Andrew Voorhees | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Photographer Andrew Voorhies this year.

0:02 Speaker 2: Hello Andrew, Hello, good morning everybody.

0:04 Speaker 1: Good morning, welcome to the program.

0:05 Speaker 3: Thanks for having me on.

0:07 Speaker 1: And uh so you are a what would be the proper term photo journalist? Is that? What? What? What should we how should we refer to your profession?

0:14 Speaker 2: I would say, so, I mean I'm a I'm a photographer really generally all around. I mainly do do a lot of political stuff and photojournalism, but I also do a lot of non photojournalism and non political stuff as well.

0:26 Speaker 1: Yeah, you are very well. How when did you because you're a young man, when did you start? When did you start doing this professionally?

0:34 Speaker 2: Actually, so about a year ago is when I got my first actual camera, which is the camera that I still have today.

0:43 Speaker 3: Okay, I first started.

0:45 Speaker 2: Out going around to like local events, and I actually went down to Boston a lot, because, I mean, being honest, around conquered.

0:53 Speaker 3: There's not really a lot of stuff to photograph over there.

0:56 Speaker 1: Right, Well, well once in a while, they're sure is but we'll.

0:59 Speaker 2: Get Yeah, absolutely, we'll get to that.

1:02 Speaker 1: Yeah.

1:03 Speaker 2: Now, So I first started out, you know, just going to events and just you know, going around Boston just kind of photographing the city. I started out doing some wildlife stuff and then I also did some motorsports as well, a lot of stuff with I've done a few things with MX NHMX up in Epping and NHMX one on one which is like the dirt bikes, and then the quad cross and stuff like that.

1:27 Speaker 3: So that was super fun.

1:28 Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, excellent, excellent. What made you want to get into photography.

1:31 Speaker 2: I was first inspired by photography when I was in eighth grade. I've always been a really big fan of history. Yeah, and you know, in school, our teacher at the time, mister Brown, he would show us a lot of photos of the civil rights movement in World War Two. I was very inspired by those photos because you know, when you take a photo, that's not all you're doing. You're really freezing a moment in time, right, And that's what first interested me in That is not only just the aspect of you know, being outside and you know with a camera, it's also you're you're documenting things.

2:06 Speaker 2: Even if it's something might seem mundane, You're still you're still freezing that moment in time, you know. Yeah, And I remember seeing these photos and being that's what I want to do. I want to get out there. I want to document I mean because it's important. You know, people need to know what's going on in their communities, and people have a right to know what's going on, right, And it's one thing to hear about an event, but when you see it visually, even through a photo, you get that deeper level of understanding of, oh, this is what happened.

2:39 Speaker 1: Are you? Something that comes up on the show a lot, and we we haven't really talked about it when it comes to photography. We talk about it a lot when it comes to music, but uh AI and the encroachment of AI for a lack of a very way better way of putting it into our creative endeavors, and and uh are you. I'm curious to get your thoughts on that because now and this is something we'll probably get into a little bit more later too, but now there's it's easier than ever, of course, to create a photo or a video or anything you know that is AI generated.

3:14 Speaker 1: And it's also but not only does it make it easy to fake things, or easier to fake things than it used to be, but also it makes it easier for people to say, oh, I don't believe this is real when they see it, and obviously that directly affects what you're doing because, like you said, when you take a photo of something, you're documenting it. You're creating evidence that this happened, this is an event, this is something that is real. But I mean, how do you feel about how do you feel about AI? And do you feel do you feel threatened by it?

3:44 Speaker 1: Are you concerned about it? Or you're not worried about it?

3:47 Speaker 2: So there is definitely a level of concern when it comes to AI, because I mean AI is supposed to you know, help us, not replace us, right, that is what the intention of AI should be. But we are definitely seeing a lot more now that AI is encroaching on that line of you know, because again, like you just said, there are a lot of people who will now be like, oh, that's fake right now, And it is definitely very damaging when you know people do that because of tools like that. I think it definitely is something that needs to be regulated because then things will start to, you know, go out of control.

4:29 Speaker 2: Because again, like as as a photographer, I have had people fully on tell me that my photos are fake it and they are People are a lot more emboldened to say that because of tools like AI, right, like because you know before, like I always say this a lot is you know, the undeniable proof of photographic evidence is one of the most important things that we have. But now we're living in a day and age where that kind of means, hey, I can just type this thing in a chat GPT and generate it right there.

4:58 Speaker 2: So why can't you do this thing right?

5:00 Speaker 3: You know?

5:01 Speaker 2: And it's like, well, I'm not right right, but it definitely is starting to concern me a bit, especially with you know, what just happened, because you do have a lot of people going out there and be like, oh, that's fake, but it's not, sir, you're right right, Yeah, oh yeah, it is definitely a concern for me.

