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[ February 3, 2003 ]
Long before the advent of Photoshop, photographer John Halpern was creating composite, multiple-image photographs. Halpern, who hails from Westchester, New York, first made multiple-image photographs while attending Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Struck by the wide-open spaces of the Midwest, "I started putting together different photos into a single scene," he says. Taken in 1978, his first multi-image photograph was a boy on a bike in an alley looking into an open field. "In some ways," says Halpern of this photo that still remains in his portfolio, "this is the most important piece I ever did because it altered the rest of my life."
Halpern was working as a freelance assistant for photographer Timothy White when he got his big break. At the time, Halpern saw very little difference between his fine art and commercial work. Even though potential clients enjoyed Halpern's work, no one seemed to know what to do with it. It was White; however, who encouraged Halpern to approach record companies. Being a practical person, Halpern started with the letter 'A' in the phone book: his first stop, Arista Records.
In addition to record companies, Halpern's client list includes Sony, Marriott Hotels, Compaq, Pitney Bowes, Gant USA and Ashworth Golf. Evidence of Halpern's successful transition from the darkroom to Photoshop is the gold award he received for "Best Computer Generated Photography" by The National Council for Marketing and Public Relations for an ad campaign he did for Borough of Manhattan Community College. Altpick spoke to Halpern in his New York Studio about his unique style. What is it about multiple images that continue to inspire you? If I combine photographs I have control instead of trying to find the perfect moment. I realized I could create a scene that tells what I actually felt, using places I am familiar with that convey an energy, a feeling, a space, a light. Instead of waiting for the right moment to occur, I could go out and find these things. Do you have a reference library of images? I have a catalog of images in my brain. When I am working on something, I pre-visualize a scene and I am able to flip it and raise it.
How has Photoshop affected your process? For one thing, I can produce color images and it has made my work more commercially acceptable. I do all my work in Photoshop now. While it takes just as long, I am sitting in a comfortable chair with a glass of water and an apple and I don't smell like fixer. But my pieces are still very tedious. With so much being done today with digital imaging, what are you doing differently? I think the reason mine look the way they do is because there is something I am after: a specific end. Is that generally a 'felt sense'? I think my pictures definitely have a certain mood. They used to be sort of a quiet melancholy. Now with my commercial work I've had to 'happy-it-up' a bit. But there is this certain other energy in the background that I can't put my finger on. When you look at my work it is there. I think the successful ones, and they are not all successful, have different levels going on telling the story. People seem to remember my pictures.
Once in awhile I give the example of one's childhood bedroom. There is a movie in your head and your eye - the camera - pans around the room. There may be a window, a bookshelf. Down the hall is your brother's or sister's room and the bathroom. All of those rooms add up to a certain significance of feeling that you have when you are in your room. It is funny how memory tends to idealize. In the movie in your head there is no dirty underwear or socks and the books are in order. Often my pictures aim to give a feeling of what I remember: a mood and the light rather than a decisive moment. Your work doesn't seem to have any "decisive moments"? No. There are all these great fashion photographers who capture this energy of a split second as the model is jumping off the roof or something. Mine is just the opposite. Mine are like idealized memories and I am using photography, which does capture a 500th of a second. But I am trying to idealize a feeling and place that I remember. How do you keep yourself inspired? I daydream. On the train ride into New York I see all these great things. On the far side of the river the peaks go around where Indian Point is. There is all this vast wilderness of the Palisades and a little bit of industry in this romantic landscape. There is something about it: A dichotomy that is very exciting. I am cataloging those images and I know I'm going to use them at some point. - Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland >> See more work from John Halpern >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
