Cade Martin Photography

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Smithsonian Magazine: Bigfoot

Yes, he’s real!

Legends like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and the Bermuda Triangle were as much of an influence to me growing up as the Lone Ranger, Zorro and the Two-Gun Kid.

Smithsonian Magazine Associate photo editor Donny Bajohr reached out to see if I was interested in taking on an assignment photographing Bigfoot.

THE Bigfoot?! Count me in.

I always love working with the Smithsonian, and they thought it would be cool to create a miniature set in the vein of the famous grainy “video footage” from the Patterson–Gimlin film.

Bigfoot will be September’s “American Icon” featured in the Prologue section of Smithsonian Magazine.

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Robot Love

I am honored to have my C3PO images for Smithsonian Magazine selected in the Editorial category for the juried Communication Arts 2018 Photo Annual issue. It won’t ever not be exciting to be included in those pages.

Each project I do hits home for different audiences in different ways, but these C3PO images have been some of my most widely resonate. This droid has a firm grip on our national (and beyond) cultural memory. It was a unique challenge to photograph this icon as a piece of machinery, a sum of metal luster and wires - apart from but as a compliment to everyone’s knowledge of and affection for this American character.

I photographed C3PO for the National Treasures feature of Smithsonian Magazine (as apt a place for him as you could come up with) where it was selected the Most Powerful Image for that publication for 2017.

Thanks to Smithsonian Photo Editor, and frequent collaborator, Jeff Campagna. And to Communication Arts

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Cade Martin Photography  - Mother & Child

Hager Sharp is an agency that prides itself on creating work that fosters meaningful change in the world. They’ve been at it for nearly 40-years now, so it was a privilege to be asked to partner with them on a campaign for USDA WIC Breastfeeding Week that encourages low-income moms to breastfeed.

I love what has come through in these images — a testament to honoring the bond between mothers and their children, and the obvious love and pride parents have for their children. They are such intimate images and yet represent something so natural and universal.

Agency: Hager Sharp

Mike Gallagher

SVP, Creative Director

Aaron Murphy

Creative Director

Natalya Malteva

Art Director

Jerold Williams

Production director

Special thanks to U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutritionists Valery Soto and Cheryl Funanich.

World Breast Feeding Week

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3-days, 50-Portraits, A Collective Voice. The Evolution of Over War

The Beginning. Being Understood.

There are people who understand you well enough to challenge you, but in that if-you’re-not-pushing-boundaries-you’re-not-doing-it-right kind of way, people you ultimately trust to have your back and your best interests at heart. Kate Chase, my friend, former rep and now producer, is one of those people. She’s the engine on this project – and while there were more than a few times that I was called to step outside of my comfort zone (I might devote a separate story to this), I’m really glad I answered.

Kate’s beloved uncle “Moose” was an Air Force pilot who had served in Vietnam, and flew the F-105, as a Thunderchief. She had heard from her mom that he would be attending a military reunion in San Antonio with other Thunderchiefs and she believed that I, as a photographer who chases characters and follows faces, should get myself there.

Moving On the Wind.

And I was off to San Antonio. I have always been up for adventure with my camera in tow, if there’s a whiff of a kernel of a spark of an idea for an interesting photograph, I’ll follow it on the wind. I packed up and showed up with a key crew. Texas was hot, the hotel nondescript. But what awaited us inside was a rich chapter of American history that I believe is unknown to most. These retired pilots are an often-overlooked part of the Vietnam War - itself by the year further relegated in our national narrative.    

I stood with my camera among these pilots who have not forgotten any detail of how and why they are connected.

Fly on the Wall

The beginnings of the portrait-making. Setting up, observing, I never know what I’m going to encounter in my personal portrait projects, how a day will go. It’s the beauty of the unknown.

With the Thunderchiefs, I felt like a reverent fly on the wall as they warmed up, and fell easily into their friendships forged in the most difficult of circumstances.

I like to go to the source for these group portrait projects, embed myself in the space and community they share. I’ve used the technique before, creating a studio of sorts in the very middle of the space inhabited by the group I’d like to photograph. Here we set up in a rented conference room and pulled each pilot aside during breaks in their conversations. They didn’t say much when they stepped away from their fellow pilots, they didn’t need to it was there on their faces, the brotherhood, support, joy, pain, pride and life shared.

