On the Roam (2024) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[engine whirring]
[Jason] This is a dream
come true.
I'm actually lighting
for Todd Hido.
Move in closer?
I'm using my brake lights.
[producer] Back up halfway.
Halfway.
I'm using the truck to bounce
a bit of a red on that wall,
so it will look good.
Oh, can't believe
this is happening.
This is unbelievable.
["Wherever I May Roam"
by Metallica playing]
And the road
Becomes my bride ♪
I have stripped
Of all but pride ♪
So in her I do confide ♪
Off the beaten path
I reign ♪
Rover, wanderer ♪
Nomad, vagabond ♪
Call me what you will ♪
Wherever I may roam ♪
Wherever I may roam, yeah ♪
Just being
in this neighborhood,
I got a little bit anxiety
'cause I'm like, I wonder
if all these people know that
Todd Hido lives here.
Hey, Todd!
Oh, man!
[exclaims] Ah!
Nice to meet you, man.
-Man, it's nice to meet you,
too, brother.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Your house is beautiful.
-Thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
-Wow!
-Come on in.
I'll take the shoes off.
Well, the first time
I saw his photos,
that was at least
18 years ago, maybe.
It was just, "Who's taking
pictures of my memories?
How did this person
get in my mind?"
Walking into his place
and seeing those pictures
and those colors,
that was just an open heart
going like, "Bro, blast them
on an aloha to go like
I mean, I truly 100 percent
moved by your work.
I wanna make
my movies like you.
I wanna shoot like you."
-There it is.
-[Todd] Yeah.
[Jason] Okay, so that
was my favorite painting
that you've ever made.
-Uh-huh.
-For me.
Because it just reminded me
exactly the backstreets
of where I'm at.
That was, like,
that was the first one
that I saw.
[Todd] Jason and I met
because he liked something
of mine on Instagram.
And I was like,
"Oh, that's Jason Momoa."
I didn't know anything about
his love of photography.
I didn't know much about him
except he was an actor
and I liked what he did.
I don't think
I really understood
how much of a true fan
he was of my work
and how much he knew about it.
[Jason] So, my best friend,
him and I
used to get postcards.
We put 'em everywhere.
I'd get two copies
of your books.
-I can travel with them,
I can hang 'em on my wall.
-[Todd] Oh, wow.
Hido, Hido.
It goes like this, buddy.
-It goes, Tom Waits
-[Todd] Uh-huh.
-and there's Todd Hido.
-[Todd] Oh, man.
-[Jason] You're fucking
up there, bro.
-That's fucking awesome.
You might be out here.
As far as I go, you're like
There may be a filmmaker
in there somewhere.
But you're fucking top.
I might even say four.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
It's insane, like,
because the way how I feel
and how I see
My God, dude. It's
All that stuff, it's like,
Hido has like
I wanna thank you
for everything you make, man.
I'm not a big photography fan
in the sense of, like,
I collect photography.
I only have Todd.
I only look at his stuff.
And even though
he has all these
books that inspire him,
you know what I mean,
like it's just him.
It's so simple for me.
-[Todd] Yeah, yeah, thank you.
-Yeah.
This is my birthday present.
-[Todd] Yeah, it's awesome.
-I'm at Todd Hido's house.
[all laughing]
Just before, it's "Hai-do"
-"Hai-do!"
-Yeah, yeah. People always--
Fucking A!
Yeah, it should be
called Hido.
My name is Marina.
My name is Marina Luz.
My name
is Marina Luz Hido. [laughs]
[laughing] Okay, wait.
Start over.
My name is Marina Luz.
And I am Todd Hido's wife.
And I try to help him out
by driving him around,
so he's free
to look at the world.
Based on his artwork,
people think he's probably
like a moody, quiet loner.
He is a talkative goofball.
And I love that.
-Fuck, yeah, bro. I got this.
-[Todd] There we go.
-[Marina laughs]
-Listen, I don't ride
in the back seat for anyone.
That's the biggest compliment
I can give.
Thank you, sir.
I appreciate it.
[Marina] He reminds me
a lot of J in a lot of ways.
Like, the way
their minds work.
I can just see both of them
just taking
in the entire world.
This is gonna be so exciting.
The fog is rolling in
and it's smoky.
So, Todd has never
had this before,
so we brought him the luck.
Oh, man!
I just wanna learn from him.
I wanna see his process.
Just be a fly on the wall
and, like, watch him work.
We drove 20 minutes,
30 minutes,
and all of a sudden
the fog hits,
and then, wazang!
