Backdrop

Dave Moore is a Creative Director, graphic designer and art director. That’s a lot of hats. But probably the most important hat he’s ever worn was that of a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant.

Prior to his creative career in visual communications, Dave was in the Army Reserves. There he learned the basic tenets of discipline, teamwork and leadership. In this episode of Backdrop we talk about how much of that training carried over into the contentious battlefield of advertising and design.

He also has a few choice words about industry awards, the Fyre Festival and the authenticity of the comic sans font.

Craig Stewart is a location scout. His role is one of the many unsung heroes of the commercial production. As the name implies, Craig’s primary job is to find the locations used as the backdrops you see on television, in movies and in magazines and advertisements.

Craig describes his rise from the lowly production assistant position all the way up to the successful business he has owned and operated for decades. Craig discusses the ins and outs of dealing with permits, local police and the occasional “Type A” homeowner.

In a world that has become increasingly abstract and digital, Craig Stewart still lives in a world of tangible real estate.

Charlie Hellstern is a seasoned interior designer based in Seattle, Washington. After a successful career in the interiors department of a leading architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest, she branched out to start her own company and share her unique approach to living spaces. Interior design is a creative pursuit closely tied to photography as designers often speak in a visual language best illustrated through imagery. Whether it’s educating clients in the consultation phase or showing off the final result of a complex build-out, photography carries a lot of weight. We talk about where interior design photography has been,

where it’s going and what she looks for in the photographers she entrusts with her vision.

The Seattle music scene of the late eighties early nineties was a time of sonic exploration, cultural upheaval and an accidental fashion movement. Most of the visual memories of that era can be traced back to the photographs of Charles Peterson. From his youth watching his Uncle printing in the darkroom listening to classic rock to his own documentation of the what would eventually be called “the grunge movement,” Charles’ life has been a life recorded on film.

In this episode of Backdrop, he sits down for a candid conversation about how his signature style was inspired by rodeo photographs, the challenges of shooting a band on top of the Space Needle from a helicopter and how all this has prepared him for the toughest but most rewarding assignment of his life—parenthood.

Photographer Mike Padua is old school. In more ways than one. With roots in the punk rock world of his youth, this Northern Californian makes fun merchandise for the growing demographic—and market—of analog film photographers. His small business churns out stickers, embroidered patches, t-shirts, lapel pins and more—all paying clever homage to a craft many thought had died out with the digital revolution. Not so says Mike. Film is most certainly NOT dead, and it’s adherents are proud of that fact. If you’re one of those evangelists, Shoot Film Co. has the swag and merch you’re looking for—while supplies last.

Brandon Wittler is a grip. WTF is a grip? It’s probably one of the hardest-working, mysterious and underrated roles on a film and television set. All to often it’s long arduous days run on elbow grease and lifting with your knees, Hercules. Brandon has seen it all, from working on a production at sewage treatment plant where he couldn’t rub his own eyes to high-budget productions where eye contact with the actors is forbidden. It’s an odd role, but without it, no movie would be made, no television show aired.

When an established community of analog film photographers in Portland Oregon abruptly lost their gathering space to economic forces beyond their control, they did the only thing they could to stay together—they pooled their resources in a true grassroots effort to salvage as much of the darkroom equipment as possible during the liquidation and made plans for a new space of their own. From the chaos came a new community and The Portland Darkroom was born. Lauren Masterson and Aaron Wessling are two of the founders of a remarkable new photo collective that is now creating a template for other similarly motivated film enthusiasts the world over. They’ve created a unique, analog photography facility similar to ones now usually relegated to community college campuses—but based instead on a membership model with a once-a-week open darkroom night for the general public. We discuss the difficulties of running a facility on nothing but elbow grease and passion, but also the ways film photography brings people together—in real-time and across generations.

You could call Pacific Northwest-based photojournalists-turned-wedding photographers Kathryn Stevens and Lucas Mobley old fashioned. On a hike through the mountains of Telluride on a day off after shooting a wedding, Lucas stumbled upon a traveling photographer making wet plate collodion photographs in the field. This chance encounter would spark a passion that he and his partner would follow to a new angle on their business. Diving deep into the culture of old method photography, Lucas and Kathryn are now diversifying and products they offer to include the process that started photography itself. We talk about permanence of photography, avoiding cliché and the time a meter reader probably thought they were running a meth lab.

Craig Strong is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Lensbaby; a small-scale manufacturer of creative-effects camera lenses based in Portland, Oregon. A former working photojournalist, Craig desired lenses with unique optical attributes often lost in the sterile perfection of high-performance lenses. Since none were available, he made one himself from spare vintage lens parts and items found in his local hardware store and the first Lensbaby born. Since then, the company has grown into a line of lenses that give photographers the world over a new way of seeing.

Though not a photographer, Conor Risch knows a lot about photography. He’s a Senior Editor for one of the leading photography industry magazines Photo District News—or PDN as it’s widely known. We discuss the ever-changing landscape of photography both as a passion and profession. Conor expounds on how the photographers he speaks to and writes about regularly persevere as small business owners and self-promoters. We also discuss the effects of social media influencers, photographic literacy and where exactly the “Photo District” really is.