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August 02, 2005

Elisa Cicinelli, Mark Hunt, and Rodger Kingston

Elisa Cicinelli, Mark Hunt, and Rodger Kingston

Pictures tell stories - emotional stories, life-changing stories. But, sometimes stories need to be supported by words. Words that give background to the stories and tell of the creators, their inspirations and their dreams. Stock photographers are storytellers by nature, and have a need for adventure, travel, learning and excitement. This is the background of three of those storytellers, allowing us to follow along with the artists as they go on their creative journey.

Elisa Cicinelli, Mark Hunt, and Rodger Kingston offer us an opportunity to see through their lens and capture their experience:

A JOURNEY OF THE MIND

Elisa Cicinelli

What inspires a creative person to be brilliant in their work? What experiences in life grow the soul and expand the mind? Elisa Cicinelli, San Francisco’s most unique wedding and stock photographer, discovered her creative mentor in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, an adventure that stopped her life in midstream and took her to the Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Elisa’s struggle with issues of fear and anger were stiffing her creative muse. She needed to make changes: “I had no idea what possessed me, but I quit my job, subleased my rent controlled apartment, bought tickets with my credit card, and traveled for three months alone to Nepal and India. The first month of “immersion in Tibetan Buddhism brought a life living in tents and eating Nepali cuisine of one meal a day in order to practice nonattachment. Days consisted of rising at 5:00 AM, prostrations in the morning, meditations five times a day, walking around the prayer wheel, and teachings twice daily and in the evenings.

From Kopan to Varanassi to Bodhgaya the adventures were endless. “The Ganges River in Varanassi is a place of purification, so bathing and drinking the water is an auspicious practice. In order to understand this experience, you also have to be aware how much pollution is in the Ganges River. Westerners are warned not to take a dip.” From Varanassi to Bodhgaya everyone was taking the train to see His Holiness the Dali Lama. “We were shoulder to shoulder with rural villagers traveling with huge boxes and animals. I felt so claustrophobic I was sick.”

She experienced the site of extreme poverty and leprosy, met many wonderful people and endured the lessons in the Tibetan language via a translator over short wave radio with earplugs. She gained merit and good Karma by circling the prayer wheel and stupa (temple). “If you stopped you were in the way and could get run over. I joined the monks in prostrations and all was surreal. The sight of the morning fog, with darkness still around us, incense burning constantly, and candles everywhere, sent shiver down my spine.”

Today Elisa approaches life from a different perspective. She has learned to remain patient with others, be more understanding, and demonstrate compassion. “I am able to remain calm and at peace, even in times of stress.” Now she photographs weddings from all around the world, and has captured ceremonies from the Indian tradition, Buddhist tradition, Chinese tea ceremonies, and Moslem, Jewish and Christian ceremonies, all in Northern California. She brings her travel experiences into every aspect of her life. WWW.ELISAPHOTO.COM

ELVIS PRESLEY - THE KING

Mark Hunt

Elvis Presley, a king, a god, an icon? To worship, to emulate, or to praise? When you hear the name, you feel emotion for the man who changed the landscape of American music. Culture itself transformed with the mesh of influences from ballads and country music to gospel and R&B. Elvis was the first king of Rock and Roll.

What better way to pay tribute to a king than to copy his style, his look, his clothes, his voice and his mannerisms? In 2002 ‘Elvis Week’ in Memphis, TN, drew the top ‘Elvis Impersonators’. These are the folks who spend a lifetime acting, singing, and performing like Elvis. They ranged in age from 14 to 68, were both men and women, and came from a variety of countries and ethnic backgrounds.

Mark Hunt, leading fine arts painter and stock photographer, went to photograph the “World Championship of Elvis Tribute Artists” during ten days of activities and performances. “During the course of the event, I learned to understand what brought these people together to pay tribute.” The proper verbiage is ‘pay tribute’, not ‘impersonate’. “There is only one Elvis! What becomes very apparent is that Elvis was not a ‘God’ to be worshipped, but a kind, generous, honest, sincere human being with an amazing voice and great looks.”

