Unfortunately, I could not find an official introduction of Patrice Agbokou. Surprising since he is not only a member of Jahnice +, but a bass player and producer within the locally and internationally renown group know as “Islands“.

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The shoot with Patrice was also completed as part of a shoot for the Kalmunity Collective with the help of Sean Cronin. For this shot, we had decided to go try out something different and shoot in the stair cases of the building. Having a single light shining from 90 degrees over at camera right and a bit of on camera fill was all that was necessary to capture this shot.

Sweet & fast, the only problem with this shot is that he looked a little like a prison escapee… hah!

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

Originaire d’Haiti, à un très jeune age, Jahnice est receuilli par une famille québecoise. Ainsi il grandit en Mauricie, au Québec. En 2003, il décide de s’installer à Montréal. Là-bas sa passion pour la musique prend un nouvel envol. Il y découvre le KalmUnity Vibe Collective, un collectif d’artistes multidisciplinaire au sein duquel la création artistique, musicale et poétique, l’originalité, la passion et la complexité de l’être humain ne font qu’Un..Il fait ainsi la rencontre du musicien Patrice Agbokou, bassiste et réalisateur. Il perçoit Patrice comme un grand frère. L’union ainsi crée permet à notre Sonneur d’explorer davantage son répertoire musical. Tous deux inspirés par les rythmes afro-antillais et la musique alternative, ils conçoivent la Soul Hybride et rassemble autour d’eux les artistes qui forment Jahnice+. [Can't read french? Listen to his music HERE]

Joel Janis was one of the happiest people I had the opportunity to photograph during my shoot with the Kalmunity Collective. Out of all the instruments to choose from, he brought a bell! Nicknamed “Le Sonneur” (the ringer (?)) , this urban poet hopes calls himself “the bell ringer that hopes to awaken all those that are deaf”. For more information about the Hybrid Soul music he performs in, check out his band’s website here: JAHNICE+

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After realizing that this young fellow had brought, out of all the possible instruments, a BELL with him, I decided to follow the approach that worked well with Blackbird Selman, and asked him to simply play his instrument!

“Ding ding ding ding ding” rang the bell as Joel happily clanged away. As I started shooting, the idea to have some kind of ghosting effect by dragging the shutter came up. Tired of using the same black or white background, I climbed up atop a chair and used the floor as a background! Using a large shoot-through umbrella on camera right and a bare flash providing some fill on camera left, I got a natural vignetting on the floor creating a sweet gradient.

Joel meanwhile, clearly having the time of his life with his bell just kept ringing away and allowed me many great opportunities to capture his “joie-de-vivre”!

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

In 1998, a trip to Canada for vacation changed her life path in terms of vocation. She discovered Quebec and started dreaming about being a music student there. Ever a woman of action, she set out to align that vision with reality.

She garnered a win in the illustrious “Graines de Star” showcase in 2000. In 2001, she obtained her music degree and continued to pursue her studies at The University of Sherbrooke. She made the move to cosmopolitan Montreal and received her bachelor’s degree in music in May 2005 from the Universite de Montreal. Concurrently, she performed with such renowned musicians as pianist Luc Beaugrand and effervescent multi-talent, Gregory Charles. [read more .... and listen to her music HERE!]

Another shot completed for the Kalmunity Collective.

Let me just say one thing, this lady here is a DIVA. I’m sure Sean Cronin, my faithful assistant for this shoot, could  easily back this claim. During the shoot, I encouraged her to relax and sing as I took shots of her. Sing what? It didn’t really matter… the sound that came from her voice was clear, vibrant and filled with a depth that I found extremely moving.

Don’t trust me? Check out her music for free HERE.

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Wearing a fantastic afro, it wasn’t very hard to get this beautiful young lady to sing and perform for the camera. Blowing out the background using a pair of SB-600 flashes, and lighting her with a soft shoot-through umbrella was all that was required to take this shot.

Simple, clean, vibrant and pure talent. This is how her music made me feel. Hopefully I’ve managed to convey that.

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

Rawn Cana.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to succesfully stalk out a website or bio for this amazing your artist that I photographed as part of the Kalmunity Collective with the help of Sean Cronin.

Rawn, a practitioner of Capoeira Angola gave me the opportunity to photograph him in many a wierd position. This one, being one of them!

Using a blue and red gel on either side of him, I had Rawn actually jump up and down from this position. A single flash located on camera right allowed one half of the face to be frozen solid while the other would blur out giving a very wierd and high-intensity photograph.

I like wierd!

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

Ankobia - He who leads in battle, setting the standard for courage and commitment.

Nothing rings truer about the Impresario known as Preach Ankobia. Who is Preach? or is the question, who isn’t Preach? Entertainer, entrepreneur, writer, radio personality, promoter, spokesman and youth worker, Preach Ankobia is the quintessential artist who’s music bridges gaps and crosses borders. [... Listen to his radio interview here!] [visit his myspace here!]

Ankobia, one of the last guys I photographed for the Kalmunity Collective was a hyperactive guy that really stood out among all the others I photographed. He definitely had a thing for being different, and for this particular shot decided to hang himself upside down on a bar that we found in the studio.

One flash was put underneath him as he did his gymnastics resulting in this pretty interesting shot…!