There's a frickin
Todd Hido painting.
Through the windshield,
there's all the raindrops
and all the mist, all the fog,
and I'm like, "Holy shit.
I cannot believe
what I'm seeing."
Wow.
Wow.
[Todd] I found this
one neighborhood in Pacifica.
It was like, way back in 1996,
and I've been going there
ever since to make pictures.
So, like, I'm sure that
I was, like,
I was scanning,
like, right here somewhere
on the tripod
and stuff and, like,
and that covered car
was, like,
right where that white car is.
And this is the light.
The wind was moving on up,
that it was like blowing
the car cover.
[Jason] It's crazy,
this is the spot right here.
[Todd] Oh, yeah, this is it.
This is special, man.
[Todd laughs]
You got me, dude.
[exclaims] Oh, man!
Dude, I'm so stoked.
-Wow!
-I'm stoked, too, man.
And these lights
only get better
-'cause everyone's lights
are turned on.
-Yeah.
Look at this beach house,
look at these windows.
Who the fuck makes them?
Look at this house!
[Todd] A lot of the houses
look just like the houses
in the Midwest
because they were built
by the same builder
of the first suburb of America
which was Levittown.
They built a neighborhood
in Pacifica,
which is bizarre, but true.
Ah, look at the view, dude.
Great to meet you, man.
It's really fun.
-Awesome.
-I'm gonna show you guys
something else, too.
So, that's a lot
of window and then,
-back of this house--
-[Jason] Those are rad!
If you turn right, right here,
-we can park,
like, right there
-[Marina] Yep.
[Todd] where there's
no people.
I revisit places a lot
because it's always, like,
if you're panning for gold
and you strike gold, like,
you don't go and move
down the river.
You know, you keep your stick
around that area a little bit.
And I've revisited places
If you go right.
and I've noticed things
change in so many places.
[Jason] But also you change
and your eyes changes and--
[Todd] Yeah, it's true.
[Jason] The thing, too,
is the environment changes
and that's, like,
such a huge crucial point
in both of our art forms.
It is that thing of, like,
constantly being aware
and being in the moment
and searching and looking
and enlightenment is like
being aware.
And so, when you're out
hunting in those moments,
you're getting inspired
by all these things.
It's like,
that's what fuels me.
And to be
in the passenger seat
with him in the cockpit, like,
"Bro, I can't believe
this is happening."
We just rolled up
to some supermarket
and I'm like,
"Wow, is it like, KFC
and fucking Taco Bell?"
And then we roll out
and he goes behind
the grocery store,
and it's like,
there's a pink house,
there's a beige house,
there's the blue house,
and they're, I mean,
it's fucking paintings.
It's insane.
And it's all foggy!
It's foggy with smoke,
and then it just happens
to have water on our
windshield right now.
It's insane, bro. My mind is--
[man on phone]
That's his thing, isn't it?
That's his fucking thing,
but I just rolled right in.
And we just came from,
like, sun.
Right at his house
and there was sun out.
-[man on phone] Insane.
-[Jason] It's unbelievable.
[Todd] Over the years,
I've learned
that all the good stuff
is behind something else.
Behind a hotel
or behind the supermarket
or in a back around the fence.
So, like, that's the part
of the world
that people aren't paying
attention to
and that's where
the reality is.
[exclaims] Yeah!
Yeah!
License and registration, sir.
Oh, excuse me.
"I'm Todd Hido."
-Oh, okay. My bad, sir.
-[laughs]
It's funny.
It's an amazing house, but--
Also, what's cool
about this car is perfect
is it's just nondescript.
-Yeah.
-It's just like,
nobody notices you.
That's what I got to do, bro.
You get rid of that
pink Cadillac, man.
Pink Cadillac
and the gigantic earth warmer.
You need a little more, like,
a bit more, like, lowkey.
Maybe cut the hair
and take off the pink shirt.
-Yeah, right.
-Look at me! Look at me!
It just makes you wanna hunt.
You know what I mean?
He has it in him.
It's just hunting for places
and moments,
and what the environment holds
and every day is different.
Every day has its own beauty
and you just got to have
the right set of eyes.
It's all
in the back alleyways.
Side beads
underneath the table.
I just call it
the psion filter.
-Yeah, psion.
-You can go just like,
"We're using psion filter."
-Yes, exactly.
-[Jason] Perfect.
[Todd] Shooting through
the window,
which is something I do,
not all the time,
but a lot of the time.
