The Nike and Nemo Aries 2010 project
A few months back my old friend Trevor Graves from Nemo asked me to be
involved with a project that he was putting
together. It's called Aries2010 and it is a time
capsule to chronicle historical artifacts from
the progression of snowboarding. At first he
just asked me to submit some photography,
which of course I was happy to do, but as the
date of the opening reception came closer he
asked if I would be a keynote speaker with
Legend Terry Kidwell. That was an
easy decision despite the fact that I've been
underwater with other projects in the run-up
to the Olympics.
As I walked in the door last night I began to understand the scope of what Trevor had undertaken. He spent months talking to many of the players and original characters from snowboarding and collecting many of the most significant bits and pieces of detritus from our culture. There are more memories in that room than you can imagine including many prototypes of influential boards, boots and bindings. Obviously it's not all going to fit into the Aries capsule, but everything has been documented and will be included as well as some select items.
I was honored to say a few words and show a quick slideshow that did its best to shed some light on my perspective of the history of Canadian snowboarding, but I was most honored to be able to introduce Terry Kidwell. His influence on snowboarding can't be understated. He was a critical participant in the design of the first kicktail that ushered in the concept of riding both ways on a board, and then he took that design to the hills and basically invented freestyle snowboarding. Terry never made a fortune from his snowboard career so he's auctioning some of the most photographed boards in the history of snowboarding. A semi-tragedy that is all too common with athletes in young sports. I know he appreciated the turnout last night and young shredders and pros alike were literally lining up to shake his hand and let him know how big a deal he is to them. I saw more than one person stand speechless in front of him.
Here are some photos, I wish I had more time too shoot but I was kept busy most of the night. The whole set is on Flickr. My pal Mark Gribbon shot the photo wall all night and you can see those shots here. If you can get your hands on the Aries book, it is a remarkable document and will be going in my permanent collection. (Right next to Out West, which I gave out quite a bit last night too) If you are in Vancouver before the 19th you pretty much have to go down to the Boardroom and check this out. the closing reception is on Friday and the always entertaining Ken Ach will be speaking.
Trevor's "misty cam". Many photogs in the mid 90's would have given a digit to see this little number.
Trevor and Ken Achenbach in front of the actual capsule.
Shaun Palmer's infamous gold victory suit.
Ken Ach checks out the Kidwell quiver. The best snowboard shots of the 80's were taken on these boards.
John Kamitakahara is a long time Vancouver snowboarder, photographer and unintentional archivist. He was stoked to meet Kidwell.
Annie Boulanger is Rider of the year. What you know bout dat?
Terry talks to a rapt audience.
Former SBC editor and current Push.ca editor Matt Houghton with legend Chris Nicholls.
Kidwell and Kevin Sansalone compare notes.
As I walked in the door last night I began to understand the scope of what Trevor had undertaken. He spent months talking to many of the players and original characters from snowboarding and collecting many of the most significant bits and pieces of detritus from our culture. There are more memories in that room than you can imagine including many prototypes of influential boards, boots and bindings. Obviously it's not all going to fit into the Aries capsule, but everything has been documented and will be included as well as some select items.
I was honored to say a few words and show a quick slideshow that did its best to shed some light on my perspective of the history of Canadian snowboarding, but I was most honored to be able to introduce Terry Kidwell. His influence on snowboarding can't be understated. He was a critical participant in the design of the first kicktail that ushered in the concept of riding both ways on a board, and then he took that design to the hills and basically invented freestyle snowboarding. Terry never made a fortune from his snowboard career so he's auctioning some of the most photographed boards in the history of snowboarding. A semi-tragedy that is all too common with athletes in young sports. I know he appreciated the turnout last night and young shredders and pros alike were literally lining up to shake his hand and let him know how big a deal he is to them. I saw more than one person stand speechless in front of him.
