Carlos in Alaska

One of the reasons if not the main reason I am a photographer is because it affords me the opportunity to meet interesting people from all walks of life. As a photographer I get to follow these people and document them and who they are. I am given a glimpse of something or someone that I would never have come across if I had another profession.

In my search for athletic models in Alaska I cam across some very interesting people. one of the most interesting I came across was Carlos Owens. Carlos is a young guy that builds Mechas. A Mecha is a 12ft tall mechanical suit controlled by a pilot inside the body. His Mecha is bipedal with a shoulder mounted nail launcher, and arms mounted with a flame throwers, and hands capable of grasping objects. Carlos spent over 10,000 dollars building his creation. He built  it in his spare time outside  in the dead cold of Alaska winter.

How I found out about Carlos was a total luck. While I was in Wasillia I was reading some articles on the internet when I came across an article on Carlos it was written for an online magazine. It was a short article that talked about Carlos and his activities as a part time inventor. But what struck me the most (besides the fact that he builds giant suits of metal, the article mentioned that Carlos lived in Wasilla Alaska. I am not one to let opportunity and luck pass me by so I did some research and eventually found Carlos' web site. I contacted him expressing my interest to photograph him. After a few hours he called me back and later that day we met up.

I got to see his creations in person, and all I can say is the article hardly did them justice. It was quite a site to see. Carlos showed me his Mechas and his other creations. Besides his mechas he also is in the process of making hoover bikes. Carlos is a man driven by passion he doesn't do the things he does  for money, the only reason he does them is to pursue his own passions.  I only got to spend a couple of hours with Carlos but the time I did spend reminded me of why I love photography. It is a great way to meet people that inspire and remind me why I do photography, not for the money, but for my own passion.