Why is this my favorite photo?
It has elements that I love, plus I shot it on my favorite camera of all time, the Hasselblad 500cm. I took this with film, I am always looking to match the fantastic color and clarity I got from the beautiful chromes. All of the memories attached to this camera infuse my career to this day with inspiration to get back to the wonder that I first felt when I shot with this camera.
My father gave it to me for a Christmas present my final year of Art School in Vancouver, what a surprise!, I was stunned and excited all at the same time. I loved shooting with film and I loved shooting with this camera. At first I shot only landscapes but I quickly added it as my go-to gear for my portraits and magazine work in LA. The most significant part of this image for me is the memory that attached itself to this photo. I was on my first road trip to Las Vegas, it was the fall of 1986 and I was new to living in Los Angeles, California. A friend from Art School came down and we took this road trip across the desert to see Las Vegas, I was excited to see Sin City and all the illusion and glitter that I had supposed it was. I remember that I was shocked at how littered and dirty the desert really was but how beautiful the sky and the hills were. To be truthful, I was sad that I had missed Elvis in Las Vegas. I keep a copy of this image on my desktop to look at to this day.
