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Brian Frank
Last Round
Ronnie Britt, also known as the “War Frog”, is a 44 year-old mixed martial arts fighter in Des Moines. Outside of the cage he delivers oxygen and medical supplies, and is a quiet, easy-going fellow. Inside the cage, he is a tough competitor that uses choke holds to make his adversaries submit, or “tap out.” Over the years, he has earned a grass-roots, blue-collar following that has made him one of the most popular fighters around, and I was fortunate enough to follow him around for about seven weeks as he trained for his last fight.
Bio
A few years ago, I was sitting in my cubicle color correcting the photo of a $70,000 kitchen to match the correct shade of lemon yellow for a magazine, when I realized that there was more to life than this. I needed to find a way to get out of the cubicle. I had taken some photography classes when I was younger, but hadn’t touched a camera in years. It was then that I decided to start learning again.
I began taking classes at a local community college – first taking a basic film course, then digital – one at a time as my work would allow. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with photography. Photojournalism wasn’t even in the back of my mind. The reports from New Orleans on the first anniversary of the floods hit me hard. I was angry and embarrassed that we allowed the residents of that city to be ignored. That night I booked a flight to spend a week talking to people and photographing the city, with the hopes of creating a book. Although nothing came of that project, the experience got me hooked.
I was born in 1972 in St. Paul, Minnesota and currently live in West Des Moines, Iowa. I still color correct images of expensive homes. It gives me ideas for what my house should be like when I hit the lottery. Now be quiet, they’re about to announce the numbers.
Related links
Editor’s Note: at the photographer’s request, the comments are wide open….no limit
Many thanks… david alan harvey
St.Paul Minnesota..
i loved that place… april 2002…cold and .. the hood!!!
ohhh there is a hood!!!
Brian ;)… strong…!
Congratulations, Brian! Really glad to finally see this work on Burn! You rock! :-)
Nice work Brian!
I love seeing his “softer” side contrasted with his fighting. Some strong images.
The audio adds a lot.
I have a family friend who is a mixed martial arts fighter. I’ve been wanting to photograph him for years. Looks like we’re finally going to be in the same part of the world this winter so maybe I’ll get my chance.
ps Love your bio. A breath of fresh air compared to most others I see :))
I am trying to remember where I have seen this essay of yours just a couple of days ago. I thought it was on your website but I just visited it and it was certainly not there – THIS I would have remembered.
Brian, I really love your eye! I have seen a lot of pictures on these subjects of yours but not in the way you do them.
I hope you win in the lottery and thus have more time to pursue photography. Better still: make it not dependable on the lottery and find another way. :-))
And I second Cathy as to your bio.
“Brian, I really love your eye! I have seen a lot of pictures on these subjects of yours but not in the way you do them.”
I mean not only this essay but also and especially the ones on his website. Please make sure to go there and have a look.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. This was an example of seeking out something completely foreign in my own back yard. I went to the fights one night, and within five minutes, I found that the fighters were much more exciting than the fights.
I am hoping to do a few more stories, and along with some other shots from the fights, compile a book.
I am emailing DAH to open up the responses to allow as many replies as you want.
I’ve seen this piece before somewhere, and liked it then. Still do. Excellent job joining the stills and the voice over. Hope to see more of your work on Burn.
Jim, Lassal, I think these have only been on my site. Thanks for the replies!
Brian … definitively not. Unless you have changed the look&feel of your site in the last week.
An unprententious and nicely put together essay Brian. I really enjoyed it. Congratulations.
Ps: Whatever happened with those numbers…? ;)
Ramon,
Well, I’m going to work in the morning…
Brian
Congratulations for being published here.
I did see this before, perhaps it was on your site, or was there a link?
Anyway, like Jim, liked it before, like it now. and yes, the audio adds a great deal. The subjects comments put a human face on a sport which to many, including myself, seems at best moronic.
I like your straightforward, non-trendy, un-pretentious style. I’m a big fan of straightforward.
