Proof Frontier Project || Grafton Pannell

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Lance Williams

Photography is a communication tool as well as an art. In photographing people my goal is to tell their story through my artistic process. I would describe my shooting style as naturally relational. From the relationship I have with my subject to the relationship with my surroundings, it all must come naturally to create a finished image. When that sense of ease can be felt through a photograph you can speak to those viewing it much more. I love shooting people because they excite me, I'm passionate about them. Without my passion for people I couldn't create the portraits that I do.

The inspiration for this photo set came from an accidental mishap. I commute by bicycle daily and more often than not I have a thermos full of coffee with me. One morning I had a few 35mm rolls in my pack as well as a thermos and while riding in my thermos leaked. I found the rolls wet with coffee but thought nothing of it. After letting them dry out I took them in for development. Upon viewing the finished scans I noticed streaking in places as well as alterations in color throughout the images. This was the inspiration to use coffee stained 35mm film.

These photographs are scattered across a few locations in Boise, The Budget Inn, the old Sav-on Cafe, 8th St Recreation area, and two random parked cars near Hyde Park (thank you to whoever drives those beautiful automobiles). I chose these locations with the goal of timelessness in mind. I wanted to create these 35mm images with a feel that they weren't shot in the year 2015. We've come a long way over the past 30 years but a lot has stayed the same. That is why I chose places that have been around in the city of Boise for over 70 years in some cases. This is also why I chose to shoot these images with a Vietnam era Nikkormat FTn camera.

You can view more of my work at graftonpannell.com, on instagram @grafton (instagram.com/grafton), on my adventure blog at g-fotofieldnotes.tumblr.com or on facebook found at Grafton Foto (facebook.com/graftonfoto)