The Professor and Doctor are out on the streets of Los Angeles! You can see them up on the big screen (#svla1) at 901 W Olympic Blvd, right by LA Live about 5-10 minutes after each hour. We are honored to be a part of the Lucie Foundation's Month of Photography festival along with some very talented photographers.
Without a doubt, there is something very gratifying and surreal about seeing your work large and projected out into the masses. Thanks Standard Vision & Lucie Foundation
Hey guys! We have some nice news today! We will be featured this month on the Standard Vision screen downtown as part of Lucie Foundation's Month of Photography from January 30 - Feb 5!
You know just some Unchronicled up on a billboard. No big deal : D
Going a little cross-eyed with the desk work, so we took off for a few days to shoot. It was part of our plan to squeeze in some explorations. Plus Caitlin was just dying to get back into her itchy tweed pants.
The mountains weren't the most cooperative host, but we used the rain clouds as much as possible while trying to stave off the numb fingers and keep a dry camera.
Rain can't dampen the spirits of a true mountain goat.
On our last day we got frost and then sunshine in the valley.
We had some real adventures driving off road down to the beaches of the valley lakes. We drew a rough map from the aerial views on Google Earth and adjusted the drawing like an old time cartographer as we coasted on less than a quarter tank of gas and contended with 2 foot potholes. Here's to the road less traveled!
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” - C.S. Lewis
We're working on both, Mr. Lewis. Caitlin is off coffee, so we are drinking matcha tea by the gallon and having to do some major editing or else our book will be reaching tome status soon. All is well though, we got our first set of draft prints back and are doing some large scale layouts. Screens and printed images are so different; it's financially committing to have to see things on paper, but we are being as frugal and resourceful as possible. If you'd like to help out, head on over to our "support us" page.
Hey guy! So since Missy's IG is rocks and more rocks and Caitlin's IG is all about long walks in the woods with her dog - we decided to start a IG just for pictures from our work on UE!
Follow us at @unchronicledexplorations
Greetings from Sunny SoCal!
Vostrum has just arrived in Los Angeles to begin a three week push on our book!! As you can imagine, we are pretty happy to be back at it after a busy summer. We'll be organizing ideas, getting into the backwoods of the Sierra, and if all goes well, we'll have a draft of the book when we are done!
Follow along on Instagram @caitlinstrom (Vostrum) and @i102fly (Slobek)
Prof. Vostrum and I have released the first set of photographs from our residency in Wyoming today!
As you will note on the front page, you are now able to view Series II a selection of images from our residency. Vostrum and Slobek are pretty lousy at social interactions and correspondence, but we love feedback, especially from the people who helped make this possible.
Hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors.
Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy!
A lot has happened since our wonderful residency with our friends at Jentel. Here's a quick recap.
Vostrum (and Slobek) were spotted in dresses!!
Caitlin got married to her mister, Nathan in Hudson Valley, NY. It was a beautiful celebration on a farm - surrounded by friends and family from all over!
Some people didnt recognize her without her tweed and trench coat.
Back in Wyoming...
Missy enjoyed the great outdoor, sticking around Wyoming for some Yellowstone....
And climbed Devil's Tower!
Meanwhile...
Caitlin helped facilitate a meditation workshop in London!
Then Missy stuck around and worked in Montana, because she couldn't bring herself to leave the mountains.
And that's Montana in late May. Snow covered.
So start of July, we are planning out the book, doing some writing, applying to a few more grants, and getting ready to launch some of out work from Jentel!
Stay tuned!
As we're writing this, we're watching the evening light transform the mountains in Banner, WY for the last time. What an amazing month this has been. This land, these mountains, this sky.... they've been a comfort and an inspiration. Our fellow residents - Linda, Zebbie, Kevin, and John have brought their own particular talents and flavor to the mix. We've had some deep discussions and some deep belly laughs around the big oak kitchen table. We've also gotten a lot of work done. Stay tuned, we're selecting, editing, and uploading and we'll share the new work soon.
Probably one of the best town names in the country, Ten Sleep is an old Native American name meaning how many overnights it takes to get there from... somewhere else.
The canyon is a wide, beautiful drive that starts on the southwestern side of the Big Horn range. We scouted around for a while in the afternoon and finally found a really odd grouping of trees to shoot in.
Vostrum has been shooting with her Polaroid, documenting some of the wild flowers and the change in seasons. Most of the snow has melted at this elevation. Spring feels like it's springing. Ticks are out. Bear spray is at the hip.
Side note: As we were setting up the shot, one of the larger rocks rolled over; Slobek/Mis fell off and in the tumbling had a finger smashed under the rock. Finger injuries are the worst because there are so many nerve endings in the fingertips. The gut reaction is nausea and light-headedness, even for minor injuries. It was sort of a bloody scene, with a little bit of goriness in the way the finger was smashed. Some tape from local climbers, and we kept on shooting. That's how dedicated we are. Mis tried to get pictures in the moment, but that didn't happen. Here's tape and the remnants of a former mess.
