Another Sunday, traveling back to Nashville. Thought I’d check out the iPhone app for WordPress. If it can’t post photos then I’m out. If it does photos, then I posted a photo of Will and Sheila at Ricks Market… Coldest beer in town. It didn’t make the corner store cut… Had a parking lot.

Three Bars

..in with the New Year. I began this blog earlier in the year to share archives of photos that had been sitting on my hard drive.  I was able to accomplish about 1% of that goal (not a bad start!). I got a little sidetracked as I delved into book publishing (see previous few posts) and keeping our companies’ blog up to date (www.aboveitall.wordpress.com).  So as we head into 2009, I need to reinvigorate or reevaluate my initial goal of creating an archive of personal work.  The plan will be to bring new work as it is created, reveal past work as it goes through my updated workflow and continue to share accomplishments in the commercial world.

It may be difficult to keep this blog as a pure archive as this year holds new challenges and commitments including the desire to continue producing photography books and our company’s upcoming show at the Nashville Airport (coming June 2009).  As our company’s role in the construction market continues to grow, we also face challenges as the construction market has seen a slow down with speculation and hope being the biggest motivator and topic of discussion.

One goal within the realm of our commercial work is to attract more assignments with creative goals and clients. Whether this is within the construction industry or with new clients in creative industries, we are committed to the same mission – high quality custom photography. To attract the opportunities, we have also been very involved this year in establishing an online presence to present our talents.  This includes (but is not limited to) updating our web site, maintianing the blog, getting the stock site more under control, driving traffic to the bookstore and continuing to develop our email and direct marketing.  So, not a lot of time to reminisce on old photos!

I will leave with one new posting, some photos I took today (first of the new year!) while Rodger and I were visiting a renovation project by Global Outreach Development.  It’s an old Middle School in Hermitage where this world-wide and world-helping organization plans to have their “home base”.  They are still in demo phase so the school has many interesting juxtapositions, along with wonderful light and construction imagery.

Cheers to all and Best Wishes in 2009!

Wendy

Building an Icon.

A photographic retrospective on the construction and design of Nashville’s newest landmark.  The photographers of Aerial Innovations of Tennessee spent close to two years documenting and creating images of construction, trades, design and events surrounding the 22 Story Icon.  Now these images are available in a large format professionally published book.

Visit our bookstore to preview and purchase.

A photographic book of this magnitude takes more than shooting, editing, layout, marketing and publication.  It takes perspective.  At this point, after the shooting, layout, reviews and final development; the universal question of any additive art is asked…when is it done?

I have worked many hours (mostly while watching football), doing the layout.  And the editing recently has been c-u-t-t-i-n-g….if it doesn’t work….it goes.  The shooting we approximated at probably over 200 hours not including the 5-10 minutes per month of circling the building doing the aerials.  At this point, it’s a matter of layout, pacing, information and the all important safety review.  Then comes the pre-press excitement.

My reason for detailing progress on this project has been guiltless self-promotion, no doubt. But this has been a contagious condition.  The excitement around the Icon was equatable to a Who concert…sold out in 48 hours! the papers said~ Construction began and promotion was fierce.  Move ins began within moments of CO’s being delivered (Certificate of Occupancy for the laypeople).  I am caught up in the hype and hope this final project can be the culmination of the excitement…a retrospective of the building….a building of AN Icon.

What the book will entail in the end is a complete visual documentary on the entire building project as seen from every viewpoint.  How much would it mean to you to see how your home was built?  Some place that so many invested their time, money, labor, sweat, emotion…countless hours, meetings, decisions….all for a broad vision of contemporary living?  If it’s more than listed below…let me know and I will let you know my PO Box where you can send the check….

Book Details:

Anticipated Release: Mid-October

Anticipated Cost: Under $200 per copy

Anticipated Length: Under 200 Pages, 11×14 hard bound

Anticipated to be available for online purchase.

Enjoying the Amenities

Just as no one image can fully capture the depth of the Icon project, no one type of photo can even come close.  Many image themes are proving to be necessary in telling the story;  from tiny construction detail photos of materials, trades & building, carefully crafted interiors and full format 4×5 views to portraits, humour and moments of pride.

One special surprise has been the shots of workers at their trades that wind up looking posed or staged.  The workers move in a carefully choreographed series of steps around a symphony of trades, plans and skills. No one person holds the center stage for long but at times steps up to lead an action. In some of these transitions  a moment was captured showing the tension and symmetry that is almost every trade in construction.

The image below is an example, where the task of setting forms for the next concrete pour moves your eye around the frame and the 3 pairs of men interacting with each other.  No dramatic movement, it is a task to do carefully, yet in this moment you can see the stages from planning to execution to finishing.  You leave the framing knowing the next step of these men and can understand the mark they will leave on every inch of this project.

Placing Column Forms

Between visits to the pool this weekend (yes, at the Icon), I have managed to do production on about two-thirds of the images.  It is Labor Day afterall, I was built for this holiday!  I have posted a few on the flickr site, any feedback would be welcomed.  In addition to production, I jumped in and started layout using the book-production software that is available at Blurb.

The “kids” at the 9th level pool are having the time of their lives.  The greatest gift has been to see the building in almost full swing, residents loving the amenities, making friends and welcoming everyone to this spectacular place.  So far, not a complaint in site (except for normal punch items and the loading bay doors being to short….)