As they talked to each other and then later through interviews, I heard the things said echoed in what I saw through my lens.

Opening Up

The prevailing stories and images from this controversial war, are almost exclusively those of the grueling ground war, while these airmen remained mostly stoic and silent about their experiences. The exception, I discovered, takes place at these reunions where these men with similar experiences could enjoy the precious, and blood-earned, crucible of comradeship with fellow warriors.

Upon seeing the final product and her husband’s portrait, Jan Lockhart shared these heartfelt thoughts with us:

“To say I was moved by it is a gross understatement.  As I scrolled down the piece, I saw many of our old and dear friends, and was so moved by the comparisons and the memories of the brave young pilots they were to the old warriors we see today.  When I scrolled to the picture of my husband, I just burst into tears.  His portrait, as so many of the others, looked through his eyes and into his soul...to the thrills and the tears, to the joy and the heartbreak of those days flying that wonderful machine in the most difficult air war ever waged.

These reunions are special in ways few people even realize.  I have been going for a long time, and one of the things I have observed is that no one...not wives, nor children, nor parents, nor friends...truly can understand what those guys faced in combat during that war. They alone can truly know each other...the very young men they were, how they felt about everything involved in that war, how they all loved that particular airplane, and the comradeship and respect of the men they are today. I think it is one of the most important things they do...slap each other on the back, catch up on kids and grandkids, and be able to know that the men in these reunions truly KNOW them.”

So while it might be easy to mistake stoicism for a lack of opinion or an absence of emotion, a few minutes in their presence and a good look through the camera, provided a sea change of perspective.

Revealed

As a photographer, I am comfortable looking for what needs to be communicated in the architecture and life found in faces and places. What I initially saw was a group of men bonded by experiences that only they understand, so much of it a glimpse into the worst of humanity.  

Yet it’s as though the solemn reality of what they did, saw and lost, allows them to cherish the good stuff. Observing them and their wives, taking that closer look I could see how valuable that is, where it fits in their stories.

The Final Product, CadeMartin.com/OverWar

While I have many personal projects under my belt, I can say that Over War has been one of the most in-depth thus far; evolving from what I had envisioned as a series of Air Force pilot portraits to a project that - fifty years later -ultimately gives voice to these men who had a unique vantage point on the Vietnam war – an airborne perspective as they flew over the conflict below.

During this process, we’ve also been fortunate to cross paths with a number of people who are working to ensure that the individual stories and first person accounts of these men who put themselves in harm's way are being told. Because many of the pilots did not speak about their experiences when they returned; and it seems because few had asked and even fewer were interested, we’ve come to understand that information is difficult to source. These first-person accounts are invaluable.

And while there are not many Thunderchiefs left that can give us a window through which to view and learn from their experiences, we believe it is important that we are careful stewards of their stories, that we do what we can to make sure they are able to speak their truths, to help us and generations to-come, accurately view the war.

With Honor:

It was an honor - and an extraordinary privilege to be a witness to this gathering, listening to the conversations and banter buzzing through the room. These men are cut from a rare cloth – living links to our collective history. They share obvious love for one another, a direct result of being together with the truest friends, forged of the same realities, culture and mindset.

And my forever thank you (again) to the team that made this all come to life:

Story & Design Director: Ron Walter

Copywriter:  Molly Leutz

Photo Producer: Amy Whitehouse

Lighting Director:  Chris Bisagni

1st Assistant:  Matthew Lemke

2nd Assistant: Robert Amador

Digital Tech:  Kirsten Wyss

Post Production: Sugar Digital

Military Adviser, Archival Photographer, Thunderchief:  Ed “Moose” Skowron

Website Developer:  Chris Hull

Pictured above, top to bottom: John Piowaty, Jessie Henderson, Ed Skowron, Ben Bowthrope and Tony Cushenberry.

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Virginia Opera 

Another collaboration with the always creative

Jamin Hoyle

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Vegas. Baby. 

Las Vegas is a place that inspires extremes, people love it or they turn up their noses at it.

I don’t gamble but there is something about Vegas that I am so drawn to. I’m unabashedly excited when a job takes me to the lights and the strip and beyond.

The landscape itself, built to thrill, is fascinating. There’s the curated excitement of the strip and then you go a mile or two in any direction, the landscape shifts, and you might as well be on Mars.

