A Sydney Art Buyer

Dear Art Buyer .....

2011-03-16T09:39:00.000+11:00

What so many have always wanted to say ........ a great read!

http://elderrep.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/dear-art-buyer-an-open-letter-from-a-photographers-rep/

louder voices in rep land ...

2011-02-06T10:37:00.000+11:00

http://elderrep.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/notes-from-a-reps-journal-have-you-found-your-glasses-yet/

Photo Editor and Art Buyer Survey...

2010-07-21T21:13:00.001+10:00

An interesting read if you haven't already seen...

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2010/07/08/photo-editor-and-art-buyer-survey/

to be a superstar, it’s not just talent...

2010-06-03T19:40:00.006+10:00

it's business sense...

Superstar Agents; Bill Stockland and Maureen Martel, together are STOCKLAND MARTEL, based in Manhattan and one of the world's most respected and leading photographer agencies, representing international award winning talent; Nadav Kander, Lauren Greenfield, Jim Fiscus ... Maureen Martel very kindly spared some time to share her thoughts on ...

AD: how did you get started as and agent and how long have you been producing for photographers?

MM: In the early ’80s, I was making a transition from being a schoolteacher and had decided that I wanted to work with artists and still make money. For me, commercial photography was about the blend between art and commerce. One of my transitional jobs was working at a color lab, and that’s where I met Bill. He was coming in to get prints for one of his two photographers. After meeting with commercial photographers and with other agents, I knew that the person I wanted to work with was Bill Stockland. I pursued him for what seemed to be an eternity, which was actually just two months. And then one day, we ran into each other in an elevator of a building in what was then the photo district [in the 20s near the Flatiron Building in Manhattan], and I collared him and told him that had to hire me that day. And he did! It was serendipitous.

AD: what do you consider are the essential skills a great photographer's agent should have?

MM: Being organized, persistent, detail-oriented. Having a love of photography, of course. Being social—it’s an incredibly social business. You also have to have a great eye for talent. And you have to enjoy creating teams. I don’t sell my own personality—I sell by introducing the talent’s photography and their personality to the creatives and the buyers. Providing high-quality service is also very important. We were very conscious about building a reputation for having a very high level of service.

AD: what are your favourite parts of the job?

MM: Working with artists. It’s what motivated me to get into this business, and it continues to motivate me. I haven’t sold for years—I manage now— so for me today, it’s about helping organize the photographers’ work and coming up with marketing strategies to support my sales team.

AD: how do you bring new faces into the commercial world of photographer or assist photographers in making the transition from low budget editorial photography to advertising photography?

MM: We utilize our extensive network in combination with an edit of the photographer’s editorial work (I believe I have a great eye for what the ad community is looking for). And then we just apply our various marketing and sales strategies.

AD: how do you discover new talent and what sort of things do you look for when you consider taking on a new talent to represent?

MM: All of our photographers come through recommendations, so they’re vetted through someone we respect in the industry. Martin Sigal came through a creative director at an ad agency, for example. What we look for is a unique photographic point of view, personality, understanding of business, and a belief in how we promote.

AD: do you approach photographers for representation or do you wait for photographers to get in contact with you? what is the best thing a photographer can do to "get noticed"?

MM: We do not approach photographers. For a photographer to get our attention, they have to—in addition to having been referred to us—have been recognized within a photographic community. For example, even though Nadav [Kander] was incredibly young when I met him, he had been recognized already by the London advertising community. He was already wining awards. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders had had a show at the Mary Boone Gallery. Walter Iooss had more than already been recognized by the sports photographic community when we met him, with more than 20 years working with Sports Illustrated. They really have to have been recognized. And it doesn’t have to be the U.S. advertising community. Kai-Uwe Gundlach and Uwe Duettmann were recognized by their German-speaking communities as the best.

AD: do you think there are more photographers than ever before and more great photographers than there ever has been?

MM: Yes. The difference between now and the ’80s is it’s now an international market.

AD: how many photographers do you represent and do you have an ideal number?

MM: I do believe that there’s an optimum ratio between Stockland Martel employees and the photographers we represent. I think we’re probably at the ideal now—we have 35 photographers.

AD: do you represent hair & make-up artists and stylists as well?

MM: Yes. That said, I do not insist that my photographers work with them, but I do believe the quality of our hair and makeup artists and stylists complements the quality of our photographers.

AD: what services do you offer the talent on your books?

MM: We market them, we sell, we bid, and we collect. And we adapt our services depending on the needs of the photographer. Some need more support in one area than another.

AD: what is your relationship with the photographers and how do they contribute to the marketing process?

MM: Bill and I are in constant communication with the photographers via phone and email and texting. We have a mandatory marketing contribution that supports an extensive marketing plan. The photographers can also choose to supplement that with their own ideas, which is separate and apart from that budget.

AD: how has web, email etc changed the way you market and present photographers work? How needed is the photographers ‘book’?

We use social networking, and we launched a blog last spring. We are also in the process of a major website redesign, which will include motion and will bring together all of our assets: stills, motion, our blog, social networking, and our stock site, Stockland Martel Archives. Portfolios are absolutely needed. We’ve reduced the number we need by 30 percent in the last 18 months because the first line is websites and PDFs, but the portfolio is still used to seal the deal.

AD: is there a difference between being a good photographer and having a career in photography or is the mix a necessary?

MM: In the past, a commercial photographer would just show up for the job and do beautiful work. Today, that does not work. A commercial photographer also has to be shooting their own work on a day-to-day basis. They have to have a personal flow of imagery that was not required at all when I started in the business.

AD: what has been one of the most memorable shoots you have ever work on?

MM: Two come to mind: the extended Camel international campaign with Walter Iooss in the mid-80s, which lasted over a 5-year period, and the Timberland campaign for Eric Meola in 1984.

AD: what advice could you give photographers on improving their portfolio and what mistake/s with folios do a lot of photographers make?

MM: Know your market, know who you’re speaking to, and have a unique voice. Also, your portfolio has to speak a clear message—it has to stand on its own, and people have to understand who you are by looking at it. If I don’t know who you are by looking at your portfolio, then your book is not doing its job.

AD: is it all about awards?

MM: I think awards are just one vehicle in identifying greatness within the community. There are categories that never win awards, like lifestyle, but it doesn’t mean it’s not great photography.

AD: what do you see are the differences between different country markets, ie. USA v's Europe V's Asia?

MM: The appetite for photography is based on their culture. There is crossover internationally in the beauty, landscape, and conceptual categories, but not in portrait and lifestyle.

AD: do you have much knowledge of photography in Australia?

MM: Yes, I do, in relationship to how I compete with the Australian market. For example, I can’t compete with Australian photographers in Australia. And if a client there wants a “Western look” for a campaign in Asia, their more economic solution is an Australian photographer because stylistically, Australian photography is closer to American style than an Asian style.

AD: what sort of changes have you noticed in recent years in commercial photography?

MM: The economy has impacted on photography, obviously. And the media buys have changed because of technology. We do a lot of work in the entertainment category, and there’s an enhanced, hyper-real style of image that is very much in demand. That didn’t exist until the post-production became an industry norm.

AD: what is the secret to your success in developing a great reputation and keeping the photographers happy?

MM: Hard work. Love for what we do. A great eye for talent, both photographically and in the team we have here at Stockland Martel. Our agents have been with us for more than 10 years. That consistency makes a difference. We also really have a deep understanding of high-end service to our photographers and our clients.

AD: what advice do you have for young emerging photographers?

MM: I would say to go to a great photography school, as well as apprentice with your idol. At the very least, you have to apprentice. One of the most important things to succeed in this industry is understanding the business.

STOCKLAND MARTEL

http://www.stocklandmartel.com/main.aspx

How fantastic is this! - MyFolio app for iPhone...

2010-04-27T20:28:00.001+10:00

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/myfolio/id368096797?mt=8

SIMON HARSENT - an emotional connection with what you do - the people you meet, the places you see - sublimely simple, intensely deep and beautiful ...

2010-03-30T22:26:00.006+11:00

How did you first get into photography - what did you start out shooting?

I started taking pictures around the age of 14. I was painting at the time and photography was offered as a selective subject at school, it seamed a natural extension, the moment I developed my first print I instantly knew it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I started out taking pictures of my family and friends at school also around the place where I grew up.

At 16 I went to College in Watford and studied photography, then I went to work as an assistant for various photographers in London, the guys I assisted were still life shooters so I kind of fell into that, and shot a lot of still life. I was, as all young photographers are, looking for direction, and although I don't do much still life now it was a great way to learn, it really helped me understand lighting and composition, it helped me learn the craft.

Do you have a most memorable shoot?

A few, I've been lucky to have been on some great shoots, and go to some amazing places, some are great for where they take you and some for the images, and some for the people you meet.

As far as commercial shoots go, back in 1997 or 98 (sorry can't remember) I did a shoot for Winfield Cigarettes out of Saatchi & Saatchi in London for the English market, I had just moved to NY and was flown back to Australia to do the shoot we spent 2 weeks flying down the West Coast of Australia in a piper chieftain airplane and a Ranger Helicopter, we flew into Darwin spent a night there then went to Kununurra where we picked up the plane and chopper then flew to various locations, we would scout for possible locations in the plane then meet the helicopter at an outback airstrip then load on to the Helicopter and shoot.

It was quite strange to wake up in the morning and work out whether to take the plane or helicopter.

On the same trip we landed the helicopter in the back garden of a pub in Esperance it was just too bizarre for words.

I recently photographed Wayne Rooney in Manchester for a job which was a buzz, he is probably the best Footballer in the world right now, and a really nice guy, very professional, none of the normal bullshit that can go with dealing with some celebrities, only trouble with that was he plays for Man United and I support Chelsea.

