This is Bill Chester, the second subject for a community art project that artist Barbara Dahlstedt is working on (the “Myriah” images were the first). As before, Dahlstedt was commissioned to do a portrait of a community member and she invited me along as a second photographer so that she could gather source materials for her portrait.
It was an absolute pleasure to meet Bill Chester and to see the business he has put his heart and soul into. He owns and operates Chester’s Garage in downtown Phoenix (7th Avenue, North of Indian School) where he not only takes care of the automotive needs of the community with fair pricing and quality service, but also restores classic cars. Next to his shop he also has quite the display of vintage cars and memorabilia. His “museum” features not just cars but everything from an antique phone booth (complete with superman costume hung inside), to vintage metal signs and oil cans, to a replica of an old gas station storefront with vintage gas pump.
This first shot captures Bill as he made his way around the shop to dust off his restored vintage cars while he shared with us about his business. I’ll have a few more shots of Bill and some photo details of his restored cars in the coming days.
5D Mk III with 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens. ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/60 sec. Lighting: Natural window light and off-camera 600ex-rt Speedlight via wireless transmitter.
© 2013 Johnny Kerr Photography