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[ July 12, 2000 ]
California photographer, Michael Bisco's, portfolio falls into many categories from still life to
landscape to portraiture. Take one look at a Michael Bisco photograph and you will have no doubt
that he is an expert when it comes to using color. A pair of lips, petals of a flower.
The mood and form of his pictures is alluring. Despite being a newcomer to advertising, Michael
Bisco has secured clients such as Hewlett Packard, MCI, and LA Gear to name a few. Michael has been taking photographs since his childhood in a small New Jersey town. "When I was in high school I assisted a photographer after school who was shooting basic table top stuff. Stereos, car stereos, and radios for Panasonic." When asked whose work he most admires, Michael blurted out, "Philip Dixon. I used to get Harper's Bazaar. I couldn't wait for the next issue to come out just to see his stuff. To me, he was the only photographer at the time whose new images where always more impressive than the ones before." The scope of Michael's career has spanned the realms of fashion, celebrity shooting for US, Entertainment Weekly and People to his most recent venture: advertising. Alternative Pick spoke with Michael about evolution: his and the rapidly changing technology that some think could be a threat to the art of photography. I'm struck by your use of color in the Alternative Pick directory. Is that a trademark of your work?
Most of the work that I show really doesn't have that much of a computer element in it. I process my own film and it's mainly in the types of film I use and the way that I process them. But I do get hired on a lot of the jobs, more towards the advertising end, to do the retouching as well. Our whole studio is set up digitally to scan, process, retouch and output. What made you move to Los Angeles? I was in New York assisting. I was shooting mostly fashion. I met a car photographer who shot all over the world and he was shooting out in LA so I assisted on the job in Palm Springs and it was amazing. I came back, sold my stuff and all my camera gear and moved there the next week. Do you have any work your particularly proud of? My favorite shot is of Tommy Lee and his first baby. I have a great shot of him. He's all tattooed up. He has a chain around his neck. He just looks so evil and the baby was only three days old and its eyes weren't even open. That's the one celebrity shot I actually show in my advertising book and people love it. So it must be intense to photograph celebrities, you generally only have a few seconds to get a shot? That's what I didn't like about it. And once you shot a celebrity you didn't have a choice of what was going to run. I prefer to think things through. I like to produce jobs, take my time and come up with different ideas.  What do you think about digital cameras and the new computer technology? It seems easier for inexperienced people who may be handy with a computer to produce similar work? I don't think that at all. I've been on PhotoShop since 2.0 and I know everything there is to know about PhotoShop and digital cameras. I don't think there will ever be a time when a digital camera will take the place of film. There is so much you can do with film and so many different types of films; each one makes a shot look totally different. When you are shooting with a digital camera, no matter what, you get exactly what you are looking at. Of course you can adjust it and do tons of stuff on PhotoShop. But I think it will be five or more years before you actually would be able to dial in a type of film and dial in the processing too. Do you think the rapidly advancing technology will ever comprise the integrity of the artist/photographer? With photography if you don't have a vision you can learn and learn and have the best digital cameras, but you're not going to be better than anyone else. The only thing digital cameras are going to do is imagery for dot.com companies. There's going to be a ton more photographers and its going to saturate the market. I believe a lot of photographers are selling themselves short by selling all their work to stock agencies which are turning around and selling images for $250 for usage in major magazines and billboard. They are screwing up the entire business and they are taking away from the art of it. So what do you do to keep yourself inspired? I test a lot. I'm always changing my work or adding to my work. I look at every single magazine that there possibly is to look at. I look at every ad and I watch a lot of TV. Do you have an ideal or dream project in mind? Right now I would love to get hired for jobs where they just want exactly what I do. The last job I did was for Hewlett Packard. It was an amazing job because they hired me for exactly what I do. They loved the style of my book; they wanted to apply my style of shooting to their ads. They didn't want any changes. That is an ideal job! That seems rare. Many people seem to cite that as a major frustration point is dealing with a client and your vision has to conform into theirs. How do you deal with that problem? I've been lucky in that I've been hired for my look and coloring style. One of the reasons I like advertising is working with different art directors. It's nice to work together with people who have good ideas. We are able to collaborative and create one idea together. 
Who were your mentors?Bobbi Wendt...I wouldn't consider her a mentor, more like a consultant. She saw my work and she helped me sort out my portfolio and gave me a totally different direction to go in. She really helped me figure out what my strong points were and what people are looking for. Ever since working with her things have really turned around. What are your other passions? I'm a big water sports person, I jet ski, swim...computers, I love computers. I'm always getting the newest gadget as soon as it comes out. Travelling, I'm in Vegas all the time...that's my getaway. - Contributed by Mary Beth Holland >> See other member spotlights on the artist spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
