Take a little bit of Robert Plant, add some Janis Joplin, a helping of Jimi Hendrix and some Stevie Ray Vaughan and you start to get an idea of what Olivia is about. Hard-hitting, face-melting guitar prowess from a generation of rock music that left you nowhere to hide. The music was meant to be played loud and was all about being in your face. Not an arena for the timid or faint-of-heart.
Even though her mother swears that Olivia is actually a very shy young woman. And despite Olivia herself trying to convince me that the session was really just a photoshoot for her guitar. The personality and rockstar presence that emerged and is evident in these images does not emanate from the guitar. Olivia clearly has the "IT" that we hear talent scouts refer to.
One of my favorite things to do is collaborate with artists and athletes that are in the middle of pouring themselves into their passion. People who create things that are by their very nature, extensions of themselves. And then, when the time is right, they release those creations out into the world in ways that make it a far better place in which to live.
Artists and athletes and musicians spend untold and unseen countless hours working to refine and perfect their craft. And then, often in real time, present the results of all of those efforts in presentations that hang in the air long enough for us to grasp their greatness - then quickly evaporate into the ether.
And that's where I like to hover with the craft I am constantly working to perfect. Hoping to catch and freeze the magic of some of those moments of greatness. I can't recreate the full impact of an amazing performance or athletic feat. But I can try to capture the essence through glimpses that allow us to stop and appreciate and sit with the performance in ways we can't while it is happening. The athletic skill of a dancer that allows the movements to appear so effortless. The split-second timing of an athlete that results in skills that are faster than thought. The feelings evoked in us by a musician that communicates in ways mere words cannot.
This kind of genius and brilliance exists all the time and all around us - without us always being aware. It's why I wanted to do this photoshoot with Olivia. I said it before. Olivia is already a rockstar. It is just the rest of us that have to catch up to that fact...
2 Comments
Mar 10, 2023, 8:11:15 AM
Patrick Dunn - You are welcome! And thank you all! Enjoy the ride!
Mar 10, 2023, 8:02:34 AM
Lisa Goin - Amazing! Speechless and thank you so much I