Tracy Martin Photography Blog

The Secret Garden

Tracy Martin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:14:46 +0000

Ok, I must confess, I have never read The Secret Garden, nor have I seen the movie or the musical until earlier this week. Mark blames it on my Canadian upbringing but really it is because I lived in an oversized garden as a child and likely didn’t think I needed to read about one. As early as the age of 9 I would disappear into the woods on our 350 acre farm for hours and I never remember getting into too much trouble for it. I explored, made forts and made up stories of the wild west and survival, not your average fare for a a girl but then I wasn’t your average girl. I look back on those days with the fondest memories but my mum remembers it differently, she remembers thinking that I was a lonely child where as I remember life so full of everything. I did read as well but it was all about the Black Stallion or Black Beauty or the Lone Ranger which all went along with my love of horses in general. But I digress.

Angelina Wahler was but one of the delights I experienced Sunday as I photographed this wonderful Gothic tale, another was knowing so many of the cast but ultimately it was all of the cast and the story that makes this production so wonderful. I hope all of you have a chance to experience it but if not here are some of my images including the poster image that we shot earlier this year at Filoli.

For more information on how you can see The Secret Garden please go to the TheatreWorks site

Angelina Wahler

The cast.

With Angelina Wahler, Patricia Noonan*, Theodore Barry*, Mrigendra Steiner, Robert Brewer*, Sharon Rietkerk*, Leanne Borghesi, Noel Anthony*, Joe Cassidy*, Courtney Stokes*, Daniel Olson*, Alex Brightman* and Andrew Apy.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

The Projection Project

Tracy Martin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:39:47 +0000

For several years now I have been struggling with where I am going and what I want to do in my personal photography. I have questioned, doubted and completely lost faith in who I am and what I want to say through this medium that I love so much and the inspiration that I hoped would come when I decided to leave design and just focus on photography didn’t come and left me feeling even lower. I knew that I had to give myself some breathing space so that my inspiration could bubble to the surface. I decided to draw from some lessons that I learned from a wonderful teacher many years ago and as I explored these I started to get an idea. I bought a projector with a vague vision in mind and did some tests that didn’t turn out how I wanted. The disappointment of it not turning out actually helped me develop a stronger vision and lead me down a better path that is only at the beginning of what I hope to be a much longer journey.

Thus begins the Projection Project. It is about how we project ourselves to the world and how we see ourselves within, all the insecurities, perfection and flaws, our joys and failures and everything in between. It is about letting go, embracing, flaunting, loving the person we want or hope to be all caught in one instant. A session starts with writing a full page starting with “I feel most … when…” in a stream of consciousness, what ever that person is feeling in the moment. It can also be prepared in advanced but it will still need to be written in the book that is part of the project. I then project what is written onto the writer and try and capture the essence of what they have written.

If you or someone you know is interested in participating please contact me. Here are a couple of the first images that I took when I was still testing the process.

Cara – Alive

Melissa – Overwhelmed

Dance Class

Tracy Martin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:12:36 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Mark and I had the pleasure of shooting 32 teenagers from the San Mateo High School dance class taught by the wonderful Robyn Tribuzi. It was a pretty tight schedule and was relatively stress free considering the number of dancers we were shooting but what was so remarkable was how inspiring these kids were. The energy was wonderful and creativity infused the entire day. I can’t really pick my favorites for the day because there are so many but I can say that these girls were all delightful to work with.

Teatro ZinZanni

Tracy Martin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:26:39 +0000

One of the really the great things about being a performance photographer is that while I am shooting I get to experience some amazing talent. Although I don’t get to fully appreciate it until I go through the images later since while it is going on I am trying to get the shots that wow the clients. The most difficult shooting I have encountered is for Teatro ZinZanni since the theatre is in the round filled with paying clients, wait staff, performers and management. The guidelines are strict but the payoff is pretty incredible as you can see in the image below.

If you have never been to Teatro ZinZanni and live in either the Bay Area or Seattle I highly recommend it. The venue itself is intimate and unique, the food is great but it is being so close to the performance that creates some real magic that you can’t find anywhere else.