It happened from just like,
you know,
I was driving down the road,
and it was starting to rain.
And there was just all this
amazing stuff happened
in front of me,
but I couldn't stop the car
because I was driving.
So, I just took a few
photographs that way,
and then, they worked.
There was something about,
like, the look
that that gave the picture
through the window of the car.
It's just has this feeling
that that works for me.
I think his photographs work
in a lot of the same ways
as memories
where your memory
isn't perfectly sharp.
You remember certain things
with perfect clarity
or you think you do,
and then, other things
are a little fuzzy.
And that's the way
his images work.
[Jason] His eye
pierces my heart.
Being raised in Iowa,
I knew what it was like to go
and sit on the prairies
and drive hours
without seeing anything
and in that space, I just
you got to get creative.
[lilting music playing]
[Todd] There's this thing
in photography about
the decisive moment.
I know for a fact
there's decisive moments
out in the landscape
that have to do with light,
the weather,
and the place
and you coming together
all at the same time.
[Jason] A lifetime
of honing his craft
has given Todd a kind of
control over his images
that appears effortless.
This is pretty surreal because
we're in a ranch market.
It's like a
a shopping center.
-[Todd] Cue the rain.
-And he stops right here.
It's not raining outside,
but because
of the condensation,
he waits and he gets
I can hear it all the rain
getting on the windshield.
And there's fog
in this town, obviously,
we're close to the ocean
in Northern California.
And it gets rainy.
And we go down
this back alleyway.
This isn't much
and that's all you can see.
We see a light come
on to the fog inside
one of the houses.
You know, how we were talking
about perfect timing.
We were exactly where
we're supposed to be.
And I'm standing
behind Todd and I'm like,
"I just wanna capture him.
It's like he's in his
own painting right now."
And I'm just sitting there
looking at Todd
and he's in his
painting right now.
I'm completely in his world.
-Wow!
-[Todd] That's a beauty.
I like that.
Like, perspective,
and then the clouds.
Like, the sky looks
purple right now.
It's cool.
[Jason] It's basically,
Hido's dreamland.
[Todd] It really is, like,
fucking cool. I love it here.
I've been coming here
for 20 years, man.
Look at that, the maestro.
So often I go out and shoot,
and sometimes, I don't get out
of the car to take a picture
because I'm like,
"It's not as good
as the other,
-it's not as good or better
than my other pictures."
-Yeah.
And that kind of hinders you
a little bit,
that thinking, but then,
and then I tell myself,
it's like, you know,
like, "No, dumbass,
you need to get out
of the fucking car.
-[Jason] You gotta
have fun, man.
-Because
how'd you get all those
fucking pictures,
it's by getting out of the car
and doing in the pictures
and doing it.
And like, that's like
as good as it gets for me.
This is like, a picture
that I love right now.
Like look at that
glowing window
and the people came
into this other bedroom,
and the curtains
are slid a little bit.
So, we had house lights on.
He turned it off.
The neighbor's light
turned off.
I was like, "We'll pull
the truck around,
we'll light it."
It's gonna be the one.
[Todd] The thing about
Jason and I,
I figured it out, like,
why does he liked me,
what's he interested in?
Or why does he like my work?
And then, he told me
he was from Iowa.
And I was like, "Of course."
He loves the landscapes
that I make
because Iowa
is just like Ohio.
There's something about
the understanding of that
space in the wintertime.
And the openness that living
in a place like that brings
that is this one thing
that brought us together
which I think
is really fascinating.
[Todd laughs]
[melancholic music playing]
-[Jason] Thank you, sir.
-[Todd] You're welcome.
-[Jason] Wow!
-[door creaks]
[exclaims] Oh.
Oh!
That one slayed me.
That fucking slayed me.
[Todd] I love that one.
This one slayed me,
that one slayed me.
And the goddamn crosses
in Iceland slayed me.
Oh, yes.
I have that one under here.
-Oh!
-Yes, yes.
-[Jason] God damnit!
-[Todd laughs] I'm glad
you like that.
[Jason exclaims] Oh!
[Todd] I have been
doing photography
in some shape
or form every day
since I was like, you know,
18-years-old.
When I was a teenager,
I used to race BMX.
Where I grew up
in Kent, Ohio,
we had dirt tracks
that we would make
in the woods.
You know, just like
any kid with an iPhone
and a skateboard,
you wanna record
what you're doing
and what your friends
are doing.
And so, I learned how to take
pictures of my friends.
Photography really
actually sort of saved me
because I was a classic
Midwestern boy.
