Kim Cook, Photographer

With recent assignments and Sturgis, I have become very familiar with my northern neighboring states.  I usually travel west of Denver, but this year it was north.    A few months ago, I got a call from Jordan, a very popular model in Denver.   She recently won an online vocals contest singing the Star Spangle Banner and is now in the spotlight for rising talent.  Even though she has a beautiful portfolio, she wanted photos that reflected her music.  We both agreed a very organic and spontaneous photo shoot was the answer.  We wanted vintage and country with a little bit of rock and roll.  We packed our bags and headed north into Wyoming and then to South Dakota stopping on a dime to set up shots.  Some worked very well, and others we just tried and moved on.  We trespassed, stood in cold streams, ate chips and coffee, fought high winds, drag raced,  changed on the side of the road, slept little and talked a lot.  We had a blast and got some great shots to boot.  Jordan is a super talent.  She is exceptional in front of the camera and her voice is soulful.  But it is her beautiful spirit and good grace that makes good company.  It is always a good feeling to come away from a  photo shoot with a new close friends from two states.  Thank you Matt, Nancy, Lucy, Chauncey, Suzie and Akela, for all of your help and support while we were in Spearfish.  Your hospitality was beyond any expectations!  Here are just a few the images we created.  I will post more when the final edit is completed and Jordan’s website is up.

Unexpected fog

Somewhere in Wyoming

A historical Barn was a perfect vintage backdrop.

Jordan in her Mother's vintage hat carrying her grandfather's lunchbox.

Jordan wearing her husband's military hat.

Country porch

At Suzy's Ranch

Mid July I was commissioned by a Norwegian financial paper, Dagens Næringsliv, to shoot a feature about the business of bones for their Saturday Magazine. I got the call on Monday morning and in less than twenty four hours I was meeting Eskil and Lars, the norwegian journalists, in Rapid City, South Dakota.  We met up with Peter Larson, the rock star paleontologist who was the first man to dig up a tyrannosaurus rex, Sue.  He served two years in prison for carrying currencies between countries,  after a long trial between the State of South Dakota, the Lakota Indians and Himself over the rights to the remains.  He and his brother, Neal, are on a new dig near Hulett, Wyoming for Allosaurus dinosaur fossils. I have never been on a dig before, nor have I heard about the big business of fossils until I talked with Peter.  I do know Peter and Neal are not in the fossil finding for money.  After spending a day with them, I discovered they are as passionate about their work as I am about mine.  They open their camp to other dinasaur enthusiasts to come out to the site for some time and help dig.  They only charge for expenses.  The story is under wraps for now, but I can share some images I took for the magazine.  

A few weeks ago, Dan and I traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a wedding. During our visit, we stopped by to visit Dan’s childhood friend and his wife. Heidi and Ron were frantically cleaning up their yard for a party they were throwing the next day.  It seemed like the usual panic state most hosts are in when preparing for a celebration, but more emotional.  The one year anniversary of “the flood”, as locals call it, was the next day and Heidi and Ron were celebrating their good fortune to be back in their home after the Cedar River buried their house in mud and water.  Heidi barely held back her tears as she showed me the photos of what her vintage home looked like the day she and Ron returned.  It was the good thinking of Heidi’s aunt that saved the family photos.  ”We were told by our neighbors that only our basement would flood and just get everything off the floor.” Heidi explains. Her aunt disagreed and started gathering their pictures and personal treasures to take with them, leaving behind clothing and personal amenities.  ”We truly believed we would be home within a day or two,” Ron said. “We didn’t have clothes or shoes to wear to work.”   It was a week later, after the Cedar River rose to twenty feet above the flood stage, that it was safe enough for families to return to their homes.  Ron and Heidi’s house was among the thousands that was inhabitable.  The water rose above the doors and stayed there for several days giving way to mold and mildew.  Ron and Heidi’s  house was stripped to the studs and rebuilt by the kindness of their community.  Most of the unique architecture of their 1920’s house was missing from their renovation, but the same love fills their home none the less.  After our visit, Dan and I drove thru the city blocks that were swallowed by muddy waters.  I find it hard to believe that so many folks had to walk away from their homes because of the lack of assistance.  As I walked thru the neighborhood, I spoke to a single mother of three who owed only ten more payments on her home.  She and her late husband bought the home over sixteen years ago and now it has been condemned.  This mother and her three children now lives in a FEMA trailer outside of the city with no hopes of returning home.  ”The flood”  crested over 31 feet swallowing 1,300 city blocks, destroying the personal belongings of over 4,000 families causing $1.5  billion dollars in damage.  A total of $5.7 billion dollars in flood related damages to the county. As of December 2008, $655 million in aide was provided by federal, state and local insurance sources leaving a gap of around $5 billion.  If you know me, you know I am not big on organized religion.  But if it were not for good people in local churches of Cedar Rapids, families such as Heidi and Ron could never return home.  It is these organizations that are filling the gap.

Goodbye message

Kitchen in a condemned house after one year

Still standing a year later

A garage swept off its foundation

a single sandbag

Abandoned A&W

Local eatery rebuilding

Condemned gas station

Record high gas prices frozen in time

Salvage is beautiful.  By definition it is scrap and rubbish, but also reclamation and recovery.  This historic building in Denver is in its beginnings of restoration.  It has sat in its own private elegance for over seventy five years.

Graphic T’s are like the Members Only Jackets of the 80’s.  You can’t spit without hitting one.  On a recent shoot, I was instructed to keep away from all graphics, hoodies, bill caps and logos.  It was a very long day.