ENTOURAGE - #8 > December 2005/January 2006

Alex Messenger
From Manchester, UK, Alex has been climbing for over ten years and is increasingly getting sucked into life behind the camera - since by his own admission, his fingers are far better at pressing buttons than they ever were at crimping. Always being jealous of overseas photographers hogging all the great light and stunning backdrops, he was psyched for his visit to Squamish. Unfortunately, the boulderers who enticed him out there forgot to mention that most of the action takes place deep in the woods, with barely enough light to see, let alone to use a camera. A combination of high-speed film, the Howe Sound Brew Pub and an unexpectedly rekindled desire to boulder won him over though, and now he can't wait to go back for a rematch. But who can really feel that bad for him? This is the guy who had the tough job of trailing around after the girls for this issue's "La Feminine Mystique" feature.

Alex would like you all to think that his life consists of photographing girls pulling down hard across the globe, but the reality is slightly different. He's normally found stalking some gritstone pervert on the dark and rainy moors outside Sheffield, or chained to a desk at his day job, editing the British Mountaineering Council's magazine.

He uses all Nikon gear, since that's the first "proper" camera he bought by accident, and shoots a mix of film and digital to get both the best of both worlds and is totally confused as to how to catalogue his collection. He prefers to capture real climbing action as it happens, but will happily admit to moving the odd mat or lending someone a red t-shirt to help smooth things along. Contact him at alex@thebmc.co.uk to say hello or offer him a glamorous all-expenses paid assignment somewhere hot, so he can get through another damp British winter.

Joe Iurato
Since before the UCMAG's launch issue, Joe Iurato has been a part of the UCMAG family. He started out with a bang as UCMAG#01's poster boy and wrote the "Dreams in Bleau" feature in that issue. Since then, Joe has been in nearly every issue. In the past year, Joe has proven himself a climbing media jack-of-all-trades - he's continued to turn out feature stories, photos and videos for UCMAG while working a demanding schedule at his real family's restaurant.

He confesses that the amount of effort involved was "simply overwhelming at times yet, in the end, I always found myself grateful and feeling fortunate to share something I've created. More importantly to share it with this community." The restaurant recently closed down and, after 16 years in the service industry, Joe was left with a huge decision: Go back into the restaurant business immediately or find another way. His lifelong ambitions to be an artist, his passion for climbing and his instincts have allowed him to make the latter choice. "I think sometimes you have to take risks in order to succeed. A lot of times we just let dreams and goals sit on the backburner while we earn and try to be comfortable. What's funny is that nothing is ever guaranteed, regardless of how secure you might feel. And I just believe, everyday, that things happen in life for reasons. I'm just at a point where I feel I should explore why these changes ultimately happen. My wife is supportive. So, it's time to see what I got."

This issue, his efforts as an Associate Editor were directed toward the 2006 UCMAG Competition Climbing supplement. Joe is currently traveling and shooting his first feature length climbing video, "Fuse," with return trips to Fontainebleau and Hueco Tanks. Check out www.indevisualfilms.com to stay in touch with the action.

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