Red Bull Cube Photography
Red Bull, the "action sports" drink maker that started a zillion immitators, is going around the world showcasing photography from the world's leading extreme sports photographers. The showcase is more like a curated art event than anything else, and the imagery is pretty radical, both in content and the way Red Bull (redbullillume.com) set up the viewing pods. I had the chance to see the roadshow in action in my hometown at the Huntington Beach Pier. Not sure where extreme comes in HB, but it was really a site to see nonetheless. Red Bull set up a walking photographic museum, called the Red Bluu Illume, on the sand on the North side of the pier, in a circular pattern, that enabled viewers to see the photographs all lit up at night in these giant cubes. Music streamed through with strategically located speakers every couple of cubes or so. Designed to be viewed at night, the photographs show all manner of extreme sports, including heli skiiing, snowboarding (always a favorite), motocross, mountain biking, surfing, kayaking, spe-lunking, most all the sports that we in SoCal enjoy in one form or another. We went in the evening and walked right across the sand and jumped onto the platform to get a show unlike any other. It was pretty cool viewing, and the people were mellow. One of my favorite photos was a shot by Brian Bielmann of the USA shooting three surf photographers essentially duck diving underneath a wave. It really showcased the eye of Bielmann, who usually is shooting professional surfers above the surface.
Brian Bielmann's interesting photograph of surf photographers duck diving a wave. The lights are from the pier and not in the original photograph. You can also see other cubes in the reflection.
Another extreme photograph came from Desre Pickers of South Africa, showing kayakers looking over the falls at Zambia's Victoria Falls. The shot really shows a lot, especially with the larger falls looming in the background. Did the kayakers go for it? Who knows, but the shot is insane.
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| Vitek Ludvek of the Czech Republic captured Tommy Brunner snowboarding down a mountain in Haines, Alaska. Ricky Adam of Northern Ireland captured this guy pulling a mad whip over a shopping cart in Cologne Germany. |
One thing about this collection of images is that not all of the were shot with DSLRs. While a great many photos were, many were shot with film cameras all the same, and some images were touched up in Photoshop, some to clean up color, and others to add strange effects. In all it was great to get out and see what these photographers (and athletes) can perform. And sorry to the huge line of thousands of people waiting to get in to view the art, we crossed over the sand and had no idea there was a line, until we got around to the part that actually showed the entrance. Sorry! Check out redbullillume.com to see all the photographs.
Posted at 11:28PM Jun 24, 2007 by John Virata in General | Comments[0]
