The Photographer Made Me Spill My Drink

San Diegos local hip scene area of North Park, and points beyond, is witnessing another interesting form of invasion. A few have been around for some time now, but have never really been a bother to anyone in particular. Of course back in the day we didnt have this constant lack of soul in the area. If you remember our talk about the overpopulation of DJs in the area youll soon realize that with that came the sudden appearance of nightlife photographers in our quaint little neighborhoods. Once restricted to the downtown area and only shooting for publications such as 944 magazine, Napkin Nights, discoversd.com and others, a new breed of pure freelance photographers has hit the scene in contract with specific venues such as Voyeur, U-31, El Dorado and others.

The phenomena has had us scratching our heads for a bit, wondering why in the world would we need so many and why would we willingly pull off our drunken acts of foolishness in front of them? Is it really marketing? Bars and DJs want them, want to shoot theyre parties and crowds and so forth. To that we saygo ahead, act a fool San Diego and pose for the camera. Sometimes you will notice a difference in style. The ones shooting for publications and so forth come with a little more professional flare, the magazines and top websites dont really want half naked 23 year old guys and gals drinking PBR to represent the higher class and downtown establishments. Less your holding top shelve booze in something no less then prada then youre not getting snapped. But on our just above the poverty line perspective theres a whole different outlook. Show the fun, show the shenanigans. And just who are these overzealous shutterbugs? Norton, DeCamp, Corrigan, Morris, DeJesus and McAdams. These are the names most recognized in our circles. Now whose who?

James Norton, otherwise just knows as Norton, would be the first to come to mind, probably the one whos been on the scene the longest, mayhaps even the grandfather of them all in the particular area. Once hitting places all over as a freelancer for a few named publications now has lost some steam and since then farmed out more and more work to his purposive apprentices. Why he dropped from the scene is up for speculations but those who know the man more than others will comment on some over usage of vice and a slight jump off the deep end. Since then, however, hes slowly started making his presence known again.

Back over a year and some ago another interesting personality came on to the scene joining him. Ben DeCamp, AKA The Style Shark, jumped out with his unusual style of shooting with props, angles and with a kind of 70s style flare. The man also had a slightly unusual obsession with shoes, feet and heels and possessed an uncanny ability to convince young women to pose nude for him as well as the night progressed. Were sure things were on the up and up for their arraignments, or they could have just been stewed to the gills. Either way his unique style ofeverything captured our hearts and we loved him. Why so sad you ask? About two months ago now he made the career decision to move to New York for a term and shoot with famed photographers Richard Kern. We do miss him, although rumor mill spreads the word of a possible return in the near future. Well just have to see.

Jeff Turbo Corrigan. Some would consider him the new kid on the block. When people started noticing him? Not many people really know. Sometime during the beginning of the summer when him and fellow shutterbug Ben DeCamp shared venues at times, and of course if you go around blinding people with a big camera youll bound to get noticed somehow. Thing is the man, through some means unknown (maybe hes just that good), has managed to, in our opinion, taken over the scene per say. Perhaps maybe its because he may be the only photographer out there with a real business sense, hooking up with the local DJs and such, cutting deals and so forth. His work isnt half bad as well. What can we say, the get up kid got up and got it done. Not without flaws however, to be honest and deep down in some respect the only real reason hes gotten to this level may be because the absence of The Style Shark himself. Granted the two had completely different styles of shooting they were a bit of a ying/yang couple, just who propelled who to what level is the question. And being the nature of the game or not the man can develop something of a big head and prowl around as if hes the dogs bollocks, when lest we forget.just a photographer.

Those, in our modest opinion, would have to be the top 3 of the local San Diego Paparazzi mob. The rest? Well Jeff Morris has managed to enter an exclusive thing with local up and coming venue Voyeur. His work, to us, is somewhat armature. Less your going for the streaks of light look, which we cant imagine youd want in every picture, is slightly annoying. The man himself, although a nice enough fellow, can come off as a bit of a creeper with his long jet back hair and all black clothing while hunkered down in corner between walkarounds. Nothing against the man, just a good amount of people we chat to say, yeah, that guy comes across somewhatodd sometimes. Tommy McAdams, rumored apprentice of James Norton, is starting to pop out, his work reflects his master but hell soon enough find his own were sure. Personally we feel if he stays under Norton and is given the bones thrown to him hell never thrive. And finally Isaac DeJesus. Honestly we dont know too much about the fellow. We see him from time to time. We saw him shooting exclusive for HAVOC at The Office Bar for Halloween and have seen about eight photos come out of the, were sure to be hundreds, from that night. What gives? The man seems to do mostly staged shoots less nightlife.

So in the end it seems to becoming a status thing now. The more photographs youre seen in at the more clubs and bars the more you must be a rockstar. Although weve yet to experience a swarm of seeing one particular person youll notice since were a small town that there are certain people youll see flashed upon more than others. We dont think its bias in any way, mostly just coincidence were sure, your thereall the time. So youll be sceneagain. Will this all die out when the live music comes back? Maybe. Youll notice at places such as The Soda Bar, Radio Room and Pink Elephant theses paparazzi are nowhere to be scene. So if you dont want the annoyance then dont go where they are. Otherwiseremember to smileand keep your clothes on.

Review by: The Scenster.