they came, they saw, they geeked out.
after a great inaugural geekfest in
washington d.c., the second annual geekfest was done south florida style. 15 people were in attendance, and they were rewarded with little sleep, crowded conditions and long days. the adventurous started each day with photographing a sunrise over the atlantic ocean and went full circle ending back at the beach for a midnight swim. at one point, i even witnessed four full moons on the horizon, when some late-night skinny dipping took place.
saturday seven randomly paired teams set out to photograph their assigned neighboroods, shooting their interpretations on a broad theme -- the many faces of south florida.
mark adams and
chad pilster spent their day at the swap shop flea market, florida's second largest tourist attraction.
danielle rappaport and alex boerner took over fort lauderdale beach, once known as fort liquordale for its spring break notoriety.
erin wigger and
gerik parmele saw "all sorts of weirdness" and met a guru and obnoxious teenagers while walking up and down the hollywood beach boardwalk.
david holloway and
kathryn cook discovered the naked truth at haulover beach.
cara bowen-goldberg,
chip litherland and
logan mock-bunting were thrown into south beach, a playground for the young, rich and fake -- where beauty is bought and plastic is the norm. latin flavor was in full effect for
jen friedberg and
josh ritchie down on calle ocho in miami's little havana. and jason guyer and
i explored the neighborhoods and befriended some children in little haiti.
saturday night, "
war photographer" was absorbed in silence, through tears and past the frustration and alienation that the movie hints at. cool to see a master like james nachtwey work, amazing to think that he's so committed to documentary phoojournalism that he's dedicated his life to his work but at the same time, sad to think about everything he's given up to be the messenger.
and then sunday, we were treated to some great work and words of inspiration and encouragement by some amazing photographers. fidel castro, scenes from the malceon, old cars and crumbling facades peppered the slideshow of angel valentin, who showed some of his favorite photos from numerous trips spent working and playing in cuba. lisa krantz blew us away with numerous examples of how to make something out of nothing through thoughtful composition and beautiful found moments. and, with their kids, mimi and ben, present, fabulous photo couple mike and sue stocker talked about how they balance the work life and the home life.
after that was a trip to a thai restaurant and a table for 25. a good time was had by all -- as mimi showed us she's the queen of the spoons, setting a new geekfest record with at least 7 spoons hanging from her face. ben broke sound barriers in order to win the burping contest. delicious food was devoured and the geeks revelled in their geekiness.
new friendships were formed. ideas and inspiration were plentiful. and 15 people proved that they are not only great photographers, they're also great people. so a great big thanks goes out to everyone who helped to make the weekend a success.
the multimedia show will be up soon on this site -- stay tuned.