I think every time I travel on a shoot it's special, the opportunity to experience another culture and quite often the people you meet are incredible, although sometimes it's sad at the end of a shoot where you have spent time and worked with these people and quite often that might be the last time you see them.

I think it's as much about the people you meet as the places you see.

It’s the same with personal work, although after finishing my latest project it will be hard to top being 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

How about a favourite image?

Wow that’s a tough one!

It’s very hard to be subjective with your own work especially once you have lived with it for a while.

With commercial work I wouldn't say I have a favorite.

I have images I'm proud of because they are great images and serve a purpose but I find it difficult to have that longevity with a commercial image.

I guess with personal work it's most recent images, as they are still fresh, the trouble with your own work is that you never get to see it for the first time in the way someone else does. And the more you look at it the less armored you become.

I think that’s one of my main driving points, to continue to push myself.

The Melt images still move me, and I'm extremely proud of them as a body of work.

Just recently I’ve spent time going through pictures I took years ago, it’s quite an amazing thing to do, sometimes it can give a whole new lease of life to these images.

At the end of last year I went to the Robert Frank show at the Met in NY and seeing all his contact sheets and how the work progressed really inspired me to look back through my own work and look at the direction it’s been going in, it’s the closest I’ll ever get to seeing them with fresh eye.

Do you shoot editorial as well as advertising?

A bit, I'd like to do a lot more actually, I've never actively pursued editorial work, but I recently shot a cover for a magazine called Club 21. I used to shoot a lot for them 12 years ago when I was based in Sydney, I recently got back in touch with the fashion editor and he asked me if I was interested in shooting for the magazine again and I jumped at the chance. I like the freedom that comes with editorial work; you don't get that much in advertising these days.

What sort of images dominate your folio at the moment? Is there a theme or a certain darkness?

Ha, yes the darkness, I'm known in the US for doing dark work, personally I don't think it's dark, it's just me, I like mood, I like shadows, I like images to have depth.

If I had a dollar for every time a potential client has asked me if I have work similar to mine but not so dark I'd be retired by now.

With Commercial work I try to make things look as real as possible, that is to say I try to make it look as deconstructed as the idea will allow, I'm not really into the over worked, multi retouched over sharpened look that you see in so many ad shooters portfolios these days, not to say that there aren't commercial images on my website or in my book that are comps or that there isn’t value in that kind of work but it’s not me so I try to make images for commercial work that reflect who I am as a photographer.

I have a mixture of commissioned work and personal work in my book, I always have had it this way. I think for the most part it's good to show potential clients what you have done in the way of ads as it gives them context for your work and showing what you love to shoot helps them see how you might tackle the job, A lot of the time art directors will look at a book for inspiration, it used to happen more often but these days there is such a wealth of imagery and reference at the touch of a button most art directors are getting it elsewhere. For that reason I put a lot more personal work on my website, which really is your main marketing tool these days.

I like to try and create as much as I can in camera I think that’s the challenge I know some people who will shoot every element separately and then put it together in retouching, but I prefer to try and craft as much in camera as I can.

To me creating or construction the image in post is not photography it's a well designed collage, and that’s not what I’m interested in, my personal work is only ever color graded and cropped, I never comp personal work, I don't see the world that way.

How has the GFC last year affected advertising, editorial and photography in general?

It's had a huge effect, especially in Europe and the US, it’s made it so tough for not only the young guys coming through but a lot of the established photographers as well, and it’s been tough to stay ahead of the game.

I do some think clients use it as an excuse to get more for less.

Fewer clients are taking bigger risks and money over craft has become the defining factor.

A lot of the clients have been cutting corners to save money, where years ago jobs would have required travel to a location to shoot a lot more these days stock shots will be selected and something shot in the studio to comp in to it, but I think that’s part of this obsession with retouching at the moment, if you put the retouching budget back into the shoot chances are you could do it for real. Luckily I don't get asked to do this very often but you see it all over the place, personally I feel it takes the spontaneity out of the work and you just keep seeing a variation of the same image and technique over and over, it doesn't help educate clients about what great original work costs. We are also at a time when print advertising isn’t as important as it used to be, new media is being explored and we don't have the same traditional ways of communicating, so in that sense you would think clients would want to put out a uniquely crafted piece of work but a lot of clients just want to get something on a page for the least amount of money.

America was hit really hard, much harder than Australia, a lot of clients are just re running old ads, and I read an article where it said the New York Times advertisers were down 80%. I think the business has become a harder place to make a decent living.

What about new techniques and equipment, how does it impact on the craft?

I guess the thing that everybody is talking about now is the effect of CGI and the Red Camera and how clients will start to take stills from the TV or motion picture to use in print. I'm sure it will happen. As I mentioned most clients aren't that concerned with paying for craft, if they can save a buck or 2 they will opt for that, but I think it's up to Ad Agencies to educate their clients of the reality of the situation.

A lot stems from the fact that so many people are watching low quality streams on places like youtube and the quality is good enough because it’s a novel thing, but as bandwidths get better and streaming becomes easier I hope quality will follow.

As much as I'm intrigued by the red camera and cameras like the Canon 5D Mll and the possibility of shooting moving images, personally I don't see how it can work in taking stills frames for every job, the energy and the way you construct a stills shot is not the same to how you would for a motion picture shoot, the lighting and the way a talent is directed and the energy is completely different, but having said that the reality is if a client can get something shot for next to nothing on the back of a motion picture shoot and then spend hours working it to within an inch of it’s life in retouching, 9 times out of ten they will, and if the image isn’t as good as it could have been most people won’t recognize that. The thing to do is to not get caught up in that kind of scenario rather concentrate on showing clients how important your original imagery is to their brand, buy adding value to you and what you do.

Digital has been great for me it's reinvented my excitement in photography to a new level, and I’m probably shooting more than ever, whether it be commissioned or personal work, but with all things it has its downside too, one of them is that everybody feels they can get to fuck with the image afterwards, I've had clients (and when I say Clients I mean the Ad Agencies clients) start to play art director at the retouchers, no offence but the reason they are in marketing is because they have studied it (well one hopes) and they are good at what they do, what they aren't good at generally speaking is photography, so when you have a client asking you to swap one head from a body that is looking right to a body that is looking left it's sometimes hard to hold your tongue. After all I never had these people in a Darkroom with me telling me how to print, so to me nothing has changed, if you want an image that has my signature on it then let me do my thing.

There seems to be very little time invested in teaching young art directors craft these days, which is a great shame. I think it's because a lot of the generation they should be learning from don't understand the technology so no craft at all is passed down, and sometimes the art director doesn't start art directing until they have the images in front of them at the retouchers, for a photographer that can be very frustrating.

I miss working with Art Directors who are passionate about images and typography and how they work together, for me the best art directors to work with are ones with a strong art or design background.

How do you see the way forward now as opposed to say 10 years ago?

Again a tough question I wish I had the answer to that.

For me it will be a lot more personal work to distinguish myself from the pack, photographers have to brand themselves and have to have a unique product that the client wants.

I'm kind of frustrated with the amount of control I have lost with the images I shoot for Advertising so I'm interested in doing more editorial work.

There will always be a need for great image-makers so you just have to move with the times and try to stay as close to the front as you can.

What inspires you for personal projects and do your personal projects ever inspire your commercial work?

Just about anything and everything inspires me, I'm a photographer who does advertising images for work, so advertising is my day job and finances my personal work, photography is my life, apart from hanging out with my son it is the thing I love to do more than anything.

So I'm always taking images, and need very little inspiration to pick up a camera if I don't pick up a camera for a couple of days I start to go a bit crazy, just ask the people around me, I have to do something to do with photography every day, I can't switch off, even if I go to a movie I'm asking my self how they light this shot what lens they used on that, I think in pictures it's they way I release everything in my head, and trust me there is a lot going on up there!

I think what has happened from being in the US is that I have started to think more about body’s of work more, and how they will eventually become one large body of work, that’s not to say I have a plan for what that is but I think a lot more about the images I take now and the context of how they work together, it’s almost like my life’s work is a book and each body of work is a chapter.

But sometimes I’ll just head out with a camera and see what the world brings me, I might see something that I shoot that day that inspires a new body of work, that’s one of the most exciting things about what I do, you never really know where it will lead you and the images you will find on the way.

As you know, I love your exhibition of "Melt" images. What was involved in that project, how long did it take?
Thank you.

Yeah Melt is very close to me it has been so rewarding on so many levels and to be honest I think it will be a tough act to follow.
http://www.meltportraitofaniceberg.com/

Melt was borne out of a fascination I have with the roads that we choose in life, how a decision we make today can affect our future.

I had a revelation for want of a better word when I was on a commercial shoot in Thailand, I was staying at this incredible hotel had been flown business class from NY, growing up in England I had a very simple up bringing, my father is a poet so it wasn’t the most financially stable home, but we had what you might call a more bohemian childhood.

So coming from such a simple background and now being someone who gets flown round the world to do what I love, some time you ask yourself how did I get here, what choice did I make that has me on the road I’m on and for me it really started when I was 11 years old an I did a painting of the titanic hitting an iceberg, that painting lead me to taking up painting seriously and then a couple of years later photography.

I wanted to use that metaphor in a body of work somehow, my first thought was to shoot the shipyard where the Titanic was built and the port where the Titanic was bound for, but on researching the disaster I read about the Iceberg having drifted through a place known as Iceberg alley, just the name of the place attracted me to it, I did a bit more research and found that the Iceberg would have broken off of the Glacier long before the titanic had even been finished being built, the thought that these things were on a collision course once the Iceberg started it’s journey and before the Titanic had even been finished being built just fascinated me, so I decided then the Icebergs would be the metaphor for my journey.

