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Eight Portraits ofAdam Fieled

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PrefaceOne simple fact about the Philly Free School is that we never did formal photo

shootsif someone happened to have a camera, theyd take pictures, and that was all. It

just so happens that the two contributions here from Abby Heller-Burnham were taken

on the same night, some time in the winter of 02 into 03. The first shot, of me solo, wastaken at a Radio Eris show where I also played a bunch of songs, at a venue between 18thand 19th on Chestnut which has since closed and whose name I dont recall. It was a

restaurant/bar. I remember playing one of the Godheads songs I had around in highschoolMr. Gruff. The second, of myself and Mary Harju, was taken at my flat at 154

North 21st Street (21st and Race). Mary and I were sitting on the couch in the little livingroom. Another shot, of Abs and Mary on the same couch, was taken by me that nightand has since been lost or misplaced. When Mary and I visited Montreal in August 03,

we had someone anonymous snap this portrait of us in the Montreal Botanical Gardens,

which wound up being our favorite Montreal haunt.Backtracking, I believe Marys portrait of me in Clark Park in West Philadelphia

(directly across the street from 4325 Baltimore Avenue, where she lived) wouldve been

taken in the spring of 02. The acoustic guitar wouldve been Marys; I was wearing myGot Keats? tee-shirt. Its another instance where I seem to remember taking somepictures of Mary too, but theyve been lost. As for the four portraits taken by MattStevensonMatt was a very strange bird. He had a plethora of latent gifts he didnt use

muchone was for photography. The two portraits taken at Main Street West (a.k.a.Webster Street Studios, at 11th and Webster in South Philly) were taken the same night, atthe outset of recording Ardent in early 04. The yellow pants I bought with Mary atUrban Outfitters in 03I tried them on and exclaimed, I feel like Brian Jones! I

picked up the Celtic Cross I was wearing in State College in the late Nineties, wanting toadd some color to my wardrobe. Still, the ensemble I have on here is the sartorialequivalent of chaos theory. The close-up portrait from the side is more strikingit

captures a sense of dynamic tension and weird aesthetic balance in the context ofbohemian life.

Matt was reasonably competent at Photoshop doctoring toohe took aportrait of me at 154 in 05 and added the space effect to it. The final shot, taken the

day we made the Apparition Poems video at the Eris Temple in March 10, Matt doctored

for a sort of white-wash effect. Like Abbys portrait of me, it captures the odd, loopy

quality my eyes create on film, when shot from the right angles. Other shots came up as

candidatesAmy Kings of me reading in Brooklyn 07, different shots taken inChicagobut I found, ultimately, the Philly shots to be the most representative. Like theportraits of Abby, theyre more than mere documents; theyre works of art in their own

right. The Philly Free School wound up being well-rounded, in spite of our idiosyncrasies,addictions, and intermittent manias; the collective PFS body of work is not generically

narrow or limited by a constrained vision. The intrigue, for me, is what else may beunearthed over the course of the next decade. Abby, in particular, was prolific enough sothat a new avalanche of quality material is feasible. If Mary, Matt, and the rest have somehidden gems too, I wouldnt be surprised. In the arts, fertile times are fertile times.

Adam Fieled, 2013

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Adam Fieled, by Abby Heller-Burnham,

02/03

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Adam Fieled at the Eris Temple, by Matt

Stevenson, 10

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Adam Fieled at Main Street West, by Matt

Stevenson, 04

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Adam Fieled at Main Street West, by Matt

Stevenson, 04

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Adam Fieled in Clark Park, West Philadelphia,

by Mary Harju, 02

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Adam Fieled and Mary Harju in the Montreal

Botanical Gardens, by Anonymous, 03

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Adam Fieled and Mary Harju at 154 N. 21st

Street, by Abby Heller-Burnham, 02/03

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Adam Fieled at 154 North 21st St., by Matt

Stevenson, 05

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