RAY MARTINEZ

Greg has been a farmer his entire life having grown up on a farm in eastern Colorado. In the early eighties Greg moved west near Paonia, Co where he continues to farm.

I met Dylan at an arts and craft fair in Fintry, BC. He is a jewelry maker using wood from trees native to the area. After photographing Dylan I printed a copy of this image using my Fujifilm Instax printer. He was nearly brought to tears as he shared with me that he has a Polaroid photo of his father at the same age on his work bench. Dylan then gifted me with one of his necklaces.

Sarah is a conceptual artist splitting her time between NYC and Nashville. I met Sarah at the Arts Letters and Numbers, (ALN) artist residency in Averill Park, NY. While at ALN Sarah worked with ribbon creating a “Ribbon Factory” installation in one of the rooms in the house. I worked with Sarah to create images of her with ribbon from her installation.

http://www.artslettersandnumbers.com

Elona is the Executive Director of the Cold Spring Farm near Underwood, WA on the Columbia River Gorge. Along with the administrative duties of running the farm Elona spends her days doing farm work, the thing she loves most. Her days usually start by milking the goats, then breakfast with the staff to set intentions for the day. She may spend time in the garden, prepare the goat’s milk for market, feed the baby goats, or manage groups of volunteers coming to help on the land. In addition to all of her other duties Elona is an amazing cook and an expert in making cheese and the fermentation of foods. The sauerkraut made from farm grown ingredients was amazing and Elona described her process of making the sauerkraut. She talked about making it with her mother and grandmother and how she has improvised their methods to satisfy her tastes and what works best with the farm produce.

Cold Spring Farm is a self sustaining farm that seeks to improve the soil and to do no harm to the environment. Everything grown and harvested on the farm has a use. If you visit the farm there is an expectation that you will help with chores. The baby goats needed to be fed, my favorite part. Heather helped with the bees and establishing a new hive, I harvested radishes and prepared them to be pickled, greens and all. The most interesting thing we were asked to help with was milking the goats. All though it is not something I would choose to do everyday I was able to get the hang of it fairly quickly, Heather not so much. We only spent two days on the farm but have a lifetime of memories.

http://worldsteward.com/contact.html

Al is a volunteer at Cold Springs Farm near Underwood, WA. He helps with gardening and other farm chores. In addition to farm duties he assists visiting school students in understanding growing principles and land stewardship. He also is a photographer that documents life on the farm.

http://worldsteward.com/contact.html

Robert Dalton Harris is a retired physicist living in upstate New York. Rob and his wife Diane are some of the leading researchers and historians on U.S. Postal Service history. They live in a house that would better be described as a museum. One could spend days viewing the postal service history, thousands of books, art of all kinds and the largest antique toaster collection in the U.S.

I was allowed into their home to make images of Rob. I knew the moment I met him that I needed to include him in my portrait project. Rob is tall with that long beard and a deep voice. Rob left the physicist profession to do the things that interest him and make him happy.

Gerald.

I set out on a cold Saturday morning for some street photography in a favorite area of the city. The U street corridor in Washington, DC

After walking around and not seeing many people because of the cold I stopped at a fast food restaurant to warm up and get a bite to eat. This is where I met Gerald. He approached my table and asked if I was interested in buying some gloves. Opening his back pack he emptied the contents on my table, gloves, scarves and even a shirt. They were all new with tags and all for sale. I asked Gerald to have a seat and we began to negotiate a price for the gloves. Gerald told me how he has lived in the city all his life and is now retired. He sells a few things on the street to supplement his income. Like many others in the city Gerald fears that gentrification will force him from the area.

Working with creatives is just one end of the spectrum of people I enjoy.

Participants at the #IFVP2016 “United We Scribe” conference in Washington, DC took full advantage of my photographic services. Here are a few visual practitioners who sat for portraits.

Visual practitioners help tell visual stories of meetings, conferences, and concepts. Their tools span from markers on paper through to digital means: drawing apps on tablets. They are known for their creativity, incredible ability to listen and synthesize and from my experience, all of them know how to have fun! To learn more about the International Forum of Visual Practitioners, click here.

Need a headshot for your website, social media or marketing materials?

Express yourself by drawing your own backdrop for a customized portrait or keep it clean with a plain white or color background.