In between travels, Caitlin’s been shooting a lot of the objects, artifacts, and props that belong to our characters. We set up a very simple DIY White Cyc made out of poster board, using our south facing studio window as a key light and a little battery powered LED for some kick. The idea is that these little still-lifes will be scattered throughout the book, serving as chapter headings and counterpoint to the larger scenes.
Tonight Missy and I, along with our fellow residents - writer Zebbie Watson, playwright Kevin Doyle, sculpture artist John Melvin, and visual artist Lynda Smith - had the chance to present our work to the local community here in Sheridan, Wyoming. We each gave a casual talk, showed some images, and had some time for Q and A. All of the artists and writers were very well received and the crowd was really engaged and supportive. Unchronicled Explorations got a great response. Thank you Sheridan!
Oh, if you go up the road a ways there's a canyon with some overlooks, you can do a few trails, see what you see, sometimes there are some sheep or wild horses - said the ranger to us at a vacant visitors center outside Lovell, Wyoming.
With low expectations, we ventured north. Let me say, low expectations can be the recipe for unprecedented surprises. I will apologize for robbing you of the surprise with these pictures. The canyon is awe-inspiring.
Figure A.
In character, Caitlin... I mean Vostrum, took in the view. The wind picked up so heavily that we had to hold on to our hats and scarves. In complete solitude, we felt compelled to scream at the top of our lungs. It was lost immediately in the gusts from the corridors below.
Our shooting in Big Horn was only observed by some friendly little horned sheep. Not a soul around. Then a big rainstorm moved in and as we left to cross the mountain pass it turned to snow. Driving in the blizzard was a dramatic end to a few epic days on the other side of the range.
Hope to see you soon, Cody!
..just cant wait to get on the road again. As it happens, this was playing in the café the other night by some Stetson-wearing, boot-stomping, musical cowboys. Loving Buffalo, Wyoming.
We mapped out our traverse of the mountains pretty thoroughly, making notes of all the potentially interesting places we could shoot - but of course everything changes in actualization. Our shots have been inspired moment to moment and our plans are usually greatly influenced by time, light, surprising finds, whims and fist fights (just kidding).
Cody has no lack of inspiring backdrops, and we did our very best to make use.
More Bison with capital Bs.
A funny antidote from my awkward planning session to find a boat.
Tedious because I had to collect all the numbers to call and drive up to the top of the hill, one of the only locations nearby with cell service. I called the Horseshoe Marina on the website and asked about boat rentals. The guy was really nice with a big drawl:
"Yeah, I'll rent ya a boat. I got both, canoe and the row boats."
We worked out the whole scenario - when I could pick them up, how he'd come in on his day off, how we'd drop it off the next day in the afternoon when they were closed, but he'd make an exception. The transaction was going great. I told him that we'd be coming across the mountain a couple times as a matter of logistics --
Finally he stopped me. "Now..what mountains are you talking about?"
"The Big Horn ..Mountains," I said.
"Now, you do know we're in Tennessee, don't you."
Wrong Horseshoe Marina. He did his old south chuckle. "Well, now. I'll still rent it to ya."
I'd like to make a note of how amazingly kind and extremely helpful we've found the people in Wyoming to be. We went to a store in Casper to find a scarf. The woman inside did everything in her power to find one and finally sent us to another store. The lady at the coffee shop gave me a free copy of a climbing magazine I wanted to buy. A woman, three customers and another manager racked their brains for recommendations of nearby caves to check out. The guy at the corner store gave me detailed directions where to get bear spray, what aisle to find it and how much it would cost at another store. We've been blown away by the hospitality and helpfulness. Our cabin host in Cody said come on in, you don't have to knock!
Her dog, Weston got depressed when we left. I told him he belongs in the open fields; city life wouldn't suit him.
Missy and I have been talking for a while about shooting in a cave. So I was doing some research on Wyoming caves and found out about this place called “Spirit Mountain Cave”. It used to be a National Monument, but after Carlsbad Caverns opened it’s popularity waned and it was decommissioned. Now it’s managed by the Beareau of Land Management in Cody. So we went to the BLM office, signed some paperwork, and they gave us a key. Then we drove up one of the most treacherous dirt roads I’ve ever been on. We got stuck a few times and said a few hail mary’s as we gunned it through the snow around some switchbacks next to 1000+ foot dropoffs. But man it was worth it. We parked, trekked through the snow with lanterns, helmets, ropes, and of course, our costumes, and found the entrance to the cave. We set up a few scenes which was even trickier in the dark than it normally is! Amazingly enough, we were able to light the scenes with lanterns and headlamps and they came out pretty great. Can’t wait to show you guys.