Good stuff.
brian sorry, watched it twice before commenting…
the essay is as Sweet as “image movie” for fighting Tv channel can be…
the photographic language here is at its misery, as much as it would be if half of the Russian talk was with with english words.
the voice… what is that ? digtracts attention, repeats what is seen in the images anyway most of the time…
?!?!?
the frames are as though they are picked from the filming footage of the sweet “image movie”. the outline of the essay is a perfect recipe for that kind of movie as well – this side of life, that side of life, nice talks, to the ring and triumph of the winning game …
why black-and-white, it looks so digital… i can understand from the text that u are sick of colors, well if it is enough reason to remove the color so be it… if not the text about colors i would have think that it is the “kitschy” attempt to make a classic reportage by converting it to b/w, or simply making this conversion to make a “sweet movie” look it could be in color.
sorry, this is not photography… this is not what a photographic work should be. i dont know what it should be, actually i know it can be many diverse things, but this should be called a “mixed media” and then we can judge the value of the essay.
btw… the recent time i saw fighters in photography was Cuba boxing for Leica m9 campaign. dont get me wrong, it was not Koudleka’s Jypsis, but there was some photographic charm in it… in framing, in color, in cliches about Cuba and boxing…. in the harmony of sweet romantic boy and fine athlete etc etc… there was Charm …
from what i see, u can have some charm too… even on the same lines u worked – family, work, training/fighting … all this diversity and harmony etc … just get deeper, and decide wether u want to make it Photographically or not – the real thing – the with some core…
otherwise, with today’s fine digi cameras (Canon 5d-2 and alike), u can make photo and movie at the same time and create much more moving “mixed-media” essay….
Victor,
Thanks for taking the time to view and write. Knowing how brutal this sport can be, I chose B&W early on. Many of the fights can be quite bloody, and color photography could make the blood the only thing people see. I believe that decision was right for this project, and for the additional stories and fight images I will be working on in the future.
As far as the equipment question, I have to work with what I have. I am still in the early stages of my development, generating virtually no income. As much as I would love to have a 5DM2, that simply isn’t in the budget. I’m saving up the pennies to put towards a 7D.
When you refer to the story as “sweet”, it certainly was not intended to be that way when I started shooting. I went in with an open mind so I would have no misconceptions. I did my best to tell the story as honestly as I could. I did not steer the story an one direction or the other to meet my ends. Ronnie is that guy. He is that nice. His personality and the win was not in my control, and I’m not going to apologize for being honest to the subject.
Again, thanks for looking and writing.
Brian,
I noticed your name is spelled BRAIN Frank at the bottom of your bio…
Maybe a typo, maybe not :))
Nice work on your site. Thanks Lassal for mentioning it.
I am in several minds on this project.
I agree with a few things Viktor says. I found the audio distracting and in the end, to look at the pictures I went back a third time and turned the volume off. It begs for several viewings just to be able to take it in. But I liked the content of the audio. As Cathy says, “it adds a lot.” I think the audio is the strongest part of the presentation actually.
There were four pictures I particularly liked – #6 at the dinner table, #8 the family watching tv, “Bring the Pain” and the next one with the little boy on the steps watching a fight. Most of the rest are not very strong images in themselves. The audio covers this up. But maybe that’s not even a fair criticism in this work. Lord knows, not every shot in a film is breathtaking or interesting. We’d be too overloaded if it were. Maybe what this means is that you’ve done a good job editing this story.
For all that, it is a nice piece and I can imagine it showing on one of our tv channels when they need to fill time for a few minutes as sometimes happens. And I would like to see more of this form of journalism on the web too. Video is all very well and this work is almost video but I like stills and I wonder, why can’t there be multi-media documentaries like this telling us stories in online news sites as well as all the other standard forms. I am glad to see this story added into the mix of Burn. Diversity is good.