5:20 Speaker 1: Well, we should talk about because this this is an instance where I assume you didn't expect going into the event where you took photographs that we're about to talk about. I assume you didn't expect to go in there and get necessarily the kinds of photos that came out of. Yeah.

5:37 Speaker 3: No, absolutely not.

5:39 Speaker 2: Yes, So, for those who don't know, I covered the neo Nazi demonstration that happened in conquered. At the Capitol Building, there was a fifty to fifty one protest that was being held, but it was kind of the They did try to take it over, but they eventually failed and left. Yeah, but it Yeah, I did not expect to turn on to the road of you know, my capitol building and see that.

6:07 Speaker 1: Ye.

6:07 Speaker 2: And I once I saw that, I realized people are probably gonna think the same thing, like, oh, there's no way that you know they were here and conquered New Hampshire. So that's why the first thing that I did, I threw my bag in the ground, ripped my camera out and started photographing. You know, because like I said earlier, photographic evidence is very important because you know, people might not know that it happened, or you know, like we said earlier, people might be like, oh, that didn't happen, this is fake.

6:36 Speaker 2: But then when I show you a photo of it, then you can't really sit there and say it is very important because people need to know and people have a right to know what's going on in their community.

6:47 Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, So in that moment, I mean, have you had have you had any other moments that even approached that in terms of oh, my god, I've got I gotta hurry up and grab grab my camera and get out there.

7:00 Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely so.

7:02 Speaker 2: My friend He's so, I live right on Manchester Street and Conquered, like right next to where all the car dealerships are, you know, Brookside and all of that.

7:10 Speaker 1: I know, I grew up in Concored Well yeah, I know exactly.

7:13 Speaker 2: My friend Jaden, he actually works at Brookside and one day he sent a video of the apartment building. So this actually happened last month. The apartment building next to Brookside was on fire.

7:27 Speaker 1: Oh my god.

7:27 Speaker 2: And he was like, you know, he sent that to me and I was like, dude, I got to get over there. So I grabbed my bag, I sped over there. I was like two minutes away. By the time I got there, the fire department like already had the flames, you know, dim and down. So, you know, thank you to Conqueror Fire Department all the other fire departments that were there. Yeah, you know, that was one of the That was probably the first moment where I was like, oh, I need to grab my camera and go. Yeah, and you know, go to this without you know, warning or anything like that.

7:54 Speaker 2: It's a as a photographer, it's definitely another level of adrenaline when it's it's not a planned thing, right I imagine, especially something like a fire. So I got there, I photographed the fire department at work and stuff like that, because that's another thing that people need to know about, is events like that and stuff, because that also affects a lot of people because you know, after that event, there was a lot of people without homes. Again, it's also a very scary thing because you know that that can happen really at any time, right, you know.

8:22 Speaker 2: And it's also good to get those photos for the fire department, you know, so.

8:26 Speaker 3: They have those.

8:27 Speaker 2: And yeah, it was very it wasn't necessarily what happened at the Capitol Building type of experience, but it was definitely still a very you know, crazy situation to walk up to and see what was going on.

8:39 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no doubt. Do you ever have anything happened where you you you go to photograph something and it winds up? I mean, are you ever disappointed, like, like, do you ever find something asn't as interesting a photograph as you expected? Or has that ever happened?

8:52 Speaker 3: Oh?

8:52 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's definitely been those times, you know, But I feel like as a photographer, especially like I, as I gain more experience, you realize how to photograph things like that that might seem mundane or boring and stuff like that. You you really learn and you get that eye of like what I should actually capture instead of just being like, ah, well, you know this, this isn't going well. You know, there's definitely that uh that thing. I try to keep it in the back of my head of you know, let's let's find something because there's there's always a story or there's always something to show people out there.

9:27 Speaker 2: Now, as I kind of mentioned earlier that you know, even though Concord is kind of a boring place to photograph, as long as you look, there's always something out there right right.

9:36 Speaker 1: No doubt. How I want to circle back to AI for a moment, because how do how can you tell like, like, do you have any advice for people who and and whatever we say about it today might not even matter, you know, a year from now, a month from now, who knows, because the technology moves so fast. But like if somebody says to you, for example, well, how do I know this photograph took is real? How do I know this is an AI? Like what can you tell other than while I was there, you know, I mean, what what can you tell them or can't or is there anything you can you can say?

10:11 Speaker 2: Really well, I have an SD card with raw files, yea, But obviously I'm not going to show up to someone's house with my SD card and be like, well, here you go.

10:21 Speaker 1: There.

