Art is Life is Art: Susan Reep Photo Art

I know I’ve been saying for some time now that Bakersfield, CA is no longer a cow town. I’ve been talking about the burgeoning art scene – new galleries, First Fridays, and now something new (for me, anyhow) – The Shutter Clique! I can’t tell you much more about this group yet because my friend Terry Telford just told me about it.  Terry, whom I think I met on Twitter, can tell you anything about what’s going on.  She may not know it, but she’s my guide. I have a link to BakoArtistConnect on the sidebar – that’s Terry’s site, and also to Bakersfield Express, an online publication that covers the arts well.

Anyway, The Shutter Clique meets once a month for photo shoots, and last night we met at the old Woolworth’s store in downtown Bakersfield.  The Pink Ladies, who I think raise money for charity, volunteered to dress up and spend an hour or so, and a few kind folks brought their period cars.

What a whirlwind it was!  Speaking of whirlwinds, a photographer named Patrick Ang made a video of the whole thing – you can watch it here – and I think you should.  So entertaining.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million.  The woman in green at the beginning of the video is Jennifer Williams and she seemed to be in charge.  Perhaps she started the group.

So here we go.

Once we got started photographers were zooming around, getting shots from every angle.  It was like paparazzi.  And I had a rude awakening:  the only angle I could photograph from was the 5’2″ perspective.  Or straddle my legs like a tent.  It seems the getting up and down isn’t what it once was.

Great setting – I felt like I was in the movie Grease.  But – Sandy wouldn’t have recognized these ladies.  No skin-tight body suits for the Pink Ladies (ok guys, you have all seen Grease – right?)  In our day, we’re talking tats and piercings.

Oh the horror of it all – those 50′s parents would be shocked.  Of course, I have a tattoo also and soon I’m getting number two; plus we’re all parents, and we’re not shocked.

You know, I don’t even own a pair of glamorous shoes.  How I’d love to walk around in heels – but I’d fall over.  Age does take its toll.  I bet my Twitter friend Katherine has plenty of glamorous shoes.

The cars were really something. We were so proud of those automobiles – the bigger the better.

Gorgeous ladies – so nice to volunteer their time for us photogs.

Someone brought a very well-behaved dog.  This is my favorite picture of the batch.

You know, it was kind of funny being there.  My style of photography is slower and more deliberate.  I didn’t go popping around snap snap snap.  That’s not to say I won’t do that.  I’m going to learn so much from this group – watching them and looking at their photos.  There are always new ways to see.

I love how on my Canon 7D I can switch from color to black and white easily.

Even though the colors are popping, the black and whites seem more real.  I always marvel at that.

Ladies, let’s have some attitude.

And simple elegance.  Look at the fins on that Cadillac.  They went on for days.

Christina Sweet, who is multi-talented and very sweet, wants you all to know the cigarette is just a prop.  Hear that, kids?  I doubt that Christina’s kids will be reading my blog.

Me and my patterns – I like how the dress is reflected in the car.

So that’s it, folks.  My first go at this type of activity and it was great.  I am thankful, I mean really, deeply thankful, that there are younger people full of energy to get these kinds of groups going.

Coming attractions

Still have a post to write about the artisan fair at Caffeine Supreme, the Walk for the Arts, and the recent health fair.

Tags: photo shoot, photographers, Photography, pink ladies, shutter clique, vintage cars, Woolworths

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 11:15 PM and is filed under Art, Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.