That was about 3 years before I actually got around to shooting; logistically it was quite tough to organize. The Icebergs are only accessible in that area in the early summer, and traditionally that’s a very busy period for me with my commercial work, so the project went on to the to do list for a while.

But I got to the stage where I just had to do it and basically took a large chunk of 2008 off from commercial work to do the project, it was a bit of a risk as things were already slowing down in the US but I just had to do it.

I shot off the coast of St John’s in Newfoundland first, I organized with a dive company who operated there to stay at the lodge and charter their rib boat, to get on to the water everyday, Rick the guy who owns the place was amazing each day we would hook up the boat to the trailer and go in search of Icebergs, it was incredible.

After I shot in Newfoundland I was going to edit the stuff and plan a trip to Greenland for the next summer but I knew then that I just had to bite the bullet and go then, the project had a life of it’s own and I didn’t want to break the flow, so on very short notice I organized a trip up to Greenland, this was the only part of the project I had help with, it’s tough to get last minute flights to Greenland so I had a specialist travel agent based out of Nantucket organize it for me.

When I got to Greenland I didn’t have any contacts or any way of getting out on the water so I went down to the dock and found a local fisherman to take me out, but he wasn’t that reliable with time, eventually I met I guy in town who is Italian and has lived there for 20 years, his son Christian was visiting him from Italy and they own a couple of boats so Christian would take me out on this tiny boat.

I was there was during the midnight sun which at that means you get 3 hours at night when the sun is just below the horizon, 3 hours of dusk, the light was amazing, I had already decided I didn’t want to shoot in bright sunlight so we would head out to the Icefojord at around midnight and shoot for about 3 or 4 hours.

All up I did 20 days of shooting, but the project was 3 years in the making and it took the best part of 6 months to edit.

I would spend at least 5 hours a day editing the images and collating them, there is no retouching and not much in the way of cropping, just color grade and some burning and dogging so in that respect it was fairly easy, the hardest thing was putting it together as a cohesive body of work.

Once I got it to a place where I was happy I decided to let some one else assist me with the refinement, I have 2 people I trust to look at my work subjectively one is Sean Izzard and the other is my Father both gave me great feedback, which without I’m sure it wouldn’t be as strong as it is.

Melt’s life is intended to exist in a book, as much as I like showing the work in Galleries a book is where it is at it’s best, I get to show it in the order it is intended and direct the viewer in a narrative way that you can’t in a gallery.

Are you working on a project at the moment, or planning one for the future, that you can tell me a bit about?

Yeah, I’ve got a couple I’m working on.

I have an incredible fascination with the Ocean and have been taking pictures of the Ocean and coast line for quite a few years, without going into it to deeply it’s to do with boundaries and how they can be broken, although that is more of an ongoing project.

I’m currently working on a project about Football for myself, that relates to obsession.

One of my other passions is Football I’m a self confessed Football Nut, when I say football I mean what you guys and the Americans call Soccer.

I’ve been known during the world cup to have large screen TVs put into rental studios where I’m shooting if there is a game on and if Chelsea are playing an important game and it clashes with a job I’ll arrange the shoot around the game.

Who would you say are your greatest influences?

Without a doubt my biggest influence in everything has been my Dad, he is a Poet and Librettist, He, more than anyone has shaped who I am today and my view on everything in art and life, by just being who he is, he gave me the biggest thing that any one can ever give you and that is the ability to have an emotional connection with what you do, it’s a realization that I was talking about earlier, I don’t work as a photographer I am a photographer, his continued support to me as a person and to my work is immeasurable.

Like I said I’m quite easily influenced (my school teachers would have agreed to). But people’s work that has had a huge impact on me would be, Albert Camus, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Turner, Marc Rothko, Edward Weston, Horst P Horst, Avedon, David Bailey (I love David Bailey’s work!!) probably to many photographers to mention, and no inspiration list would be complete without The Clash.

On a personal front Sean Izzard is my closest friend and a constant source of inspiration, Sean is one of very few people whose opinion I trust, and he has an uncanny ability to call me on my shit.

I just had the pleasure of meeting Lewis Morley recently, what an incredible man he is, it was truly an honor to meet such a wonderful person and it’s people like him that restore your faith in humanity, and inspire me with their humility.

What are your thoughts on social media sites, like flickr, myspace, facebook, twitter, etc.?

Apart from wasting far too much of my time, they are cool, I like the information sharing aspect, it’s great when someone posts a link to something you might never have seen, then can be a lot of rubbish to sift through, having said that I only really do Facebook.

It’s part of the future so may as well embrace it, it’s funny but quite sad but some people I deal with these days for work are incapable of holding a conversation on the phone, they are so used to doing emails or texting, it can be frustrating sometimes when you just need a quick answer and to have to write a ten page email when it could be covered in a two-minute call.

How about your thoughts on stock libraries and image usage?

Stock libraries are becoming much more prevalent in a market today and for quite some time they have not been the cheesy crap that it used to be in so many stock libraries.

Most of the top shooters these days have work at stock libraries it’s just important for the heath of the industry to make sure the image rights are managed properly.

Your view on agents / producers?

They are an absolute necessity in the industry other wise it just turns in to a backyard operation.

The trouble is when backyarders masquerade as pros.

I think there is a tendency in Australia for Agents to be Agents slash Producers (reminds me of Zoolander Model slash Actor)

Personally I think Agents should be agents and producers should be producers, I'm just not into this whole agent/producer thing, it's a completely different job and requires completely different skills.

I love working with passionate people I like the collaboration and working with the right people can only make me better at what I do, so they are an essential part of what I do, the hard thing for most people is finding the right fit, go with the wrong Agent and the work dries up, and work with the wrong Producer and the job is at risk of being compromised, and if that person is an Agent slash Producer then, well quite frankly you're screwed.

I've been very lucky over the years and especially with the team we have at POOL now, they are what a team should be, a team, we work really closely and they have a great understanding of all the photographers needs and whims. I figure if someone can work out what I want when I can’t they must be good.

You're sort of between Sydney and New York at the moment. How long have you spent in New York and which city is home now?

Yeah I do wake up quite often and have to remind myself where I am and that’s not anything to do with alcohol.

I’ve been in NY for 12 years and that’s very much my home, it's a city I feel very compatible in, it’s an incredible place to live and work, I love the fact that at any time I can visit some of the best collections of art in the world, you have some of the best Operas and Theater on your doorstep, the city and the people you meet are such an incredible constant source of inspiration.

But I love Sydney as well, I came out here when I was 21 I was traveling at the time and fell in love with the place and stayed 11 years, I had an amazing time here it really launched my career and not to mention have some wonderful friends, I love the Aussie outlook on life.

I spend a lot of time in Oz these days mostly because my son lives here, and to be honest I can't stand being away from him for to long, so it started out as every school holiday I would come back but now has extended to a couple of weeks either side of school holidays and any other time I can get back over.

And I’d rather hang out with him than anyone else.

The past year it's been quite a lot of time in Oz, I’m always here for most of Dec and Jan and I finished working on Melt at the beginning of last year and then had a show in Toronto in April of that year, straight after I was in LA shooting and had the option to do a Levis shoot in either London or Sydney so knowing Sydney as well as I do I managed to persuade the Agency to shoot here I then took some time off to spend with my son. I have a lot of friends here in the industry and picked up a couple of jobs and really enjoyed working back here again.

Over the years I've done the odd job or 2 but haven't really perused work here, what tended to happen was someone would find out I was in town and offer me a job, or people would want to come over to NY or LA to shoot and they knew my work from here.

Sean Izzard, who as I mentioned is my closest friend and also someone I have massive amounts of respect for, asked me to get involved with setting up POOL so I’ve been here a lot recently to help with the logistics of that.

Both Sean and I are committed to setting up a creative agency for photographers run by photographers, Photography has been very good to both of us and we have talked about a way of giving back for quite some time. It's also very healthy to be around people who are at the beginning of their careers, to see the excitement and energy reminds us constantly how lucky we are, and if you loose that your in trouble, keeps us young if you like.

What are the big differences between the New York and the Sydney 'scene'? Positives, negatives?

It’s impossible to compare them really, I know it's the same industry and the basics are the same but they just operate on such a completely different level, it’s the same differences that exist geographically, with both places to get the good you have to take the bad as well, that’s the compromise.

I think for the most part the photographic scene in Sydney is incredibly under valued and not just by the people who commission work, there are photographers who are established who are just giving the work away which is making it tough for everyone.

I heard the other day there is one guy in town (I'm not naming names) who is really well established who is charging the same money he was 12 years ago, it's makes it really tough on the future of the industry when you have people like that.

In NY it is strictly business and people are aware of that and the responsibilities and costs that go with it. I had someone in Sydney tell me my fees were too high the other day, when I told her they were a fraction of what I charged in the US, her reply was “well different market” to which mine was “but it’s the same product” i.e. Me, I just don’t get how some people's minds work, you want world class for the price of local, and I’m not being vain, there are a lot of world class photographers in Oz, just look at the work of photographers like Michael Corridore, Sean Izzard and Ingvar Kenne to mention just a few and they are expected to charge what Joe Average charges, what I’m saying is some people think on a local scale too much, for example you can’t buy a Mercedes for cheaper in Oz just because it’s a smaller market, in fact they cost more than they do overseas!

And generally speaking photographers' overheads are higher in OZ than they are overseas, gear is far more expensive than it is in the US, so running costs are higher and fees lower, go figure?

