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Connie’s Ric Rak was a down and dirty, standing room only, alternative rock club in Philadelphia’s Italian Market.  Behind the small stage was a Green Room.  Connie’s Green Room was small, maybe 12 x 12 with bright green painted walls that were covered with graffiti. It had some leftover old sound gear; it had a coach that no sane person would sit on, and it had not been cleaned since the Carter administration.  

My buddy Ron Bauman was the club’s manager, he also booked the acts.  Monday night was open mic night.  Starting around seven and lasting until closing time, people of various talent would have their 15 minutes of fame.  It was both fabulous and cringe worthy.  

One evening it occurred that I could help these performers out by offering to shoot free portraits for them. This idea also seemed fun with the challenge of seeing if I could create seventy plus real portraits in such a constrained environment without them feeling cookie-cutter or formulaic.  

I enjoyed this challenge so much that I went on to shoot in two additional local music venues.