people and places - photographers pt. 2

again here....I'm not going to put up pictures that the photographer in mention actually took, but pictures of the photographer.

Steven Stone, how to describe him? He's one of the most honest, committed, loyal, and stubborn people I've ever met. This is a guy who has risked his life one too many times for his love of motorcycles. Whether it was by his own doing or the occasional soccer mom or riding a bagger with way too much equipment and some bad bearings potentially in the neck, he has seen his fair share of the other side of the pavement. but he keeps going. he rides because he loves it. BUT more importantly, he shoots photos because he lives it.

I think that he and I first met via email as dumb as that sounds, it just clicked. we were able to talk shit and be friends with one another even with the world wide web's tangled way of removing all possible emotion from the conversations.

One of the first times that we actually hung out may have been at a classy bar in Vegas where he was telling me that he shoots photos for a living and that is what he WANTS to do. While it is not always fruitful, he lives and breathes taking pictures and has held true to that passion. and that through the thick and thin of it all, he'd rather struggle through it to let his art be seen than to just settle with a job that he doesn't love. I feel that most of us would LOVE to say that, but most can't.

Stone told me a while ago that his dream bike was an EVO FXR because it was the best handling HD ever made and because they were so ugly nobody would ever mess with his bike. Sure enough, a few months/year later, he found the right FXR and drove from Utah to Oregon to scoop it up and hasn't looked back. (even though I still love his sportster)

I've had a few beers by now so I'm rambling, but you need to see his photographs. Go to his website here and head over to the BOLTS website where he is a regular contributor. And while you're at it, waste more time at the Grim site for more moto mayhem that Steven and his friend Sean are always up to.

Just remember, if you ask for his opinion he will give it to you. And if you're not happy with it, he will gladly tell you to ignore his response and to not ask if you don't want the truth. and this is what I love about him. there is no bullshit. there is no sugar coating. it is what it is.