chunk of time at the studio and i have a show at My Trick Pony later this summer. i'll be drawing little monsters for their t-shirts in exchange for a gallery show with a month to hang my art on their walls. if you're in the city or want to be around August 2nd please let me know and come out to the show. it promises to be a good event with a large turnout (plus lots of the sauce to get the evening rolling...)

SFBG : SCENE

I shot some images for The San Francisco Bay Guardian's special section SCENE and it published today. Grab a copy of The Guardian today and check it out. I photographed at two of my favorite bars in San Francisco, The Homestead and Alembic. The Homestead has a wonderful atmosphere and very friendly staff who I love to purchase my favorite whiskey, Bullet Bourbon from. Alembic is a whiskey bar run by a wonderful guy named Daniel. His selection of whiskey and scotch is wonderful and they are great at pouring special concoctions to your drinking desire. The food here is wonderful as well. The cod with the Viex Carre is wonderful and you can't go wrong with a side of the fries either. Go out and get a drink and support your free weekly indie publications while you're at it.

first transmission: noise pop 2008

Sunday marks the end of Noise Pop in San Francisco. I didn't get a chance to get to as many shows as I'd have liked due to a serious cold and several conflicting shooting assignments. I have however found time to get to some really great shows. The best was The Blacks at Great American Music Hall followed closely by The Okay at Bimbos. I'm a huge fan of The Okay and The Blacks are a new found joy thanks to an introduction from Sonic Spectrum out of Kansas City and Julie Schuchard at Tricycle Records.

Sunday also marks the beginning of my photo blog. I wanted to have a place to put photographs up immediately without adding to the galleries in my current website www.brandonjosephbaker.com or on myspace

So here it is. I'll save the commentary on the shows as I have a busy week.
THE BLACKS



THE OKAY


DELTA SPIRIT



BODIES OF WATER





PORT O'BRIEN