10:22 Speaker 2: There are definitely ways to tell if an image is AI. There's a lot of things that can factor into it. Is the quality of the image, because like, if if I have an actual camera, obviously it's not going to look like it was taken off of a potato, right.

10:37 Speaker 3: Yeah.

10:37 Speaker 2: The other thing you look for is really just like human anatomy is, like is there few extra fingers or people's faces smudge together and stuff like that.

10:47 Speaker 1: Yeah, has a problem with fingers.

10:49 Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, definitely.

10:50 Speaker 2: They have a very big problem with you know, getting those features down. So that's important to look for, you know, certain colors. There's things that just wouldn't make sense, you know, like a group of people merging together in like a blob, stuff like that. But it is getting harder and harder to tell. Like I don't know if you've seen the I believe it's called the Google VO three.

11:10 Speaker 3: Or something like that.

11:10 Speaker 1: I believe, I know of it.

11:12 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like people are able to create these like very realistic looking videos, and you've got to look at the progression of AI, like I believe in like twenty twenty three is when it first really started to kind of emerge with Oh, you can create these AI videos of you know, like Will Smith eating spaghetti or something, and now it's merged into and you could clearly tell back then, oh this is AI, like his fingers a like disappearing into his.

11:35 Speaker 3: Face and stuff like that.

11:36 Speaker 2: But now it's it's kind of getting the point where it takes longer and longer to kind of look at it and realize, Okay, this is AI. And again, if that's the kind of progression it's had since twenty twenty three, I mean, could you imagine what it's going to be like two years from now. And it is a very very scary thought because I mean, not only does that come into play when it comes to my job, of people saying this is fake, you got to think what that would do the world, especially when it comes to deep fakes.

12:03 Speaker 2: You know, people can make deep fakes of political leaders, celebrities or even of you you know, what I mean, it's a very real concern. And this is why I say, like it really is something that needs to be regulated, because if it's not, it's it's gonna spiral out of control. And a lot of people think that way. So I don't really know why it's not really happening.

12:22 Speaker 1: I keep seeing these videos that show up in my feet on like on on Facebook. I'll see these shorts of videos of like floods and and and like tsunamis and things. And one of the one of the ways I can always tell. I mean, I'm sure there's some of them that look so real that I can't tell they're fake. But but there is one tell and a lot of these is how the people in the videos react. Like you'll see this huge wave coming and people aren't running away, just standing some of some of the some of them are running away, but some of them are just standing there like it's not like they're not you know, it's like, Okay, that's not how people would react in that situation.

12:57 Speaker 1: Everybody would run.

13:00 Speaker 2: It's like you can tell by their movements too, is like you know what I mean, Like their arm will spin all the way around or something like that. But again, especially when it comes to a lot of you know, older people to say they they are more attuned to believe things like that, you know, obviously, But and that also poses the other danger of you know, scammers have also been using stuff like that to lure people into just draining their accounts. And it is a very horrible situation and I hope that something is done about it rather sooner than later.

13:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know what can be done though, not to.

13:36 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, absolutely.

13:37 Speaker 2: So that's the thing is we need to actually have conversations about this and you know, figure something out because it does need to be addressed. And that's where it starts, just having simple conversations with each other and be like, all right, what are we going to do about this, you know, your state and local legislators and just bringing it all the way up.

13:53 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know how you put this genie back in the bottle. I really don't. I mean, honestly, I really don't. But but yeah, there are concerns. I mean, obviously a I can do can do some great things too. You know, we've we've our first experience with AI actually live on the radio. We there's a couple of Suno and Udio seem to be the two biggest ones where you can make music using AI, and we we did an experiment live on the show. I said, we had something where we had I guess who had canceled or something, but we always find ways to fill the time.

14:27 Speaker 1: So I said, let's, uh, this was something I'd kind of had in the back of my mind. Let's use the Suno app because I'd created an account and their free account is actually pretty generous, and let's just create a song live on the air. We'll we'll put in a prompt and we'll create and and oh my god, like they're so good, like they're legitimately good. Like it's not it's not like, oh this is obviously AI listened to it, you know what I mean. It's it's pretty incredible what what it can do. And uh, you know, and I have mixed feelings about that because, on one hand, because of where I come from in my background and what I do, you know, I will always always advocate for artists, for musicians and protecting them and everything.

15:08 Speaker 1: On the other hand, when you type in an idea and it creates this great song for you, it's like, this is pretty cool.

15:16 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like what do you do.

15:17 Speaker 2: The other thing that places into it is you know, people's job security, and it just comes down street to like human creativity. No matter what AI can do, at the end of the day, humans created AI, and humans have done those things on their own without AI.

