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Two weeks ago today, I met Eddie Vedder. It was after a 3 month-long campaign called, ‘I Want To Take A Portrait Of Eddie Vedder’, which I named because that was precisely what I wanted to do. I ran that campaign as though being unsuccessful wasn’t an option. But it still surprised the hell out of me when I received word that it was going to happen.
I was given the opportunity right before Ed’s second show in Adelaide. My sister was with me. It was on March 28th.
I’ll be honest: I was a mess as I sat waiting to meet him. But as soon as we were ushered in and I took my camera out of my bag, I somehow got it together. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a slight tremble in my hands the whole time I was shooting.
I was given enough time to take a few shots. Interestingly, I have captured different expressions of Ed, and different moods. Still, each look that he gave me stopped my heart. In fact, I told him so. But I’m not sure if he heard me say it.
There is so much to say about my experience. So many details to share — specifics that I will never forget for as long as I live. I’d like to be able to have a chance to officially tell the whole story – from when I first decided to do the project, along with my first impressions of meeting Eddie, what we spoke about, down to his wonderful song dedication for me at the second show.
As I have mentioned before on my campaign website, this was more than a portrait quest for me. It turned out to be a life-changing journey with major rewards, a big finale, and a new perspective on life.
Anyway, I’m quite certain that readers have skipped this block of text and have gone right to the image by now. :) As attached as I am to all the images that I took (and there are some that are more intense than the one that is shown today), I really needed to choose the one that I did.
So, for those of you that are wondering what sort of a guy Eddie is… let’s just say that he was aware of the campaign and came prepared…
67 comments
Carla Micucci - So very proud of you Jen!! What an honour and achievement!!
Lynda Reiss - What a trooper he is … damn that’s a great shot!!
Oh & for the record, I purposely didn’t scroll down to the photo until I read all of your text .. well worth the read but seriously the longest 2 minutes of my life! Well done.
emz - that is just fantastic jen… well done hun :)
Belinda - Amazing! Love that he came prepared. Congraulations Jen! :-)
Carly - Fantastic!!!!
Lia Healy - FANTASTIC. Good for you!!
Selina - Love it. My heart stopped as I read your intro to the photo – thankfully Eddie got it beating again. Love, love, love! Well done Jen – you never let your fans down! xxx
Mau - I can’t praise you enough, I can’t praise the picture enough, its beyond good. Congratulations for your success, I’m really happy you make it happen. Yeah!!!
Kat - Well done! Amazing effort, and what a capture! Fabulous :)
Shane Gration - WOW Jen!!!!!!!!!
Jodie - What an amazing journey by the sounds!! I did have a sneak peek at the picture first then read your entry. As an amature photographer, i think your photos are amazing, you are very talented! I hope one day my photos are half as good as yours
Joh - Awesome Jen!!! You rock!!! Well done xo
Josh - Way to go! I follwed your campaign from afar, and then wound up in Adelaide for both shows. When I heard him dedicate “Picture In A Frame”, I was so happy for you, but I didn’t know whether or not things had worked. So excited to read about it, and excellent work! I hope it was memorable.
Simone - Congrats again, I didn’t skip your text either, can’t wait to read more, such a great shot!
Memo Ordonez - Wow!!! great!! the detail of the “paint” with the name it´s awesome!!!! :-)
Stella - absolutely love it, great work Jen!
don’t it make me smile (:
Angela scarfo - That is fan-fricken-tastic, jen! Well done! Nothing better than achieving your dreams xxx
Uru - Woooooow! Congrats!!!
Maria Aloisi - love, love, love! jen, what an unbelievable journey you went on! xxx
Laura - Dear Jennifer,
that’s great! To tell you the truth, seeing your portrait wasn’t love at first sight, but the more I look at it, the more I like it… it’s like his “insides”, to quote him, are coming out slowly but more, and more, and because they “are too big for his size”, they are just pouring out of this amazing portrait you did, and the more I look at it, the more I feel them…
That’s my feeling about it, so… how I love him, and you to let this be!
Shall we hope to see some more “expressions” of Ed? :-)
Great artwork, Jennifer,
Laura
GrungeReport.net » Blog Archive » JENNIFER SANDO’S NEW PORTRAIT OF EDDIE VEDDER - [...] Jennifer Sando’s ‘I Want To Take A Portrait of Eddie Vedder” campaign was a success, read about her meeting Eddie right here. [...]
Katherine - Oh i have tears of joy. What a wonderful journey! thanks for sharing it!!!!
Kortnye - Well done Jen, what a fabulous picture. So impressed
Suzanne - Awesome story.. Lovely portrait…
Congrats…. :)
Niko - Hi Jen,
I was checking your pics everyday and I am so happy that you made it. That is awesome project and great story about meeting Ed.