MMA must be a fascinating subject to take in and document. Unidentifiable to me is the circumstance of the fight…yet fascinated are my eyes and heart. To imagine the feeling of that place…where greatness once was and now declining… is what you’ve dared to capture. I like that you’ve gone the route of recognizing the person behind the circumstance…that’s bold and differential. And to go black and white was the right decision, in my mind. Well done, I say. As many may have noted, I’m very into the personal connection one has with a subject…and you, my dear, Brian, have connected. Thank you for your insight and comment on people transitioning in their lives. It’s reflective of a stage relateable…we all know change, though can be hesitant to recognize it, in and of itself, let alone that it is a chance to move onto something new and exciting in our lives. Thank you, again, for your view which connects our common humanity.
Why can’t anyone write a text as simple Brian’s and say enough that we instantly warm up to the project or the photographer, and get a sense of where he’s coming from? Beats me….
Everything is well done, one of the best sequenced essays, maybe because it follows a certain chronology, and most certainly is tack on with the voice-over. You make it look simple, I bet it was not, and kudos to you for a story that may not provide extraordinary fascination, yet, shows the side of the american people too rarely seen or sung, and frankly, even more rarely heard.
I am reminded of David Mc Gowan’ s essay on garage sales featured on BURN in the spring, one of my favorite works shown so far. There is just a great feel coming from these works, genuinely reciprocated in the stance taken by the photographer, one of modesty and compassion, and most surely identification. That’s FEELING right there.
BURN is shining at its best, when introducing people/photographers like you, Brian.
I realize David thought this essay a most appropriate follow-up to Martin Parr’s wal-mart picture. I dare think it is also an answer to it. “they” haven’t won yet!
Great storytelling. Once we have this voice from him talking through the essay I couldn’t imagine how it would be without it, there would be an empty space and a missing dimension. But if I saw it without the voice first, would I then think of it that way? Perhaps irrelevant, but… ok.
And also, is there something about the subject that made up your mind on using black and white? It vaguely makes me think about Raging Bull. Fighting. Black. White. Hard. Contrast. I think it works.
Hope you get a chance to find out if he learns to play the guitar.
Brian,
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole package you have presented here; the images, the audio, yep, even the bio. I was captivated by the straight forward honesty and simplicity of the piece – which, as we have seen many times here, is often a considerable challenge.
The B/W works well for me and the voice added an extra dimension – I am left curious about the context of the fight and I would have also liked to learn something of Ronnie’s audience – but this is still a great effort.
All the best with your continuing career – whatever you decide that will be. I imagine it’s in your hands…
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Dear Brian,
There is no doubt that the story reflects your passion and honest dedication to Ronnie and his story, however I have a couple of things to say.
First, you do not really need to justify the “sweet” nature of this essay. If this is what you have chosen to show us, then be it. Also, please, do not think that Ronnie and his story have come towards your camera without you having nothing to do with it. A photographer has always everything to do with his essay. You are the one who make the choices in every sense, there isn’t any “purity” in delivering a photographic essay in terms of ‘this is the reality and I have left it untouched…’ even the most objective photographic reproduction has already a representation and interpretation of the subject within.
I did appreciate the story, but at the same time, Ronnie’s life does not really add a great deal of emotions or important information to my life and knowledge.
I see this as a very good and successful exercise in building up a photo essay, but I think that you should use your skills for something more interesting for a larger audience.
“Nice” shouldn’t be enough if we really want to communicate photographically with an impact.
On your website, there is a lot of beautiful shots, but in my opinion you should forget about Ghana or similar photo reportages.
What I found extremely exiting is your work in progress “Express Yourself”. I think that in there, there’s a Weege-ness in you and what you wish to communicate. You have a good eye, so use it!!
I would really be intrigued by your view on how people have fun. That I think is a very interesting project that could well develop into something extraordinary.
FInally, thanks for sharing your photography and carry on with the good work.