15:34 Speaker 1: Yeah, true, true, Yeah, it's uh, you know you mentioned too deep fake videos. And part of the part of the problem too is people will tend to just broadly speaking, even if you take AI out of the equation, people are easily fooled when they're being told something or shown something that they want to. Yeah, you know, we all carry, some people more than others, and we won't get into that, but you know what I'm talking about, But but we all carry It's it's part of human nature, some degree of confirmation bias in our brains and and so we're always all of us are more apt to believe certain things more easily, and so you know, if they comport with what we already think and believe or like to think and believe it.

16:24 Speaker 1: Therefore it's very very because that's the thing too. Even if there are tells this is part of the problem. Even if there are certain ways that you can tell that something is AI if you want to be fooled by it, you will be, you know what I mean, Yeah, if you want to be it will be.

16:42 Speaker 2: I mean even before AI, people were saying things were fake and they didn't believe them and stuff. That's why I truly feel like what I do to this day is still very very important, still relevant, you know, because there are a lot of people out there who might just be like, oh, you're just taking photos. I mean yeah, I mean, if you really want to simple it down like that. But at the same time, especially with AI and all this other stuff, it is very important for you know, people like me to get out there and document things and document things accurately.

17:09 Speaker 2: That's why I get photos of everything. I'm not just taking photos of one side or I'm not just taking photos of a select group of people. I get everything because at the end of the day, no matter what your beliefs are, the truth is important.

17:21 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Oh well said, perfectly said. If you're just joining us, we're talking with photojournalists. Photojournalist tripped on that word, I should just say photographer, Andrew. No, but what you do is more than just photography, so it's important to it's important to get that out Andrew Vorhees is here with us, and I also want to talk to you about you know, we've been talking about AI technology. Also, phones like your cell phone can take incredible pictures depending on what I mean, some of the new phones, it's amazing what they can do.

17:53 Speaker 1: Is that a threat to what you do in any way?

17:55 Speaker 2: So when it comes to the phones, I don't believe. So I'm actually very glad that, you know, people who aren't able to get a super expensive or fancy camera can use their phone to document things like this, because there's not always going to be someone with a nice camera around to document things like that. So I actually think it's a good thing that other people have the ability to document events like this, even if it is just a cell phone. Do I think they're gonna take my job?

18:20 Speaker 3: Absolutely not.

18:21 Speaker 2: I mean you got to look at just the things you can do with cameras. It's just on a whole other level. Yeah, iPhones that they definitely have, the quality on them has gotten insane. But when we're talking about the level of photos and the storytelling that you can do with a camera, it's just on a whole new level. And I might be a little biased saying this, as a photographer, I should. I mean, even before I was a photographer, it's what truly inspired me was photos with actual cameras.

18:47 Speaker 3: I feel like, you get you're able to.

18:51 Speaker 2: Tell more of a story with a camera, and you're able to get a deeper understanding of things when it's actually taken by a camera, you know. But definitely I am Actually I do believe it is a good thing that, you know, everyone can have the ability to document events because that is also very important too, and you can see all sides in that way, you know. And again, like I said earlier, the truth is important, you know whether again it doesn't matter what your beliefs are as long at the end of the day, as long as the truth is what gets out there, that's what's important.

19:25 Speaker 1: Can you tell? Can can you tell if a picture was taken with a camera or a phone?

19:32 Speaker 3: Absolutely? Yeah, yep?

19:34 Speaker 2: Interesting, interesting, yeah, yep, yeah, it's it's I mean, especially as a photographer, it's very easy to tell. But if if you're not, it's very easy to give you a simple explanation and be like, oh, here, you know what I mean. That would actually be a pretty good test to do actually, just to you know, test my eye a little bit, right, right, Yeah, mainly because like the mainly the way you can tell is the depth of field is like when it come cameras crazy, But also I mean just image quality in general, like typically even now, like the more you zoom in with an iPhone, the worst and worse the image gets.

20:08 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, but if you're you know, someone like me who has like a two hundred millimeter lens, you can really get in there and it's still crystal clear.

20:16 Speaker 1: Interesting, Okay, that makes sense, Yeah, it makes sense. So what you take the picture with is important. Rag gear is important, absolutely, because I'm also curious too for anyone who's listening to this conversation who's interested in doing what you do, you know, that's that's something you probably want to impress upon people, right, like what you use you know. Yeah, yeah, it's fine to take pictures with your phone, but to do what you do, you know, you really need a professional camera.

20:43 Speaker 2: Right, yeah, absolutely, and especially like if you do want to do photography, you are definitely going to need a camera. Yeah, it's definitely an important thing. So what I would recommend doing is at first, like anything you know, even with photographers, like okay, this seems like something I'm inted in. But there are some things where you're like, oh, I'm interested in this, but then you start doing it and you're like, I don't really like this, you know. So my recommendation would be too because there's actually a store here in Manchester called Hunts.

