Ambit was on the scene for almost all of Creative Music Guild’s annual festival, which brings improvised dance and music together through collaborative performance. Images of the event are special, in that they represent an immediate experience, one that cannot necessarily be replicated. Photography captures the moment which is completely fleeting, and in improvisation, the moment can be unsettling, blurry. The photographer hawks out the perfect moment and strikes their shutters in hopes of capturing the artist in creative honesty. These images document that movement and hold it still.
On Friday night and Saturday afternoon, I did my best to cover the scene with a Canon PowerShot A590-IS, with a little supplement from the iPhone 5c, just trying to reach press standards. I did nothing to alter them before bringing them to you today, but probably should have. Friday, Jenny Scholten stepped up the game and used a Nikon D7000. Her images achieve the highest standard of performance photography. I understand she also held back on after effects. Saturday was split with me working from Noon to 5pm and Jairus Dathan Smith capturing the night program from 7pm on. Jairus used his Panasonic Lumix GH3. He found the balance between standard press and artistic performance photography.
Between the three of us, we managed to document almost every performance at the Improvisation Summit of Portland 2015. It should interesting for the technically minded to compare each camera, each photographer, but for everyone else, there are a lot of pretty pictures and people to gawk, and for those who attended, memories to relive.
Enjoy.
Friday
Photos by Sean Ongley
Brumes
Brumes
Jonah Parzen Johnson
Jonah Parzen Johnson at ISP 2015, photo by Sean Ongley
Jonah Parzen Johnson
Jonah Parzen Johnson
Linda Austin & Reed Wallsmith
Linda Austin & Reed Wallsmith at ISP 2015, photo by Sean Ongley
Linda Austin & Reed Wallsmith
Reed Wallsmith and Linda Austin
Linda Austin (blur), CMG Board Member Danielle Parks
Sam Humans, Secret Drum Band
Secret Drum Band
Heather Treadway
Secret Drum Band
Heather Treadway
Lisa Schonberg
Secret Drum Band
Secret Drum Band
Secret Drum Band
Mike Barber
Mike Barber
Mike Barber
Mike Barber
Mike Barber
Stuewe, Conway, Barber
Friday
Photos by Jenny Scholten
Eric Garcia (left) Dawn Stoppiello (right)
Dawn Stoppiello
The Crenshaw
The Crenshaw
The Crenshaw
The Crenshaw
The Crenshaw
Kat Macmillan
Kat Macmillan
Kat Macmillan
Kat Macmillan
Dan Raphael
Rich & Carson Halley w/ Dan Raphael
Rich & Carson Halley w/ Dan Raphael
Catherine Lee
Roscoe Mitchell’s composition featuring (left to right) Tim Duroche, Dana Reason, John Savage, Clark Spencer, Andre St. James, John Gross, Lee Etlderton, Catherine Lee
John Savage, Clark Spencer, Andre St. James (left to right)
Saturday
Photos by Sean Ongley and Jairus Dathan Smith
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe on laptop while Arrington De Dionyso starts early show
Arrington De Dionyso
Arrington De Dionyso
Arrington De Dionyso
Dan Duval and Gordon Ashworth
Robert Ham Moderating
Panel (left to right) Dan Duval, Gordon Ashworth, Mary Sutton, Lisa Shonberg, Robert Ham at ISP 2015, photo by Sean Ongley
Lisa Schonberg
Gordon Ashworth
Get Smashing Love Power
Noah Bernstein
Get Smashing Love Power
Andre St. James (left) Reed Wallsmith (right)
Tim Duroche
Get Smashing Love Power
Allie Hankins
Allie Hankins
Caley Feeney (left) Allie Hankins (right)
ALTO!
ALTO!
There Mathern and Company
Catherine Lee (Oboe), Tere Matthews (background)
Catherine Lee
There Mathern (left) Lyra Butler Denman (right)
Lyra Butler-Denman
Catherine Lee (background)
Either Neither: Whispers, Hymns, and a Murmur: string quartet and improviser
Either Neither: Whispers, Hymns, and a Murmur: string quartet and improviser
Roscoe’s Sax
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
Jonathan Sieloff at ISP 2015, photo by Jairus Dathan Smith
Jonathan Sieloff
Taka Yamamoto
Mary Sutton (left) Taka Yamamoto (right)
Taka Yamamoto
Mary Sutton
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