2009_02_24_Working in a sodium chloride mine going down down down

2009_02_24_Working in a sodium chloride mine going down down down

Right about now I'll be stepping onto an elevator and descending about seventy stories below the surface of the earth into a strange, dark, and dusty place, the Hutchinson Salt Mine. I'll be spending the day with the workers documenting their underground lives. I'm not quite sure what to expect except for really challenging lighting and a nice dry 65 degree day without the sun.



I lightened everything out of my bag except for the essentials and a lunch consisting of a couple pb and j sandwiches, a banana, a granny smith apple, and a bottle of water. That way it will be much easier to get around all day.


Lightened load, only the essentials.


Fully charged batteries for a full day of shooting. I marked them a while back so that I know which are spent and which still have a charge when I am sifting through my bag.

Other than that all I have to carry, among other things, is a certified breather that's about the size of mango, but in rectangle form. The breather only weighs about 3 pounds and in case of emergency it turns poisonous carbon monoxide into harmless carbon dioxide to allow for greater time to run out of the mine. Knock on wood, don't worry though, salt mining is actually very safe, especially when compared to coal mining.


Waiver and releases let you know what you'll be doing is exciting.

I also sorta enhanced the seals on my camera with some electrical tape and rubber bands to keep the salt dust from getting in where it shouldn't. If the mine is worse than I am anticipating as far as particles in the air and getting all over my camera I'm also bringing down two weather bags that fit around my cameras and lenses. I really don't want to use those though, they are a real pain in the butt.


Super seal, patent pending.

Other than that I guess there isn't much. I'm really excited to get down there and start making pictures. I'm leaving my apartment at 5am or so to get to the mine before the workers start to arrive to capture the whole process of one of their full work days.

So, if you need to get in touch with me tomorrow, good luck, my phone won't have much signal due to the interference of 700 feet of rock, sand, dirt, and salt.

See you topside,
Brad Vest

Listening to: Your rocky spine, Great Lake Swimmers

2009_02_19_Hostage camera situation

2009_02_19_Hostage camera situation

This past Thursday there was an armed standoff in downtown Hutchinson. It started out as a hostage situation, but by the time I got there the hostages were released unharmed and the only thing being held hostage apparently was my ability to make nice photos and the time in which I had to make them. A man confronted his ex-wife, who had just enacted a restraining order, at the law office with a loaded pistol and took her and the other people at the office hostage. He quickly released the hostages but stayed holed up in the office with police surrounding the building.


Police Officer with very large gun.

This was my first time covering something like this and I wasn't surprised at how hard it was to make photos while there. The first thing that hinders photos is proximity. With the cops pretty much shutting down an entire square block around the scene nothing was going to be tight with a 70-200mm zoom lens. I tried to overcome this shortcoming by using contacts that I had made in this small town. It just so happened that the scene was right across the street from a downtown loft that I shot an assignment in earlier this month. I made may way the loft talked with the owner and got permission to get up on top of his roof to shoot photos down at the scene. The top run on the ladder placed outside was as far as I got before a SWAT member politely stared at me, shook his head, and pointed down. Well it was worth a try right?



Either way, nothing really happened for a few hours and then my photo editor called me and told me that I had to move on to an assignment to cover an art walk that happens every third Thursday on the south side of downtown Hutchinson. We did have another photographer covering the scene from the other side of the block, but I was caught off guard to say the least when I was asked to leave an armed stand off to cover an art gallery. I mean, I was ready to sit there all night and wait for anything to happen, that's what journalists do.



Granted, I was going to go shoot this event, edit my photo for the feature section of the paper, and then rush back to the scene to hang out for the rest of the night. But just like anything that one waits for a long time and then ends up leaving, it happened without me. Just as I was getting back from shooting the feature walking into the Hutchinson news building 9 bangs were heard rolling from downtown, flash-bangs. In an instant it was over and I was 3 blocks away.

Keep in mind, even if I was there I probably would not have made any decent pictures of the relatively peaceful arrest at nighttime, luckily no one was injured. But it's those kind of moments that as a photojournalist I live to be there and cover. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen whether I'm there or not, and I want to be there.

Cheers,
Brad Vest


I got pretty bored and found a double reflection of me, woot.




There were a lot of pigeons trying to get a better look at the crime seen, they were also shooed back.




This is the feature photo that I went and hastily made.