21:12 Speaker 2: It's a photo store. They you can actually rent a camera for like the day or the week and stuff, so interesting. That would be my recommendation is to rent a camera, you know, for a day or a week or you know, whatever you think is adequate, rent out, you know, because you can actually rent lenses and stuff like that as well, So I would that would be my recommendation was to start out doing that, you know, renting and rent different types of cameras like rent a Fujifilm or a Nikon or a Cannon or Sony, just to see what feels comfortable to you and what you know aspects of certain brands that you like, right, you know, because that is also very important in photography, is you know, it's not people aren't necessary.

21:53 Speaker 2: I mean people are as and you know any other community are very brand heavy. But at the same time it's really you know, just what are you most comfort with what do you like using, you know, what specs do you like about certain cameras? So yeah, just renting stuff out and just going out and just really taking pictures of anything. Yeah, like literally anything when you're starting out, just to not only be like, hey do I actually.

22:15 Speaker 3: Like this what I'm doing right now?

22:17 Speaker 2: And also learning the mechanics of the camera, learning you know, all that stuff, and just learning what to photograph, learning how to photograph it. It was very I mean I'm still definitely learning. I mean, no matter what you do, there's always room to learn and grow, and it's very very interesting. As someone who's very passionate about the work that I do, it's I'm always down to learn everything that I can when it comes to photography. So that that is another thing I would recommend is just learn.

22:45 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I have, like the majority of what I've learned I've done on my own with you know, YouTube and talking to those around me.

22:51 Speaker 3: You know.

22:52 Speaker 2: So that's the other aspect too, is you know, joining clubs, talking to other photographers, stuff like that can go a really long way.

22:58 Speaker 1: I wonder how many people are interested in doing this, but they but then they become overwhelmed because we kind of live in a culture where a lot of things, Well, now you're you're very young. Jenny and I were Gen X, so we're like the last generation that actually grew up pre Internet. And I wonder how many people are are just kind of just they get discouraged because it all is more complicated than maybe they expect, because they think they think it's going to be easy, because so many things are easy in terms of just like you know again, like taking pictures with your phone.

23:32 Speaker 1: They think, Okay, well I'm gonna be a photographer. Okay, I better get a real camera to do this. Oh there's a lot to learn, like different trying different cameras, like you said, trying different lenses and so forth. It's not like you just Okay, now I have a real camera. Now I'm gonna go take some pictures and it's going to be great and I'm a professional. It's not like that. It's like any really, it's like anything else. You have to actually learn and spend the time. You know, you've you've put the time in to learn all this stuff.

23:58 Speaker 1: But you know, a lot of people they get impatient, they get frustrated, and you know.

24:03 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and Honestly, I've been there, you know, like, yeah, you know it's but really again, once when you're passionate about something, you realize, hey, this is what I want to do. You stick through it, you know, on the highs and the lows. It is that, like I said, I mean, happened to me, and it's definitely a very real thing that can happen where you're like, oh, this looks super easy, because before I got a photography I'm like, oh, you're just pointing a camera and pressing a button.

24:25 Speaker 1: Right, there's definitely more than that.

24:27 Speaker 2: Yeah, But once you you know, sit there and you actually start learning a lot of it just makes I mean, for me, it just like that. It was just super quick and I was like, oh, okay, yeah, so that's what this setting does.

24:40 Speaker 3: That's what this does.

24:41 Speaker 2: Okay, awesome, And then you just kind of collectively take all the things that you've learned and just really when it comes to a camera, when you do one thing, it affects something else. So you know what I mean, Like when when you up your ISO, it adds more light into the camera, but it also makes the image more fuzzy, so stuff like that. So like almost every setting that you can mess with it also messes with something else. And once you learn that really that those basic things you're not necessarily set, but you kind of you can from there you can just go yeah, you know.

25:12 Speaker 2: And it is definitely a very very interesting process because you know, as a photographer, the weather hates us.

25:20 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, so, and it also.

25:23 Speaker 2: Goes down to the gear that you have as well. The more gear you have, the different types of gear you have, the more you can do. Really, you can definitely do a lot with you know, I even have right now, you know, as a twenty year old, it doesn't have a lot of money. I only have, you know, one camera body and three lenses. Even with that you can do a lot, yeah, you know. But the the more equipment that you have and the type of equipment that you have, you can do a lot more. You can shoot indoors, you can shoot at night, you can shoot when it's cloudy, stuff like that.

