How old are you and where are you from?
I'm 30 and I grew up in the suburb of Vista, California. I also lived in SF for 6 years and attended the Academy of Art college.
Where do you live now?
Oslo, Norway is my home. I came here 4 years ago with my Norwegian ex-girlfriend. Now I'm having a homebase crisis. I love SF, Portland, and Oslo. I think I might settle into Portland for awhile.
How did the Deadliest Catch thing come about?
One of the assistant producers randomly picked me and Matt up hitchhiking in Dutch Harbor during the filming of Season 1. We became friends, and she pitched the idea of using our boat for the second season of Deadliest Catch. They filmed on our boat for king crab and came back for snow crab. I'd say they spent about 4 weeks with us total and shot around 250 hours of footage!
What camera were these photos shot on?
I try to shoot medium format film as much as possible. Almost all of these are shot with a Mamiya 645 on color neg film. I wish I could sport a 4x5, but that would be impossible due to the weather.
When did you pick up your first camera?
I remember getting a lot of praise when I was very young for not cropping the heads off people when I took pictures. That was the measure of a good photographer in my family. At 12, my dad bought me a Pentax K1000. I felt grown up with such a fancy camera but I also thought photography was kind of nerdy at the time. It wasn't until college that I realized photography could take me on adventures I always dreamed about.
What's your favorite camera?
My favorite camera hasn't been created yet and probably never will be. I would like a waterproof 4x5 SLR camera that shoots 4"x5" roll film! For now I will have to settle for the biggest negative possible in an SLR camera. I'm about to buy a Pentax 6x7 II. I want to make giant prints!
How long do you think you'll keep fishing for?
Commercial fishing will always be part of my life. However, crabbing is not a profession to grow old in. The future looks bleak for those trying to work their way up the ladder. One must be a multimillionaire to aquire a boat and crab quota due to the new rationalized system which transfers ownership of the resource to the processors and boat owners. I may get back into set-gillnetting for salmon in Bristol Bay. Working from a small aluminum skiff and pulling nets loaded with salmon by hand over the side is heaven but maybe not as rock n' roll as crab fishing. I also might buy halibut quota. Funny that you can own a small percentage of a natural resource... forever!
Any aspirations of becoming a captain?
I have no aspirations of being a crab boat captain. What I love about fishing is being outside on deck, feeling the salt spray, playing with seagulls, and the physicalness of the work. Even though a captain makes about 2.5 times more money, the responsibility can be very stressful. I already spend too much of my life indoors... e-mailing and retouching images in the off season.
Do you own any type of boat?
Not now. I've been too transient lately. I will likely someday own my own commercial salmon boat. If not in Alaska, maybe even SF Bay.
When's your fishing magazine coming out?
FISK Magazine is trying to come out this fall but we are still pulling together resources, sponsors, and other funds to make it happen. We are a team of 5 guys that share responsiblities and each has their specialty. Officially, I'm the photo editor. But I'm also the Senior photographer, co-editor, and columnist.
RELATED LINKS:
CoreyFishes.com
RolloCrab.com
FiskMagazine.no |