I wasn't maybe so sure
what I was doing in life.
Once I started
making pictures,
and I started realizing
how much I liked it.
It changed the way
I looked at everything.
The worst thing for me
is like, it's sunny
and everything's perfect,
you know?
I always liked the mood
of the atmosphere and like--
I was wondering to that,
like, if you drive out
some place,
just kind of depressed
'cause you
Or you're just like heavily
depressed because it was
a beautiful day?
Yeah.
I have become really adept
at looking at weather reports,
and I secretly, like,
harbor a desire to be
an actual storm chaser.
It's, like,
out in Elko, Nevada,
I heard that
there's frozen fogs.
I went out there
for a few days.
That's what I wanna
talk about.
I was, like, you have to study
weather patterns.
I do. I totally know
all about that.
And I'm like all over that.
[Jason] You're like,
tornado watch.
Bombing the tornadoes
that's going to get you.
I would love to be
in a fucking tornado.
The thing about Jason
that's incredible
is he has a million ideas,
and he's a mile a minute.
And I'm actually
kinda like that, too.
I'm excited to see
who inspires you
because after I got to you,
I was really disappointed
with the world.
[Todd] Oh, really?
Yeah. I'm like, "Now what?"
[Todd] He came at a time
when like,
people weren't out about
doing a bunch of things.
And it was amazing
to have this
big lovable man,
you know, kind of descend
upon your world,
and be in awe
of every inch of it.
[Jason] I'll be
your assistant, Mr. Hido.
[Todd] Oh, yes, you can.
Can you type fast?
-Nope.
-[Todd] Okay.
We have a problem.
-How do we
get into this thing?
-[Todd laughs]
You just hit it, right?
It's just nice to have
somebody appreciate
all the little things
that you've created
in your world.
I love this one.
Like this is when
I started to realize, like,
you know, these are about,
like, relationships.
Two people watching TV
with the lights off
at the same time
in different rooms,
and like what the fuck is
like, what's
the relationship like,
like, why aren't
they together, you know?
And I started to realize
they were like, it's about
what happens in the house,
you know, and it's about
showing these things
without actually showing
the people that are involved
in it all.
Looking at my books, with him,
page by page,
that's not something you get
to do with many people.
That's my dad.
And my dad is fucking
college graduation, you know,
holding up my brother
and like, the empty keg.
This one's crazy.
It's like his diploma
and my brother.
It's like two accomplishments.
And my dad was like,
he was a football player.
It was like, my dad
grew up in like this
crazy fucking household.
It was so bad him
and his brother would
go sleep in the trunk
wrapped in a fucking rug,
you know, sometimes at night
and and he grew up like,
in this crazy household.
So like, you know,
I understand where
he comes from,
but like he raised hell
in our house, too,
you know, and there's a lot
of that in my work, you know.
That's kind of where like,
that's, like, the thing
that like kind of fuels
a lot of it.
To personally sit and go
through work with him,
I'll always remember that
it was really something
that was like, "Wow.
He has a real true
appreciation of my work."
-And that was really
special for me.
-Wow!
Beautiful.
After that time with Todd,
I was just buzzing
with creativity.
My work took me
all over the world.
But Todd and I,
we stayed in touch.
It was just the beginning.
What time is it?
[producer] 07:45.
-07:45.
-[producer] Yeah.
I thought it was four
in the morning.
I just woke up
at Todd's studio.
I was talking about
his paintings.
[producer] You are
in his paintings.
[Jason] I am in his paintings.
We got in super late
last night,
but I'm pumped because today
we're going hunting with Todd.
Taking out some new cameras
to a place called Eames Ranch.
[heavy metal music
playing in radio]
[door closes]
[Todd] There's something about
like things that are destroyed
that aren't as interesting
as things that are just left.
This is the new me.
The last time that we filmed,
I just had a gastric
bypass surgery.
And so, I was, you know,
the same person
that I had been for probably
most of my adult life,
you know, overweight
and not as healthy
as I should be.
My mom did it three years ago
and it worked for her,
you know, and I was like,
Well, damn,
my mom is my inspiration,
like, I mean, if she did it,
I can do this.
This light is amazing, right?
It is the most important thing
I have probably done
in my adult life
was to become healthy.
I, like, got to restart
my life
and it's really amazing
that you guys have been able
to, like,
the before
and after part of that.
[Jason] He shared
so much with me.
So, I wanted to buy him
something special.
Todd shoots medium format
and I love Leica.
