Gary Love

5717 NE 62nd St. -- Seattle, WA 98115

Rave - Inside 90s Counter Culture

The rave special section was a dream project for each of it's participants. The photographer Mark Leffingwell had spent months building trust with area rave-goers, who gave him full access to photograph their lives. The writer Heather Morgan had been watching the media take shallow shots at the rave seen and had the opportunity to thoroughly cover the story...later winning several awards for this piece. Me and my coworker Danylo Berko were excited about the opportunity to expand the 3 day series online, and were given terrific support by both Heather and Mark.

HISTORY
We approached the rave project from every angle that we could think of. Splitting the coverage into four main topics: Music, Technology, Drugs, and Culture. We also thought it was important to immerse a reader in the topic, who might never have the opportunity to experience a rave themselves. Therefore we developed a huge photo gallery, a real audio sampling of the various genres of techno music, and hosted a chat so kids and parents could talk to rave participants who were mentioned in the series

The rave project was hugely successful in it's print version, but went to unimaginable success online. Somehow it gained a life of it's own, with links to it being passed around the rave community. Without any promotion or new information, it consistently ranked as our 3 highest section (behind JonBenet Ramsey and the Columbine Tragedy). It solidified in my mind the possibilities of the internet when combined with excellent reporting, can indeed make a lasting impression.