knew they were going to be going through a lot of life changes. You can learn a lot about the meaning of life watching other peo- ple live theirs and see how they take it on.
Has Riversense made you a river addict? I think I am addicted to rivers in a way that I appreciate them, love being around them, on them, shooting them and to an extent my life has been changed by them. When I get on a river I do feel this sense of home, adventure, and excitement that all rolls together. You can experience so many different emotions; excite- ment, apprehension, joy, fear, awe, serenity, bliss... I think that's part of what makes them such interesting places to make docu- mentaries. The environment is what is affecting the characters in it, being tossed around in rapids, exposed to heavy rain, intense burning sun, all of these experiences connect you to nature and to your self, and I'm addicted to those kinds of experiences.
You also made a 60 second commercial for American Whitewater that played in Times Square on a screen above the Virgin Megastore. How did this happen? Kevin Colburn at American Whitewater got access to this enor- mous screen above the Virgin Megastore in Times Square after meeting the owner of the screen on a fortuitous plane ride. Risa Shimoda, the executive director of American Whitewater, wanted to use the opportunity to put out a message to the public about American Whitewater 's mission to keep rivers flowing. My part- ner Tom Strodel (24 fps Productions) and I made the video in col- laboration with Risa and American Whitewater. Having a video play in Times Square was surreal.
You started pretty hard with Riversense talking about the meaning of life through paddlesports. Are you going to keep investigating this theme through other subjects or would you like to explore other aspects of the paddling world?
I think exploring the meaning of life is something I seek all the time. I think in the paddling world the challenges, the opportuni- ty to play, to be a kid, and to be in the moment, are experiences that are played out in the course of a river trip. It's life abbreviat- ed. I think I'm always going to be exploring these ideas in proj- ects I do, but I think it would be great to do some other types of projects in the paddling world that aren't necessarily so deep and are just for fun. I really love shooting paddlers and in places that I'm not comfortable paddling it's something I can still offer, recording other people's runs, helping promote the sport, getting an environmental message out there, just showing people anoth- er way to look at the river world, and to look for meaning in it.
After having spent so much time with a lot of paddlers, how would you define the soul of whitewater paddling?
It's kind of a communion. People coming together in a living envi- ronment that has been chiseling away at the earth for thousands of years. Riding water, playing in it, flowing with it, and having life- enhancing and sometimes life-changing experiences on it. There are so many ways to experience rivers and so many definitions of riversense, but the one I have felt most drawn to is the idea that there is an innate way of being on the water, a connection to your surroundings that makes you in tune with the river, with the water, with yourself, and with your friends that gets to the soul of the sport and who you are as a person.
—interview by Paul Villecourt for more info go to
www.riversense.com fall2002 23
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