Having said that sometimes the laid back attitude in Oz allows for more creative work, I do think people try harder here as they are always comparing themselves against the world stage, and things are easier to get done quickly because there aren’t so many people involved, I remember my first shoot in the US I had a crew of 50, it was a joke every assistant had an assistant, I can’t do it like that, it just hinders how I shoot, all you need is the right people being paid the right money.

In the US it is nothing to travel for a shoot, “where do you want to shoot this” is almost the first question I get asked.

It is a very different way to operate, like I say it’s a business, the clients are spending money and every dollar has to be accounted for and everything needs to be signed off, you spend a lot of time on conference calls talking about the images you are going to make, which makes it hard to be spontaneous on shoots sometimes, and I love that spontaneity, I guess people trust me a lot more in Oz but part of that as to do with the fact the budgets aren’t so big, so in turn there is less to risk.

One of the things that has always amazed me about Oz is the lack of internal travel on shoots, there are some of the most amazing locations in the world in Oz, people come from all around the world to shoot here, but for a local production to be shot outside of the city it’s commissioned in is quite rare.

When I worked here I would quite often get asked to shoot a job on location in Sydney in the middle of winter regardless of weather you would have models freezing their butts off when a hour or two flight up the coast you will get amazing locations and won't be battling the weather, but it’s just not done like that here, I find that aspect quite bizarre, again it comes down to clients not really being educated in spending their budgets wisely, everybody knows if you buy cheap stuff it doesn’t last, but to risk a shoot on a weather day rather than travel for a couple of grand seems nuts to me.

But like I say it’s about the good with the bad and when I do work in Oz I always shoot good work and have a great time doing it, I love the attitude of crews on set (apart from the odd disgruntled assistant who thinks the world owes them immediate success) being as it is it gives me a chance to work with some great people and allows me a certain freedom you don’t always get elsewhere.

Is your current set up something that you are happy with?

Yeah I love it, what’s not to love?

I do miss my son terribly when I’m away from him and I miss seeing my family in England all the time, I do whine about airplanes and hotels, (that’s because I’m English) but yeah, I love my situation and to be honest if I didn’t I wouldn't do it.

If you look at it from an outsider’s point of view, I’m doing what I love and traveling round the world whilst doing it, there really is nothing to complain about.

Looking at whatever problems you might have from the point of someone less fortunate than your self is a very good way to get a reality check.

I think I’m one of the luckiest people on the planet.

That doesn't mean it's all rosy, I do wish for a certain stability that just isn’t possible right now, I'd like to have a dog and not get on an airplane as often as I do but I guess that will come as I get older.

You mentioned your involvement in mentoring a young photographer. This sounds really positive and rewarding. How are you finding it?

Yeah it’s something I’ve done before and found hugely rewarding, there is something about passing on knowledge that helps me better understand who I am and what my work is about, it makes you stop and really analyze what you do, apart from the fact of the contribution to the other person -- seeing them grow -- is a fantastic feeling.

It’s fairly a simple structure really I tend to take people back to basics and get them to shoot a few specific projects I’ll give them constructive advice along the way and then I’ll have them learn how to critique their own work, it enables them to look at their work in a way they might not have thought of, 9 times out of 10 it’s about putting the person back on track. It’s very easy as a photographer to become derailed and not know why everything is going pear shaped so really mentoring for me is about helping people focus their attention on where they want to go and carefully guiding them on how to get there.

It’s one of the principles behind POOL, and although the person I’m mentoring now isn’t directly associated with POOL its part of the big picture.

POOL is in it’s infant days but both Sean’s and my dream for the place is that it is a living portal for a creative hub that serves everybody who contributes, quite simply you put something in you get something out.

Is there any advice you would give assistants or anyone first starting out in photography?

Just shoot what you love worry about the work, and everything else will fall into place find your style and stick to it, the only way to stand out is to show the world who you are.

If you want to be successful you will have to work hard, photography isn't a job it's a life style, and by hard I don’t mean long hours, they are a given, you will have to live eat breath photography not just for a few months or years, for the rest of your life.

The one thing I say to everyone is you have to love photography not be in love with the idea of being a photographer.

Learn as much as you can learn the craft, be a sponge and make mistakes, lots of them and when you done making mistakes take risks and make some more mistakes.

And when you move on to shooting commissioned work don't undercut no matter what, value yourself so other people can.

All Images © Simon Harsent

SIMON HARSENT

http://www.simonharsent.com/
http://www.meltportraitofaniceberg.com/

mmmmm... JIM FISCUS Interview - Stockland Martel, via The F Stop...

2010-03-02T21:24:00.017+11:00

stylised in the best possible way, fine art of the finest kind. I've made reference to Jim Fiscus' work previously on this blog, when Mark Llewellynn introduced me to his work. The more I see, the more I love his photographic style and his adventure in creativity.

http://stocklandmartelblog.com/

and more ....

http://www.commarts.com/Columns.aspx?pub=2642&pageid=10 90

persuasion...

2010-03-01T20:16:00.006+11:00

it always amazes me how some photographers can get someone to do just about anything ... this shot of Hugh Hamilton's is one example...

oh, and if you like this shot, you can also vote for it at:
http://facesphotocontest.com/bin/Rate?image_id=1009400845

being producer on a shoot for Swedish photographer Jonas Karlsson recently provided me with another, but until its release, i'll show you an earlier example. this one of Naomi Watts, same client; Esin Goknar - Conde Nast Traveler NY:
http://www.concierge.com/images/cnt/articles/September06/medi/CoverShoot_Sept2006.swf

http://www.studiojonaskarlsson.com/

"I think it is really FREEWHEELING out there" ... ANDREAS SMETANA - Interview ...

2010-02-07T19:57:00.015+11:00

How did you first get into photography?

By mistake really, it is a long story....

I kind of fell into it. There was no real calling, it just happened. I feel it suits me, being in full control yet hiding behind a camera....

Have you always shot advertising?

Yes, always. I started back in Austria with Tourism work in ski regions, hotels and so on. Making heaps of mistakes was the best school to learn from.

I’ve come a long way since then. I shoot only Advertising now and still love it.

I think there’s high pressure in shooting and dealing with clients - that’s one of the most challenging disciplines in Photography.

It makes most of my days crazy, but it’s never boring and I like the challenges!

I also think there’s always a great opportunity on pretty much every job to do something amazing and creative, especially when you’re able to get good production value in front of the lens.

Do you shoot editorial as well?

Not very much. The occasional portrait here and there, but I’ve never really broken into that market. I think I’ve been too busy on the Advertising side to really try....

Having said that I do like and wish I did more editorial shooting because it’s all about being creative on the run, rather then thinking it all through like you do for Advertising. That is something I most certainly miss.

Tell me about your most memorable shoot/s?

There are so many...

I have images I just like looking at, but the day is not memorable.

Then I have wonderful and exciting shooting days that are so much fun - that really counts for me.

I think what always sticks with me are the memories of the day...

We went through China and Mongolia for 2 Weeks, which was one of my most amazing trips.

So many places I had never heard of before, and the stuff we were eating I will never forget!

I often feel after a long good day some form of NATURAL high, it’s a good feeling.

And I love working overseas, as long as the jobs aren’t back to back.

How about your favorite image/s?

I truly don't have 1 - but I have a group of images as my own kind of ‘best ofs’ Mature, strong, big images: like setting up the shape of a Navy ship out of 120 marine soldiers... That type of boldness is the thing I really love.

And I always loved the X-box Images we did …

I’ve got a very old shot of 2 people kissing that I simply love….

What sorts of images dominate your folio at the moment or is it an even mix?

I try to be diverse in my shooting style (mostly because I get easily bored ) so my book covers all categories.

Mostly, I do high-end ads but I also shoot simple work to break it up. What makes up the perfect portfolio? That’s the magic question, which I'm not sure anyone can answer....

If you show just your best work you position yourself too high, (which is what I’m told anyway.) if you show more modest conservative work clients like it, it makes them feel safe, but the AD's probably won't book you....

After all these years I still don't know and tend just to go with my gut instinct. We change the book quite often, throw old work out and show the new stuff that reflects the times. We have 16 books so changing images is difficult and costly.

It also depends on the market; we have different books for the States and China. During this GFC I think you need a book for the clients and another one for the AD's.

So to answer your question, I go with my gut instinct but have rules.

I think a portfolio should show many points: like experience. It should give trust and show attention to detail. It should prove confidence...

I also think it’s really personal.

I often get jobs I feel I wouldn't give to myself and then am not considered for some I would be good at.

I always want to do my best for every job, and still do, and always strive to make something a little special (I know how this sounds! ) I've always liked big strong ideas and images so I guess this reflects in the folios...

I am not really answering this question very well........... But I think our portfolio has strength.

On that point: I found more and more we get picked on treatments and I don’t agree with that. In a perfect world I would get booked when people look at and analyze a book. More often now Agencies tell a handful of guys to do the art direction really, by asking for a treatment – and then pick.

As much as I like the opportunity to write treatments, and in the end of the day it’s the moment when a job can be pushed in the right direction, I also think it’s a very lazy development if treatments are asked for before an idea has been sold to the client, and without being asked to estimate the job.

Keep in mind I’m a visual person and by writing in a second language I have to use a side of the brain I actually don’t have! - so no – I prefer to be booked on my body of work.

How has the economic crisis affected photography and advertising in general?

I guess commitment and pride for the Product and Ads has gone a little. When everybody gets squeezed and has to tighten their belt there’s less commitment, less time, less production opportunity, less fun....

We still run a big ship with the studio, but we have had to make changes as everyone has.

