“I can guarantee you that you will find work if you buy a plane ticket and find your self at SXSW .” My close friend John Taylor (aka: Parts Department) said to me as I dropped him off at the airport. His words burrowed into my head and festered like a worm trapped in a 6 year olds science experiment. Later that day Gabe (my studio mate and close friend) came striding into the studio all ready to buy his plane ticket for Austin. It didn’t take much to convince me that going to SXSW would be a good investment for my future. So I bought my plane ticket that very day knowing that the work will come. The next morning I sent out emails to everyone I knew who could use my services at SXSW. The first gig I landed was to photograph and document an interactive sculpture called, The Pool by Jen Lewin.Below are both still images and a simple time-lapse video I produced to document it’s installation at SXSW. The next gig I managed to land was to document the Doritos Bold stage for the events producer, Jason Naumoff and his partners at New Creatures. Gabe knew some one from the special projects division at SXSW sent an email introducing me. Like clockwork I was able to land a gig to be an official SXSW photographer which gave me critical access to the whole event. So I set off for Austin with 3 jobs lined up and a platinum badge waiting for my arrival. Once I hit the ground I went to work. SXSW is a huge event and it took me a bit to get my barring. In the beginning I felt a bit of pressure having so many obligations to lots of different people. Fortunately because I was shooting for SXSW all my jobs overlapped gave me comfort because I knew that as long as I was taking pictures I was doing a good job. On Monday I was asked by SXSW to photograph Jen Lewin’s installation after having already shot it earlier in the evening. So I was able to send the images over right away and as a result my photograph landed on SXSW’s homepage the next day. It was a win win win, for SXSW, Jen, and my self. After that I knew that I had made the right decision in committing to go. The following images are arranged in to three sections. The first grouping of images were produced exclusively for SXSW. The second group of images are stills from The Pool and the last set of images are from the Bold Stage. In the end I was a great investment into my future. I got to work with amazing people who I have never had the chance to work with and in the end I know I made an impression that will serve me well in the long run.

The Pool, an interactive installation at SXSW 2013 from aaron rogosin on Vimeo.

Last spring the Do Lab hired me to produce a promotional video of their Lightening in a Bottle festival. Since seeing their work for the first time at Burning Man I have always had a profound amount of respect for all of the Do Lab’s creations. It was an honer to be invited to come to join the crew of the festival and, in their words, “Just do what I do. This was my chance to create a stunning piece of work that would match the creative energy of the Do Lab. I have learned that my work is entirely dependent on my ability to connect with my subject and when I get connect with the best my work is at it’s best. This was one of those moments. So I decided that it would be a good time to invest in to a motion control rig for my time-lapse photography. With my new investment I would be able to move my camera position through space over time. It arrived almost exactly one month before the festival but the very next day I was embarking on a full month of travel that included jobs in Miami, Toronto, MT Shasta, Santa Monica, Calgary and then concluding with LIB. The fist time I got to play with my new equipment was after I finally arrived on site at the festival. I quickly discovered that there was no manual included.This proved to be very frustrating as the unit I bought was not intuitive in any way, shape, or form. After a lot of frustration I got it working well enough for the start of the festival. Once the festival was under way I went into overdrive knowing that I only had one shot to get it all. I was constantly crisscrossing the festival while lugging 3 tripods on a 6 foot rail with a fully loaded camera pack on my back. I only stopped for meals and a few hours of sleep each night if any. I used the fear of failure to push me to the limits of my creative and physical capacities. From time to time I would catch a nap under my tripod as my camera was clicking away. I was everywhere kicking ass the whole time through. I am proud of the results and I am excited to share this labor of love with the world.

Towards the end of August 2012 my schedule unexpectedly cleared for the week of Burning Man. So I began to look for ways to not to only go but also to participate. Shortly after stating my intentions I was introduced to Zach Coffin. After a few exchanges Zack invited me to down and join his camp in exchange for helping him document his sculpture called The Universe Revolves Around You. So off I went. Once the sculpture was up and running I set right to work documenting it through time-lapse photography. Good thing I did because in less than 24 hours after becoming operational the sculpture was derailed by a mob of overly enthusiastic burners. From that moment on the sculpture fell into burning typical burning man legend. Does it spin or not? This became the ongoing theme throughout the rest of the burn. It was fun to encouraging people to try to move a 80,000 pound derailed sculpture. “You need more people!” I would shout, knowing it was of no use. It was fun to watch. Regardless of the legend this video show the sculpture in all its glory both before and after it’s derailment. Special Thanks to Beats Antique and ill.Gates for the use their music. Follow this link to get the track featured in this video: beatsantique.bandcamp.com/track/alleyway-with-ill-gates

Note: I am currently producing a larger Time-lapse video that showcases all of Burning Man 2012. It’s in the works so be sure to subscribe to my Vimeo and Youtube channels!