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

Sharon Brooks is fast becoming a household name in Montreal. Her stage presence alone leaves you wanting more, and you can add to that an accomplished writer, producer, mentor and vocal coach. She performs regularly in Montreal, Toronto & abroad and works closely with the development of Kalmunity artists.[...visit her site and listen to her music here!]

Yet another shoot as part of the Kalmunity Collective, I had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful young artist by the window sill. She had a gorgeous yellow dress that caught the sunlight and would make it literally glow easily matching her personality! I’ve had the chance to listen to some of her music and I highly recommend u guys give it a little spin (free streaming from her website!)

Taking a page out of Joe McNally’s shooting technique of firing a flash through the window, I had the gracious Sean Cronin help me hold an Sb-600 gel’ed orange attached to a lightstand OUTSIDE of the building to create some harsher shadows than the cloudy day would give me. Balancing that single light source and the ambient + a gorgeous smile from Sharon = Instant success!

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

A graduate of Concordia University with a BFA (specialization in Jazz Studies), Jason Selman has been performing on the Montreal Arts scene as both Performance Poet and Musician for the last 10 years. In addition using these talents in the service of Montreal’s Black Theatre Workshop “Youth Works” youth theatre program and releasing his first self-published collection of poems, Psychological, in 2003, he is currently working on a collection of jazz poems entitled The Freedom I Stole. In May 2005 he began producing Intimate Sky , a poetry, music and song series and a branch of Kalmunity. [...his fan page]

Once again shot during the Kalmunity photoshoot with the help of, I quote, “super helpful assistant/part-time travel photographer & writer” Sean Cronin. (Visit his trip to china HERE!)

To take this shot, all I had to do was to simply ask Mr. Selman to play the trumpet on his chair allowed me the time to run around him taking shots from various angles as I played around with the flashes to make sure that they never reflected into the mirrors. If I remember correctly, three flashes were used for this shot - 1x lighting the face, 1x creating the rim light in the back of his head and one final one held by the ever helpful Sean pointed at the trumpet.

Once I was satisfied with the angle and lighting I simply pointed to various directions that I wanted him to look at!

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

Jahsun is a self-taught drummer with 20 years of experience, Jahsun is one of the most sought after drummers in the reggae-afro-soul-funk-hiphop genres. He is renowned for crossing musical boundaries and implementing his finely tuned skills in live improvisation. Jahsun has played with most internationally renowned reggae artists and toured across Canada, the United States and the Carribbean. In addition to being a critical element of several Montreal-based groups, such as OneSun, Ark of Infinity, Black Soil, Inword and The EQ, his influential sound and imaginative beats provide a foundation for creative expression in all forms. [... visit his web site!]

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The first time I met Jahsun was in the middle of a performance in the Jazz Club Dieze Onze and I can definitely testify to his fantastic drumming skills. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend you drop by the club on a Sunday Evening to hear some fantastic live improv! And the next best thing would be to just check out his myspace here.

The shot above was one of the many shots taken for the Kalmunity Collective. Like the previous shoot of Lady Katalyst, the shot was completed with the help of assistant Sean Cronin in the Studio Sweatshop.

The “No Compromise” shirt that he had brought turned out to be a great prop for this shot. Simply putting one flash on camera right and another a bit farther back on camera left to light the shirt made a nice dynamic high-contrast image. Personally, I’m pretty happy with the results. If I may criticize myself though, for the next shoot, I’ll def have to loosen my wallet a bit and wring out a couple hundred bucks to get a softbox and add an extra sexy glint to his eyes…

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer

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Lady Katalyst is a spoken word flowicists with words for every occasion. She is based in Montreal Canada; and has been performing professionally as a solo artist and with the Kalmunity Vibe Collective throughout Canada and parts of the US for over six years. Her styles range from Hiphop to Jazz to melodic flows that will simultaneously remind you of Estrud Gilberto and Lady Bug. Katalyst has been recognized along with her Kalmunity crew mates in the Montreal Mirror’s Best of Montreal’s 1 Spoken Word Act for three years in a row and in 2008 she was voted in the top ten as a solo artist.  [...Read More]

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Hired by the Kalmunity Collective, I was given a tight 7 hour period to shoot 14 artists within a dance studio, armed with nothing more than one very helpful assistant (Sean Cronin) and my tiny little flashes.

I have to admit it was a pretty big challenge coming out with a constant stream of unique ideas while being cooped up in one location, but things were definitely not as hard as they could have been. The uniqueness of each artist definitely helped inspire a great number of shots and I had a blast!

Over the next week or so I’ll be throwing up pics as I get feedback from the artists. Hope you guys enjoy!

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The Lady Katalyst shoot was deceptively simple. The concept was simple - to have an artist and her work in one homogeneous image.

Using one strobe on a fully extended lightstand held up by the ever-helpful Sean at a 90 degree angle, I got a very dramatic light that created a nice hard shadow as well as a natural vignetting around the white wall.  In three shots, I was satisfied with the result and moved on to take a couple quick shots of an excerpt of poetry written in Lady Katalyst’s journal to later merge them together in photoshop.

More to come …  ^^

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Benjamin Wong
http://iintrigue.com
Montreal Based Photographer