It's a great place to people watch, everywhere you turn a cast of character.

What happens in Vegas….ends up on your Tumblr feed.

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James Brown and the Hammond Organ 

What is it about the Hammond Organ that had such a profound hold on the Godfather of Soul?

“The Hammond electrified faith, and it electrified the faithful, too, because it had a way of projecting its fervor out onto the streets of America.  People took the crazy feelings the Hammond unlocked and blasted them past the church into the rec room, the jazz club, the honky-tonk. A whole bunch of new feelings, mixing sacred spaces and public places.” – RJ Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, April 2018

How could I say it better?

I am always awed by the history and stories that radiate from the objects at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and being able to take this image to accompany RJ Smith’s  fascinating piece about the Hammond Organ and James Brown was as great as you’d imagine.

Photographed for Smithsonian magazine

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SHRM  Society for Human Resource Management.  

SHRM is probably one of my longest standing clients. And I’ve gotta gush - I love them, I really do. They are incredibly kind and easy to work with, and beyond that, the work we’ve done together is creative and fun. This year’s SHRM18 conference in Chicago is no exception.

The theme for SHRM18, the largest HR conference in the world, features larger than life objects set throughout the host city of Chicago.

SHRM HQ is in Alexandria, VA and each year the conference visits a different city. That’s where I come in. They hire me to go to that city in advance and create the images to draw people to attend their conference in that place. SHRM doesn’t just visit a city – they do a non-hostile takeover. A sense of place is really important to SHRM, and I like that challenge.  I've really enjoyed working on these city campaigns, trying to create a different take on often-photographed and well-documented places and landmarks.

I think of this Chicago campaign as a double take project - in that it was almost a snap shot of the Chicago scene that you have seen a zillion times before followed by a double take - is that a giant coffee cup?

While the images are obviously not real, we worked to keep them from veering into looking too clearly imaginary. We wanted to inspire the reaction, “did I just see what I think I saw?”

 Agency: Wunderman DC

Creative Director: Trevor Sloan

Art Director: Dylan Davis

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Character Not Characters O Museum in the Mansion Washington DC

The tagline of the The Mansion on O & O Street Museum begins with “everything is possible.” With my first exhibition of photographs hanging in the galleries of this most iconic of institutions I am inclined to agree.

People end up at the Mansion and O Museum in so many ways – stories you likely wouldn’t believe. As DC resident, I know these tales as a part of the character of this city. I once thought “if I could get one image on those walls…” and today, I am one of those stories and you’ll just have to believe me.

On a shoot break, talking tattoos with a friend from the Melanoma Research Foundation, a planted kernel of an idea, the DC Tattoo Arts Expo, conversation with H, and now twelve prints 41” wide on 49x62” paper hang in the O Street Museum as my first exhibition: Character, Not Characters.

The other part of the Mansion on O tagline is “Dare to be different.” In my photography, I’m looking for the stories and characters that reveal themselves when you look at things differently. These tattoo portraits are a closer look at stories told through ink – mysterious and intimate at once.

If you’re going to do something, might as well do it right. Having my work, my first exhibition, at the O Museum in DC is about as right as I can imagine. A huge thank you to O Mansion, H and Ted for giving me this opportunity.

Character, Not Characters is at the O indefinitely. If you find yourself in DC, book a tour.

Check out more about this project here http://aphotoeditor.com/…/the-art-of-the-personal-project-…/

Visit Washington DC Washingtonian Dupont Underground

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Delta Blues Promotional Package 

The intersection of what we love and what we do – that’s the sweet spot right?I have always had a deep affection for the Mississippi Delta, and I’ve been making photographs for what we’ll call a good while now. This blues portrait project was that spot; just me and my camera in Clarksdale, Mississippi, capturing the characters of the blues.Making the images is what I do. Sharing them is someone else’s sweet spot. To share these I turned to designer David Calderley of Graphic Therapy.And at the intersection of that brilliant designer - who also happens to be a guy with whom I’ve shared both beer and adventure, I ended up with this. Both- pulp board. Die cut containing 10-panel concertina fold – and a short story about what I do, and what I dig.

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Rosetta Stone 25th Anniversary Portrait Project. 

Rooftop. Flower District. L.A.

