some kind of blue river

Now that the awards season is over, we've decided to make our own films. Here's a short film we made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Blue River Watershed Association. It's a field portrait of people who either live, work, or play in the watershed.



Film notes.
The picture frame that everyone holds was found buried in the river bed while looking for benthic invertebrates, which are aquatic insects. Although it looks like wood, the frame is plastic from the late 50's or early 60's and it had been in the river long enough to acquire a nice patina, but not long enough to be destroyed by high water. We cleaned the mud from the frame and immediately began to take portraits of out-standing-in-their-field colleagues.

We then took the picture frame to various community events being held in the watershed over the course of about 3 months. The events ran the gamut from community gardens, to river clean-ups, to educational events, to bike helmets-for-children giveaways, to city celebrations.

At the community events, the frame was handed to folks with the instruction, "I'm taking field portraits of people in the watershed". Instructions on how to frame themselves or how to pose were not given to participants. This approach allowed them to focus on constructing their own self-portrait and not on the camera. Some were staid, some were clownish; most were not shy.

We were only turned away once. That was by Pro-Football Hall of Famer Bobby Bell, dressed in a ceremonial kilt, and who after seeking the advice of counsel (his attorney just happened to be at his side), said NO! Bell's big. I argued politely, then said, OK.

Some of my favorites where art students who had a knowledge of the history of portraiture and wanted to play around with that notion. Another was a former county executive, who was under federal criminal indictment at the time and came up to me at an event and literally grabbed the frame from my hands, saying to me and her friends standing nearby, "take my picture, I was framed." She was subsequently acquitted of the criminal charge. There's a young brother and sister who are charming together - the awe of the older sibling apparent in the younger one's eyes, the mayor and his wife playing along, and many, many others. You may find your own favorite among the images.

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Special thanks to the Wilders who contributed the music, Pedro @ T2 for editing and special effects, and Bill @ mfarm for post-processing.