I personally feel that the Photographers Business has been battered by the GFC but also by the fact that Retouching houses are not partners anymore but rather competition. And they’ve got time on their side, time and growing technology.

There’s an overload of Shooters, where did they all come from? The digital age changed the way we shoot, retouching became the big part and growing one, and so everybody is fighting for the great photography work.

There is more client control, more input from every side, less time for working together, less time for producing and shooting makes it harder to do work that stands out.

It most certainly has changed me: First fear gripped me a little (we don't get too many small jobs and the big ones weren't around in large numbers...) then the old crisis of who am I if not a busy guy around town!

But not being constantly booked out, shooting back to back as we did; I’m enjoying it more, enjoying my life more.

I think Australia is a safe haven compared to other countries and the layouts are getting better already. I don't know- it just makes me want to do better work.

I think it did became more business like: when, what and how much!

I’m often amazed in meetings when nobody talks about what we are trying to do. It’s rare that I hear somebody say we want great outstanding work done.

“Inspirational “is a word so often used - I just don’t think it can be that without passion.

What about new photographic techniques and technology impacting on the craft?

I think it is really FREEWHEELING out there. I remember styles lasting some time, now nothing lasts long. At the same time it makes it interesting.

I love approaching new jobs every time if I can. It’s just how it is and we’re not all trying to shoot (as well) as Ritts, Avadon and so on

It is a shame those Masters are fading....

Out there now is a generation of shooters who have never shot on film.

I think it is a shame- yeah- does it matter to anybody- no.

I personally feel that there is an all over mediocrity in many fields of life and it saddens me, maybe I am getting old, my god!

But seriously I think the biggest change is that when I started out, photographic images where used and shown respect. Now they’re just a small part in the mass of media used to represent an idea and concept.

So yes, the value of photography has changed! I think that often nobody is after Photographs but Pictures.

Is that a bad thing? I make a good living, I love what I do and I if I want to shoot more photographs with more Integrity and Value to me I can. I own 17 pro Cameras... no camera shortage here….

On a private note, I'm just blabbering here... Speed in digital technology changed everything ... it makes our life more desk-bound and faster every day. Talking about global warming and saving resources- I believe at one stage we should start thinking about saving Human Resources as well and not work ourselves to death.

You know, believe it or not- good photography it is what it is; a craft and it’s still alive. A craft means the longer and more you work on it the better the product, so these days deadlines are not made for crafting a shot. Will I survive and work famously until I’m 85? Who knows - but I am trying!
What do you think about new cameras that also shoot video and how they impact on stills photography? Is film an area you might move in to as well?

Do they? Fuck - I’m normally fast with stuff and love new technology, but I kind of believe for as long as we continue working like we do, maybe we don't have to change just yet.

I also think that this is very much the idea where everybody tries to do everything... Honestly I don't know anything about video on cameras yet, I should look into it though...

I’m going to go out and buy one today!

What inspires you for personal projects?

I was hoping this question would not come up!

May as well be honest....

You know Photography for me was always an adventure, shooting, meeting people, running a little business, making a living…. and then I got really busy with commercial work.

So personal work has basically been non-existent over the last years.

The little time I have to myself, I try to have a life with my family and go sailing.

Working so hectically over the years as we did has not always been the best inspiration for personal work either.

Honestly - I so often admire Shooters like Nadav Kandar and the amazing large body of work he creates. At the same time I feel this will come to me later on in life... and I’m exited about it.

Are you working on a project at the moment?

2 children and learning to sail at the moment is my project.

Have you had exhibitions and what are your thoughts on personal projects for exhibitions?

Yes we’ve had exhibitions In London and in Japan over the years, but honestly, I’ve always felt I do it for my career... and yes it works, but I have never felt like I really had anything meaningful to say in the exhibitions.

We did a great project on a concentration camp’s in Austria.... that’s one I got exited about

Sometimes its difficult for me because I enjoy my pictures, I really do; and I love making those memories, the stories, I’m proud of it... but I think does anybody really care to look?

I enjoy looking at other shooters work enormously. Some do it great and they are great!

We just did some great images of objects after they had landed by throwing them from different heights for a huge wall Installation in Clemengers

(I actually just got back a 4 a.m. this morning)

I need to feel like I am good enough!

How about awards, I understand you were in New York recently?

Yes - I was nominated for the Lucie Awards ‘International Photographer of the year’ in NYC. It is kind of the Oscar's for Photography, created 8 years ago to celebrate photography.

They look at a body of work rather than the last campaign.

Check it out: http://www.lucieawards.com/index.php

Advertising was a very small category but I was there and very happy to be a part of it. I felt incredibly honored and slightly out of place. I’m not talking myself down here, but half the guys who won awards I have their books in my Studio.

Nadav Kandar won my category and honestly I was shitting bricks and praying to God not to let me win! The category before was "Reportage" and the winner who shoots mainly war Pictures gave an amazing speech about world peace, - I had nothing to follow that! so I was saying over and over

‘ Don’t let me win, don't let me win’ - yet I really wanted to win!

You know awards are great, always an honor, though I tend to win overseas more often than here at home. Ah one day...

Who would you say are your greatest influences?

They say one should ‘part the person from the Art one likes’. I can never do that. For me it is always their work and their story.

You know I admire so many people, Penn, Avadon, James Nachtway, and God- where do I start?

I love Nadav Kandar’s work, he produces real Photographs for Commercial media... images that make you feel something.

It started out when there where the supermodels and they where shot by super photographers. I loved that period, there was so much work I had never seen before, and Ideas I hadn’t seen and they touched me. That's what they should do I guess...

There’s a guy, (no disrespect) I cant remember his name, he would follow police cars and shoot deadly car accidents in Mexico, that was striking... amazing work.

I never loved Helmut Newton’s work…I never felt it - but I do sense the power in it that comes from his life story... and just loved him and his life story.

That’s what I love so much about Photography, the power of it all and the range. There are such different fields and I love them all for different reasons.

Who really influenced me is a songwriter Leonard Cohen if you want to know! A true gentleman who is amazing with such meaning in his songs.

He is playing in the studio every day. My assistants have been taking the piss out of me for years about it!

What are your thoughts on social media sites, like flicker, facebook, twitter, etc.?

Not a lot of time for them really, sure its great

…. Is it good for business?

How about your thoughts on stock image libraries and photographic image usage?

... I forgot to mention this before. Stock images were another slap in the face for commercial shooters. That’s life though isn’t it.... more people wanting a piece of the cake. Live and let me live I say!

Seriously though, this is a great idea, and is obviously working extremely well. You know Commercial Photography is a commercial business so you have to deal with other businesses, and frankly I can't change it. They are just other people trying to make a living, good on them.

Does it make it tougher? Yep!

Your view on agents and producers?

It's like love. It works out sometimes, other times it doesn’t!

You need them and want them and they need you.

I’ve done in-house production for years so I appreciate their work… the thousands of estimate changes and problems they sort out...

I love it when they’re part of creative solutions also, seeing that light bulb go off for solving a problem.

They are mostly the unsung heroes you know.... I take all the credit (and would be so lost without the team...)

They are a very big part of a good image!

Anything else that you've been involved in recently that you’d like to share?

Yep- I don’t like the fact that Retouching became this big thing where everybody wants to make the money.

Agencies talk about wanting great work but then some in-house retouchers can't deliver.

I think the quality in Australia has deteriorated when it comes to post-production.

Not quite sure how I can as a photographer deliver any kind of direction if in the end I loose control and the last crucial step is taken away.

The magic was very often in the darkroom. Delivering files to retouchers and then having no say will not work for anybody in the long run.

If it is "just work" fine, make the money, but if there are great layouts, great potential, please let the good guys retouch and let one person lead... it shows in the final image.

I think postproduction should be POST- production and not the moment when everybody starts to art-direct and fiddle.

I think Photography itself had a tough time last year.

We’ve done OK, we’re still getting in great layouts, getting good briefs so we’ve done some good stuff, and I most certainly can feel the creative demand is on the rise again, so I think this year should be a fun one.

Lets hope!

All Images © Andreas Smetana

ANDREAS SMETANA PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.smetana.net/

only one day to go! - Montalbetti + Campbell; "The Sensualists" and Simon Harsent's "Melt" exhibitions at ACP ...

2009-11-25T09:36:00.003+11:00

... quite possibly the most exciting photographic exhibitions Sydney has seen in some time, both on the one opening night; this Thursday night at ACP, Paddington. Don't miss this visual feast!
http://tmp.acp.org.au/current/

Selected Views ... interview with photographer MARK LLEWELLYNN ...

2009-11-18T20:37:00.007+11:00

AD So, this is a special preview of the new book, Selected Views. I love the cover image.

ML This is the 2nd edition. It's not quite final yet. There are some images to take out that don't really fit and a few more sections to add. It's a mix of personal and commissioned work.

AD This is fantastic, where is it?

ML A little village called Jerseyville on the Macleay River near South West Rocks.

AD Is there much retouching?

ML No retouching, only a little colour in post. I'm trying to get back to the craft, get it looking like a real picture, without too much work.

AD Do you always shoot on the same equipment?

ML I do now, since I just bought a new digital camera and am exploring it's limitations. I still have my film cameras though. I like my film cameras.

AD You mentioned just before you are trying to get back to the craft - what exactly did you mean by that?

