Bunny Hops to F-Stops

Brian Ulrich and Todd Hido getting rad!

Last Tuesday at Aperture I saw a great lecture by the talented Todd Hido. As he talked about the long hours he spends driving around looking for his next subject and finding influence in the work of Robert Adams I realized that we share a very similar vision and approach to working. It really was an inspiration.

Much of what Todd said will soon become career canon for me, but one thing he mentioned really piqued my interest. His early years were spent in Ohio on a BMX bike.

This got me thinking about another photographer I know who rode BMX back in the day, Brian Ulrich. I started to wonder if there was a correlation here. Maybe the future stars of MoMA can be found getting agro on the dirt tracks and in the parking lots of America. Perhaps photography grad schools should cut the curriculum and just show this to incoming students:

Hmmm...

If you are a modern photographer genius who spent their youth doing tail whips, table tops and endos, let me know and please send me a photo. I think I can get a grant for this.