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NoBS Member/Photo of the Month: Andy Armstrong
In the 4th grade, I told my parents I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I have drawn as long as I can remember. In college I worked for the daily newspaper drawing a political cartoon and a comic strip five days a week. I've worked as a special products designer (designing packaging and product) for close to ten years, but I still find myself dissatisfied with what I draw or paint - I just can't get the whole idea from my brain to the paper.
At Christmas in 2003 (after tinkering with my brothers Sony), I bought myself a Sony F717, and I immediately fell in love with photography. It had a Carl Zeiss lens and a manual setting, so I learned everything I could about photography. With my Photoshop skills, I could finally show everyone the exact image I had in my head.
Seven months later, I bought a Canon 10D. In October of 2004, I shot my first wedding, and I haven't looked back since then. I've shot weddings in Boston, Denver, and Kingston, Ontario. As you're reading this, I'm probably either in or just back from shooting a wedding in St. Croix. I've shot pro hockey from the bench. I've shot commercial work for Remington, Winchester, and Colt. In 2008, I placed Third Overall in the Premiere division of the WPPI 16x20 Print Competition.
In October, I'll celebrate the 5th Anniversary of my first paid job, and I can't wait to see what's waiting for me in the world of photography in the next five years.
About the Photo of the Month
In between the workshops I led in Detroit and Portland, I got a call from a company based in San Francisco. They were looking to hire a local photographer to shoot portraits of an old moonshiner who lived up the road from me in Parrottsville, Tennessee.
The moonshiner, Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton had written books on moonshining and was featured in several documentaries on the subject. In 2007, the ATF raided his property and found 850 gallons of moonshine in his possession. In 2008, he was convicted in federal court, and he was slated to enter Federal Prison the Friday after my Sunday session with him. This, according to my employer, was the last chance we were going to have for a long time to get good portraits of Popcorn Sutton. Little did I know how true that statement would turn out to be.
I spent a little over two hours with Sutton that Sunday. The Photo of the Month was shot with a Canon 5D and my Canon 70-200 2.8 L on the front porch. He was a crazy old coot, and kept me on my toes. We walked around his property, and he invited me into his home. It was probably the most interesting shoot I've ever been a part of.
Popcorn never reported to Federal Prison. The day after our session, he ran a hose from the exhaust pipe of his green Ford Fairlane, got in, and took his own life.
The Wall Street Journal ran a front page article on Sutton and memorialized him by saying, "A scrawny, long-bearded mountain man with a foul mouth and a passing acquaintance with copper tubing and kettles, Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton seemed the embodiment of moonshiners of yore."
More of Andy's Photos