25:52 Speaker 2: So really it might not even come down to you know, what you know and what you don't know. It just comes down to what tools do I have available?

25:59 Speaker 1: Yeah, have you been in situations you mentioned the weather? Have you been in situations where you needed to photograph something in in uh weather, that was challenging.

26:08 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, it's especially with you know, only one camera body and three lenses. It happens more more often, especially in the winter, I bet, especially in the winter. And I'm like, ah, because again, like lighting, lighting is a big thing when it comes to me. You know, it's it can be very especially indoors. You know it like like this right now, it's very you know, well lit room. But if I were to you know, take my camera out, it's not gonna look so lightly right right, especially with my my long lens.

26:37 Speaker 2: But you know, with my one point for you know, fifty lens in here, it would look pretty good. But again that's that's a very very short lens. You can't really zoom in and stuff like that. And that's the other thing when you zoom in with a camera, it also.

26:51 Speaker 3: Gets darker as well.

26:53 Speaker 2: So oh okay, yeah, so it's very it can be very challenging when you're in a very big, open room and you're trying to get the you know, close up shots of you know, people talking and stuff like that or just you know, what have you whatever you're photographing. But again it's just gear. There's there's so much out there. It's insane, Like I could literally look online for like hours and hours and be like, oh I want this, I want that, I want that. So it's also very expensive. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

27:22 Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Do you have a favorite thing to photograph? Is there? Is there something anything in particular, like political events or is there anything that?

27:30 Speaker 3: Yes?

27:31 Speaker 2: So I I cover a lot of protest and I would say, not only is it my favorite thing to photograph, but it is definitely the thing that I'm best at.

27:40 Speaker 1: Yeah.

27:40 Speaker 2: Is just you know, telling people's stories of you know, resistance.

27:46 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's I love.

27:50 Speaker 2: That's another thing that got me really interested in photography was I love talking to people. I love hearing people's stories, you know, the where did you come from? Why are you here? You know, just just learning about people is something that fascinates me, you know. I I just love talking to fellow humans, you know, and telling their stories. To be able to not only tell their story, but show people their story through the visual aspect of photography is.

28:17 Speaker 3: Just something I love.

28:18 Speaker 2: And again it's also very important to document events like that. Again, no matter what your belief is, that's still history, you know what I mean. It's it's still history. And to be able to be at those events and meet the people that I meet, it's it's amazing, you know. And it's again it's it's like one of the things that I'm best at. I mean, the quality of images that I've been able to get through those events is just insane, you know. Also an another thing that I really love the photograph is the motor the like motorsports.

28:48 Speaker 3: Love it. I love it itself.

28:50 Speaker 2: Fun just to watch them jump up on their dirt bikes and stuff like that.

28:54 Speaker 3: It's great.

28:55 Speaker 2: I mean, that's awesome.

28:56 Speaker 1: Is it a I would imagine part of I'm guessing tell me if I'm right that part of what's exciting about that is the challenge of getting like a really good sort of action shot. Yeah.

29:06 Speaker 2: And when you look back, and then when I get home and I look back at my shots, I'm.

29:08 Speaker 3: Like, oh, it's so cool.

29:10 Speaker 1: Yeah.

29:10 Speaker 2: Yeah, just there's just mid air. It's it's great. Uh. I do also like I mean wildlife as well. It's just it's so cool. I've gone to the Boston Commons a lot because I mean, the squirrels.

29:22 Speaker 3: Will just walk right up to you. Oh really, Yeah, it's great.

29:25 Speaker 2: I mean I I literally have a photo of my U, my friend Bryce with an acorn in his hand and the squirrels literally just like up against his hands. Really yeah, grab the acorner hit out of his hand.

29:35 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just super cool.

29:37 Speaker 2: And I mean a lot of street photography stuff is great as well. I mean, you know, I've taken photos of people in Boston just playing guitars on the side of the streets stuff like that. And again, it's like to other people that might seem like super mundane, but you're you're capturing a moment there, yeah, you know, and it's it's just with a camera. It's just it's so cool. Yeah, that's another aspect of love. And I'm like, this is so cool.

29:57 Speaker 3: Right, right, Like it's great.

30:00 Speaker 1: Not only that, but if you take a picture of somebody with a guitar, you never know exactly, You just never know.

30:08 Speaker 2: And that's the other cool aspect of it. And again, it's like when you as a photographer and you take a photo of someone that's also a conversation initiator. You know, As I mentioned before, I love talking to people, and that's a great way to be like, hey, I got this super cool photo of you. At the same time, some people might be like, hey, why did you take a photo of me?

30:24 Speaker 1: Which that's something I'm curious about too. So do you ever have someone who you want to take their picture and they and they say no?