Real people, not actors. It can be a cliche of a line. But for their 25th anniversary, Rosetta Stone wanted to highlight their users - people who have learned a new language as a way to change the world, in big and small ways. There were so many personalities captured in these portraits - so many faces of curiosity, of determination, of understanding, of wanderlust.

It was a pleasure working again with Andy Steenberge, Creative Director of Rosetta Stone. His vision and passion for this series were such assets to ending up with the portraits we did.

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Clayton Moore wore this black mask at the star of The Lone Ranger (ABC, 1949-57 but I’m sure you knew that,) a Western TV series about a Texas Ranger who disguises his identity to fight crime on the frontier.  

What I love about this particular project is everything.

It’s not hyperbole to say photographing the Lone Ranger’s mask for The Smithsonian was one of the best days of my life. I talk about how legends, characters, superheroes and comic book characters shaped me, shaped my perspective. But something about this mask reminded me of that foundation so viscerally. I felt just as I would have felt if 10-year old me was behind that camera.

Hi-yo Silver, away!

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La Traviata, Washington National Opera 

With the release of the 2018-19 WNO schedule, I am thrilled to share these rich, dramatic portraits that give promise of the story these actors will tell as Violetta and Alfredo when they take the stage for the new production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” in October.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. is a legendary institution, and it is always an honor to work with them and Creative Director Scott Bushnell.

With the talented Jacqueline Echols and Joshua Guerrero. 

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Cade Martin Photography Selected for Lürzer's 200 Best 

What an honor. I'm happy to share that I've been recognized again this year, 2018/19, as one of the 200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide by the esteemed Lürzer's Archive. My two images are part of 538 included in the issue - representing photographers from 30 countries - whittled from more than 8000 submissions. Blues portrait series. Juke Joint Festival. Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Photographed with Hasselblad

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Mexico. It’s a recurring theme in my personal work because it’s a place that has had a hold on me from some of my earliest memories. My family traveled here when I was a boy and I have revisited countless times, drawn by both work and play to this beautiful country.

After a full year of work, I returned with my own family on a holiday for the holidays.

No work I said. I made a point to leave my camera at home.

But, crazy thing is in the “Shot on iPhone” world we live in, we can’t really leave our cameras behind. And maybe a photographer can’t not be a photographer.

So when we went to the famous Museo De Las Momias – the Museum of the Mummies – in Guanajuato, I found myself in the phone in hand crowd, mesmerized and compelled to capture what I saw.

There is such history and such mystery in the faces of the mummies, once ordinary people caught and frozen in the Cholera pandemic of the 1830s. The hastily buried masses were later disinterred to make room in overcrowded cemeteries, their relatives asked to pay a tax for permanent burial. Those whose families could not pay were put on display.

There is something equal parts morbid, fascinating and foreign about death on display. Moments of almost awkward levity as we pose in coffins and imagine these mummies as they might have been as people. A mix of curiosity, chills and reverence, a bit like a film where you’re scared, but enjoying it enough to watch though a few fingers. Or your iPhone camera.

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Made the list (I checked it twice) – Smithsonian Magazine’s Most Powerful Photos of 2017 

End of the year lists are a lot of fun, a way to look back and categorize what has happened during our collective trip around the sun. This year I am honored to have my C3PO image chosen for this particular list alongside work the photo editors describe as “the 17 images that delighted and captivated us most this year.”

A big thank you to everyone involved in this, especially Photo Editor,,Jeff Campagna and Smithsonian Magazine for asking me to photograph C3PO, a national treasure by any measure. Working with the objects in the museum’s collection is always the best kind of challenge, to bring something unique to the familiar and iconic.

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Geeking Out On the Job: Face to Face with C3PO    

Working once again with Smithsonian Magazine, I was charged with photographing C3PO for a section of the magazine called “National Treasure” at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

While we couldn’t touch him, I could see and feel the craft that went into bringing his character to life on the screen. Focusing in on the droid’s hinges, lines and luster - the physical realness of this character - I did my best to channel the cinematic origin, to capture a movie still not a product shot. Thank you, as always, to Jeff Campagna for the opportunities to photograph these pieces of history, to Smithsonian Magazine for being a true giant in chronicling the objects of our collective history and culture, and to LucasFilm and Disney for your imaginations.