Photographer looking for gun owners.

[DaleRio]

Hi, everyone. I'm a photographer starting a new portrait project involving gun owners in Philadelphia. The idea is to show a representative cross-section of gun owners; both male and female and all ages and ethnicities.
As far as my credentials, I have a Masters degree in photography, have worked as a freelancer for about fifteen years, have contributed to several books, and written two of my own. Several of my personal projects have involved environmental portraiture in which the subject chooses the location where the shoot takes place. I envision this project running along the same lines.
Why am I interested in doing this? For a good part of my life, I've lived in places where you can't own a gun. When I moved to Philly a few years ago and starting going to the range, I was quite surprised at the variety of folks I encountered there. Despite the fact that my (73 year-old, 4'10") mom owns a gun, I obviously had some sort of assumption of what the typical range-goer would look like. If I am able to get a good cross-section of people involved, this project would serve to challenge similar assumptions in everyone who sees it.
This wouldn't be a paid shoot, as the project is self-funded, but I will give each participant an 8x10 print from the shoot. I would like to photograph each person in his or her home and get some basic info, (name, age, profession, type of gun owned, etc.). A model release will have to be signed, as well.
If you have any questions, please email me at: info@dalerio.com
Examples of my work, and a bio, can be found at www.dalerio.com, and more examples of my portrait work can be provided upon request.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Dale

[BimmerJon]

WTF?

[Shodan]

If you don't have any luck with this particular project, you surely should be able to add to your "Crime Scene" portfolio living in Philly.

[DaleRio]

Thanks!
The photo above is from a series called "Night & Day: Burlesque in the Workplace" where I photographed contemporary burlesque performers in costume at their day jobs. This particular performer is a day care worker, and the children she is responsible for love to play with her costumes.
Burlesque today is pursued by women wanting to keep it alive as a traditional American art form... It's not really financially viable as a profession, so performers lead "normal" lives off stage. It's also a very inclusive world; some of the best performers don't have "perfect" bodies, but have a commanding stage presence and/or are highly trained dancers. The project showed the dichotomy between the performers' on-stage personas and their "real" lives.
With people unfamiliar with burlesque, they often have a preconceived idea of what performers are like that is quite different from the reality. "Night & Day" shows performers of all shapes and sizes who are PhD candidates, construction workers, graphic designers, etc. In the same way, I'd like to show the reality of gun owners; that they don't fall into one easy category.
Dale

[Shodan]

WTF?

Thanks!
The photo above is from a series called "Night & Day: Burlesque in the Workplace" where I photographed contemporary burlesque performers in costume at their day jobs. This particular performer is a day care worker, and the children she is responsible for love to play with her costumes.
Burlesque today is pursued by women wanting to keep it alive as a traditional American art form... It's not really financially viable as a profession, so performers lead "normal" lives off stage. It's also a very inclusive world; some of the best performers don't have "perfect" bodies, but have a commanding stage presence and/or are highly trained dancers. The project showed the dichotomy between the performers' on-stage personas and their "real" lives.
With people unfamiliar with burlesque, they often have a preconceived idea of what performers are like that is quite different from the reality. "Night & Day" shows performers of all shapes and sizes who are PhD candidates, construction workers, graphic designers, etc. In the same way, I'd like to show the reality of gun owners; that they don't fall into one easy category.
Dale

This may be the first time I've seen "WTF" answered with "Thanks!".

[PA Rifleman]

Good luck with this project, especially if you're serious. The last person (also from Philly) eventually published his photos in a book, it became a best-seller (details - thread).

No doubt you'll see quite a lot of variation. Expect a higher percentage of females then even five years ago. My daughter -- 1 -- 2

Related:

• http://www.kylecassidy.com/
• http://www.armedamerica.org/

[MT1]

What are the titles of the other books you've written?

[Shadowline]

I don't live or work in Philly, but good luck to you!

[CenterTree]

This may be the first time I've seen "WTF" answered with "Thanks!".

WTF? .............





Thanks.














Now that's funny.

[Daycrawler]

Dalerio I think I would be interested. I have to remember to throw out all my Pizza boxes before you start snapping pics!