Daniel Carrillo

Gala Bent, Amanda Manitach, Troy Gua, and Jason Hirata

Posted February 3rd, 2010

Jen Graves contacted me about her story for The Stranger on the New Gaurd series in Seattle which features an artist, a chef and a musician.  She noticed my work because some of the New Guard artists were using the pictures for their profiles on Facebook and thought it would be great to illustrate the piece with my portraits.  Everyone except Jason Hirata, whom I had met only briefly, was on my “list” to be photographed.  So I made some quick arrangements and I shot Gala Bent and Amanda Manitach on Saturday after work and I shot Troy Gua and JasonHirata on Sunday.

I had not met Gala Bent until she she sat down for her picture.  We had only communicated through email about a exhibiting  and as it turns out she will be showing her amazing work at Some Space Gallery in July! I shot four plates and I found that the very first plate was the winner.

Amanda Manitach was one of the very first people to inquire about getting her picture taken.  I remember that we talked about her being photographed with a fresh lambs tongue.  The shoot with the lambs tongue will happen in the future but she agreed to come in let me take a simple portrait.   The very last plate I shot was soft due to motion blur but it was my favorite.

Troy Gua had come into Some Space and formerly introduced himself.  He struck me as a very smart, stand-up buy and a great artist.  He was the very next person I was to shoot even before Jen asked.  When he showed up on Sunday I knew he would be a great subject and that his picture would be an interesting one.  I asked him to sit in the entryway  with the doors open and I shot him with the city streets at his back.   The exposure was seven seconds and Troy looks as if he was shot against a white background but it in fact the cityscape was simply blown out by the high levels of ultra-violet light bouncing around outside.  This was the very first shot I took of him.

I had met Jason Hirata  only very briefly, he had come into the frame shop to have some photos mounted.  Also a photographer, he told me that he was curious about the whole process so I showed him the wet-plate process start to finish and he seemed to enjoy having his picture taken in this manner.  The very first shot of him was the winner.   When I was composing the shot I didn’t notice that part of the light reflector was in the frame but it worked out just fine.   Jason will be showing at James Harris Gallery next month in March.