30:32 Speaker 2: So I when it comes to me on my own, you know, when I'm out in public, I definitely do tend to ask people first, or if it's for example, like if someone is you know, playing a guitar or actually like doing something, you know, I tend to take the photo first and then show it to them and then you know, if they want me to delete it, obviously I'm gonna respect their right to privacy and I'm gonna get rid of the photo. But I definitely do make you know, initiations, you actually ask people like hey, can I take a.

31:01 Speaker 3: Photo of you?

31:02 Speaker 2: Because again, like I'm very you know, big on privacy because I mean, I mean everyone should be. It's just respectful and you know, it's just common sense.

31:09 Speaker 3: Yeah.

31:09 Speaker 1: Uh.

31:10 Speaker 2: But I mean I know at the the rallies and stuff like that, I've had people come up to me and they're like, are you a cop? And I'm like, no, really, no, I mean it doesn't really. I mean I got the short hair. I'm a tall, pretty Yeah. I get my fit white dude who wears khakis and yeah polo shirts a lot. Yeah, I totally get it. Uh, And I totally get you know, people's worry about that stuff. But I'm like, no, I am not a police officer. And they're like, oh, do you work for the press or something like that.

31:38 Speaker 2: I'm like no, I'm like just a dude, I promise. Yeah, Like I'm with you, you know, yeah, you know, but I I kind of like laugh at it now, you know what i mean, because I'm like, well, I mean, do you see a bat? Like, no, I'm not a police officer. And it It actually happened a lot yesterday at the I was at the Portsmouth Airport photographing the anti ice protests there and I did get like around three people who are like, hey, dude, are you are you a cop? And kidd like no, it's wow, Like no, I'm not.

32:10 Speaker 2: That's funny, Like I just take pictures. Oh that's funny. Yeah, but you know, just having simple conversations with people and be like hey, no, you know, I'm just here to document the event and stuff like that. Yeah, everyone that I've come across so far has been like okay, you know, thanks for being here and stuff like that. And I do understand the worry that I mean, we do live in you know, pretty sketchy times right now, so I totally understand it.

32:33 Speaker 1: By the way, Todd Air of course from the Hanging Left podcast, and he is in the chat room, he says, love to go out and have you give me a refresher on photography, and he says he loves street photography as well. Very good, and we should mention, of course Todd from the uh yeah, Hanging Left. I guess you're coming on board with us officially, right, absolutely so, so we'll have so Andrew and I and Todd. We host the Hanging Left podcast. You can find online and it is on all your favorite podcasting platforms of course.

33:07 Speaker 1: But yeah, so you must you're with Todd every day, right because you both work on the campaign. We won't get into it in depth here, but the campaign. Do you want to mention the campaign? Yeah?

33:17 Speaker 2: So I am a campaign photographer for Sarah chid Zinsky. She's running for congress here in New Hampshire. That's another thing that's that I was like, you know, back to what inspired me to do photography was not just you know, political rallies and protests and stuff like that, but also like my absolute dream is to be.

33:34 Speaker 3: A White House photographer. Really, yeah, that is.

33:38 Speaker 2: I went to d C for my eighth grade field trip, and this was sort of where like, you know, the first flame began of all, I really want to be a photographer. I've always been interested in history, you know, and you can't really be interested in history without being history and with you know, interested in politics hand in hand.

33:56 Speaker 1: Yeah.

33:56 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it just doesn't really make sense for you to like history and then not like the thing that dictates.

34:01 Speaker 3: Like all of history.

34:02 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, of course.

34:04 Speaker 2: But I remember being there, you know, as like a twelve year old, thirteen year old kid, and I was just like this is this is where I want to be.

34:12 Speaker 1: Yeah.

34:12 Speaker 2: I again, I had an iPhone at the time, and I was just taking pictures of everything. Yeah, I actually have I still have a photo of me in front of the White House and I was like, that's where I want to be.

34:20 Speaker 3: Oh, okay, I have actually have Pete.

34:23 Speaker 2: So's's photo book. He was Obama's chief White House photographer the images. He was actually also Reagan's photographer as well. Yeah, So, I mean it's so interesting. He's an amazing guy. And the the types of photos and the quality of photos that that man was able to produce is insane.

34:42 Speaker 1: Really.

34:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's like he's like one of those people that I look up to, you know, because I mean, that's that's what I want to be right there in the Oval office photographing what's going on. Yeah, you know, it's just man, I'm just I can nerd out about it for like the longest time.

34:57 Speaker 3: But it's great.

34:58 Speaker 1: Are there are there any specific photos that come to mind of of that are sort of iconic in your mind of of at the White House that that perhaps that gentleman. Would you say his name.