Put it together,
you got the Leica S3.
One of my favorite
digital cameras.
I don't change equipment
very much
because, you know,
I've known that, like,
how do you get really
good at something
is by having some things
be constant
that you know and master.
And then, you know,
the things that change
are what you bring into it.
When somebody can introduce
you to something
and you grow from it,
that's the best scenario
for everybody.
[Jason] To be able to be
taught by your idol,
your master, your teacher,
and like there will be
no one bigger,
and to be able to buy him
this medium format
Leica camera,
which I believe is, like,
I love Leica, right?
So, I wanted to get him
the medium format
which they just don't
have that many of them.
And they're expensive.
What better thing to do is buy
your idol this new paintbrush
and go like, "Hey, let's go
shoot this together.
And I'm gonna learn from you."
[melancholic music playing]
[Jason] It's crazy
'cause there's this house
that's preserved
at the Eames Institute.
And it looks like it's just
out of a Hido painting.
It's so surreal
that you walk in, it's like
this place is just
held in time.
You wish we wouldn't
take these things away.
I almost wanted to turn them
into museum pieces
and keep it the way it was
and how history was.
It's like, "Man, just not
too far back in the 50s,
out in Petaluma
is pretty crazy.
That neon green
goes with this,"
and like you get to see
what fashion was back then
and how time has passed.
And it never changed,
and it had this
dust of time on it.
Once again,
I was in one of his paintings
and it's phenomenal.
I love the stuff,
like, left behind
like those hangers.
In the closet.
-I know, right?
-[Todd] Yeah.
-[Jason exclaims] Ooh!
-[Todd] Yeah, there we go.
-Ooh!
-Like, that's awesome.
-[Jason] Yes!
-[Todd] Beautiful, right?
-[Jason] Epic.
-Thank you.
[Jason] Never in a million
years did I ever think
I would be shooting
side-by-side with Todd.
I didn't even think
I could be friends
on this level with him.
Wow.
[Todd] The thing I'm most
attracted to is like
the light.
-I just kinda follow the light
around a lot of times.
-[Jason] Okay.
[Todd] And I try to shoot
into it and like it gets
me started.
So, like I don't wanna
blow out those highlights,
but this is kind of
about that color
-and that gold.
-[Jason] Yeah.
[Todd] When you move
your camera, like,
-just an incremental ways
-[Jason] Yeah.
[Todd] it really
slows you down
and shows you what it is.
It's possible.
[Jason] He's more Aloha
than I am.
You know, he is truly,
wants people to know,
there's no great mystery,
it's just putting in the work
and doing it
and getting out there.
And like he shares it.
It's not like this,
he takes one picture and like,
he really is still searching
trying to master his craft.
-[Jason] Fucking great, bro.
-[Todd] Thank you.
[Jason] There it is.
[Todd] When you start
to go into the room,
you realize that, like,
"Oh, there's a lot more
than just one picture
in this room."
You know, and then a lot
of times it's just like,
getting, like, in just
a different point of view.
You know, coming over here
and then changing the light
with those,
you know like with the blinds,
like, there's, like,
perfect light control.
Bro.
Yes, sir.
[Todd] There's something
about the space,
like a home
and, like, the surfaces.
The surfaces tell the story.
My family had a carpet
like this in our house,
it was orange, you know?
We had, like,
curtains like that
without light coming through,
and like I just remember
that kind of stuff.
There's something about like,
the spaces that you remember
from your childhood are
they're just embedded
in your memory, I think.
And then, you just respond.
-It's a time capsule, I mean.
-Yeah.
I've never had this much fun
taking pictures in my life.
Really? That's just awesome.
When you just walk in
and you're like, "Oh my God,"
and you're absolutely right.
It's just like,
a little bit of an angle,
little bit here,
-inch this way, inch that way.
-Right.
When we're sealing,
shadows are changing,
lights are changing.
Like, right now,
I'm having kind of an anxiety
'cause we should be
in another room shooting more.
Because of the light.
-But it's like
-Yeah, we got time. Right.
amazing to be shot by you.
I've never even seen
I know, you know,
we're both from Midwest,
but I've never seen
carpet like this,
and I've never seen
a chair like this.
It's something about,
like, this era
that I think just really like,
it just tells a story.
How do you find that thing
that you do
that grooved in your making
for yourself?
That comes from time.
You don't even know enough
to even look for that
when you start,
but as you go on into it,
you start to navigate your way
into making pictures
that become
more distinctly yours.