Here are some photos, I wish I had more time too shoot but I was kept busy most of the night. The whole set is on Flickr. My pal Mark Gribbon shot the photo wall all night and you can see those shots here. If you can get your hands on the Aries book, it is a remarkable document and will be going in my permanent collection. (Right next to Out West, which I gave out quite a bit last night too) If you are in Vancouver before the 19th you pretty much have to go down to the Boardroom and check this out. the closing reception is on Friday and the always entertaining Ken Ach will be speaking.
Trevor's "misty cam". Many photogs in the mid 90's would have given a digit to see this little number.
Trevor and Ken Achenbach in front of the actual capsule.
Shaun Palmer's infamous gold victory suit.
Ken Ach checks out the Kidwell quiver. The best snowboard shots of the 80's were taken on these boards.
John Kamitakahara is a long time Vancouver snowboarder, photographer and unintentional archivist. He was stoked to meet Kidwell.
Annie Boulanger is Rider of the year. What you know bout dat?
Terry talks to a rapt audience.
Former SBC editor and current Push.ca editor Matt Houghton with legend Chris Nicholls.
Kidwell and Kevin Sansalone compare notes.
Comments
Catching Up
08/03/08 10:15 Filed in: Work
What a
crazy couple of weeks. Spent a really expensive
week in Terrace, BC, with Standard
Films,
at Northern Escape
Heli. We
had one day that will be one of the best of the
season, and a whole bunch that were much less
productive. It was hard to come into a scene
where they had just shot 9 out of 12 days and
end up getting much less done, but that’s the
nature of things.
Things I (re)learned on this trip:
- I can survive without a cell phone. (barely)
- Two is not the magic number when it comes to photographers.
- All is never what it seems.
- Talent isn’t always the most important thing.
- Helicopters are as cool as they are expensive.
- Sometimes a big dumb jump is a big dumb waste of time.
ejack is stoked on the snow
a big dumb jump to nowhere.
this is why
So I got home, had time for a deep breath, and dropped into some sled days with Absinthe films. The day before the sun came out my phone rang off the hook with people looking for a shooter. If only I could clone myself and work with everyone.
JP Solberg and Romain de Marchi had spent a weather day out in the middle of nowhere, building a couple jumps, so when the sun came out we were ready to go. Not everything worked out, but one jump in particular was amazing.
this shot won't make the cut, but you can see what a lovely day we had.
Annie Boulanger and I did the commute in her truck every morning and she did a couple of lines that were really impressive. It is hard for a girl out there in testosterone land and Annie has proven herself over the years. She is no joke.
So now I’m processing and editing a million shots and watching the weather, planning the next attack. In the meantime T has made huge gains in the battle to make our apartment into a home. I love this place. I would be perfectly happy to shoot portraits on the huge patio all spring long. Ya, right.
Things I (re)learned on this trip:
- I can survive without a cell phone. (barely)
- Two is not the magic number when it comes to photographers.
- All is never what it seems.
- Talent isn’t always the most important thing.
- Helicopters are as cool as they are expensive.
- Sometimes a big dumb jump is a big dumb waste of time.
ejack is stoked on the snow
a big dumb jump to nowhere.
this is why
So I got home, had time for a deep breath, and dropped into some sled days with Absinthe films. The day before the sun came out my phone rang off the hook with people looking for a shooter. If only I could clone myself and work with everyone.
JP Solberg and Romain de Marchi had spent a weather day out in the middle of nowhere, building a couple jumps, so when the sun came out we were ready to go. Not everything worked out, but one jump in particular was amazing.
this shot won't make the cut, but you can see what a lovely day we had.
Annie Boulanger and I did the commute in her truck every morning and she did a couple of lines that were really impressive. It is hard for a girl out there in testosterone land and Annie has proven herself over the years. She is no joke.
So now I’m processing and editing a million shots and watching the weather, planning the next attack. In the meantime T has made huge gains in the battle to make our apartment into a home. I love this place. I would be perfectly happy to shoot portraits on the huge patio all spring long. Ya, right.
