The Great Midwest

'And they call this the Great Midwest
Where the cornfields grow and flow
They're all 5 years ahead of their time
Or 25 behind, I just don't know'......JohnMellencamp

When Jesus Left Birmingham

Found this one this morning - circa 1993 - a video still from John Mellencamp's When Jesus Left Birmingham video. The video was made in 1993 in and around Bloomington, Indiana.....If memory serves me well this video was quite controversial - check it out on YouTube.....

Orignal image was made using a Pentax 6x7 and Tri-x FIlm...converted to the digital world with an Imacon/Hasselblad scanner.....

Video Still

Video Still, 1994

This image is from a John Mellencamp video shoot in Belmont, Indiana (near Bloomington, Indiana). The song was 'Baby Please Don't Go' which was used in the 1994 movie 'Blue Chips' with Nick Nolte and Shaquille O'Neal.

Image made using a Pentax 67
Tri-x 400 speed film
Scanned into the digital world using an Imacon Scanner
Image management in Lightroom3 and Photoshop CS5

Sun Studio

Sun Studio, Memphis, TN

Need to get out of dodge quickly this morning to start my trip to Indiana. Was cruising the archive looking for a post and this image popped up - being an Indiana type image surely this must have been planned...by someone other then me...

The shot is from the 'No Better Than This' recording session Mr. Mellencamp did at Sun Studio in Memphis.   I actually kicked myself a few times for using the Lens-Baby on this image but at the time I was really into that lens. I still use the lens but hindsight told me this should have been straight up big boy camera - one of those moments in time to look back on. On the other hand I have the image and just maybe that is alll that matters, 

That is Andy York, longtime Mellencamp guitarist on the left, Mr. Mellencamp on the right and T-Bone Burnett in the center. Was quite a thrill to watch a session at Sun....if the walls could talk...

Captured with a Canon 5DMKII and the Lens-baby Composer

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp, Indiana University

Been out in Bloomington, Indiana working on the new John Mellencamp Tour which started last night. Here are a few images from rehearsal...

JM, Indiana University

Old Time Rock and Roll

I was looking through  Ektachrome slides this morning and found some old rock and roll, circa 1970's images. During that time period I was shooting a lot of music images in New York City venues like The Academy of Music, Madison Square Garden and some of the smaller clubs.

The image of Black Oak Arkansas, above,  was done for Circus Magazine - they actually sent me out to Arkansas to visit Jim Dandy et all at their compound - yes compound -  they all lived together in a bungalow type environment. 'Jim Dandy to the Rescue'.........

The image below was captured during a video shoot in Indiana for John Mellencamp - the song was Human Wheels which was filmed in 1993 in and around Bloomington, Indiana. I was John's Tour Manager from 1984 through 1999 and always had a camera nearby for these moments.

I am hoping in the near future to get all of these older film captures scanned and cataloged.