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[ August 6, 2009 ] Are there any long running themes in your work - obsessions that you're looking to capture? If so, what are they?The moment that makes me laugh, and I love it when something takes my breath away. That can be a sad, beautiful or funny thing. I'm kind of obsessed with pictures that capture the "un-slickness" of things. It doesn't have to be extreme. It can be a look. A gesture. Something really small but central and noticeable. Maybe it's a color. But definitely it's a kind of emotional thread in the pictures I take or look for.
Photographers are like comedians; timing is everything. You can learn skills like lighting, but it comes down to vision and catching the moment. Knowing what you're looking at the instant you see it. Whatever it is, if you don't get some kind of connection with your subject, it looks like a format or a routine.
What inspired you to become a photographer?
Name a photographer who's inspired you particularly and what is it about their work that you love?
Talk briefly about a recent assignment or project that you're excited about and why. I love shooting for Summer Stage this is my 2nd year. The programming is always stellar, the access is the best, and I really like the people I work with there. Shooting performance you really have to be present and alert. Live events keep me quick. It's physical and it's good to flex that set of skills. It's good contrast with the book cover work, which is very contemplative and mental. I've also had some pretty fun marketing events that I've covered for Mirrorball.
Quietly with a big stick, no seriously. Respectfully. Whether it's on a (show) floor, backstage at fashion shows, or after a performance, you have to pick your moment and your gear has to be set. I'm direct, I make eye contact, I smile, I introduce myself, let them know who I'm shooting for and ask them to let me take the picture. I try and work quickly and gage how receptive someone is. If they'll let me, I'll move them around to get a better angle or shoot off a few more frames. If people aren't ready, sometimes I'll circle back. I don't lurk about.
In a world saturated with visual art and imagery - what qualities specifically define what you're doing?
With book cover assignment it's a different sensibility. Envisioning or creating ideas starts more contemplatively, more mentally. There's reading and finding a moment that represents the book. Talking with the art director and listening to marketing. Every book cover idea is different, sometimes the image is a still life concept where I make props, sometimes I re create a scene, or it's a portrait. My illustration style is very flexible in that I let the cover image ideas drive me to where the story is.
Are you still using film at all - or have you 100% embraced the digital world?
Is there anything you miss about film?
Name a dream assignment of yours?
What are you working on right now?
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