Mark interviewed each performer asking them what inspired them to become Tribute Artists. He says: “in most cases the answer had something to do with innocence and childhood admiration of someone larger than life.” The artists all chose different periods of his career and performed for the love, devotion and spirit of his being. Eighty-two competitors gathered at the Holiday Inn in Memphis to compete on three criteria - voice, appearance and performance.

At Graceland, Mark was also inspired by the candlelight vigil done once a year on the anniversary of Elvis’ death. This was the 25th anniversary, which drew a record crowd. The torrential downpour that everyone endured just seemed to make the event more dramatic. “It was a true pilgrimage with thousands - some in wheelchairs - waiting hours to pass by Elvis’ gravesite to lay flowers and pray. Under a sea of umbrellas you couldn’t distinguish between the rain and the tears.”

As the rain fell all night with varying intensity, one constant was the sound of Elvis singing his beloved gospel songs. Mark notes: “The songs that meant the most to Elvis were the gospel songs he learned in church as a child. I hadn’t noticed them playing, but it finally clicked for me around 3:00 AM. I understood why everyone was there as my previous detachment melted away. The voice, the experience and the devotion were larger than life. I too began to pay tribute!” WWW.MJHUNT.COM AND WWW.MARKHUNTBACKDROPS.COM

A MASTERPIECE OF THE VERNACULAR

Rodger Kingston

Rodger Kingston, poet, photographer, teacher, artist, business man and all-round creative thinker, has given back to the world a part of our human history - photography in the vernacular. “In The Vernacular: Everyday Photographs from the Rodger Kingston Collection” is the title of the winter exhibit at the Boston University Art Gallery.

I had to review the meaning of the word - vernacular - upon hearing of this fabulous collection of 5000 vintage photographs, stored in the Howard Gotleib Archive at B.U. Webster describes “using a language native to a region, rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign language.” Rodger has taken the language of photography for the last 150 years, and returned to us the mystery and joy of the common everyday photographer. As most collectors chase a style and a lofty name, Rodger has put us back in the mind’s eye of our changing culture, our maturing lifestyle, our quirky genius, our timeless beauties, and the brilliance of the creative common man.

We see that children’s faces were as innocent in 1940 as in 1870. Tragedies were as poignant in 1890 as in 1950. Medical breakthroughs were as exciting and bizarre in the 19th century as in the 20th century. We can watch human life pass before our eyes.

What fuels Rodger’s passion for chasing through antique stores and barn sales? “I like the formal qualities of a well composed photograph and the capturing of gestures not possible in painting. There is nothing more intimate than a snapshot. As good literature describes who we are, the stock photograph does that too.”

Rodger is fascinated by finding beauty in horror. Ninety 4x6 color photographs of a 1984 fire in Fall River, MA, evoke images of pain and suffering, balanced by the beauty of the rainbows caused by the sun shining through the water drops of the fire hoses. “The smoke-filled blue sky rendered splendid, but horrifying beauty.”

Rodger identifies “narrative” and “theme & variation” as the two ways photographs can be put together. The above-described fire sequence illustrates the narrative approach. His most popular image, an 8x10 inch composite of 35 postage stamp-sized children’s school portraits from 1940, is a delightful example of theme and variation, offering us windows into who we are. “We like to look at other people, like the subconscious looking into a mirror.” Rodger’s collection is focused by his own aesthetic, and “if guided by overriding intelligence and good taste it can be a work of high art.”

Needless to say there is a market for vintage photography and Rodger’s biggest stock sale grossed $8000, illustrating a guy juggling pie pans in 1890, which sold to Dominos Pizza. THE SHOW OPENING ON NOVEMBER 5TH AND ACCOMPANYING CONFERENCE, VERNACULAR REFRAMED, ON NOVEMBER 5TH AND 6TH AT
BOSTON UNIVERSITY IS NOT TO BE MISSED. It is guaranteed that you will experience deep emotion, excitement, fascination and curiosity for who we were and what we have become.

Author, Pat Hunt, is VP of Corporate Relations at Index Stock Imagery, and a writer for various photographic publications. (path@indexstock.com)

Posted by Pat at August 2, 2005 07:57 PM

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