Best
Mimi
Mimi-Of course you’re right. There was some of my influence in the story. I did choose to show his family life and his work, but I do think I was fair and honest in my representation. If he was a jerk to his family, I would have shown that. Thanks for looking into my work further, and glad you liked “Express Yourself”
Steve-by “context of the fight”, do you mean the size and scope of the organization? It’s position in relation to the big-time of the UFC organization? I think you are right about getting more about the audience. This is the first fighter story out of a set, and I will be sure to keep that in the back of my mind for the future. Good point.
Bjarte-Yes, the selection of B&W was made early on in the process. The first event I shot at, before I started in with this story, I decided B&W was the way to go. In case the training and the fight got bloody, I didn’t want the blood to be the only thing people saw.
Herve, Carrie: Thank you. Really happy you enjoyed it.
A little pedestrian to me, no highs, no lows, sorta deadpan lacks that extra mile that spunk in the shots, the gleam in the eye.
Soundslides works well with this sort of presentation.
Frank I reckon you should go another round with this you both will be the wiser.
Maybe this is worth a read as found on lightstalkers http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/2009/10/a_conversation_with_christopher_anderson.html#more
CATHY…
a subliminal typo?? ..fixed..
DAH – Any word on where people were seeing this before?
Brian,
I like your work very much! To my taste you have combined photography and audio in an ideal way.
The images are well taken: straight forward, without any gimmicks. B&W works for me in this case very well. However I can imagine the images would work in colour as well. I see the bloody point, but hey… you are not photographing a birthday party…
The story is simple and yet very universal. There are many athlets who never become well known beyond their region, but they are as dedicated to their sport as a pro. Ronnie is one of these people that might be easily overlooked or forgotten. If it was not for you, perhaps noody would have documented this last fight. Of course many of such storys and events vanish without a trace into the endless stream of time. You have stopped the time and captured some important moments that give me the chance to relive and feel Ronnies last fight. Most important of all you gave me an insight into Ronnie’s life, his thoughts, fears and dreams. Ronnie seems to be a rather down to earth person. A bit of a freak maybe, but he seems to be just a regular, ordinary, caring person who has a story to tell. I like these simple human stories very much. There are so many untold stories out there and I am glad that you told this story.
Very well done Brian!
Good luck for the next story!
Best
Reimar
Good job man. Brian, a definite step up from your work in Ghana, more depth, involved and intimate. You have found your path, now follow it.
I love that your work is so unpretentious and you tell it like it is Brian. I used to dislike boxing as a sport but looked at it a little differently after i saw a film about female boxers in Nepal. There were similarities in your stories in that in both instances, the fighters had to move on for different reasons. I felt deep sadness in the voice of War Frog from the very first, and the story as you unveiled it reflects that state of mind. I hope he is truly doing what he wants by moving on. Thumbs up to you for doing it in black and white and thank you for being so honest in your treatment and so respectful of the subject. Thanks and thanks again, so very much. : )
Thank you Jenny.
Saw this project on your site about a week ago and really liked it… very happy to see it here too… B&W was the right choice… the narration is very strong in itself and the sequencing you’ve done fits perfectly with it… you managed to collect the “right” pictures to illustrate your story… very close, very personal… congrats both for the work you did and for the publication…
I forgot to mention your intro. Really nice! I like that the section about War Frog is ‘lean and to the point’ and somehow reflects the sport itself. And the section about you is open, honest and cheeky to boot!
I hate talking about myself. I stared at the screen for about an hour and started over three times before the bio was done.
Sorry – a second post – but to your question, Brian.
“by “context of the fight”, do you mean the size and scope of the organization? It’s position in relation to the big-time of the UFC organization?”
There is obviously some sort of organisational machine behind the promotion and management of this sport and I am curious about that – but mostly my interest is in the audience – who is Ronnie performing for and what is his relationship with them…? It’s just a slightly different facet of the story but IMHO it might be quite an interesting one.
Congrats again on the work.
