What's Your Favorite?

Randy Bacon, owner, Randy Bacon Photography Studio

Randy Bacon has become a Springfield institution. He’s known as an elite photographer. He’s known as an innovator in the local music scene. He’s known as an important part of downtown’s comeback. Yet, to him it’s all much simpler, “I feel like I’m a 6-year-old kid who just picked up a camera,” says Bacon. “To me there is this sense of wonder.”

Bacon exudes that sense of wonder. It is what he aspires to in his photography and what his studio/gallery space evokes.

Bacon is also a patient man. He has a confidence that things will happen organically in their proper time. That’s why he spent years as a sales manager for a printing company until, on April Fool’s Day in 2000, he turned his part-time passion into a full-time job. “It was really a natural transition,” Bacon says. “It was the time to do it.”

Bacon has also turned his little studio and gallery into a player in the independent music scene. As with his photography, Bacon knew time would allow his reality to catch up to his passion. “It took such a long time for the agents to give us any credibility,” says Bacon. He says he’d have to prepay some bands early on to prove that he was the real thing. Yet things have certainly changed for the Gallery Sounds concert series. In January, nationally renowned band Yo La Tengo performed, and Bacon says, “By far we’re the smallest venue in the entire tour, but they contacted us to play here.” Even with that success, Bacon says, “I don’t even still consider us a music venue.” Instead he strives for the concerts to be, “music in an art environment.”

After talking to Bacon, how he has become an amalgamation of photographer, concert organizer and downtown revitalizer, seems simple. “We’re just crazy about art,” Bacon says. “We’re just crazy about culture and the joy and the power of it in people’s lives.”

Photographer?
“Richard Avedon. He’s a portrait artist. He’s a legend. I love simplicity. Complexity comes from the mystery of the person.”

Band?
“For now, Feist.”

Band that has played at Randy Bacon’s Gallery Sounds?
“Under Byen from Denmark. It may have been the best concert I’ve ever seen.”

Thing about working with your wife, Shannon?
“That I’m working with my wife. She’s my best friend.”

Local band?
“Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. They’re such super-nice guys. There is such a good sound coming out of Springfield. It’s quirky, intelligent pop, but there is a sincerity and honesty to it.”

Childhood toy?
“G. I. Joe.”

Adulthood toy?
“My stereo. Most people don’t have one anymore, they just have their iPods, but they’re missing something. At home, I look like the guy from the old Maxell tapes sitting in a chair in front of big speakers.”

Weather forecast?
“West Coast weather. I just love 60 to 70 degrees with cool nights. I’m not a big fan of ice.”

'80s band?
“The Cure. That’s when I really started liking music.”

Favorite scar?
“I got one on my shin. When I was 7 or 8, I had a mini-bike. When I wiped out, the muffler burned into my leg. It left a nice-looking scar. Chicks love it.”

Snack?
“Around here, they call me Scooby*, if that tells you anything. You just put it in front of me, and I’ll pretty much go for it. Thank goodness for high metabolism.”

Lunchtime food?
“Taco Bueno.”

Milk carton size?
“I don’t have one, just not the kind you have to open up. You know, the kind you used to get in school. As long as it doesn’t have to touch my lips, I’m okay with it.”

Hair product?
“Shaving Cream.”

Thing about the current location?
“That it’s not clean and shiny, but you can feel the progress.”

Aperture?
“It depends, more to the extreme. I like it wide open. F2 or F16. I don’t use the middle ground very often.”

Photography project?
“I really love doing projects. The Sweet Life, the study of cancer survivors. I started it three years ago, and literally I’m still doing it to this day.

Date?
“April Fool’s Day, 2000. That’s when I opened the photography studio. Or March 1st every year; it’s symbolic. In my mind, that’s the first day of spring, I’m like, ‘I made it!’”

Instrument?
“Guitar.”

Kind of bacon?
“Turkey. It just seems weird when I eat bacon, though.”

*Pop-Culture Note: Scooby Doo loves to eat anything, specifically Scooby Snacks. Somehow we think Randy Bacon skips those.

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