Maestro's Enchantment // Teatro ZinZanni // Elena Gatilova

TheatreWorks Conservatory 2011

Tracy Martin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:24:54 +0000

For the last 3 years I have had the pleasure of photographing the TW Conservatory. It is a paid job but one that does not feel much like work since I get to see these young adults in preparation for their culminating performances that occur at the end of the 4 week program. For the second year, as a gift to the kids, Mark and I have shot the performance and we were once again blown away by these young and aspiring thespians. During their time at the conservatory they learn all about their craft but they also have the task of writing an original monologue that they each perform during the presentation. The theme this year was In Transit and each of them interpreted it in their own unique way, some with incredible ingenuity and others with heartbreaking honesty. All of them put themselves out there creatively and left me in tears, again.

Thank you goes out to all the teaching artists associated with the Conservatory as well as the countless others helping kids in this way all across the country. I have repeatedly seen how important the arts are and what a difference they can make in a child’s life. Here are just a few images from the performance which was held outside.

Fly By Night

Tracy Martin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 01:18:16 +0000

The World Premier of Fly By Night opens in 2 weeks and we had the delight of shooting the publicity a couple of weeks ago. Here are a couple images from that shoot and stay tuned for some of the live production photographs later this month. To learn more about the production or how you can see it visit TheatreWorks

Kristin Stokes and Wade McCollum

Wade McCollum (Narrator), Rachel Spencer Hewitt (Daphne), Kristin Stokes (Miriam), Ian Leonard (Harold)

Rachel Spencer Hewitt (Daphne) & Ian Leonard (Harold)

Carnaval 2011

Tracy Martin — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:54:08 +0000

What a wonderful way to spend a day, The Mission with great food, music and joy everywhere. Here are 2 from today and 2 from Carnaval in 2008. Both Mark and I commented on the staggering number of photographers out there this year, it was difficult to get a shot without one in the background.

2011

2008

The Cookie Booth @TBA Conference

Tracy Martin — Tue, 24 May 2011 07:39:54 +0000

Mark and I attended the Theatre Bay Area Conference today as vendors armed with posters, computer, books, postcards, business cards, cameras and homemade cookies. Cookies you ask? Yes. Mark had the great idea that we would be a cookie booth and if anyone wanted a cookie they had to pose for a picture with their best cookie pose. Needless to say it was a hit.

When Mark was chatting I would take the shots with his camera and this was one of my favorites. Bon Appetit.

Updated site + Blog

Tracy Martin — Sun, 01 May 2011 23:51:40 +0000

Well, hello everyone. This has been a long time coming, but so have many other things I have been working on and this is only the beginning. I recently made a very big decision thanks to a long time friend and I am happy to share with the world that I will no longer be trying to do it all. All, meaning graphic and web design as well as photography. Everything was suffering, most importantly I was suffering. I didn’t know which end was up, I still don’t but I am pointing myself in one direction and will be sticking to that until I either succeed or fail (failure though is not really an option).

Mark and Carmelo before the paint.

How I came to this decision was via some small choices I had made recently but more importantly it came from a dear friend I had not seen in more than 13 or so years (we are still debating the length of time since we last saw each other). Carmelo Blandino and his wife Ysabel Le May, both successful artists, are looking to relocate to California. I have known Carmelo since 1986 when we were both at Dawson College, but we became true friends working together at a coffee shop called Calories. But as life happens, friendships get put on hold and we went our separate ways until modern technology brought us back together, and it couldn’t have been a more natural way to pick up where we left off. So Carm and Ysabel have been traveling together in a Miami Dolphins colored camper van for the last 3 weeks just meandering across deserts and mountains, letting the wind guide their travels. Then we got to spend a very short 3 days with them to seduce them with all the wonders that the Bay Area has to offer before they headed south. It was a magical time where four artists just played and enjoyed all the possibilities of life. They, along with Mark, convinced me that I needed to give up either design or photography. They were completely right in their intervention, I was not happy trying to juggle to many opposing things and not really doing any of them as well as know I can. So I am giving up design as a career and focussing solely on photography. Updating my site and creating this blog are my first steps in that direction. I hope to post my thoughts, trials and achievements along the way in the haphazard way that I do and in the writing and posting I would like to get better at writing. Just a little goal with many other little goals.

Shortly before they left Mark wanted to get both of their portraits. The following is a shot I took of Mark and Carmelo as well as a video of Mark taking the portrait on his blog. I didn’t get a shot of Ysabel but Mark has a great one on his blog here.