Listening to: The Strain, Blockhead

--2009_01_20_Obama for the inmates--

--2009_01_20_Obama for the inmates--

My second assignment for the Hutchinson News was to shoot the Reno County Jail Annex in downtown Hutchinson. The county closed down the annex for almost a year to do some repairs and restoration. Using mostly inmates to do the work it was done for a very small amount of money and is reopening soon. As I walked through the annex shooting environmental portraits and searching out subjects for my photos I saw that one of the two large bunking rooms for inmates was broadcasting the post Inauguration coverage. I asked the Sergeant who was touring me around if I could go in and make some photos and found it strange when he had to unlock to door to let me in since I couldn't see anyone in the room.



As I was making images I heard a rustling from the shower and a few whistles, turns out there was some last minute cleaning going on. I'm not aloud for legal reasons to show photograph the faces of any of the inmates, I made some quick pictures and then the man came out all finished up and we talked for a little about the cleaning and the annex, then he brought up the inauguration and we talked about its significance and historical value very briefly before he went to the Sergeant and updated him on his progress before getting back to work.



I love the number of assignments I seem to be getting starting out with this paper. I always seem to make my best images while I'm busy but still have time at assignments to work the situation a little more in-depth than just your regular everyday hit and run photography.

From Kansas with love,
Brad Vest

Listening to: Time to Pretend, MGMT

2009_01_20_Congratulations Mr. President

2009_01_20_Congratulations Mr. President

It's a special day. I wish I had the opportunity to be in DC for the inauguration, it looks like some amazing photos and stories are coming back.

Obama in Danville, Illinois in 2006.


I spent my Inauguration Day at a famous Mexican restaurant here in town called the Anchor Inn. One of the workers in particular was extremely touched by the peaceful transfer of power when Barack Obama was sworn in. Here are a few images over the years of Barack Obama and events surrounding him. At the end I have shared a few images from the restaurant on Inauguration Day. It's so refreshing to see people excited about this country again, people who didn't even vote for Barack Obama can't help but be caught up in this exciting time and transfer into a new era of United States rule.

Thanks for looking,
Brad Vest

Listening to: The sounds of a once again invigorated country

Public art along Pike street in Capitol hill in Seattle, Washington in 2008.


Election night celebration Rainier Avenue in Seattle, Washington.


Election night celebration on the corner of Pike and Broadway in Seattle's Captiol Hill neighborhood.



Guadalupe Ochoa, a waitress at Anchor Restaurant, crosses her heart during the Inauguration of President Barack Obama while preparing for lunch at Anchor Inn, January 20, 2009. 'I'll pray for him, and I'll pray for our country,' said Ochoa about the transition of power.
(Brad Vest/The Hutchinson News)


Guadalupe Ochoa, a waitress at Anchor Inn Restaurant, prays along with the Inauguration of President Barack Obama while preparing for lunch at Anchor, January 20, 2009. 'I'll pray for him, and I'll pray for our country,' said Ochoa about the transition of power.
(Brad Vest/The Hutchinson News)


Guadalupe Ochoa, a waitress at Anchor Restaurant, reacts as President Elect Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at Anchor Inn Restaurant in Hutchinson, Kansas.
(Brad Vest/The Hutchinson News)

01_06_2008_the long trip home_bv

--01_06_2008_the long trip home_bv--

Live in the moment.

My brief time here in Seattle has come to an end, for now. I honestly can't even begin to describe my feelings of leaving this place. I feel as if I am leaving something just as I was beginning to truly appreciate and understand some of it's intricacies. The hardest part is not the city, place, or the things here that this place has to offer that I have come to love, it's the people. I'll be leaving great friends and fresh friendships that I have developed in my time here. Feeling more and more at home as everyday passed while realizing it can only last a certain amount of time.



Today I embark on my journey home across the wide open tundra of the midwest to Illinois for a week with friends and family. From there I'll head off to Hutchinson, Kansas to begin my spring internship with The Hutchinson News.





Moving onto Kansas will be eye opening, foreign, and creativity inspiring place to this fresh-eyed wanderlust who'll be stomping its ground for the first time. I am really looking forward to making pictures and developing friendships in this new place. But for now I can't help but feeling the tug on the heartstrings as I leave this place, with people who've impacted my life so much.



I'll be back Seattle, one way or another. But for now this bird has a little more migrating to do before planting his feet. After all, it's the journey and the stops along the way, not the destination.

Stay tuned, the tide is changing.






Best,

Brad Vest

listening to: Once Around the Block, Badly Drawn Boy

Thanks for the drawing Anne, it was a fantastic 'last' night in Seattle. Time to go rock out in Kansas for a while and make some wonderful americana images.