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Rabbit Hole
By Jared Smith

the

Deep into

With Alicia J. Rose

he Decemberists are a popular folk-rock band who are not only revered for superbly crafted ballads and poignant lyrics, but also adored by fans for playfully assuming fictional collective personas such as roving gypsies or wayward pirates. Their creative reputation is due, in large part, to the album art, editorial spreads, and promotional materials that comprise their visual identity and perpetuate the myths set forth in their narrative melodies. Such an identity is an invaluable inoculation in an industry whose currenciesmusicians and their musichave become disposable and plagued by ephemeral success. Fortunately, The Decemberists unique musical presence has been visually fortified by collaborations with talented artists such as Carson Ellis, who created all of the cover art for the band. Also particularly instrumental to their steadfast visual identity is the immortal capture of photography, the inventive employment of which would not have been imaginable without the rich creative vision and photographic acuity of Alicia J. Rose of Portland, OR. Since her landmark shoots with the band, Alicia hasnt looked backor up, ratherdescending deeper into what she calls the rabbit hole of photography. Brimming with sundry talents far beyond the scope of photography, Alicia is an intriguing artist who describes herself as being obsessed with color and admits unabashedly that she will often geek out hardcore about light. But both of these fixations have worked to her benefit, as her images are strikingat once glamorous (fancy in her terms) and visceral. Alicia exudes an exuberance and forthcomingness that makes even a first meeting feel like a reunion with an old friend. Her success as a photographer can be attributed partly to her uncanny ability to forge sincere bonds with subjects. Her work is also distinguished by an acute awareness of environment, which she believes affects everyone invariably. Still more admirable is that she attends to her passionsphotography and musicwith an unrelenting assiduousness that, like her imagery, seems supernatural. Her hunger for creating art is insatiable and has proved rewarding: Alicias work has been featured in Spin, Juxtapoz, Elle, Portland Spaces and Filter, among others, and she recently had a winning image in the 2008 PDN Photo Annual. Alicia is a musician and a music promoter in addition to being a photographer, so she is well aware of the importance photography holds in our virtual age. The photograph has become one of the most powerful tools in the way that people connect with music, she says. Bands require an arsenal of images simply to establish a Web presence. For her first shoot with The Decemberists, Alicia sat down with lead singer Colin Meloy to brainstorm, and within minutes, they had come up with a long list of ideas. The Decemberists were the first band that I worked with that made me realize how far I could take it, she says. And I dont mean on a successful level, I mean on a creative level. Extracting inspiration
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ALL PHOTOs COPYRIGHT ALICIA J. ROse

The Decemberists

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The Decemberists

apparent. In the late 1990s, Alicia began her study of photography when she moved to San Francisco to attend school. In merely a few years, she taught herself (she has only taken three formal classes) how to shoot, process and print black-and-white film on her fathers Olympus OM-10. Meanwhile, she DJed at two college radio stations and booked shows at a caf. By 21, she was a full-time promoter at a nightclub. Inspired by the creative edgy look of the early editorial spreads from music magazines Alternative Press and Option, Alicia quickly realized where she could apply her photographic skills and began shooting friends bands. And suddenly I had a tool to help what I was doing in other ways, she says. It was one more creative thing I could do that was helpful in the whole picture. But after several years of promoting and snapping photos for friends, Alicia felt restless in San Francisco. So she cut all ties with the cityand music photography and headed north to Portland, OR, allowing photography to become a hobby again while working at a music distribution company. Fortunately, The Rose City and its artistic denizens became just the catalyst Alicia needed to rekindle her

from the music, Alicia directed a series of shoots portraying the band as the characters that inhabit their songs. The collaboration yielded some unforgettable images that assisted in ultimately galvanizing the band and Alicias artistic identities. But it comes as no surprise that Alicia would cull inspiration in this way, as she regularly assumes the moniker Miss Murgatroid when performing with her accordion. Before I really took photography seriously, I always used to describe myself as a musician making music as a soundtrack for the films and images in my head, she says. The difference now is that Im making the images firstfor other peoples soundtracks. And whether those soundtracks are the actual music of her subjectsas is the case with the bands she photographs or their artas is the case with her dance portraitsshe composes images that are full of melodrama. However, Alicia is quick to clarify that her photography presents not the surreal, but hyperreal by evoking interaction between subject, landscape and emotion. Still, it took some experimenting before these artistic intersections became

