John Kay (born Joachim Fritz Krauledat, 12 April 1944) is a German-born Canadian rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf.

Chiripa – Chiripada

The above words are Mexican lingo for luck and luck out. In the early 80s I was doing my best to stand out with my portraits as competition in Vancouver was fierce. What I had going for me is that I worked with writer Les Wiseman who had a rock column in Vancouver Magazine called In One Ear. I have always thought that good music critics have to be snobs. When I started with Wiseman he told me, “Alex if you don’t like Lou Reed you will not be able to work with me. If you do not like the heavy metal band Motorhead, forget it.”

One method I used to compete was to use a portable studio light with a device called a softbox. To add to this, in my photograph here of John Kay, I took with Kodak Technical Pan Film (discontinued in 2005) which was the sharpest and finest grain film ever made. It had sensitivity to red so it rendered skin luminous.

I shot 10 photographs. I showed the contact sheet to Vancouver Magazine art director Rick Staehling and he picked this one.

Somehow I believe I must have lucked out with this portrait of John Kay. It is inmediate and in-your-face.

Este retrato es una de chiripa.