Cuong Vu

Trumpeter Cuong Vu is an internationally renowned performer and is looked to as a leader, shaping the future of improvised music. I met Cuong for the first time a little over a year ago when he joined us, teaching at the University of Washington Summer Jazz Workshop. I found him to be a quiet, but insightful person. With credits like his, it would be easy to simply cop an attitude of having seen and done it all. This is not the case with Cuong, nor has it been the case with any of the truly great musicians I've known in my life. Cuong is humble, always listening carefully to what is being said and played. He is the opposite of complacency, always working, always improving, always learning something new. He has strong opinions, the result of a lot of thought and practice, but I don't feel that he would ever close the door on a new way of seeing a situation.

With all of that said, trying to communicate this about Cuong in a photo was a challenge. When I contacted Cuong about participating in the project, I didn't have a photo concept in mind. Over time I thought about what I felt would work and considered a variety of ideas. When I visualize an image, it's really more about trying to communicate a feeling, I think about the person, I think about their personality and I think about what I know about the subject in their life outside of music or whatever they are known for.

I knew I wanted something with a serious vibe for Cuong, although I did consider one humorous concept that I'll save for another subject. With Cuong, I wanted something direct. That was about as far as I could get. I ran through I variety of ideas. I had an idea and had scheduled a session where I wanted to have Cuong leaning against a wall on side of the frame at night, with a busy urban street on the other side. I wanted the image to be split in two, with a dramatic swath of light diagonally illuminating Cuong. I liked the idea but hit a roadblock when scouting a location. I just couldn't find a spot I liked. I shelved the idea and considered using another location, scheduled a session with Cuong, only to find that the city had closed access to the area temporarily. This brought me to the location we used, a short walk into the woods behind my house.

One of my initial ideas had been to shoot Cuong in black and white, with some kind of cucoloris behind him, his face lit with strong shadows around his head. I went back to this idea but instead choose to have a blurred, wooded backdrop. I lit Cuong with a single strobe fitted with a 20 degree grid. I ran it across his face, with the initial idea of shooting him from eye level. Over the course of shooting a few test frames with a digital SLR, I starting shooting from below and liked the feel. I switched to film and shot a roll. After seeing the digital images, I was really struck by his expression in two of the shots and I loved the way the light framed his face. I couldn't wait to see if I had had the some luck with the film. Switching from one camera to the next is always an opportunity for everything to subtly change. In the end, the film shots were beautiful, I loved the shadow transitions and the tone, but I was a little lower in perspective than the digital and it was enough to change the entire vibe. So, in the end I went with the digital shot.

I really like this shot. I think it really portrays what I had in mind and I think it matches the intensity and directness of Cuong's interview. Furthermore, I feel like this picture involved a bit of a risk on my part. It's really unlike anything I've shot as one has to be careful when shooting with a small, focused hard light. But, I think Cuong's music is about taking chances, so I think it was the best time to hang something out there and see if it would stick. I feel like it's sticking pretty well.

Here is a link to Cuong's interview: http://seattlejazzscene.com/?p=2245

Here's a link to Cuong's website:

http://www.cuongvu.com/

Technical info:

The image was shot with a Canon 5D MK II w/ef 24-70 2.8L USM at f/7.1 1/60th, ISO 100.

The lighting was provided by a White Lightning WL X1600 fitted with a 20 degree grid.

Triggered by Pocket Wizards

Saul Cline

Saxophonist, Saul Cline is a musician I have been familiar with since about 1996. I remember having toured across Washington with guitarist, Hans Fahling and saxophonist, Rob Davis. Saul was at a gig we were playing that later became a jam session. Rob was talking about what a fine player he is and after hearing him I was convinced. Since that time I have been continually amazed by his playing.

In early 2009 I met with City Arts Magazine in Seattle to discuss doing a print version of the Leading Questions series. They liked the idea and it was agreed that we would profile four musicians for the Tacoma edition. They requested that I find four Tacoma area musicians who were not generally in the limelight. Saul's name immediately came to mind. He's a musician known and respected by all other musicians, but rarely get's the press he deserves. I'm glad this article is a step in rectifying this situation.

In planning for this shot, it was a collaborative process. The art director of the magazine decided we should use a famous Tacoma antique mall for our backdrop. A week in advance of the shoot I went to the building to scout locations. The building is very old and full of odd rooms and things. This room had a great feel and I felt pretty strongly that it would suit my purposes for a portrait of Saul.

The shoot was very simple, we moved a few pieces of art, grabbed a chair from another part of the building and placed Saul in front of a large window. A large reflector was placed just out of frame to Saul's right to lift the shadows a touch.

Here is a link to Saul's interview: http://seattlejazzscene.com/?p=2058

Technical info:

The image was shot with a Canon 5D MK II w/ef 24-70 2.8L USM at f/5 1/60th, ISO 200.

The lighting was provided by a large, north facing window with a little bit of shadow lift from a large reflector on the opposite side.

