GOOD DOGS DIE HARD - The Photography of Michael Wilson

last night i went to an exhibit by photographer michael wilson in cincinnati (actually @ "the york street cafe," a very artist friendly venue in newport, ky). simply stated, michael is a genius, a brilliant yet humble artist. posted below is karin bergquist's recollection of the evening, with words like her's to capture and express the night, any effort i might make would be lame in comparison (scroll down below the photos for karin's thoughts)...

Karin Bergquist & Willow | Norwood, Ohio | July 1998

Muddy Waters' Cabin | Stovall Plantation, Mississippi | April 1996

Karma to Burn | West Virginia | August 1994

Replacements (Paul Westerberg & Tommy Stinson) | Minneapolis, Minnesota | July 1990

Leo Kottke's Guitar | Boulder, Colorado | April 1995

Mt. Calvary Choir Member | Youngstown, Ohio | October, 1993

Emmylou Harris w/ Dogs | Nashville, Tennessee | May 2000

Loudon Wainwright III & Joe Henry | Pasadena, California | February 2007

GOOD DOGS DIE HARD

We spent last night with our friends, celebrating. Michael Wilson is opening a portrait studio and we’re all thinking, Yes. When you are a fan, you want everybody to hear it, to see it, to know it and feel it. I’m talking about that chemical reaction that starts on your skin and seeps through the layers, leeching through the veins soaking into your bones like water into a dry sponge.

If everybody could just see this (feel this, taste this…) life would be so much better all the way around.

We walked up into the third floor of the York St Café to find Michael and Marilyn, his children, sister Donna, and a couple of close friends and family members still scurrying around in preparation for the silent auction of some of Michael’s prints.

The energy in the room was sacred, but not sterile. Holy but not austere. And the hair on my arms prickled to life as we walked around the room drinking in the work of our greatest single musical influence.

Isn’t that something? He’s a photographer by trade. But Linford and I have repeatedly stated that he’s been more influential to us musically than any other single source.

(After all, it was Michael who first played Tom Waits for us.)

I came to realize Michael had chosen an older photo of myself and our beloved Willow, our Weimaraner, for his brochure and as one of the portraits to be voicelessly auctioned off that evening.

Something stirred in me seeing the old girl, so alive, so at work, watching me for her next clue.
Other folks who remembered her commented how her naturally sepia-toned beauty transcended her death thanks in part to Michael’s keen eye.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder, and so on…

I then saw Emmy Lou Harris’s portrait with her dogs, and Bill Frisell and Joe Ely each with theirs. And I know that Michael shares this deep deep love of dogs with us. I’ve seen him with his own. I’ve seen our own formerly abused and extremely man-shy Great Dane, Elroy, whine with gushing affection at the touch of Michael’s gentle hand.

We spend much of our lives trying to wrap our heads around what it is we do – what it is we are supposed to do – what we are called to do. However you want to phrase it, on a good damn day we simply surrender to it, wag our tails and play.

We find that in fact we truly are capable of chasing the Frisbee, and we run, jump and catch it looking surprisingly like Derek Jeter.

We run.

Some days we have to work so hard to be faithful to It especially in it’s most elusive, gray moments, some of those moments lasting for years; and that spiraling transition we call depression. I think about my own crippling self-doubts and the smoke and fog of that blinding deafness. The smoldering depression that lurks around the corner just waiting for one spark of fear to set it off again.

And I’m so thankful that I’m not the only one in the world who has ever felt this.

I am especially thankful that I’m not living there today.

We’re all still learning – which means we ain’t dead yet.
Tail wagging.

Run.
Run.
Run!

With gratitude and admiration,
Karin

PS Stay tuned for more about Michael Wilson’s Portrait Studio or go here now:
http://www.daylightportrait.com