When I first heard that Seattle was an up coming market I got really excited. Finally a place as close to home as one could get. Like Portland Seattle is a community perfectly suited for car2go.Though I have been to Seattle many times I never got an accurate sense of the physical enormity of the city. It was challenge to tell the story of car2go across all the neighborhoods and local hot spots but with the help of my good friend and local photographer Daniel Zetterstrom we managed to get it done. If you look closely you will see him driving in a few of the images. Before I left my five-year old daughter challenged me to get picture of a car2go and a Orca (her favorite animal in the whole wide world) that would make the final cut. Now this was a challenge but once again I managed to rise to the occasion. luckily I was able to naturally combine the elements of car2go and orca. The picture tells the story of the car in Seattle surrounded by a community of pedestrians who supports and uses car2go. I suppose this image is a perfect example of what makes seattle unique. It’s a city that embraces modern growth while also staying well-connected to its Pacific North West’s port city heritage.
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After a quick weekend Shoot in Santa Monica I headed back to Canada to shoot my last market for car2go in Calgary, Alberta. Like Miami and Toronto I quickly immersed my self into the essence of the city. Though Calgary has been a city for over a century, it is in many ways a very new city. With the advent of new oil refining processes that unlocked the tar sands to the north the sudden influx of oil money has prompted a frenzy of new construction. This construction has replaced the city of old. Calgary has glimpses of the wild west era tucked away if you look closely, but at a quick glance it’s almost all glass and steel. With the extreme changes in the whether it’s also a city that has two distinct modes of operation. All of the buildings downtown town are connected with enclosed suspended walkways that are 15 feet above the ground, hence their name, +15′s. Because it is such a cold city it was important to tell this story even though there was no snow. Though Calgary was the smallest of all the markets it’s personality and ruggedness made it the city with the most heart.

Next stop on my North American car2go tour was Toronto, Ontario. There was no rain to greet me which was a big relief. Like Miami I got to crawl all around Toronto getting to know it from the inside out and let me tell you Toronto is quite a city to behold. It is a city steeped in history but also in the process of completely rebuilding it’s self. There are more cranes in operation in Toronto than any other city in the world right now and it shows in the pictures. All in all I have to say Toronto was my favorite city to shoot on this tour. The people were amazingly nice, the culture and diversity were rich, and the visual appeal of the city was arresting. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to get to know such a magnificent city.

About a month after submitting my pictures of car2go in Portland I was asked if I could shoot three markets in less than a month. With a big smile on my face I accepted the challenge and got my self ready for a month on the road. The first stop was Miami. Upon arriving at MIA I was greeted by a torrential down poor. My heart sank as I looked out the window realizing that it would be impossible to produce images in this weather. And the forecast called for more of the same over the course of the shoot. Fortunately the weather man is never right and by the next day the clouds broke up and the rain stopped. I spent the few days crawling all around Miami and getting to know the city form an insider’s perspective. Far and away my favorite part of town was the Wynwood walls covered with the most amazing graffiti/ art I have ever seen. Every wall in the district has been made available for the best graffiti artists from around the world to come and leave their mark. Let me tell you it was inspiring. My art director had to cut our selfs off after only a short bit knowing that we would spend a whole day shooting the murals if we had our own way.

Richard Crawley is a gifted artist, sculptor, welder and friend of mine. Over the past few years I have worked with Richard to document all of his major projects and other smaller creations. I really enjoy working with Richard’s creative expressions because his work is expressive and vibrant. I have found that when photographing others artistic expressions whether it be fine art, large-scale installations, performance art, or even sports, the better the work the better my pictures are. As I progress with photography I have come to realize that working with the best subjects will be a necessity for further growth. Richards work gets me excited and I find my self getting excited when I start taking pictures of his work. It’s like opening a new present every time he shows up for a shoot. Check out his website here
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Last month car2go hired me to create a set of images that tell the story of car2go’s arrival in Portland but also describe the way that the new car sharing service perfectly integrates with the ideals and values of our city. Despite the restraints of uncooperative weather we worked tirelessly to produce every image I had precomposed in my mind. I feel that I have created a set of solid images that brand the car2go Smart car with iconic locations across Portland. I’m excited to work with car2go because of their froward thinking approach to urban design and sustainability. It’s a way of thinking which is aligned with my values. car2go is a car sharing service in which you can rent any available car in your area for.35 cents a minute. You simply check it out, drive it and park it any where with in the operating area. You don’t have to pay for gas, parking, or insurance. Just .35 cents a minute. With more flexible options like this I feel it will be easy for us to give up our personal cars. Learn more about it at the Portland car2go site.

“How do you capture the essence of Wanderlust in a short video clip? You probably can’t, but this beautiful time lapse video, lovingly (and painstakingly) photographed over tens of thousands of frames by Aaron Rogosin at this year’s Wanderlust California, comes close. Catch a glimpse of what the Wanderlust experience is all about. Warning: this video is epic.” This is the description written for the time-lapse video that I produced for the Wanderlust Festival in 2011. Honestly I dont think I need to say more. Here is a link to the Wanderlust Festival’s Post.