Archived Story

Photographers’ FAVORITES

Photo collage by LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian
See a slideshow of Photographers' Favorites of 2008
Those of us in the Missoulian photography department look forward to this time of year. After reviewing the thousands of images from the past year, we each offer one photograph from 2008 that we call our favorite. The choices recall our neighbors as well as visitors, both the famous and the infamous. The subjects range from people who have since made history to those who quietly, but gracefully go about their daily lives. As we reflect on our choices, we look for photographs that change the way you see things, change your perspective, cause you to feel something, and they become our favorites. Sometimes it is a photograph that changes lives - even if only our own.



Enrique Marquez Banda is a man of simple needs. He has spent the past few summers tending sheep on the hills overlooking Missoula. We communicated in our own unique brand of Spanglish. I have studied his language for years, but have yet to get a handle on it. He has been guiding gringos like me through the communication maze for years with grace and patience. I realized just by being around him how hectic my American lifestyle can be. The way Enrique lives his life caused me to examine my own.



MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian



This picture came about from a March profile of Justin Lawrence, a resident of Clinton who has an obsession with the 1970s rock band KISS. Lawrence has an immense amount of KISS memorabilia, and we spent some time setting up this portrait with only a fraction of his collection. After shooting a few frames, Lawrence’s 4-year-old daughter Kaelyn, wanting to get in on the action, jumped into the scene with her KISS T-shirt and little pink guitar. Her presence provided the perfect counterpoint to the rest of the photograph.



TOM BAUER/Missoulian



Montana received quite a bit of attention during this year’s presidential election, due in part to the close race between Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Photographing Obama’s Adams Center rally was one of the more exciting assignments of the past year. Fellow Missoulian photographer Michael Gallacher and I teamed up to cover the event, which drew an estimated 8,000 people as well as plenty of national media. My goal was to find a different way to photograph one of the most recognizable faces of 2008. I enjoyed taking the picture because it seemed no matter what the outcome of the election, history was being made in Montana.



LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian



I met Dylan Lewis the day before shooting this photograph when I spotted him putting together his Kool-Aid stand with his brother Jase. They were setting up on Highway 200

in East Missoula hoping to catch members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang on their way to Marshall Mountain for the club’s summer run. The motorcycle traffic was slow that day,

so I returned the next and just waited for the right club members to show up. I like photographs that tie those things together that don’t necessarily fit, and the rough and tough Hells Angels waiting their turn at the Kool-Aid stand makes that kind of photograph.



KURT WILSON/Missoulian
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Matthew Koehler wrote on Jan 4, 2009 7:14 AM:

" Nice work Missoulian photographers capturing bits and pieces of life in western Montana! "

act wrote on Jan 4, 2009 10:16 AM:

" We are so fortunate to have you guys out there catching our best sights. Only wish they'd shown more pics for this article. "

Douglas Cummins wrote on Jan 7, 2009 11:04 AM:

" This is excellent. I very much enjoyed the photos and the music, well done all! "

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