COACHELLA 2011 > PART l

This trip was phenomenal. I had high expectations, but they really were exceeded. It was definitely too short to cram in everything. We didn't have the luxury of having time to stop for photos, more like running from point A to B, with certainty that we were going to be late. We landed at nearly 3 pm in the afternoon in Palm Springs after an 8hr flight to Chicago with a 2hr stopover. Picked up our rental car, checked into our hotel and had until 9pm to make a 1-2hr drive to Salvation Mountain, which Emilia really wanted to see. The speed sign postings were infrequent so most of the time I was paranoid and unsure how fast I could drive on this one lane highway through the desert. Turns out I was driving 10 MPH under the speed limit. It took forever to reach the mountain and we got there around 7pm, just as the sun was going down.
There wasn't much time to shoot before we had to hurry back to retrieve our new camping friends James and Almanita from the bus station in Palm Springs. We got lost on the way back (no directions) and ended up somewhere called Grapefruit. James and Almanita arrived early and we had no idea where we were, but nowhere near. They shared a taxi with some other Coachellers so we collected them in the morning.

I won't go into all the details of the adventure, because I would be here for eons.
So just a quick summary of my reflections..

The festival didn't allow us to take in 'professional' cameras (aka ones with removable lenses), so we were restricted with the equipment we could use. I purchased a fairly reputable digital compact for the festival, but either I don't know how to use it properly yet or it's rubbish. I did see some SLRs around the grounds, and should have attempted to get mine through security because the photos would have been DRASTICALLY better. Overall though, it was our first priority to fully experience the event. It was too damn hot to do anything most of the time, so we spent a great deal of the 4 days there desperately scrambling for shade and hiding in it.

It was pretty surreal to be there. The music was incredible, all of the bands we saw were great - hardly any complaints from others we spoke to also. I didn't think about projects at all, I think I was too jet-lagged/in awe. Although every once in awhile a few thoughts would creep into my head - ideas for the Coachella publication (using our journal contents, bits and bobs we collected, lists of lessons learned - i.e canopies are essential, don't leave your solar shower in the sun for long, warm clothes for the evenings).

I also had this nagging thought about the thread in my projects and how I want to represent myself as a designer. I just kept thinking that music seems to be my passion and most of my projects this term have been music related (or nature). But I feel as though my work should all be focused around music. I don't want to go against what I've been told, but when it comes down to it, I want to be proud of what I put in my portfolio and create things related to what I want to do in my practice.

Anyway, enough mental sifting. Here are some digital photos from the beginning of the trip. Film to come later.