I was looking at pictures on Flickr this morning and I saw that my friend Paul Drake had posted some new ones. I hadn’t checked in on him for a bit so I went through his images. Here are some of my favorites:
copyright Paul Drake
copyright Paul Drake
I met Paul in 1997 when he was on tour with the band Mineral. He was their tour manager and was selling merch for them during the show. We had several mutual friends and I knew his work from seeing it on their records. I had just had an image of mine used on a cover for a comp record (that shitty orange sky was NOT part of my picture by the way) that Mineral was on and it was one of the records he was selling. I went up and introduced myself and we have been long distance friends since. I’d see him at least once a year when he was in town with a band. If he had contact sheets of new work (this was pre-digital), we’d look through and talk about stuff. I once drove from St. Louis to Chicago to hang out and trade prints while he was selling merch at a show at the Metro. He lives in Europe now and drives/manages U.S. bands when they tour there. Every once in awhile I’ll get an e-mail or text from him when he’s in DC with someone. We alway pick up our conversations where they where left off. His profession gives him a chance to see and shoot a lot of stuff for which I am envious. Check out his work.