Steve – no need to apologize for the second post. It’s open for as many posts as you want. Thanks for the input. I agree with you, and will try to work that in as I continue.
nice story,good photos…
en hora buena
un saludo
Brian, I’m glad that you got out of that cubicle and headed to New Orleans.
You have inspired me. Thank you.
http://wasillaalaskaby300.squarespace.com
To my eyes and ears, this essay is a very respectable yeoman’s effort both as a traditional photo essay and as one of those new-fangled photo/audio hybrids. The first time through I thought the audio really enhanced the story told by the photos. I think Brian exhibits excellent interviewing skills and then edited the audio very well to present a coherent and compelling narrative. I found some of the photos weak as standalones and was a bit concerned that those were just time-kill for the audio, but could see how they furthered the story regardless and wasn’t particularly bothered. Then watching it without the audio, I thought the photos told the story better on their own. He’s a fighter. He’s a good guy. He’s part of a loving family. He prepares for a fight. He wins. We can get that story without any words. Without the audio, the essay might have benefited from a little cold-hearted editing and I’d consider putting a few more photos up front that establish he’s a fighter. But essentially, I liked it either way. Good job, Brian.
Regarding the comments, Andrea’s contention that not every photo in an essay (yes, I know, she said film but we’re talking about a photo essay) should be breathtaking, lest we be overwhelmed, gave me pause. On one hand, I’ve no problem with images that further the narrative but are somewhat less than classic compositions, but on the other I suspect that the percentage of excellent standalone images in an essay is what separates the greats from the very goods. Why shouldn’t every image be spectacularly well-composed and technically awe-inspiring if it effectively furthers the narrative?
Michael – I understand what you are saying. There were some strong images were not included because they were superfluous to the story. Those cuts were the hardest, but were necessary for a concise timeline essay. You said you watched it with and without the audio. Which came first? If you watched it with the audio first, would you have gotten the whole story? I hope the answer would be yes, and maybe with some more seasoning/experience/confidence I would be able to gauge that better myself.
Brian
I love the mission statement on your site. It is sincere and un-pretentious, which comes accross in your photographs.
Thanks Gordon
Brian, I’m not sure I understand your question. I watched it with the audio first, since that is how it was presented. Without the audio, I would not have known it was his last fight or that he was famous but was at the stage of his career where he had become a stepping stone for up and coming fighters.
Some of that is covered in the written statement, but I always look at the photos before reading statements and often don’t read them at all. I’m starting to realize that maybe I should rethink that prejudice.
Watching it with the audio rather than without, it’s likely I would have missed some of the depth to the story that good photos communicate at an abstract, wordless level because I was using my left brain to decode the words rather than just soaking up the images. But who’s to say and what can you do about it anyway? Mixed media is apparently where it’s at these days. As an editor, I’d try to put it together in such a way as it works with or without the audio. It seems to me you’ve done a pretty good job at that.
Thanks Michael. That’s was what I was wondering.
all that effort for 11 seconds of fighting. i hope you asked for your money back.
;-)
“Regarding the comments, Andrea’s contention that not every photo in an essay (yes, I know, she said film but we’re talking about a photo essay) should be breathtaking, lest we be overwhelmed, gave me pause.”
Michael I very deliberately said film. I think this presentation is closer to a film than a straight photo essay because here we don’t have to fill in much with our imagination. (Yes I know we do with good film) But mainly I make that comparison because of the speed of display and with the voiceover, you don’t have to time to look at an image properly. The pace of film takes that on board. The situation is the same with this work. We just don’t have time to observe and enjoy the images on their own because we are busy listening to the story. So I think it’s right that not all the images be strong, unless there are fewer and we have more time to see them. A strong image needs more time. Too many strong images in a presentation like this would be lost except when we can go back and look again at our own pace. So now i see that seeing them on TV wouldn’t be ideal at all. Or if it were to be shown on tv, I’d choose fewer images and stronger ones and allow a little more time for the viewer to absorb the image. I’d include more silences in the audio as well.
