KEXP Audioasis - One Last Time

Discover America, live at KEXP © William Anthony

Many Seattle locals know and love the great "listener powered" radio station 90.3 FM, KEXP.ORG. From November 2003 to November 2005 I was their photographer of record. (They now employ a team of volunteer photographers.) And nearly every Saturday night from 6-9pm, I dropped by to photograph the local music show Audioasis. It was always great fun to cram into the tiny live performance space with local bands and shoot their in-studios. All the while doing my best not to unplug or knock over anything by accident. I met some great people during my stint there and really came to love being at the station, hanging out with the DJs and musicians alike. It also gave me a chance to cut my teeth, photographically. It was a great experience all around.

So, with just a week or so until my relocation to Los Angeles, I decided to call up my Audioasis DJ buddy Abe Beeson and ask if I could drop by and shoot one last in-studio. And lucky me, it was the great local outfit, Discover America.

Shooting their set brought back a lot of really good memories.This is a small edit from their live set.

Farewell mighty Audioasis.




Discover America, live at KEXP © William Anthony


Abe Beeson with some product placement for Tacoma Screw.
© William Anthony

Update: See the rest of the set here.

A Photo Editor (APE) Promo

Rob Haggart, the formerly anonymous, former Director of Photography at Men's Journal and Outside magazine tried a little experiment in photographer promotion. He put out a call for entries on his very popular blog asking photographers to submit their freshest images to be considered for inclusion in a free online slideshow he'd make available to art directors, photo editors and art buyers. A monumental task when you consider over 1,300 photographers participated. From this, a pool of 297 images/photographers was chosen for the final slideshow.

I made the cut.

See the slideshow post here. Or see the full screen version at ilikethesephotos.com

Below are my submissions.


(L) UrbanLab founders Sarah Dunn & Martin Felsen with their daughter Aubrey, for Architect Magazine.
(R) Erin with gnome on Polaroid with bbq sauce. Personal Work.
© William Anthony


Untitled. Personal Work. © William Anthony

Rob posted that if no one included in his slideshow got any new work as a result of this promotion, he'd consider the experiment a failure. So if you are an art buyer, photo editor or art director—do it for Rob. Call me.

Goin' back to Cali. For good.

After almost exactly eight years, I've decided to leave Seattle and return to California. Specifically Los Angeles. The reasons are really quite simple.

I've been doing a lot of work in California over the past few years and began to feel the pangs of homesickness. When I first moved to Seattle in 2000, it was quite a departure from the laid back San Diego I left. I came here looking for creative inspiration and I got that—in spades. But time goes by and people (me) and cities (Seattle) change. Seattle feels very different lately and I had begun looking forward to my trips to California more and more. And yes... I miss the sun. And the beach. The real beach with waves and crafty seagulls that steal your food and screw with your stuff when you're not paying attention.

Another reason is purely professional. Last year was my best year ever—financially and creatively. I'm hungrier than ever and simply want to put myself in a market where I don't feel like I have one hand tied behind my back. I hope to land more editorial and advertising work in LA. And the simple truth is there is more of that there than here. Many shooters have chosen to stay here and have made a wonderful career for themselves. Bravo to them. Really. It's a HUGE accomplishment. I'm just not cut out for that kind of fight. And so I go.

And lastly, say what you will hardcore Seattleites, but In-And-Out Burger beats Dick's Burgers by a large margin.

So, the final drive down I-5 will take place in May. We hope to be settled by June. I plan on continuing to work with all my wonderful clients here in Seattle as long as they'll have me. Alaska Airlines has hourly flights from LAX, Glazer's rentals has all the gear I might need and the three hour flight is almost as long as driving to the city from the East side at rush hour anyway, right?

Now I just have to get used to saying "Governor Schwarzenegger."

Thanks for the memories Seattle.

Alaska Airlines

I just completed a great assignment for Alaska Airlines. The Seattle-based airline needed some imagery of their employees for collateral and photo library. My crew and I spent two full days at Seatac Airport photographing staff and crew going about their work day in the terminals, gates, aircraft and their ultra-snazzy "Boardroom" VIP lounge.






All images © William Anthony

Great people. Great airline.

Credits
Photo Assistant: Ryan Schierling
Styling: Jenny Verador
Alaska Airlines Brand & Product Marketing Manager: Kathy Weishaar
Agency: HMG