The Story Behind Wickie Wackie Faces

It’s been a minute since I’ve blogged, but it’s for a good reason guys it’s been a hectic past few weeks, from regular events coverages, touring the island with Earthkry Band and carrying out this special project. Now that things are slowing down and I finally got this holiday weekend to do some personal and family related things I can finally share this…

While on the United Purpose Tour organised, by Nanook Enterprise, I attended the Rototom: Sunsplash 2015 Festival. During that period I met Fernando Fernández Hevia backstage. Actually I introduced myself to him because I found what he was doing to be so fresh, different and intriguing. It was brilliant actually, he had started a project called ”Reggae Is A Mission” which involved taking professional portraits of artistes, musicians, producers, media and anyone else who had contributed to Reggae music at the festival. 

I really loved this idea, and was also featured in his album set as a concert photographer. I held this idea close to mind. As I arrived home I thought about implementing a similar concept, and thus considered contacting one of the major festivals in Jamaica to execute it. In October I heard about the Wickie Wackie Music Festival(WWMF) and I thought this festival being smaller would  be the perfect place for me to test this concept out. So I applied for regular press accreditation then further communicated with the organisers that I wanted to add something different to the Wickie Wackie coverage experience. I met up with the promoters; Ashley, Tami and Kumar in November and broke down the idea of it, showed them where I got my inspiration from and they loved it. 

A few things that had to be taken into consideration were; where was I taking the photos, what approach I would take, would I use a backdrop, would I need props and who would aid in the logistic aspect of the project. Through much contemplation, two more meetings with Tami and Ashley and the discovery of Uncle Ronnie’s record shelves at the venue a week before the event, everything was more less ironed out. 

I collaborated with Touch The Road and Raging Fyah  on the weekend of the 5th of December 2015 to carry out a special project called the ”Wickie Wackie Faces” which was inspired by “Reggae Is A Mission” and with the added Visual Ninja touch. This collaboration with the #WWMF team yielded some unique imagery that has never been seen on a local platform or festival. Resulting in some iconic shots of persons who made the #WWMF experience amazing. Images captured included Producers, Artistes, Musicians, Painters, Media personnels and #WWMF staff.

The images taken reflected each individual or group’s personalities and had a very nostalgic and vintage feel to it, due to the usage of the record shelves, old guitar and keyboard. Also I added two of my conceptual portraits to the setting. All this coupled with my new black n white toning preset that I built, really made the images my own.

It’s been a couple weeks now, I’ve been receiving a lot of great feedback and I’m really happy I got the opportunity to do it. I’m now in the planning stages for next year’s Wickie Wackie Festival and also possibly doing an online publication with all the photos taken. 

Thanks for reading! I’ll be trying to drop another blog post before the year ends; if not I want to thank all you for reading and supporting me this year in all my endeavours. May 2016 be a blessed year for us all. 

-Jik-Reuben, The Visual Ninja

2015

Using Format