Photography Concert - A Great Success!

 Paul Hassell and friend Bryan Hill (one of the four on the Patagonia crew) set up in Knoxville's Square Room before a 150-person audience prior to the first-ever "Photography Concert" presented by Paul Hassell Photography.

Paul and Bryan, beneath a dimmed spotlight, sit back and watch the Patagonia Adventure video that introduces the audience to the 140km/hr winds of Torres del Paine and the stir-craziness produced in them from the 42-hour bus ride across Argentina.  On occasion, amidst cold winds and rain, a still image Paul took at that place and time drops into the motion picture.  Be sure to view this video below.  It helps to provide context for the still images you will view in the Patagonia gallery on his website.

Following some fun stories, the intro video, and some more side-splitting comedy, Paul did a brief teaching segment (using specific images as examples) on what's going through the mind of a photographer when an image is made amidst harsh environmental circumstances.  Finally, without further adieu, they presented the ten-minute slideshow of images and music that the crowd had all been waiting for.

Thanks to all of you who came together to make this evening a great success!  To purchase fine art photographs from Patagonia visit the website.

Patagonia Adventure Video!

The video you demanded we post online following last night's photography concert...Enjoy!

Photogonia!

- click image to enlarge

Some have called it a photography concert!  One man called it "Photogonia."

Join me and the crew as we trek through the Patagonian wilderness of Chile and Argentina. 

Sunday night's concert will be a solution to the common slide show. The evening will be an all-out feast for the senses (and your stomach thanks to Cafe 4). It's a once-in-a-life-time presentation you simply can't miss!

We'll start the images, video, and tall tales from our January expedition at 8pm in Knoxville's newest concert venue--the Square Room. If you're able, we recommend you make a night of it by arriving early for dinner at Cafe 4. Then, walk into the Square Room at 8pm for the concert. To make it easy for those who may have obligations beforehand, we'll have tables set up in the Square Room for those who wish to order food and/or wine to enjoy during the concert. I recommend it! If you plan on doing so, take your seat before 8m. Then, the wait staff of Cafe 4 will take your order just before the concert begins and deliver your order to your table as we begin the concert. 

Free admission! Presentation will last approx 30-45 minutes. But for those who are able, we encourage you to stay and be our guest for awhile beyond the concert's conclusion.

4 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902

Vision para Vida!

"Guiding Light" - 5:13am on 21 January 2009

Before sunrise one morning in Patagonia, I set the camera's self-timer and made an image that shows me walking through the dark valley with my headlamp shining from my forehead.  The only evidence I walked there was the light that guided my steps.  Hear me.  The only evidence I walked there was the light that guided my steps.  But as for me, I was not seen.  I was invisible.

The image I made in southern Chile that cold January morning was no accident.  It made a permanent imprint on me, my vision, and the way I now walk.  Each time I view it on the desktop of my computer, I'm reminded, "Life is not about you."  The paradox is, when I remember this is when I have experienced the greatest abundance of life.  Huh?  I could go on forever, but that's all I'm going to say about it for now.  Enjoy.

When light hits dark!

I heard a friend sunday night say a quote that I haven't been able to shake from my head since I heard it. He said, "the most beautiful things happen when light hits dark."

Instantly, a torrent of experiences and images I've been a part of on four continents flooded to mind. Both literally in nature and metaphorically in the lives of people, there's nothing more beautiful in the human experience than light hitting darkness. Beautiful things always happen.

Have you seen it?  Post a comment.  Share it with us.

"Double Rainbow" - Denali National Park, Alaska