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[ April 19, 2004 ]
Be it a portrait, a study of a tattooed woman's body, or a photo of a sports event, great picture making is the result of capturing the personality of the subject or subjects. "Capturing a grimace or a glare, showing the emotion of the players, it's more than just the uniforms or the peak action," says Robert Longhitano.
Longhitano was still attending the Art Institute of Philadelphia when he landed his first professional job with a yearbook company. "I didn't like weddings and portraits. I really liked sports, editorial and fashion. I loved roaming around the schools taking candid shots and covering the sports." Although Longhitano still shoots everything from the USA Hockey Championships to high school sports, his passion for capturing personalities has expanded to include portraiture, which now comprises much of his portfolio. Longhitano spoke to Altpick.com from his home in Philadelphia.
What are you working on right now? A portrait series of women with tattoos. The focus of the series is women and tattoos and capturing their different personalities. In this series I want the person in the photo to be the "star." If you go to my site you can see the "work in progress." I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple when it comes to lighting. As you will be able to tell, this project is heavily influenced by Richard Avedon's work. This is not a coincidence. I always admired the way he brought out the personality and emotion of his subjects. How did you come up with the idea? It was pure accident. I was down the shore with my family a couple of summers ago. I've been working on this series for 18 months. At the shore I noticed how all these girls had tattoos. There were all these 18 and 19-year-old girls running around with tattoos. I mean normal girls. All of a sudden it seemed these tattoos had become a fashion thing. People I wouldn't have expected to have tattoos had tattoos. I wanted to do some kind of a portrait series and it just came together.
No, I didn't feel like I could just walk up to people and say, "Oh, do you mind if I take your picture?" I found some models through the Internet and some came through word of mouth. I am still looking for some more moms, though I have some lined up. Do you plan to develop this series for a show or book? Yes, after I compile enough people I hope to self-publish a book. What did you do after working for the yearbook company? During the summer the company decided to let some people go, including me. I had met a lot of people traveling through Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. One of my contacts called and told me she was leaving a staff photography job at a local newspaper. I called the chief photographer and had an interview. They sent me out on a mini-assignment. I processed and printed everything and they hired me. I worked there for a little over a year. It was a great experience but I was only 21 or 22 at the time and didn't have my act together. When things got a little rocky I left and started doing stuff on my own. Initially you weren't really interested in portraiture work. How did you get started? I took a picture of a friend of the family's daughter. I guess the picture got circulated around and the neighbors started calling me. Word-of-mouth is the best advertising in the world. I do about one to three portraits a month. It takes a lot of time. I meet with the person or persons about three times and I print everything and put it in book form.
When I approach a subject, whether it's a person or not, I rarely have the final image in my head before I start photographing. When I do have an image in my head before I start taking a picture, I hardly ever end up choosing that version. What would be your ideal job? If you asked me that question 15 years ago my answer would be totally different. But now I am really happy doing what I do. I like working with people. I like working with kids. I still shoot a lot of high school sports. I really get a kick out of it. Recently I took pictures of a kids' hockey game. When they see 30 or 40 really good shots their mouths drop open and they're like, "Wow, is that me?" It's awesome. Some people feel like they just want to shoot the pro stuff. There are restrictions when you shoot the pro stuff. With kids you can do whatever you want. I never realized how much of a kick it is. - Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland >> See more work from Robert Longhitano >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
