fred thompson
yeah, that fred thompson. i took these in 1996 (i think). it’s a really long story about what the event was and i cannot even really give a clear explanation, other then that my father was involved quite a bit in the politics around chattanooga for a bit and my mother helped do the production of the conference itself.
that’s fred thompson shaking my mother’s hand with congressman zach womp on the left looking on, yeah, you read that right, that’s his real name, he also lived across the street from my parents at the time.
that’s my father getting his grip and grin with the then senator.
i lived in san francisco at the time and my parents flew me in to be the ‘photographer.’ needless to say i don’t think they were all that thrilled with my approach and style of image, but i still think THE SUMMIT is one of the more interesting things i have ever made.
GO SAUNDERSJONATHAN.COM HERE
then HISTORY > THE SUMMIT
there he is again during the conference, it was like fish in a barrel, everywhere i looked there was somehting to make a picture of. yes, that’s the shadow of my head and hand on the camera, good thing i shave my head.
i also kept trying to get a photograph of Mrs. Zach Womp (the congressman’s wife from across the street). everytime she saw me, she would literally hide behind someone or walk away. she did this somewhat playfully as she hated having her picture taken, yet was after all married to a congressman and i was the weird kid from across the street.
at one point, she grabbed the camera and asked why no one was taking my picture, didn’t i know how annoying it was? so i handed her the mamiya 7 and made one of the suits next to her hold the flash, battery and cables and smiled, behold my greatness:
that’s me, about 22 years old. such a mess. i didn’t have a button down or tie, i had to get them in tn when i got there. i also had no proper undershirt, so feel those t-shirt sleeves peeking out the rolled up button down sleeves. the best part, is that it was a printed t-shirt, the design showed through the back, i wish i remembered what it was. i ended up shooting with 2 mamiya 7’s as the one i rented from SF was a lemon, the flash wouldn’t fire from the hot shoe or PC sync, i got to chattanooga and had to drive to atlanta and rent a second body. so i shot the whole 2 days with one lens and two bodies, always having one ready to go with fresh 220. i was only there maybe 72 hours, yet i have an entire 2 inch binder bursting with film from the trip, mostly the conference, the rest, the usual.
most of it looked thru or printed, but everytime i go through that binder, i find more and more fabulousness.