I’m a fan of the TV series, “Northern Exposure,” partially because I was living some parts of that life while the show aired in the 90s. A recent Google search on “Northern Exposure” brought up an Alaskan photographer’s work …. a self-described amateur, but a photographer with some great images, for sure.
Anyway, the page also had some photos of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona … mountains that used to be in my “back yard” so to speak. So I did a search of some of my old photos and — among others — this one stood out. I remember it well … these leathery prospectors gathered around a campfire, roasting a pork loin and drinking … what else … whiskey.
I was there to photograph the unlikely gathering of loners in the foothills of the Superstition Mountains while they swapped lies and told stories from their frequent travels into the mountains and quests for gold.
It’s a nice memory, them around the campfire, the smell of dinner cooking and the bottle being passed around. And all that because I was thinking about asking for the Northern Exposure series on DVD for Christmas. I think photo and memory this were a gift enough.
Also, some technical info: I shot this during a time when I lit almost every photo. This was shot on film — probably Fuji 800. I used two strobes, one blasted over the background to make the dark figures stand out, then a second light on their backs to give them an edge in the shadows.
–Andy Sawyer