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transcended the staid confines of typical music photography. Alicia spent the next several years photographing musicians and other artists, while pursuing her own music (Miss Murgatroid has released five albums to date) and promoting shows for the citys premier independent music venueDoug Fir Lounge. In 2003, Alicia had her first solo fine art exhibition titled Histrionic, wherein one of her subjects was Linda K. Johnson, a modern dancer who is now one of Alicias greatest supporters and a muse. Johnson helped Alicia land her dream project, an advertising campaign for the Oregon Ballet Theatre called Whos Your Dancer? She was given complete artistic control over the shoot, which resulted in three seasons of stunning portraits of the theatres performers. Each portrait tells a distinct story about the dancers: We find them effortlessly pressing grapes in a picturesque vineyard; poised atop a ladder, painting a house interior; and feeding farm animals with an air of unspeakable grace. Of the campaign, Alicia says, I wanted to create fabulous situations that anyone

photographic drive. Portland is really beautiful. Its this city with an incredible pastiche of surroundings, she says. It is as much of a character as the people in a lot of the photos Ive taken. During Alicias migration north, she discovered Diane Arbus work, which not only changed her creative perspective, but also prompted her transition to medium format. I dont think I grasped the depth of photography in my early years, until I started going down the rabbit hole because of people like Diane Arbus, says Alicia. The first thing that drew me in was how she captured people in a state of being. Her composition was about having people be the landscape and emotions be a part of that landscape. Inspired by Arbus use of medium format, Alicia managed to get her hands on a Yashica twin-lens reflex camera and became totally enchanted. Although she wasnt shooting any photos professionally, she was unknowingly developing her eye by taking experimental portraits of friends and other artists. It wasnt long before friends again began asking if she would photograph their bands. This time, however, she sought to capture expressive images that

Oregon Ballet Theatre Whos Your Dancer? Ansa DeGuchi

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Ronnie Underwood, Oregon Ballet Theatre

could find themselves in. I like bringing out the humanity, humor and drama in potential everyday situations. Although mostly depicting everyday life, the images commandwith the help of the dancers unparalleled elegance and Alicias imaginative art directionan unexpected authority, which Alicia qualifies in saying, I aim to capture 20 percent beyond what you could possibly imagine. Thus, the hyperreal images do just that, juxtaposing the dancers ethereal artistry with the starkly humanistic, commonplace activities of their daily lives. And perhaps the most surprising aspect of Alicias visual aesthetic is that she achieves it without any digital manipulation. She shoots exclusively medium format on a Hasselblad 503CW because, she says, Theres something about the backwards composition; it just flips the world around enough to be perfect for my brain. Her apparent reverence of light also plays a role in her love for medium format. With medium format, you have to create a relationship with light, in the moment, instead of dealing with it after the fact. It is her mastery of light and medium format combined with her dauntless creative energy that draws the viewer into her sub-

jects world of possibility. But ultimately Alicia is as interested in her subjects as she is in the photographic process. Rather than a mechanism of obfuscation, her camera has simply become a tool to expedite unadulterated human interaction and emotionprecisely what she is trying to capture. For me the interest isnt in creating an artifice, its in removing it. Were all in the situation together; were all having to engage. My goal is to break through any artifice in that situation and any expectation of what it is to be photographed. She calls this style of shooting Commando Conceptual, which she describes as, I arrive in the moment; I shoot in the moment, but I create the concept as I shoot. Its almost like Im creating spontaneous relationships with emotion, with environment, with people, with intention. Breaking through artifice involves treating the photographer-subject relationship with the utmost respect. As a musician, Alicia has often found herself in the vulnerable situation of being on the other side of the lens and admits that many photographers are oblivious to their subjects needs. Every photographer should take

it upon themselves to do a trade with at least one photographer a year, and photograph them and be photographed because it teaches you a lesson and skills that you could never do just being on the other side of the lens, she says. In locating the intersections of her art and other professional pursuits, Alicia has established a business that is not only lucrative, but also fulfilling. Showing no signs of slowing down, her vision is to further bridge the gap between fine art and commercial photography. Finding a way to commercially promote something artistically and with an edge is absolutely fascinating to me, she says. To create an honest and authentic representation of whatever it is you are trying to sell is great, but it should also look amazing. Although she would like to do more advertising work, she also sees a future in music video direction and has started studying filmmaking I have to, she says. I [have to] make these pictures move. Its going to drive me crazy. While Alicias interests and talents are varied and far-reaching, she maintains, Photography is the first thing that Ive experienced where Ive felt like there is really no limit to what I can do and what I can apply my eye to. So, despite the fact that she has clearly plunged deep into the bottomless chasm of her craft, Alicias future looks brighter than ever, as the photography industry is just beginning to scratch the surface of her potential. To view more of Alicias photography, go to www.aliciajrosephotography.com. To learn more about Miss Murgatroid and her recent release with Petra Haden titled Hearts and Daggers, visit www.myspace.com/ missmurgatroidandpetrahaden.
Jared Smith is a freelance writer/editor and the former Features Editor for Rangefinder Publishing. He is currently living and teaching in South Korea.

Alicias Camera Bag:

4 Cameras: Hasselblad 503CW, 501C 4 Film: Fujifilm 1600 & 800Z, Kodak 100UC (now out of production) 4 Lenses: 50mm lens 40mm lens 80mm lens + others 4 Lights: Daylight reflectors (silver, gold, mix) Profoto 7b lights w/softboxes, grids and snoots

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