Congratulation on beautiful portrait of Eddie.
Rob Lee - Well done. Great portrait.
Would love to shoot Vedder! Im working on a project to shoot interesting people-I think Vedder would be near the top of the wishlist.
Vitor - Jen, this is awesome. Congratulations and thanks a lot for going on this journey and share with us. And thanks again for showing how nice and cool Eddie is. Even having no doubt about it.
Yamini R - Wooww!!! You’ve given the rest of us an enormous amount of hope :D Congratulations on the success of your campaign and for that outstanding photo of Eddie. I love that “he came prepared”, I love how you said each of his expressions “stopped your heart” and most of all, I love how you chose just one image to display here. See? Some ppl do read what you write ;) Keep on keepin’ on!
Diego Bera - Yes!! Jennifer. Its perfect!!!! Saludos desde Argentina
Angel - That’s so freakin Awesome!!Congrats Jen!I Love this photo ~ one of my new favorites~Really really great expression you caught there!I am so Happy for you!!Wooohooo!!
Diana - This is absolutely incredible!
Congratulations! You absolutely deserved this experience :)
Rafael - Awesome ! Extremely happy for you ! :)
Tina PJ - Congratilations!!!!!
I admire your passion.
Rossana Capogreco - This has given me goosebumps !!! Welldone Jen
Sandy Anderson - Very clever, and your pictures are great. I’m not surprised Ed played along. Congrats.
Nicole D - you know, he kinda looks like Jesus! or what I would envision jesus to look like ;)
Congrats again Jen!
Jacquie - Jen, you must be SO proud of yourself. What an awesome oppoutunity! And it looks like you rocked it!
The photo is awesome- Eddie is awesome. Well done girl!
Ian Hendry - Just saw this. Stunning photo. If there is ever someone whose image captures his music, it’s Ed. Great achievement, great resilience, great result. Very very pleased for you, thank you for sharing it with us :-)
James - This is a fantastic portrait of Ed. Well done! I’m so glad that you managed to complete your project. What’s your next challenge going to be? At least it looks like there’s going to be new Pearl Jam and Soundgarden albums out in the near future to listen to while you’re deciding!
cj o’neil - well i am very impressed with your art. one question. How much for a print or copy of the “i’m eddie Vedder” pic
Kim J Taylor - Oh how incredible! I can’t even describe how happy and I am for you! (and a tad jealous!) LOL The picture is just amazing! I can’t wait to see more of his “expressions”. What a sweet man to be so cooperative. You have accomplished what some of us only dream of. You GO GIRL!!!!! Congratulations :)
Scott - Wow, congratulations on daring to chase your dreams. This is an amazing project. I’m sure it will inspire many people to follow their dreams. Well done. And what an awesome portrait.
jsando - Thank you SO much everyone for your warm and positive comments. To those who have asked about prints and such: I’m just making sure that I’m doing everything ‘by the book’ and, therefore, must defer to PJ Management/Public Relations for official word on distribution rights regarding the shots. Whatever the next step is… I want to be sure Eddie and his images are fairly represented and feel the best way to do that is to work with people he already trusts, therefore I’d like the next step to be fully endorsed by and, perhaps in coorporation with, PJ management and/or Ten Club. I’m currently giving them time to complete planning for Eddie’s solo tour and PJ20, but remain hopeful that the full story and all the pics will be made available eventually. I will always appreciate any and all support and encouragement people can provide along the way!
Tang - Deep respect – I´ll kiss the earth for you, and for the heart inside of Mr. Vedder – the true man upstairs!
Greetings from Denmark
Tang
Chaotic Color » “I want to take a portrait of Eddie Vedder” - [...] If you want to see the portrait of Eddie Vedder click here [...]
Jaszy Freebird - When i learnt of your incredible journey to take a portrait of “THE ED MAN” i cant deny i was alittle jelly at the thought of never thinking of it myself but what an amazing time i have had watching your progression. Your photos are so trendy and definitely have the PEARL JAM >>vibe<< ( in my opinion ) and you have now become my FAVOURITE Australian Photographer. LOL
How incredible you must feel, i'd bottle that feeling if i could xoxox Soooooo happy for you! I can’t wait to see the photos of his “expressions”. Oh be still my beating heart, those eyes are as good as kisses from the sun… I just knew when he got wind of what you were doing he'd be up for it!! Thats Ed for ya. Bless him. Agreed, You have accomplished what some of us only dream of.!!!!! Congratulations Beautiful Jennifer :)
Tyrell!! - WOW!!!! I can not believe you have around 84 photographs just for this one fantastic photo of Vedder. I am in year 12 and in my photography folio YOU, Jennifer Sando, are my main inpiration. You have inspired me to make my theme of album art and you may just see a hint of your work within mine! Thank you for being my inpiration, to reach for your dreams and get what you want! For you its a portrait of Eddie Vedder but for me its to make an album worth of quality photographs to pass studio arts!
