Mathieu Young July 27, 2012

Del Mar County Fair, California 2010

Mathieu Young (b. 1981, United States) splits his time between commercial photography, mainly entertainment advertising, and reportage projects. His photojournalism has been seen on CNN, The New York Times Lens, and in Rolling Stone, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine, amongst many others. He continues to shoot commercial assignments for Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., FOX, The CW, A+E, and Dreamworks Animation. He was a student at the 2011 Eddie Adams Workshop, awarded 1st Place in the International Photography Awards, and chosen for American Photography 28. Mathieu is based in Los Angeles and represented by Weiss Artists, Inc.

About the Photograph:

“The Pledge of Allegiance, moments before the destruction began. This was from an assignment for ESPN The Magazine covering a demolition derby on July 4th at the Del Mar County Fair in California. It was a true slice of Americana: The pit area was filled with loud engines, American flags, Coors Light, and arc-welders. One young man took a hard hit in the arena and got taken away in a stretcher, but his relatives got vengeance, teeming up on the perpetrator until his car was upside down and on fire. Afterwards, they all shared some turkey legs, cotton candy and whiskey while they towed their demolished vehicles onto flatbeds to drive them home and get them prepared for the next’s month’s derby. God Bless America.”

Sally Ryan July 18, 2012

Line Dancing, Montgomery, Illinois 2000

Sally Ryan (b. 1976, USA) received her Bachelor of Journalism degree in 1998 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She worked for several newspapers before launching her freelance career in 2006. Sally is a frequent contributor to national and international publications and also works with a variety of private and non-profit clients throughout the United States. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Spin, Time Out Chicago, Time, Inc., MSNBC.com, The London Times, and The Onion A.V. Club, as well as overseas publications. Sally is currently teaching a graduate level photojournalism class at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is based in Chicago and is is represented by Zuma Press.

About the Photograph:

“Linda Pasetti, a Harley motorcycle owner and Ladies of Harley member, was the featured speaker that night with plans to teach the other ladies the finer points of country-western line dancing. The initial focus of my shoot was on another woman, an ovarian cancer patient I had been photographing for a few weeks, who was also the president of the Fox Valley LOH chapter. Walking into the Veterans of Foreign Wars community room, the plastic musical notes above the wood paneling immediately caught my eye. Hoping a moment would unfold in front of that backdrop, I began photographing the meeting. After the business portion of the meeting concluded, Linda Pasetti walked to the small stage in front of the musical notes and started her line dancing lesson.”

“At the end of the meeting, I sat down with Linda to learn more about her love of line dancing. She began line dancing a couple of years earlier, and said it completely changed her life. Joining the line dancing crowds at local bars, Linda says the activity helped her lose 40 pounds. She also said instead of drinking beers at the bars, she started drinking more water to stay hydrated so she could dance longer. Linda’s photo and story eventually became the first feature in a photo column I wrote for Copley newspapers. Meeting her and learning her story inspired me to seek out other residents of the western Chicago suburbs to feature in the weekly column.”

Jeff Rich July 13, 2012

From the Watershed Project, Erwin Tennessee 2011

Jeff Rich (b. 1977, USA) documents water issues ranging from recreation and sustainability to exploitation and abuse.  He explores these subjects by using long-term photographic documentations of very specific regions of the United States. Jeff received his MFA in photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. His project “Watershed: The French Broad River” was recently published as a monograph by Photolucida as part of the 2010 Critical Mass Book Award.  His work has been featured in Fraction Magazine as well as Photo-Eye’s Photographer’s Showcase. Jeff was recently named as one of the winners of the Magenta Flash Forward 2011 Emerging Photographers Competition. He has shot assignments for Oxford American Magazine and The New York Times.

About the Photograph:

“This photo is of Steve Harris, at the confluence of North Indian Creek and the Nolichucky River. This is a spot on Steve’s land where he goes to commune with nature. Steve’s property is along the Nolichucky River and is less than a mile from the Nuclear Fuel Services Plant. The company processes used radioactive materials, mostly Uranium and Plutonium from reactors. Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) has a record of accidents and spills over the past 50 years of company operations. Recent water and soil testing revealed evidence of Uranium and Plutonium pollution up to 50 miles down the Nolichucky River. He is considered an MEI, or maximally exposed individual. In other words because of his close proximity, he is exposed to the highest dose of radiation from the NFS pollution. Radioactive pollution is completely invisible and detectable only by special instruments.”

“Steve has owned his property for over 40 years. The land was reclaimed from a pit mine operation, and he created a community on the 20-acre property and has hosted numerous festivals and gatherings. Steve had plans on turning the property into an  organic farm and artist community. This project seeks to capture what Steve’s land was like before the discovery of the pollution, one man’s Arcadia along the river. The project also shows what his property has become, an empty landscape, devoid of the community that once thrived here.”