But I am not damming Brian’s work. I think he’s done a good job.
yes,
there is clearly
a beginning, middle and end
within the story….
it felt a bit driven by the audio,
rather than the rhythm of images…..
I would love to see you further this story…
I want to see Ronnie playing music with the blues musician….
***
Me too, but that hasn’t happened yet. When Ronnie does start taking blue-grass lessons, you better believe that I’m there.
This is not intended to be critical of anyone posting here, but an observation. I included the audio because I thought it would add a layer of information that would otherwise not be available. Even if I wrote a long intro to the story with all the info, you wouldn’t be able to hear the intonation in the voice. There’s sadness and regret in his voice when he talks about his fighting career and the things he has missed out on.
The option to view the images at your own pace, without the audio is also available by clicking on the left/right arrows at the bottom of the slideshow. Including the audio gives the viewer the power to view the story as he/she wants.
Just curious about what people here think.
BRIAN…
no…but, you would be the one to know where you had sent it before…i was originally under the impression you had just finished your edit with a collaborator and we were seeing it for the first time…but interesting for sure that at least two people said they had seen it before…odd
There had been previous edits that had been on my site when I submitted initially. The final edit that is on my site now is what I submitted to you last Friday. Not sure what to think of this.
Hey Brian a BIG well done.
I think its an excellent piece, lots of very strong photos and great audio work. And a really great story that is a bit of a meditation on humanity and the roles we play..
I get a bit over the fact people don’t seem to understand that multimedia is quite interactive and you can turn off the elements of captions and audio as you wish so I don’t think whether people find it better with or without sound a really relevant criticism.
My only suggestion would be to expand on it more in terms of its depth in the characterization, meaning I would have liked to have heard more about what he was feeling before the fight, but hey thats all.
A great piece like I said and its definitely the way of the future. I have just been booked to do my first commissioned multi-media piece here for one of the TV channels so I am really looking forward to the process as I am so used to thinking in terms of print only…
Perhaps you might have some insight into how you directed/produced the piece?
Thanks Lisa – My way of putting this piece together was pretty contrived, but I was guestimating the whole process. I had never done a piece like this. I had the idea to include audio early on when I started talking to Ronnie about the project.
Here’s how I did it. If someone has some ideas of how to make the process smoother, please feel free to jump in:
1) Arranged the photos into the order I wanted, exported from LR.
2) Used Quicktime to trim sections of the interview into clips of interest-be sure to name the clips something to indicate their content.
3) Set the photos into the correct order in Final Cut Pro, assigned the time for each one, set the transitions
4) Place the audio clips along the timeline as you want them, add fades, etc.
5) export the audio as one long track
6) import the photos and audio into soundslides
Basically, I used FCP for just a mock-up of what I wanted for soundslides and to mix the audio. In the first rough cut, there were gaps in the audio, as there were more images. Each revision, I would go back to FCP and trim out images, which would mean I needed to trim out the silent spaces. Towards the end, I also cut out a bit of the audio tracks to accommodate the tighter edits, saving each revision in case I wanted to backtrack. There’s probably better ways of doing this.
This comment isn’t about the essay, but I’ll try my luck anyways… Where did you find that html-code (I’m guessing javascript?) so you can have several photographs available on the front of your website, so each time you refresh the browser there is a new one? I could really need it myself…
The core of my site is done in Adobe GoLive, and it was a plug-in that entered the code. It allows for six images-all of which need to reside in the main directory of your site and have the exact dimensions. I named the images generic names so I could easily replace them anytime I wanted. Here’s the code. I don’t know if you can simply drop this into the header of your page below the stylesheets code.
”
“
Whoops. Can’t paste the code. sending you an email.
Would have liked to see the crowd more, just for the narrative’s sake, but I guess it’s difficult when you had to have Ronnie in every shot.
Mark, I’ve heard that from a few different people, and I agree. I am going to make a conscious effort as I move forward with shooting other fighters and events. Thanks.