do yourself a favor: become your own savior

I’ve been really really sick.. Toughing out a major skin & cellular infection that turned out to be MRSA. Yeah. Gross, right? So not only do I itch and burn, but no one wants to be anywhere near me, and the antibiotics tear my body up. BUT, it’s almost over. I think.

I haven’t shot a thing, haven’t picked my camera up since last Saturday when I shot Eef Barzelay at KEXP shortly before going to the emergency room. It feels a little weird. I only had a few minutes to shoot, so I only got about 5 shots.. He played half a song before going live, and my shutter clicks would have been audible on the air. I was heartbroken to miss his show at the Tractor later that night, but it was pretty hard to justify going to a show after leaving the hospital.

I also missed the opening of my joint photo show that I’ve been so excited about at Tigertail, because I was busy whining and popping pills on my couch. Another serious heartbreak for me. But, the show is up until September 30th, and I’d love for you to check it out.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello... Photo Show

You Say Good-Bye, I Say Hello

A Group Photography Show featuring the work of Jenny Jimenez, Laura Musselman, and Sarah Joann Murphy, curated by Hannah Levin

What? The carefully edited collected works of three of Seattle’s most prolific and talented live music photographers.

No, really, what? Jimenez, Musselman and Murphy will each be displaying a series of photos by bands either playing their last show ever (Jimenez’s bold and bittersweet shots of Sleater-Kinney’s final performance at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland circa 2006), or experiencing a triumphant homecoming (Musselman’s exclusive shots of Death Cab For Cutie’s return to the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton in early 2008, shortly after Plans had just gone platinum) or a rebirth of sorts (Murphy’s vivid and intimate shots of a recharged Mudhoney unveiling The Lucky Ones at the Sunset earlier this year). Sample images from each photographer are attached.

Where? Tigertail in Ballard

704 NW 65th St, Seattle, WA 98127

206-781-TAIL (8245)

http://www.tigertailbar.com/

When? The show will open with a casual reception at Tigertail on Thursday, August 7 from 7—10 pm, and will remain on display through September 30. Members of local band the Cops will be on the DJ decks throughout the evening, and all three photographers will be on hand to discuss their work.

Why? Local music writer and KEXP DJ Hannah Levin has collaborated with all three photographers over the last several years and simply believes their cumulative talents deserve a forum less fleeting than alt-weekly newsprint. Plus, she spends an awful lot of time at Tigertail and appreciates the opportunity to dictate the décor.

About Jenny Jimenez:

“Having lived in both New York & California, I came to Seattle in 1999 to try something new, drawn by the city’s prolific music community and diverse landscape. A loner at first, you could find me in the front row at Seattle music venues the Crocodile Cafe and the Showbox, camera in hand. I soon became part of the community I was documenting, playing bass in the all-female lineup of the Catch and lending vocal harmonies and multi-instrumental talents to Amy Blaschke’s band, Night Canopy.

You can see my work each week in The Stranger, where I’ve covered the Club Directory column for the past five years.

I shot the final SK show for a SPIN feature and have previously taken portraits of them for the Stranger and Mercury. Two of these images have never been seen previously.  I have a personal connection with the band and their music, crediting them for giving me the courage to learn to play an instrument and make art. After seeing them at Ladyfest Olympia 8 years ago, I came home and attempted to organize with other women in the community and put one on locally. I served as co-curator for the Women Who Rock Photography exhibit at the Vera Project during the first Ladyfest Seattle.”

For more on Jimenz, visit www.photojj.com

About Laura Musselman:

“I moved to Seattle in the fall of 2004 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin after numerous visits that always left me in tears on the returning flight. I am never unaware of the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I primarily take pictures of music because passionate people performing for me makes me feel alive, and makes me want time to stop. It’s also a great excuse to stand in the front row.

My photographs have appeared in the Seattle Weekly, Paste, Seattle Sound, threeimaginarygirls.com, Billboard, and I regularly document KEXP’s live in-studio performances.

I chose these photos of Death Cab because it was the first show on the Narrow Stairs Tour, and Plans had officially just gone platinum. It was a definite homecoming for Ben Gibbard, who spent his teenage years in Bremerton, always having to leave Seattle shows early to catch the last ferry home. The venue only holds 999 people and is decorated in a really quaint under-the-sea sort of theme, and for that night, they still felt like a hometown band.”

For more on Musselman, visit www.lauratakespictures.com

About Sarah Joann Murphy:

After years of admiring the work of other photographers, Sarah purchased a Canon 20d on April 14th, 2007. Through sheer good luck, she was able to photograph the Long Winters that same night at the Showbox in Seattle, WA. Those photos, my first ever taken, will be featured in an the band’s upcoming live DVD. That out-of-the-gate eye for good shots is representative of Sarah’s work.

In the past year, her photographs were featured in the Stranger, Seattle Weekly, and by Three Imaginary Girls. She is a regular contributor to the style blog at vain[dot]com, and was featured in VAIN’s City Life polariod exhibit. She has done production and photo assistance for several noted photographers, including Jenny Jimenez, Renee McMahon, Justin Dylan Renney, and Autumn deWilde. Currently she shoots freelance for the Seattle Weekly and is working on her first solo show with Ghost Gallery.

“I love the photos I picked of Mudhoney [and that show in general] because it was at the SUNSET of all places,” says Sarah. “Seeing Mudhoney in the year 2008 in a venue that small felt like a strange time warp.  It was a part of SP20’s celebrations long before the festival took over the city this summer. It was a hello to their new album, the Lucky Ones, and a hello AGAIN to Superfuzz Bigmuff.”

For more on Murphy, visit http://sarahjoannmurphy.com/

PRESS CONTACT: Hannah Levin, rocketqueen@seattleweekly.com