35:09 Speaker 3: Was Pete Soza?

35:10 Speaker 2: I believe that's how you pronounce his name.

35:12 Speaker 1: Like, are there are there any specific photos you can think of that he's taken that you can describe that.

35:16 Speaker 2: The the one that comes from One of my favorite photos is the photo of Obama and his staff in the situation room during the bin Laden raid.

35:25 Speaker 1: That was the first one I thought of when you when you mentioned I, yeah, photos from the White House?

35:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, I I look at that photo almost every day, and it's like to capture a photo like that is just it's just insane. Yeah, I mean that, like it just blows my mind, like not only was he there in that moment in that room with all the super important people, yeah, he got to document that like that like that is forever in history because of him. Yeah, and that's just that the thought of that's just insane.

35:56 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know.

35:58 Speaker 2: And you know, even just like sort of the again what other people might think is like mundane, but like the photos of you know, one of Obama's daughters, like sneaking behind the couch to like surprise him. It's like when you think of the Oval Office like in my brit Oh, it's a super serious place and all this stuff. But I mean again, at the end of the day, like they're still human, right exactly, especially you know, you know as young girls growing up in the White House, like they're still gonna do all those kid things like you know, scaring or surprising their dead.

36:25 Speaker 2: It's just that and again, you it just shows like the humanity aspect and it's just that is that is one of the things that also I love about photography is just capturing humanity.

36:36 Speaker 3: Yeah, and its purest form.

36:38 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's it's just great, I love it.

36:41 Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt. So that that's the long term goal.

36:44 Speaker 3: That's that's what that would be. To get to d C and to do that.

36:48 Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be insane.

36:49 Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt. Oh yeah, Todd says too. Yeah, that's an amazing photo, he says, show Matt the protest photo you took of me after the show.

37:01 Speaker 3: I can definitely send that over to you.

37:02 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, absolutely, absolutely. Oh the time goes so quick. Yeah, this has been wonderful. Yeah, absolutely, you know, and looking forward to talking to you of course on the next hanging left as well.

37:14 Speaker 3: Absolutely.

37:15 Speaker 1: Where should people go to UH to follow you online and if they want to see I assumed do you have a website or something where you put a lot of these photos are so?

37:24 Speaker 2: I So the website is Friday dash Photography dot com.

37:28 Speaker 3: Okay, I do.

37:31 Speaker 2: I also am Friday Photography on UH Facebook as well. So the way to find that really is so the logo with the like Jason Vorhees esque hockey maskts it's a play on my last name, you know, like Vorhez, Friday Photography, Friday the thirteenth, you know. Yeah, a lot of people don't really know what that is, but you know, uh look it up Friday the thirteenth. It's a super good horror film. I believe it came out in the round the eighty.

37:56 Speaker 1: Friday the thirteenth. Probably I never got I never got into those movies, but early eighties, early eighties.

38:04 Speaker 2: And you can also just search up my name on Facebook as well. I post all my stuff on there, and that's just as an Apple and d R E w V as the victor O O R H E E S. I'm also on Instagram Andrew dot Andrew dot V hold on, okay, let me make it right.

38:23 Speaker 1: Definitely won't make sure people can Uh.

38:26 Speaker 3: There we go. Andrew dot V thirteen on Instagram.

38:29 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, very good, very good.

38:33 Speaker 2: And for those who use blue Sky, oh yes, I am the camera guy thirteen dot b s k Y dot Social.

38:43 Speaker 1: I'll have to find you on blue Sky if I if I if we're not already connected. I I have Blue Sky, I I have the app on my phone and everything, but I forget to use it, you know what I mean.

38:52 Speaker 3: Yes, I'm not gonna lot. Do you like I do the same thing. I'm like, oh yeah, that does exist.

38:55 Speaker 2: And I know a lot of people have switched from X to Blue Sky and like that. So yeah, I do need to get on there a lot more.

39:02 Speaker 1: I know. Every time I'm reminded of it's like, oh, I got to do that, and then I'll forget about it again. Well, very good, Well, Andrew Vorhees, thank you so much. This has been wonderful. Absolutely, I'm sure we'll do it again in the future and I'll see you on the podcast. Well, absolutely wonderful. Well, if you are listening live on Saturday, stick around Amber. Nicole Cannon is coming up in the second hour. Is she in the building, Jenny, She is in the building, so looking forward to speaking with her.

39:27 Speaker 1: And in hour three, our friend Nancy Manet is going to be joining us online via Microsoft Teams all the way from Texas to talk about her new single. But so stick around. Plenty more to come here on this Saturday on Matt connorton Unleashed and Andrew, thank you again.

39:43 Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.

39:44 Speaker 1: You got it.