[Jason] I wanna train
my eye like that,
and really understand
the technology the way he does
and the craft that he does.
So, it was huge
for me. [laughs]
[Jason] Ooh!
Holy fucking guy!
-[Todd] That's pretty
fucking nice, right?
-[Jason] Jesus!
[camera shutter clicks]
[Jason] Bro.
Is this what heaven
looks like? Like fucking
This is like,
I'm seriously.
Can we do this
for the rest of our lives?
-[Todd] Yeah, totally.
Like, yeah.
-Yeah!
-I'm down.
-[Jason] I'm like,
"This is it, bro."
This is fun.
[Jason] I wear my heart
on my sleeve.
And it couldn't be more
passion coming out this guy
'cause this is it,
this is the top for me.
It's really cool to have Todd
and his wife, Marina, be like,
"We're totally pumped because
it's a little rejuvenation."
They've been doing it for,
I don't know, 30 years
or something like that.
It's just like
a nice feeling to go,
"Man, this guy is really,
really stoked on me
and what I've done."
[Marina] There's a lot
of overlap between him and J.
They never stop learning.
They never want
to stop learning.
They think everything
is interesting and
and that's exhilarating
to stand next to
and be part of.
And I just feel so lucky to be
along for the ride with him.
[camera shutter clicks]
[Todd] Jason and I
have been communicating
back and forth often.
When he comes into your life,
like he's in your life
in his large way,
and that's a wonderful thing.
He's so damn excited
about things,
which is awesome, you know?
Like, it's, like, there's not
many people in the world
that have that exuberance.
[laughing]
I really appreciate, like,
the willingness you guys have
to learn
and the questions
that you're asking.
You guys draw all this stuff
out of me that
that reminds me of, like,
me being a teacher,
like, you know, 20 years ago.
A lot of times, like,
the students these days
are not so engaged,
but you guys
are so hungry for info.
-[Jason] Yeah.
-And like, that's a gift,
and I like it.
-That's awesome.
-[Jason] Those are amazing.
[Todd] That's amazing.
-And look at what happens
with the fog.
-Yep.
[Todd] It makes the whole
entire picture lighter
because what happens is,
it suspends itself
-in the air
-[Jason] Yep.
[Todd] and that catches
the light that you don't even
know is there.
I love these ones
with me here.
-That's a really good--
-Isn't that great?
It's fucking great, man.
I love it.
Yeah. [exclaims]
Like, look at that,
you gotta send me those.
[Jason] That's amazing.
Like, who would ever think
that we were twinsies.
[both laugh]
[Todd] So, J.
I know you don't really
usually get hand me downs
I would love
your hand me downs,
are you kidding me?
-I'm gonna hand
this down to you.
-[Jason] Oh, wow!
And this is like your rig.
And this thing is like,
fucking monster.
[Jason] That thing is ma
It's weird because people
get excited when they see me,
and they're like,
"Oh, sign your trident
and sign this, and"
you know, it's like,
"Oh, yeah, of course."
And it's beautiful
for kids and
and I understand it.
Like, it's literally
his tripod.
It's crazy, it's just the most
fan weird thing that I have.
But it means the world to me
that he cared enough
and can see that I was
passionate enough
to deserve something
like that.
-You're welcome.
-If they made a tripod,
that's definitely my tripod.
It's fucking
meant for you, right?
-I love it.
-I love it, too.
From you, it means everything.
Thank you, thank you.
I'm so happy
that you like it, so.
[Jason] I never had
the opportunity to see
Todd's work in a museum.
I've only experienced it
through books.
So, it was a pretty
big honor to go see it
for the first time with him.
This is, I would say
one of the best
photography museums
in the entire world.
[Todd] Yep, and that's
the Bay Bridge.
When I was a kid,
I don't think I've ever
been to a museum.
The culture was not like
my parents' cup of tea,
you know, because they were
busy working.
My mom was a cashier
at a drug store
and my dad was a plumber,
and they worked all the time.
And so, they didn't have time
to know about that stuff.
Ow!
-I'll do it.
-Yeah.
Okay, all right.
So, this is the first time
I'm also seeing this
work framed,
which is something
that was made
for
This is my body of work,
bright black world.
It's not been seen
in this context like this.
And the pandemic
slowed everything down.
And so, this was on hold,
and I haven't even seen, like,
these frames,
-which I'm blown away by.
-[exclaims] Oh!
-[Todd] Right? Thank you, man.
-[Jason] These are amazing.
[Todd] Thank you.