Clarence Acox

Clarence Acox has been a force on the Seattle Jazz Scene since his arrival in 1971. He came to Seattle by way of New Orleans to accept a job running the music program at Garfield High School. Over the years, he managed to create one of the finest high school jazz programs in the United States and probably, the world. All the while, Clarence established himself as a permanent fixture on the Seattle scene working not only as a drummer, but as a band leader, leading his own group in addition to co-leading highly regarded groups with Floyd Standifer and the Seattle Jazz Orchestra with Michael Brockman.

I was very pleased when Clarence accepted my invitation to participate in the Leading Questions project. I think there are a couple of players that really must be a part of this project if it is to truly represent jazz in Seattle. Clarence is one those players.

Clarence completed his interview in December and I considered trying to photograph him before Christmas. I had a couple of different ideas in mind. I considered photographing him in front of a dark background, with a small soft box in front and a bit above him to light his face, and then use a large octabank behind myself to add a very subtle bit of fill light. I also thought about shooting Clarence in his office. However, I've never been in Clarence's office and I have no idea what it looks like or if it would lend itself well to a picture that would communicate what I want to say about Clarence. It is a danger that has to be monitored when trying to conceive of a shot. I can imagine Clarence in an office, I can see him sitting at his desk with light coming through a window, a career's worth of books lining the shelves. Yeah that would be a great picture. But, again, I haven't seen his office, so I have to keep an idea like that pretty low on the list.

Garfield High School is a beautiful old building. I could imagine shooting Clarence in one of the hallways. When I talked to Clarence about meeting for the shoot, he suggested we meet at the grand staircase that leads to the main entrance of the school. This sounded like a good plan, but something in the back of my mind started to suggest to me that I was heading down the wrong path. I realized that I didn't really want to make the presence of the school somehow overshadow who Clarence is. Of course, the school's successful jazz program is a tremendous accomplishment, but it almost seems a disservice to Clarence, the person, to define him by this single facet. There's a lot to the guy and to place him in the context of the school almost seems like placing him in a box, not to mention the fact that shooting him there seems a little cliche. It seems like the obvious choice, what every photographer would do.

So I did it.

Well, you know, you have to be willing to try anything and who knows, maybe it will work. It didn't work. I don't like these images. The second thing I did was to shoot Clarence from below. This was another choice, that I knew walking in, that I didn't want to do. Clarence is an imposing figure. He's a confident person with a deep resonant voice and when he speaks, people listen. He is comfortable in his own skin and you can sense it by the way he carries himself. No pretense, just real. So, why would I not want to shoot him from below, clearly expressing the traits I've just described? Two reasons. First, again, I don't want to fall into the cliche. It's the shot anyone would take, it's the obvious picture. I'm not really interested in the obvious picture, I want the one that shows a truth about a person that only people who know that person and who have talked to that person understand. This brings me to the second reason, I have talked to Clarence, I've taught his students. I won't tell you that I know Clarence well, but I know him well enough to know that there is the Clarence I described above and there is a Clarence that really cares about his students. If someone asked me about Clarence, I would say he is a sweetheart of a guy, and it seems odd to me to say that, because Clarence doesn't act like a sweetheart of a guy. He's not effusive or emotional, but if you talk to him and listen closely, you can hear how much heart this guy has and how much he cares about every kid he's worked with over the years.

So, this is why I chose the picture at the top of the page. To me it expresses something different about Clarence. His head is bowed, he is drawn in instead of having a commanding outward presence. To me, it's as close as I could get to a visual representation of the man inside.

When I arrived at the school, I saw the stairs but I also noticed the very modern looking brushed metal panels on the exterior of the new Quincy Jones Performance Center. They immediatley struck me as a potential background, so I set up two separate light plans. For the images on the steps of the school I used a White Lightning X1600 through a 60" Softlighter 2. For the images in front of the performance center I used an Alien Bees B800 shot into a 45" silver bounce umbrella. Both set ups were powered by Vagabond II's. Having two set ups made it very easily to quickly move from one place to the next enabling me to complete the shoot in about 15 minutes.

The contrast of the two separate set ups is huge. One is very old school, literally an old school, the other very modern and sleek. This modern element was really appealing to me because I think it also helped to cast Clarence in a different light. Jazz doesn't have to always look like 1955. This is the 21st century and though the music may have a long history, it is still vital and alive in this modern age.

Here is a link to Clarence's interview: http://seattlejazzscene.com/?p=1034

Technical info:

The lead image was shot with a Canon 5D MK II w/ef 24-70 2.8L USM at f/11 1/160th, ISO 100.

The lighting was provided by an Alien Bees B800 bounced into a 45" silver umbrella to get a little bit of a contrasty quality.

The school image was shot with a Mamiya RZ67 w/110mm 2.8 lens at f/9, 1/60th of a second, using Kodak Portra 160 VC film rated at ISO 100.

The lighting was provided by a White Lightning X1600 into a 60" Photek Softlighter II.

Triggered by Pocket Wizards