ML Well, you see all my work has been such high-end, highly-produced advertising type pictures I felt burnt out by it all. Amidst the ubiquitous treatments, grades, revisions, re-quotes, re-briefs, indecisions by the decision makers, deadlines, revised deadlines(?), comps, revised comps, client input, client revision, et al and the associated angst, somewhere along the line I lost the the ability to see. Anyway, so I bought this new 35mm Canon camera and I saw it as a good chance to try to see if I could actually take a good picture again - without all the associated carry-on. It was a challenge for me, because for years and years all I had shot was large format film (which I liked very much) - so it was a different way of thinking and looking.

ML In my old book, people see images like this one and don’t think it's a job – I had a whole folio of jobs that didn’t look like jobs that didn’t get me any jobs. Ironic really.

AD These are great.

ML There’s a series of these; how people automatically form orderly queues while waiting at bus stops nowadays.

AD It’s amazing the people aren’t all focused on you.

ML It was amazing because they’d either not notice us at all or they would notice us but they would just look at you, but they wouldn’t actually move a muscle, they’d just follow you with their eyes, it was bizarre.

AD So it sort of evolved, a people study.

ML I had noticed this behavior for some time before I decided to shoot it.. We shot two weeks, two days at the same time and on the same day so a lot of the same people were catching the same buses, and they began to behave differently the second time around. I was shooting from the passenger side window of a car driven by my assistant. Wewas in a car to blend in with the peak hour traffic to remain as inconspicuous as possible. But we had electronic flash mounted on the car to provide light, so we got noticed eventually, Interesting, the second week we did it, people started to cover their faces when they saw us approaching.

ML It just was very interesting, watching this social phenomenon. They were unperturbed to begin but soon becameanxious about being photographed.

ML Thomas Broening in San Francisco did something similar at the same time we did our stuff. He shot people standing on street corners as he drove past. Which is exactly what I was thinking of doing as a second stage to this. I thought it was interesting that he had exactly the same thought, so I emailed him these pics and explained what was going on and he his term for this was “emotional isolation”. People standing virtually side by side, but completely detached from one another. This is a relatively new phenomenon, people queueing at bus stops, it never happened 20 years ago, it never happened when I was a kid, people would just mill around and then get on the bus, and now everything is so ordered. I find it very strange and interesting.

AD: The series of images of people on the pathway are really interesting.

ML: Yes, these series of pictures "People in Motion" were inspired by the early studies of human and animal motion photographed by Eadweard Muybridge in the late1800's. He was the first person to prove that a horse lifts all four hooves off the ground when they gallop. Anyway I thought it might be interesting to take that same concept and give it a more pictorial feel. Hence I set up my camera and a couple of flash heads and photographed who ever might pass in front of me for the next two hours. The results were were surprisingly interesting - particularly when viewed as sequence or montage. I mean, for example, how often do you see somebody ride past on a unicycle? Hardly ever. Yet, there he was. After I did a few of these sequences at different locations they became a sort of visual demographic of that particular location. Very interesting when you start to compare them.

AD Are you keeping the book to a certain number, like 20 or so?

ML I’ll probably only do 25 of them, not hundreds. They’re printed on demand, so I can change them as I go.

AD Did you have a number of images in mind to make up the collection?

ML It will probably be around 60 pages when it’s done. I’ve got a few more sections I want to add; some of the drag racing images.

AD Is this pretty accurate to the finished book?

ML Print quality wise, is spot on.

AD Do you think this project might lead to an exhibition.

ML I’m definitely working on an exhibition of the drag racing images, there’s so much depth in them and I think it’s unusual subject that hasn’t been looked at in this way. I have many images of the whole scene at the races; kids, people working on cars, the emotion, etc. I'm trying to get pictures that capture the feeling, but are something more than just documentary pictures. As I've discovered, that is quite difficult.

AD It’s all about the people isn’t it, the sub culture

ML Yes, there’s no shots of cars, it’s all about the interesting and rather esoteric behind-the-scenes activities, and also the people of course. You see, drag racing even at the highest professional level is, essentially a family-driven culture. Which makes it very rich in it's emotional and visual content, and much more diverse and interesting from a photography perspective than corporate driven sports.

AD So this is a complete overall of your book. I really think people like seeing a mix of personal work and commercial work, personal work is really key – it’s who you are, where you’re at, that insight is so important.

ML Well a lot of the car stuff is irrelevant now.

AD What’s what happening with car photography, they must be still shooting cars somewhere?

ML In Europe

AD What about in Asia?

ML Well, I don’t think so

AD What aren’t they shooting cars in Australia, it’s cheaper isn’t it?

ML They’re not doing it because it’s all been globalised, it’s all being syndicated from Europe and Japan.

AD There’s a lot of global adaptation work going on here with material supplied from overseas to retouch and use in our local market.

ML Well it’s cheap and they don’t really care any more.

AD So you don’t think the whole wire frame 3D retouching has impacted on car photography?

ML Yes, but not in the sense that it has wiped out car photography completely as was predicted early on in the United States. There seems to be two separate work flows now - one photography, one CGI and of course a combination depending on the execution. Early CGI work here replaced a lot of photography for cars, but the process proved to be slow and inflexible to changes, as in the case of the new Commodore launch, (not to mention the mediocrity of the result), that the design company went back to commissioning photography.

AD Even the photography that is happening, is that being shot on location?

ML I seen very little shot on location in a long while, all I’ve seen is strip togethers, very retail orientated.

ML I’ve seen Ford do some CGI work, rendering the vehicles and putting them in the backgrounds. Nothing of any merit really.

AD Do you think there’s a lack of really good ideas getting up.

ML Oh definitely, it’s a lack of good ideas, it’s a lack on money, it’s a lack of really caring about doing good advertising. It’s all money driven basically. I think it’s different in Europe and America where they can cgi much more creatively and it’s developed into a separate production stream in itself, so there’s cgi driven campaigns and there’s traditional photography driven campaigns, talking automotive essentially. It’s being used in other areas now as well, but it hasn’t actually replaced traditional photography, like a lot of people viewed it would, it kind of compliments photography itself, which is quite good. But now people are starting to realise it’s fine art potential. A fellow by the name of Jim Fiscus http://www.fiscusphoto.com/ created a 12 image digital novella which is a personal story of his, about a craftsman who carves the same doll over and over again. He’s used photography and cgi as a fine art medium, so he’s created these fantasy sets, some photographic, some cgi, but it pushes cgi essentially to create artistic scenarios as opposed to just product images, exploring its potential as a tool for fine art.

http://www.commarts.com/Columns.aspx?pub=2642&pageid=1090

AD Do you think that can be applied to commercial advertising.

ML Of course, if they throw enough money at it.

AD It would be nice to see things move in that direction.

ML Hopefully it might come round if they can stop seeing it as tool purely for saving money and see it as a creative tool in its own right. But as soon as they see it like that, as soon as they start to treat it like that, it will require, just like any other creative tool, time and money, so it just comes full circle again.

AD Or diluted to a compromised extent so far from the original intention.

ML Yes, but all that comes back to the concept to begin with. Unless the art director or whoever is driving the concept thinks of it in those terms and not just a product or idea on a stark background, that's all it’s ever going to be. I think they have to change their way of thinking. It might slowly come round again. Advertising tends to follow art trends. People driving it will hopefully get sick of the minimalist product and headline thing and get something a bit more visually interesting. Utilising the power of the photography, and fine visual craftsmanship to engage people, not just inform them.

AD: You mentioned set builds, and examples of great set builds and the power of craft to reposition the brand?

ML: The example of this I always remember is the beautiful work photographed by Francois Gillet for the Brown Bothers Wines campaign commissioned by David Frost. The campaign ran and was developed over almost ten years until 1996. It used elaborate and beautiful styling, specific hand painted backdrops, and fine photography to create a style which became unmistakably and instantly recognisible as Brown Brothers. They didn't even use the bottle in the shots. Didn'tneed to. Frost and Gillet knew the power of fine craft to engage the viewer. Then Brown Brothers decided to change agencies. Compare that to Brown Bothers advertising now, a bottle on a plain background. I think they have effectively despatched their brand to oblivion, exiled in the wasteland of mediocrity.

AD Do you think they are applying that a bit more in film on the TV side of things and that may lead the way for stills?

ML Film has always been more like that just because of its nature. Film, Hollywood, does tend to lead visual trends, because of the trail off of marketing, the paraphernalia that goes along with it. All the marketing material has the film like visual look to it, that becomes a trend, the style filters downto the mediocrity and ends up as some sort of homogenised, pasteurised, sanitised version of creativity.

ML A gentleman to mention here is Allen Koppe, he’s a cinematographer, well known for shooting automotive stuff, based in Newport and works a lot in China and Japan. What’s interesting about him though is his passion is stills as a hobby, he shoots these really nice landscapes, he loves shooting stills in black & white using a film camera. Consequently,his commerical work as a wonderful photographic style to it, particularly in his sense of compostion.

His website: http://www.allenkoppe.com/

AD Do you have a pretty strong network of collegues that you are often in contact with?

ML I don’t speak to a lot of people in the industry, but I speak to a few other photographers regularly. I speak to Jon Higgs and Scott Davidson quite regularly. Bruce Allen occasionally. Sean Izzard and Simon Harsent,when he's around. Simon’s got an exhibition coming up at ACP;

http://tmp.acp.org.au/future/index.php#melt

AD Oh, is that the MELT images? I absolutely love those images and I’m really looking forward to the exhibition. What a great project and message.

http://www.meltportraitofaniceberg.com/

ML Yes, beautiful images. Amazing quality images and prints. It will be interesting to see if people appreciate the subtlety and simplicity he has achieved.

AD How did you start out in photography?

