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To this day Lubrano's passion for music inspires and informs his work philosophy: "Pictures can speak quite loudly, creating a kind of music. I don't want people to see my pictures. I want them to hear them and to take the music with them." This sentiment was masterfully reflected in a 2001 San Francisco Municipal Railway campaign. Lubrano and MUNI's newly hired marketing director, Marc Caposino, came up with the idea of doing a tribute to bus drivers by taking soulful portraits of them. Shot with a 20x24 Polaroid camera to capture intimate details of the diverse personalities, the campaign, a first of its kind, proved a huge success for MUNI. "We wanted to show them as they really are: parents, teacher, volunteers, and vital contributors to the city of San Francisco," says Lubrano. Speaking of vital contributors to the City by the Bay: It was only six years ago that Lubrano relocated from Paris to San Francisco. And yet, in this short period of time he's already landed such clients as Coors Light, Portal, Namco, Veritas, the San Francisco Examiner, Red Herring, Sony, Universal and BMG. "Adapting to a new culture and succeeding in the corporate world of San Francisco was a big challenge and has given me numerous lessons that I will take with me for the rest of my career," he says. Lubrano spoke to altpick.com from San Francisco, where he lives with his wife, Cecile, and son, Teo.
I just finished six musical projects for Motema Music, shooting DJ Jackie Christie, percussionist Kevin Jones and jazz drummer Babatunde Lea; V2 Music French Rapper Passi, and Universal singer Thierry Cham as well as the group Premix. I leave for Paris to shoot glamorous images of several French female athletes for the French magazine Sport. What are some of the differences you've experienced working in the States vs. Europe? The assignments are taken much more seriously in the States. Clients are more demanding in terms of what they want you to deliver because they will have studied the target they want to reach and how to speak visually to this specific audience, so they'll have a 'sharper' idea of what the final image should look like. In France, you have more freedom, which gives the creative team who works on the assignment a bigger chance to express itself artistically. Although, sometimes the projects are lacking in logistics and organization. When you came to the states how did you first get work?When I arrived in San Francisco, I first took three months off to look around. I went to different labs, studios, galleries, stores to feel how the people worked here. I found a great rental darkroom, Rayko Photo South, where I've been able to print the images for my portfolios. Then I sent promos, showed my portfolio, and three months after arriving I got hired by Corwin Stone who's now founder and owner of the agency, The Milk Farm, with whom I've been developing a beautiful friendship and artistic relationship. Then I met Freda Scott who became my rep in the States and I made a dream come true by becoming a French photographer working in the US!!! Do you carry a camera all the time? It's been about a year that I've been carrying a Polaroid version of the Olga (Polaroid pack). I find it very fun. I can still shoot with my favorite films. That gives me the chance to experiment with some ideas I want to explore, and it's also a kind of practice that keeps you 'fit.'
Photography offers lots of different tools and options and I just try to pick the right one that will allow me to enter into a subject's world. My approach is to invite my subjects to do what I have storyboarded, and then I wait for them to show me that one thing I could never have planned. Once I have that, I know that I have the shot I was hoping for. How does your love of music fit in? Music is one of my main inspirations and the best way for me to feed my inspiration is to find the soundtrack of the images I am going to create. Usually, once I find the music of the image, the different elements get pieced together like a puzzle and the vision becomes clear in my mind. I try to cultivate this approach of 'true soulful elegance' that I try to put in my images. The idea is before shooting the image, I design a kind of frame, a storyboard in which we'll be able to express freely on the day of the shoot, improvise and interact together.
Not really, except a scanner to number my images and do some alternative Epson portfolios or to post my images on my site. I'm still very attached to the photo emulsion to the print. I like the idea of being a craftsman, someone who's going to offer his clients, viewers, the team he works with an experience - a ceremony, a ritual. You offer a gift that people can touch, look at without any filter in between such as a screen. To me that is stronger and more real than the digital process. On the other hand we have to admit that at a time where everything needs to be fast, the digital offers quick efficiency, and is easily accessible at cheaper costs, etc. This is just another experience. Are you working on any personal projects right now? I'm working on a book project that will put together the images I have taken for the past 10 years in the music industry, pictures of jazz musicians on stage, backstage, and in the recording studios. I'm working on some projects of exhibits in France with my images of flowers entitled Vulnerable and the story called The Gym. There are also a few projects that I would love to see published in the future that I still have to finish. What would be your dream assignment?I have many dream assignments! Here are just a few: to have the chance to work with a book publisher on some of my personal projects; to work with Italian Vogue, and to keep having the honor and pleasure to meet the people I admire and who I want to pay a tribute to by taking their picture. - Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland >> See more work from Jean-Marc Lubrano >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