At this stage, we still have about 20 images left to make along with any out-takes and snaps on the side.  I am up to page 60-something of the layout (about 1/4 done, I would say) and I am devising my list of facts to incorporate (if you have any curiosities about the building, now’s your chance to ask!)  We look forward to another tour today and seeing the buffed floor of 1707.

posted by Wendy Whittemore, CoOwner Aerial Innovations of TN, Inc.

Ninth Level Amenities Deck under construction

Icon in the Gulch is a mega project.  Over 400 units, two pools, soaring architectural details and miles and miles of concrete.  The photos from the construction started before the site was cleared and are will finish with a series of interior and exterior lift shoots in the next few weeks.

I have been fortunate to have an insider’s view to many of the construction mile stones. As completion draws near, I have begun the task of putting over 450 images together into book form.  (not really an excuse for not posting to this blog in a while but one reason of many.)

My goal is to keep a few notes as I go about the progress and process of the book.  Right now, the images are filtering themselves into good and great images as well as categorizing themselves by stage of construction.  Most books would form along a timeline if photos were only taken of specific events.  Because I tend to wander in my image making, the photos are sorting along broader lines.  For example, the lines and forms of the tower cranes caught my eye on several occassions…so they get a whole chapter, whether they are being erected, moving material or being jumped.

One of the most amazing thing about reviewing months of photos (both mine and several of the photographers that have helped along the way) is how the story begins to tell itself.  Yes, we took the images to tell a story but through juxtasposition, editing & layout, the story is told through the project that we were witness to.  Hopefully I will stay as optimistic about storytelling as I go into the image correction phase!

Stay tuned for more.  Below is the most likely candidate for a cover image.

Posted by Wendy Whittemore, Co-owner Aerial Innovations of TN, Inc.

Top spire of the Icon

Our photography office is located at the last address on Main Street before it turns into Gallatin Road. Gallatin Road is the gateway to Madison, TN. The beginning of Main Street is in downtown Nashville and upon entering East Nashville, you pass by a sampling of what is further on up the Road; Liquor stores, Bolton’s Hot Chicken, the “open” sign over a burned building, used tire stores & check cashing places; a menagerie of businesses new and old. Gallatin Road then takes these squatting remnants and multiplies them for miles.

As new businesses sprout up here and there, it’s been a race to capture this changing urban landscapes before they are a memory of eyesores past. From our office, it is about a 5 mile stretch before crossing Briley Parkway and beyond to the cemetery. I started out wanting to methodically document segments of the road, charting where I had shot and making sure to cover ALL ground. Starting with a 55 mm lens, it wasn’t getting in enough with one frame. There were too many things I couldn’t fit into the background. I needed to give the main subjects a proper setting with some context. I moved to using a fish eye lens on a Pentax645 and it revealed the juxtapositions and angles I was looking for.

Another challenge was staying clear of reckless drivers and suspicious locals asking “what are you doing taking pictures of this mess?” (I added that last part in my head). If you keep moving, in both cases, you might have a chance. Walking is another activity that proves itself daunting. As hurried drivers turn into the many entrances to strip centers, they are not on the lookout for pedestrians, it’s best to stay on guard while walking on the sidewalk..if there is one.

Reluctantly, I haven’t even come close to covering all of Gallatin Road. I suppose I may have lost interest or realize that a small sampling was enough to convey the idea. And the race to capture before change was looking impossible. Bob’s Makes Bodies Beautiful is now cleaned up and stark white. The Sonic Stands, although I was without a camera when the neighborhood Elvis strolled from under its canopy. The Primitive Baptist Church was for sale a few months ago. Other changes have happened without recording, but one thing hasn’t…the Re-Hab hospital is still under renovation going on over 5 years. Wonder if those people would get better faster if they finished?

click on the image below to view more images from the project.

Can you believe we have some of the greatest works of American Art right here in Nashville? Always a surprising and misunderstood city, but don’t worry, most people here don’t know either.

Aaron Douglas at the Frist

This February, the works of Aaron Douglas are on display at Nashville’s Frist Center for the Arts. His large powerful murals are telling again that familiar and tireless story, encouraging us and reminding us that the way is up! Ever up. He challenges and encourages us to look that way, up the stairs, up the mountain, beyond what we could ever imagine accomplishing. Upturned faces look to starry skies. Upraised fists shake at towers of industry. Up. Up.

I do not belong to his race; I only have his window into this world at this moment. I am fascinated in the story Douglas tells. Consider the mural scenes in the library at Fisk. These are more impressive than the works hanging in a sterile gallery. I imagine generations of students within these walls studying, gazing, wondering, and living under their graphic motifs and vibrant colors. The rich stories told by Dr. Victor Simmons on the tour of the development, execution and restoration of these murals- all while the figures danced and sang and spoke their story.

Douglas stripped down everything in his works, all recognizable features of his subject until, as a silhouette, it could only be recognized as one thing yet remained mysterious in all that it could be. Color, graphics, shapes all in juxtaposition with shades of light and dark spin along the canvas and weave the tale of emancipation and education and never justification or redemption. That is for the viewer to accomplish.

Cravath Hall at Fisk University.  The murals of Aaron Douglas hang in many of the rooms.

Shot February 2008