ML I started off as an assistant in the early 80’s, then shooting still life and studio product work. I went freelance and worked mainly out of North Sydney, then out of Phil Gray’s studio in Willoughby just as he was starting to do the panoramas. Then I worked in St. Leonards and freelanced out of Phil Haley’s studio which is where I met Sean and Simon. At that point I started shooting more location work and annual reports. Annual Reports had lots of money, it was good work and I did a lot of it. I started my own studio with Richie Nicholson in Crows Nest which was the old Mark Anthony studio and worked there for a while before moving to Balmain and working with Nick Gleitzman. I was there for 13 years and that’s where I started doing more advertising and design work and location shoots.

AD Were you shooting cars at that stage?

ML I didn’t start shooting cars until '95 / '96.

AD But cars have always been an interest haven’t they?

ML I got into cars is when I was in Balmain. I picked up a big white goods client which funded my interest in wanting to shoot cars. My friends Urs and Jon Higgs were doing it and they were going well and I thought if they're doing it, it can't be that hard! Of course, I soon discovered I had underestimated their talent once again! AD It’s such a niche. ML Yes, a specialised area and what I liked about it was it was essentially shot on location and I like shooting on location and working with beautiful light so it was the best of both worlds. The other thing I liked about it was you couldn’t do it fast, by their very nature, they took a long time to shoot. I prefer working at a casual pace.

AD So, nice time frames and really great shoots overall. Why doesn’t that exist anymore?

ML It used to be really specialised here, you know, the art directors wanted to hire specialists for their projects, but then it got to the point where they wanted specialists but you couldn't actually afford to make a living as specialist, there just wasn’t enough work in any one area.

AD So you’d be pigeon-holed as the car photographer too?

ML It was funny as you’d tend to go up against the same people all the time. I used to quote against Ian Butterworth and Lou d’Angelo and occasionally Andreas Smetana. People tend to be put in boxes, it just depended how many boxes you had to be put in. I ended up having 2 boxes; landscapes and cars.

AD Do you have a stand out memorable shoots?

ML I think one of the ones I enjoyed the most was for Subaru where we had to shoot out at Parachilna, about 800kms north of Adelaide, essentially out in the middle of nowhere. It was a big production; we had to close off the highway and have a scaffolding crew to build a tower in the middle of the dessert to look down on the road and we had a guy with a big red petrol tanker going past the car on the road. Two local coppers doing road control who hated each other - one a psychotic nazi highway patrol who was a complete loose cannon. He would pullover girl backpacker tourists just so he could try to chat them up. The other was a local sargent who was a self styled wannabee wine reviewer, who would endlessly rant on about whatever wine we happened to be drinking. AD A huge film set like production with loads of crew?

ML We were there for a week, it took two days to shoot it, 2 days to recce and wrap it, and so it was good. We'd finish shooting at sundown and stand on the top of the scaffolding tower, my assistant and I, having a beer and looking down at the pandemonium below us; scaffolding guys, semi trailers, nazi copper doing burnouts, all the carry on, and I said to my assistant, "What do you think about this?"and he said "Well it’s about time." So that was quite good.

AD Do you have a favourite image

ML I like the shot I did for a self promotion, with a sexy sheep laying on the bonnet of a Porche. Shot out on the Liverpool Plain. It was silly. It was Mike Miller's idea. I always liked working with Mike, I liked his way of thinking.

AD Do you shoot editorial?

ML I wouldn’t mind doing something editorial, although it’s never really interested me in the past. But now that I’ve been doing this new work for myself I’ve started to have an interest in doing that sort of thing.

AD I guess it’s got that freedom, much more freedom than advertising generally.

ML I’ve seen some really nice editorial work, but mostly produced in America, It’s something I’ve been thinking about, but haven’t gone down that road just yet. When I have some more material I may have a look at it more seriously.

AD What is your view on social media and networking sites like facebook, flickr, twitter, etc.?

ML Personally, I am reasonably indifferent to the new media as such. I haven't embraced as much as I should, except for facebook which I use a little. I think they can be useful tools for cross promotion, especially in combination. I think facebook is such a great thing, which isn't being ultilised to anyway near it's potential. I like to see it used much more to disseminate art and culture.

AD How about stock image libraries and image usage?

ML Again, I'm indifferent to stock libraries, as shooting for stock has never interested me. I've only ever been interested in assignment work or personal work. I like bringing someone else's idea to life. That what I've always liked about advertising work, and why shooting stock has never interested me. I think image usage is very important. I'll never give usage away for free, I may discount it or package it depending on the circumstance - but I'll never give it away.

Like they say- a servant's worth is higher. People wouldn't expect their servant to work for nothing - why should they expect their (my) pictures to?

AD What would you say are your greatest influences?

ML Harry DeZitter was my main influence early on. Also Clint Clemens, particularly when it came to cars. Both had a wonderful way of capturing the light, which appealed to me very much.

"Quality and quanity of light, thats the magic – understanding where it comes from, especially the ambient light and fusing it with flash. To me the ambient light is always the hero, the dominating factor."

– Harry DeZitter 1990

http://www.dezitter.com/gallery http://www.dezitter.com/gallery

"Light moves through a shot. It has a force. It pushes into something. I use the dynamics of light to bring you into the picture. It's like a vacuum which can suck you right in."

– Clint Clemens 1983

http://www.clintclemens.com/

AD Any advice for anyone contemplating photography as a career?

ML I think it’s to your advantage to have a good technical knowledge, particularly for when things go pear shaped, that’s when you really earn your money. Anyone can take a good picture when things are going well, but when things are going shit, that’s when you want to know what's going on.

AD You hit a brick wall

ML Exactly right. Unless you understand why things aren’t working you might not be able to fix them and ultimately it’s your job to fix them, that’s what your client’s paying for. So, shoot as much stuff for yourself, 'cause all the good jobs I’ve ever got have come off a shot I’ve done for myself, ironically. I’ve never done near as much as I should have over the years, so that would be advice, be prolific. Just shoot as much as you can and constantly and have good technical knowledge. Definitely worth learning why things happen to use it to your advantage and make better pictures. And, be persistent.

AD Would you recommend photography as a career?

ML I tend to say not, but if you really want to do it, you’re going to do what you really want to do anyway. Anyway, who am i to say? I’m still doing it and I really should be doing something else. If commonsense prevailed I’d be doing something else. Pity nothing else really interests me. An Art Director told me many years ago to look for inspiration overseas, the work that is happening overseas, that’s where a lot of the great work is. It’s really important to stay across what's happening overseas, particularly now it’s really easy with the net and networking sites. Before we relied on books and journals and now it’s instant, you can see what anyone is doing anywhere in the world. Everything is such a cross pollination now.

AD What’s next?

ML Personal projects will take up the majority of my time for the next 3 to 4 months. I'm hoping to launch the drag racing images later next year. I want to shoot some more big race meetings and try to get a more extensive collection of material before I show it.

http://www.markllewellynn.com/

"one team, one dream"... interview with Stylist extraordinaire, SUZANNE KING ...

2009-11-06T22:18:00.013+11:00

How did you first start out in styling?

I first started in the industry as a trained hair and makeup artist, I had been working for a few years when I was approached by a photographer to do hair makeup and styling so I said yes and the styling side grew from there.

Do you still do Hair & Make-up or Styling only today?
Yes I work in both fields, sometimes just styling sometimes just hair n makeup or at times all three depending on the brief and workload.

Are there people you regularly work with in a team or does it change all the time?
I have been extremely fortunate enough to be able to work on a regular basis with leading Advertising photographer Andrea's Smetana and his team, i really love working with them as everyone has creative input and we work together to achieve the brief. I also work with a few other photographers and producers in advertising, I have found over the years that when you can work in with a team you can learn what their style is and you know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from you. Also if you can have a few teams you can pull together and help out when budgets are tough I call it the " one team one dream" idea. You look after them and in turn they look after you

Do you have a most memorable shoot?
I would have to have to say I have a few memorable shoots and they are all for completely different reasons.

One would definitely be a shoot I worked on with Hugh Jackman, I found it so refreshing to work with such a huge name in Hollywood yet have him be so humble and a complete gentleman.

I, for completely non creative reasons, loved working with Snoop Dogg because I have loved his music and been a huge fan since I was at school, which unfortunately is a little time ago now!!

This job definitely has some perks and again another memorable shoot which I'm extremely fortunate to have been able to work on was a trip to Bali. When we got there we had locations already set up but the photographer met what I would call the Australian version of Indiana Jones, and he became our "tour guide" for the rest of the week. He just had so many contacts which allowed us to shoot in the most amazing and breath taking locations which without him we would never have had access to. I remember walking into some private government member's residence and no building codes were kept so they had pools wrapping 'round the inside and outside dropping off into the rice fields, and so on.

How about a favorite image resulting from a shoot that you styled on?
It's hard to pick a favorite job as their have been so many I have loved working on but I would have to say one that stands out to me was a Hyundai Tucson shoot I did with photographer Andreas Smetana. The brief was a damsel in distress needing her hero to rescue her from a spider whilst on the bonnet of the car.

The reason why I loved it was the styling was very "Mills 'n' Boon" with a comedic edge, the sky was a wash with drama and we shot it all in separate elements so I had to match a house door with the one on location as the existing one didn't work for their angle. I also had to have a fence made and source greenery which again added to the drama and mystic the lighting created.

The finished shot ended up appearing in an industry top images annual in Israel.

Do you work in editorial as well as advertising?
Not any longer, I use to work in editorial but I find advertising is what interests me the most.

How about film / TVCs and longer term project jobs?
I still work on TVC's but not too many, I find I much prefer stills to TVC's. I have worked on short films also but have never gone down the direction of film. I always thought that one day when I was older I would move into film as you get booked for such a long period of time from months to a year so I thought the stress of needing to find work on a daily basis would be over but I now don't think I would like to be tied to the same work. I think I love the fast turn around of print and feel I'm addicted to the fast pace and pressure of tight deadlines!!!!!