I never ever
would have imagined
that my work would be
collected by a museum.
That somebody thinks
enough of what you do
that they wanna save it,
and show it to somebody else,
like, I mean, that's about
as good as it gets in life.
[Jason] Working with Todd
inspired me to learn
more about the tools
we use to make pictures.
It showed me how much
I didn't know
and how much I wanted to know.
This looks like
old Macintosh. Argh!
Why isn't my facetime working?
Nineteen-seventy-seven,
Ralph has been here.
You made all my lenses, bro.
[all laughing]
You son of a bitch!
To have an invitation
to be able to go to like,
it was a once
in a lifetime opportunity.
Bro.
-[applauds]
-[giggling]
Yay! Keep it up!
So, I had this chance
to pick up some
historic cameras.
So, of course, I invited Todd
to take a look at what I got.
-Ta-da!
-[Todd] Wow!
Wow!
[Jason] Look what I got today.
-It's incredible.
-[Jason exclaims] Whoo!
Being on this journey
with Todd has introduced
me to other artists.
Apocalypse Now
is my favorite movie
in the world.
This came out the year
I was born.
Oh, my God, bro. Look at that.
It's all the photos
that the set photographer took
of ten of 30, look at that.
[Todd] Wow!
[Jason] These are all
the photos he took on set.
Apocalypse Now.
Hopper was wearing these, bro!
These are his.
This is a fucking set, man.
-[Todd] Wow.
-This is the bag.
[Todd] I can't
believe you have
That's a Walker Evans' camera.
That's incredible.
[Jason] Walker Evans
was a depression era
photographer.
He took pictures
of the mundane
and made the ordinary
into art.
-I'm blown away.
-[Todd] I am, too.
I remember learning about this
in the history of photography,
like, Walker Evans,
many are called,
and it's all these
expanded photographs
of people on the subway.
That in order to achieve
this level of like,
not being aware of the camera,
like what Walker Evans
did was,
you know, he blacked out
the camera,
and he painted
the camera black,
and he put it in his coat,
and he had a little, like,
a cable release
but not a little one,
a long one
that was up his sleeve.
And he can take
the photographs.
And that's why,
that's how these people,
these pictures are so
-[Andrew] Inconspicuous?
-Inconspicuous, exactly.
-That's exactly what they
always were like that.
-[Jason] Amazing.
I mean, it's amazing
and I mean,
I can't believe this was
Walker Evans' camera.
It's like incredible.
I'm very, very interested
in the history of photography.
You know, I live in a house
that has 7,000 books
of photographs.
That's the number one thing
that you can do
to just sort of advance
yourself visually
is just to take in
a lot of things.
I never understood
people that were afraid
of being influenced.
That's what you want.
This is the first release,
the first commercial like it.
-I mean,
it's a piece of history.
-Yeah.
Like the Walker Evans' camera,
these inventions change
the way we see the world
because they were able
to travel the world
without having to carry
a wooden camera
and glass plates.
When we speak about these
kinds of things,
we are not the owners.
We are only the people
that transport them in time
for someone else
to come after us.
And I think
this is the secret of life.
Kind of a lot of other things
that people love to love.
-We transport them.
-We transport them.
[camera shutter clicks]
First off, welcome to my home.
Thank you.
That's my dream come true
to have, like,
-a little blues shack with
-[Todd exclaims] Oh-ho!
-Nat's here.
-This gentleman.
[Jason] This gentleman
is here.
Well, last time
we were together,
we were in Germany.
-Right?
-Yeah.
I got the Apoc
Come over here.
I got the Apocalypse Now.
Do you even know where
the fuck these cameras are?
I said does he even know where
the fuck these cameras are?
[Todd] He knew
because I told him.
Seriously, I'm like,
"What the fuck?"
I know they are,
but I didn't know
Robert Walker.
-No, no, Walker Evans.
-Walker Evans.
-Yeah.
-[all laughing]
-Robert Walker is nobody.
-Yeah, yeah.
Robert Johnson
and Johnny Walker,
-they're buddies.
-Yeah.
-Walker Evans,
like I was saying.
-Yeah.
[laughing]
So, this is his camera.
[Jeremiah] It's his camera?
[Todd] It's the exact camera
that Walker Evans used.
[Jason] And I wanted to open
it up, but it's like, "Dude."
[Todd] He's a huge
inspiration of mine.
Like, Walker Evans is one
of my favorite photographers.
These cameras,
machines that we, like, use
Like these bikes
that you all make,
all these things
have a history to them.
