During my time as a cinematographer and editor on the feature documentary film, Chasing The Present, I was lucky enough to spend some time in the beautiful state of Colorado. The film was a great pleasure to work on and the director of the film, Mark Waters, is a long-time collaborator with whom I love working.
Solid slice of Americana spotted on a road trip
I brought along my 1965 Bronica S2 medium format film camera and used it to capture some of the downtime we had between shooting and editing the movie. We shot the documentary on Red cameras and so it was nice to switch over to the analog process and the 1x1 frame of the camera. During these breaks I felt that I was able to somehow refresh my way of looking through working in this totally different format.
Our sound man, Dan Worsley, taking a break outside the edit house
Artist, Kristyan Stjerne, chilling on the porch
Aside from the technical differences between filmmaking and photography, when making a documentary there is a distinct focus on the content of what people are saying, and so it was particularly nice to step back from language during this free time and return to a more purely visual medium. Not thinking about what people are telling you or engaging with the language-based side of their persona can let you see them in a different way, and it was really enjoyable to try to capture that alternative side of the humans I was spending time with.
Jiwon Lee in downtown Boulder
Coffee shop owner in Lafayette
Winter in Colorado reminded me a little of the same time of year in Seoul, South Korea in that it is freezing but very dry and still, and this gives a certain sense of peace to everything that I felt worked particularly well on medium format film. Also, as a freelance filmmaker, I am so often rushing from one project to the next that it can be hard to find time for a slower mode of working like film photography but it really is a very rewarding method of capturing images. Anyone working as a professional independent videographer will know how all-consuming the work can be, and so scheduled breaks like this during a shoot can be the best way to focus deeply on a photography project such as this.
Jiwon Lee in Lafayette
Frozen-over Lily Lake
Jiwon Lee in Lafayette
One of the film’s producers, Anna Kolber, bracing the elements
As a freelance filmmaker in Korea, I am so grateful to have these wonderful opportunities to travel all over the world for work and the local people we met during our time in Colorado were so kind and friendly that I really hope to return one day.
Our friend Tatiana at breakfast