Angela Bare is a photographer from Seattle, Washington. The photograph of the man above was used for the cover of Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller. Check out our interview with Angela below.
Level 26: Tell us about yourself.
Angela Bare: My name is Angela Bare, but I go by Angie. I’m 30, married to a US Marine, and have three little boys. I’m thoroughly outnumbered – even our dog is male! I’ve been an artist since I was young. I started my first art class in 2nd grade. Over the years I’ve taken lots of classes, and have played with all sorts of mediums…pencil, various paints, clay. When I became a mom, I found it really difficult to find time to draw or paint, and I went through a number of years with no creative outlet. Any of you creative people will know that just about drove me crazy! When my husband deployed to Iraq, I was overwhelmed with my kiddos, all aged 6 and under at the time. A friend invited me to a park one day, and said I should bring my camera. That day, I discovered a new escape. Photography sparked that desire to create again, and was a fantastic medium for me. I started out using film, and this year switched to digital…although I’ve got a rather large collection of film cameras that I plan to use again.
Photography is something I can do in a moment; it doesn’t need planning, or very much time. Most of my photography is about spotting something beautiful, or interesting and shooting spur of the moment. When I first started, I’m sure I confused a lot of people…I was constantly pulling my vehicle over to shoot a random building, cloud, tree or piece of trash. I’d see people in their cars craning to figure out, “What is that crazy girl taking a picture of?!” In a way, I consider that a success. I like to shoot things most people will drive or walk right past without noticing…so if they pause to look at details of the world because of what I see, that’s a good thing.
L26: Tell about the set you were shooting that contains the photo.
AB: Since much of my photography is very spontaneous, I often have ideas that come at a moment’s notice simply based on the surroundings. Sometimes an idea comes fully formed; other times it changes as I shoot. I’d seen some friends use storytelling in their photography, and it had me thinking about how you can tell a story with a single image. We had a day of extremely thick fog, which was a rare thing for where I was living. I felt the opportunity couldn’t be passed up. I wanted to shoot something dramatic and atmospheric, and I was literally thinking “something that would work on a movie poster.” My husband had the day off, and as we headed out to lunch I asked him to grab a gun. I picked this location–a back road that was mostly abandoned–because it was a favorite area for me at the time.
L26: Were there more photos with the man and the gun?
AB: There are a few more, but not many. I only shot 14 frames that day. We were in a hurry to get somewhere else, and I didn’t want to push our luck with someone seeing the gun and getting the wrong idea. Even though we were legal, people still tend to get a little excited sometimes. Especially considering the other idea I had that we shot that day!
L26: What were you planning to do with the set when you finished shooting it?
Since it was a public road, I didn’t really have more plans for it, except as a good location to shoot in! I like using the world as I find it, and I have a lot of fun with finding places to fit a scene that is in my head, or creating a scene to fit a location I’ve discovered. I’ve been working on a self-portrait project, and I’m constantly scoping out places to shoot myself. The other shot I took in that location wound up being my first photo for my self-portrait project.
L26: So how did your photo come to be on the cover of Anthony E. Zuiker’s book?
AB: I use a photo sharing site called Flickr…it’s a great resource to learn more about photography, share photos and get inspiration from other photographers. I posted my photos from that day on Flickr, got some great feedback, and fun discussion. I went on my merry way, coming up with more ideas and images.
About a month later, I got an e-mail from a Penguin Art Director, Anthony Ramondo, asking if he could buy one of my images for a book cover. I was surprised, and didn’t really know what to think…I figured it would be for something tiny no one would see. When I Googled Anthony Ramondo’s name, I was even more surprised to find he had designed the covers for a number of books I recognized! We did some e-mailing back and forth, and eventually I signed a contract. By that point I was really excited, especially since I’d found out whose book cover my photo would be a part of.
My husband and I have been fans of C.S.I. since the beginning, and after one of the episodes (the guy who wore the clean suit and shaved bald), we discussed how he could have perfected that and wondered if C.S.I. would continue with that idea. I hadn’t heard of the Level 26 series before, so I grabbed a copy from the library first chance I got, and was thrilled to find that Sqweegel was even creepier than I imagined.
L26: What’s it like to see your work on the cover?
AB: Seeing my photo on the cover is amazing. I held my breath for a long time, feeling like I needed to be pinched since the idea just didn’t seem real…so when the book finally came out after months of anticipation, I was telling complete strangers “See that photo? I took that!!” It may be a very small part of the overall project, but for me it’s huge!
I’m still exploring and deciding what I want to do with my photography, but this is a fantastic encouragement that I’m headed in the right direction. The last few weeks have been a lot of fun; my Facebook wall has been full of friends writing to let me know they’d gone out and bought the book, and showing pictures that they’d taken of the cover. My husband has been getting called Steve Dark–not a huge stretch considering his name is Steve, and he is former law enforcement. He’s similarly having fun with the whole idea of being on a book cover.
This has been a great adventure for me, and I’ve learned some things about an industry I didn’t know much about. Now I just have to see if I can repeat this success! ;D
To see more of Angie’s pictures, check out here Flickr account HERE.