And it's really important
that lineage I think
is curious
and it means a lot to me.
-[Jason] Finally.
-[Todd] Wow.
I got something
that Todd Hido wants.
[all laughing]
He doesn't want
old rusty cars.
He doesn't want dirty clothes.
He doesn't want Harley's,
he doesn't want guitars.
He wants cameras, I'm like,
"What am I gonna do?"
And he's one of my best bro
and my idol.
So, I'm like, "I'm gonna buy
his fucking camera for him."
-Yeah.
-And that I did not know
when you were bidding on it.
-And I'm gonna buy
his fucking camera.
-I did not know that.
I was not encouraging any
I was just telling him, how
-He is excited.
-I was just like,
-literally--
-I'm serious, brother.
[exclaims] Oh, God!
["Hobo Wine Blues"
by Nat Myers playing]
My darling is kind
And sweet ♪
Whenever they tasting
Like shaking sugary ♪
My darling
Sipping nitroglycerine ♪
Asking for water
Give me gasoline ♪
My darling show you ♪
Something you never
Seen before ♪
Daddy gonna
Walk in the room ♪
Like a dog on all fours ♪
[Jason] So, this kind of came
to fruition because
I travel with
all of Todd's paintings,
and put them in my houses
around the world.
I just like wanna travel
with my favorite stuff.
Remind of my kids at home.
We're trying to make it
a little bit more portable
and baggable.
So, we thought about,
we wanna make
something together.
[Todd] And this
is the portfolio box
that my agent used
in New York City
for like, 20 years.
And of course,
this is designed,
-so you can fuck it up
a little bit.
-[Jason] Yeah.
[Todd] This is like
library cloth.
This is deadstock
library cloth.
Marina designed this.
[Jason] It's amazing.
[gasps] Oh, shit, dude!
It's [laughs]
Jeremiah.
Look at this.
I'm blasting through
on the rough.
I'm in a fucking
Hido painting, man!
-[Todd] You are in it.
-[Jason exclaims] Ah!
That is so cool, man.
Wow.
-Dude.
-[Todd] I made a rubber stamp.
And this collection will grow.
Beautiful.
And some of these are pictures
that are new
that I haven't, like,
I haven't even shared
with anybody,
-I love this one.
-It's amazing.
It was Oh, bro.
[Todd] Like, so this
is my Leica.
-The S3 that you helped me.
-[Jason] Yep.
[Todd] That clarity, man.
-[Jason] That's the S3?
-[Todd] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, that camera,
and that fill, too,
those are the ones--
-[Jason] What the hell?
-[Todd] I got rid
of all the cameras.
[Jason] Wow.
We've been there, bro.
-[Todd] And look
at the colors.
-[Jason] It's so good.
-[exclaims] Oh!
-[Todd] All right.
[Jason] Oh, I love
this one so much.
Fuck! I'm sorry, beep.
Look at that. Look at that.
Oh, my God. It's so good.
-Thank you.
And this is that camera.
-Ah!
-Ah.
-You gave me.
I love that, like,
you asked me to make
something for you.
[Jason] It's like everything
keeps evolving, going like,
"Well, this will be
our shots."
-Right.
-From our time together.
-Todd's freaking diary, man
-Yeah.
-of, like,
what we're gonna do.
-So cool.
And I'm so up for all this
and I'm so excited
-and it makes me so happy.
-[Jason exclaims] Ah!
-I love you.
-I love you, man.
-Oh, God.
Thank you so much, J.
-[Jason] Thank you.
[melancholic music playing]
[Todd] Being an artist,
you give up a lot.
It's not for everybody.
A young woman
wrote on the internet,
"Todd Hido was making pictures
of my memories,
but we've never met."
That's it, right there.
That is what it is.
That's what you hope for.
That somebody that is able to,
like, understand you
or have a better understanding
of another person
through an image.
That's the kind of thing
that you you trade
for a nine-to-five job.
I wouldn't trade
all the uncertainty
that I've had
for anything.
[Jason] In life, I think each,
one door opens, another opens,
another opens and another.
And if you really
truly put it out there,
you're gonna meet those people
that are your inspirations
that are gonna inspire you
even further.
And if you do it right,
you're gonna inspire them.
And know your mark
and know your lines, bro.
[Todd] Okay, that's right.
I gotta learn. Okay.
[Jason] Ready? And action.
[Todd] That was
the best one we got.
[Jason] I know, but
Gotta get a fucking
pro actor in there, man.
Somebody who knows something.