Thank you! And seriously can’t wait for you to do another project like this one!!!!!!
Tyrell!! - OH!!!! One last thing!! You have offically made me a Pearl Jam FAN!!!!
If I was Eddie Vedder, would you like me any better? | thoughtswillcrackmyskull - [...] I recently found this photography project blog based on one of my idols, Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, and one of the greatest song writers of the past 2 decades. Entitled The ‘i want to take a portrait of Eddie Vedder’ project, a photographer from Adelaide set out to accomplish a dream of hers, to take a photographic portrait of Mr. Vedder. In hope of getting her dream known throughout the Pearl Jam and music community, she set about taking a photo everyday for 85 days in the lead up to Eddie’s Australian tour. Each day she’d take a beautiful photo, with a reference to Pearl Jam in each one, be it a lyric, image or whatever. And the best thing is, Eddie found out about the project, and was more than happy to oblige in letting her take a portrait, which can be seen here. [...]
Pam - Well done and congratulations! (I didn’t skip the text btw…)
shabnam - Different portrait!! like it!!
Monica Prelooker - Oh, you finally made it! I found out about you months ago through twitter (dirty frank maybe, don’t quite remember who posted about you) and remember wishing you could finally get it. So congrats! And my most honest respect for you devotion and perseverance!
Mónica Preloker – Argentina ;)
Pina d’Angelo - You are an amazing photographer … the images are just so inspiring. I love Pearl Jam’s music and Ed’s voice touches my soul. Your photos, each and every one, are just so motivating and full of love. Glad I saw your blog “I Want To Take A Portrait of Eddie Vedder” as it’s made me see that anything is possible.
Melanie - This is just the most beautiful thing. I love this man so much and relate to your connection. A really lovely tribute and glorious images. Well done!
Lilian - Hy!! I´m so happy whit hapenned with you! Sorry my English…. I´m from Brasil and I´m a PJ Fan. I have to start a project in my photography school and I was thinking about doing something with PJ… about their songs… like a photo that remids the song… I just would to share this with you… You did a fantastic job! Really!
Thanks for sharing this!
Lilian - Hy!! I´m so happy and encourage when i saw this… I´m a PJ and seen this made my day!
My name is Lilian and I´m from Brasil…. I´m a photography student and I have to start a photography project from Know to the end of the year… I´m thinking about doing something related to PJ Lyrics… Like a photo for a song… You encouraged me… This is nice! You did a great and amazing job!
Thanks! And sorry about my english…
Nikki James - Amazing story. I randomly came across your blog and I am so thrilled that I did. I always thought that EV was a class act and your story proves it. I had the small fortune of shaking his hand after his show in Portland and to me that was an amazing moment in my life. I can’t imagine what your experience has done for you. Way to go and congratulations!
Jess - Un-be-LIEVE-able. What a fantastic shot. Well done, Jen! You’re an inspiration……
Lia - Technically and artistically this picture is flawless.Excellent neck,clever symbolism (the throat canyon).I can actually see the ironic,conciliatory look of someone,who after all these years,
still tries to convince that his name is not a brand name.Mrs Jennifer Sando,well done for pursuing it,keep on your good work.
pamela dawn - Hi Jen….you are inspirational…you have an idea and nothing stops you chasing it to its amazing and artistic completion
xxx
Suarabh Ail - I recall being witness to this campaign and knew for sure that you had the passion, the burning desire to make it happen. Frankly, you turned me into a fan of Eddie Vedder…and even a bigger fan of you as an inspirational soul. Way to go Jen! I’m just eager to understand….WHAT NEXT! Big hug.
Lisa - What a wonderful thing you have done! Beautiful photo! And yes, I read your whole text and I think you are very cool, I mean, my heart stopped just by READING about this, haha! I think I would probably faint. So, well done and it must have been a great moment!
Kurt Euston - Just found this Jen – that’s a fantastic effort and story. Great work!
Oli - Some story – amazing :)
Janet - Good for you…your campaign photos were awesome, and this is the icing on the cake!!!!!
Chad - I remember your campaign. It’s great that you followed that yearning inside of your soul. I just saw Eddie Vedder here in El Paso, TX. It was a truly amazing experience. I recognize that cloud background in your portrait of Eddie from the show as well. It was used during the “encore” performance.
Great work!
Alternative Nation | JENNIFER SANDO’S NEW PORTRAIT OF EDDIE VEDDER - [...] Jennifer Sando’s ‘I Want To Take A Portrait of Eddie Vedder” campaign was a success, read about her meeting Eddie right here. [...]