What types of styling jobs dominate your folio at the moment or is there a mix?
I think there is definitely a mix in my folio from celebrities, lifestyle, and mainstream advertising.

Do you use assistant stylists on many jobs?
Yes I do use assistants, not on every job as I do think I have a slight control issue and I'm not the best at letting go of tasks for someone else to help create my vision.

How have you found this year given the GFC and it's impact on the industry?
It has definitely been the slowest year I can remember and I have been in the industry for 10-12 years now. I will however say that again working with the photographers I do has allowed me to stay rolling along when I know of so many people in our industry being made redundant and having to look for alternate work. It seems to be picking up again which is a sigh of relief but I would say the budgets have not come back to what they once were.

Who would you say influences and inspires you the most in your work?
I have a variety of different influences from fashion designers like Roberto Cavaand Karlli, Balmain and Karl Lagerfeld. I''m influenced from obviously fashion shows in Paris and Milan but what also inspires me are shows like grand designs where people take huge risks designing out of the ordinary conceptual homes using all different forms of materials.

I would also say certain music icons for me are huge influences in what inspires my style. I love Beyonce, she dresses sexy chic, confident and always with a level of bling!!! Other style icons for me are Kanye West and Sean John combs. Weather it be an add campaign for their next fragrance, the cover of a leading fashion magazine or there new music clip they have they sleekest cars, locations, latest and hottest fashion designers and always push their style to the limit which I cant help but admire and like to take segments of in my own briefs when I can!!

What are your thoughts on social media sites, like flickr, facebook, twitter, etc.?
Honestly don't like them at all. Call me a technophobe but I'm just not interested in following what people are doing every minute of the day and really how do they find the time to keep people updated and what are people doing finding the time to read it!!!

How about your thoughts on electronic marketing?
I think that it definitely has its advantages especially in regards with time for everyone. If you have a website then no one has to spend time waiting for a book to arrive and in turn be sent back. Its also a great way of sending an e-card which just keeps clients updated on your latest campaigns.

I do still however love to keep a portfolio as I don't think you can ever replace beautiful prints!

Your view on agents?
My personal view on agents are they defiantly have a key role in our industry but I have found overtime with styling in particular that the producer and photographers I work with like being able to speak directly with you. If there is a change in a brief be it an addition or a complete restart on a theme its easier to call you direct and know straight away what can be resolved and how instead of having to wait for an agent to get hold of you had work through the solution. It may mean that dealing direct without an agent you can waver some charges that an agent would insist be paid to you but as I said for myself I like the direct approach.

What advice would you give someone starting out in styling (and/or hair & make-up)?
mmm my advice would have to be.... follow your passion, this is definitely not as glamorous as it is made out to be so you definitely need to have a passion for your craft, its a lot of hard work, you may need to work long hrs and there is no such thing as a weekend if sourcing needs to be achieved for a tight deadline.

Try flicking though all styles of magazines be it fashion, lifestyle or food and see who the photographers and stylists are, this way you can start narrowing down certain styles you feel most drawn to . Contact agencies who represent these photographers, stylists etc. and ask to be given the chance to work as an assistant for free, the more onset knowledge you can get the more you learn, most of what goes on behind the scenes onset cant be taught at colleges and is what will put you lengths ahead of other people trying to get a start in the industry.

I also think its important to be able to try and assist on all diff types of areas like film, TVCs, editorial and advertising. It's interesting how different each of the fields are and the skills required so until you experience all then you cant really find what you maybe best suited for.

Anything else you’d like to share?
Not sure how to keep this answer short so here goes, basically the most important things Io feel that make a successful stylist in this industry is common sense, working at an extremely fast pace and above all else open communication which definitely involves listening to the clients needs!!!!!!

All images in this post are copyright protected ©

SUZANNE KING STYLIST
Mobile: 0414 865 076
Email: suzanneking@ozemail.com.au

"Detour" - an interview with advertising photographer; Gary Sheppard -

2009-11-05T19:29:00.008+11:00

Having shot a Cannes Gold Lion award winning campaign this year, building on an existing repertoire of award winning advertising campaign images, I caught up with photographer Gary Sheppard for a brief chat on past, present and future, including my particular love for his images shot during his photo essay adventures in middle America.

How did you first start out in Photography?
I originally trained to be an ecologist but its interesting the way life tends to put "Detour" signs in your best laid plans. Ever since I was a kid I've been fascinated by things optical. Things like telescopes and microscopes allow you to extend your vision. I remember getting a microscope kit in grade four and being so excited about seeing things in a new way that I was obsessed with it. Telescopes came later and were another variation on a theme. But somehow I never made the leap to cameras and photography. A chance encounter and an interesting conversation changed that. That was a "Detour" moment. Realising that cameras not only allow you to extend (and even create) your vision but to capture it and allow others to share it was a pivotal moment. The rest, as they say, is history.

Do you have a most memorable shoot?
I could nominate something exotic but I think I'll have to go back to the very first shoot that I undertook as a "professional" photographer. I'd just made the transition from assistant to photographer and one of the established photographers in the studio referred a shoot that he couldn't be bothered doing on to me. It seems silly now but it loomed in my mind as a "make it or break it" event Would I rise to the challenge and would the client be happy with the results? To say that I was nervous waiting for the trannies to come back from the lab would be an understatement. It still brings a smile to think of how inexperienced I was back then.

How about a favourite image?
Hopefully my next one.

Do you shoot editorial as well as advertising?
No, I only shoot advertising. I can understand the argument that by shooting editorial it allows you to hone your skills and show people what you are capable of but I guess I use my personal work for that. I did do an editorial shoot once as a favour for a friend. It was a great success and got in that magazine's 10 best photos of the year but I find editorial to uncontrolled. With editorial you may go out and get a fantastic shot, or maybe not. There are so many things beyond your control. With advertising you know in advance you're going to get a great shot. You've had time to think of the best approach, you've done your treatment and everything that can be locked down has been. Then, after you've got the shot and the result is in the bag its time to improvise and play around in the hope that you'll get a serendipity moment and something magical will happen. I guess that's kind of like adding an little editorial shoot on at the end. The other reason I don't shoot editorial is the pay rates. I can't understand how anyone makes a living doing it.

Do you find a mix of images in your books is necessary in our local market? What sections of images do you have in your books at the moment?
I believe that having a mix is important in that you never know what brief is coming in next. Is it portraiture or cars or still life etc? We've all heard about the red shoe syndrome and its very much alive and kicking. I think the Australian market in particular is way too small to overly specialise and still expect to remain busy. Overseas you've got a better chance to do that. I once heard a story (possibly apocryphal) of a photographer in New York who was so specialised he only shot broccoli. And only frozen broccoli at that. Now that's specialised. Try making a living in Sydney doing that. The sections of images in my book change quite often but they are divided into commissioned and personal.

How has the GFC affected advertising and photography in general?
A lot of people are vying for their piece of a smaller pie.

What about new techniques in photography. Are new types of cameras impacting on the craft?
Well obviously the rise of digital was the biggie over the last decade. I regard it as both a blessing and a curse. Don't get me wrong, I love the way digital has taken a lot of the technical work out of photography and allows you to concentrate on the creative aspects when on a shoot. No more worrying about whether Mr Schiempflug would agree with your placement of focal planes. No worrying about whether the bellows has a leak in it or whether the lab would stuff up the processing. And so on. Digital allows you to see what you're getting straight away and if anything is wrong with the image you'll know about it there and then rather than tomorrow when the film comes back. And therein lies the problem with digital. It has become so easy to take a well focused, well exposed shot and to see the result instantly that anyone (even the client) can do it. The technical craftsmanship involved in producing an image has been removed and so anyone can pick up a camera and become a photographer overnight. However, as we all know, "oils ain't oils" and images ain't images so our job as professional photographers is to sell based on our "eye", creativity and vision and not on our technical skill. In regard to future developments it will be interesting to see how the manufacturers of medium format gear meet the challenge of ever-improving 35mm cameras. Companies like Canon have such massive R&D advantages over the likes of Hasselblad that I think a shakeup is due in the not-too-distant future. And if Canon brings out a medium format camera as has been speculated I think it would be game over for the current crop of medium format. Then you've got RED cameras coming on stream. The gear they will be releasing next year looks mighty interesting. They will do for movie and TVC film use what digital has done for still film. Its already blurring the line between motion and stills and I think in the future more people will be doing both.

You've shot quite a lot of car photography. What are your thoughts on car photography today and it's future?
Without being too glib, CGI.
Is that one word or three?

You have some wonderful personal projects in your book; America - motels, guns, alligators, etc. Can you talk a bit about these and what inspires you for personal projects?
I've always been interested in America and the way it seems like Australia but with a twist. Its sort of like in those old Star Trek episodes where a transporter malfunction occurs. The person who steps off the transporter pad looks the same as the one who went in but there's a subtle difference. That's the way America appears to me. Its like a bigger version of Australia but one from a parallel universe. Things are almost the same but there are some strange anomalies. With my latest photo essays I tried to focus on some of the things that struck me as odd or different from what we are used to here. The inspiration for personal projects seems to come out of nowhere. A chance encounter or random thought might strike a chord and result in a personal project.

Are you working on a project at the moment?
I have a project that I've been trying on and off for a few years to get off the ground. It would be amazing but barring the development of a close personal friendship with the Turkish President I don't see it happening.

Who would you say are your greatest influences?
I guess the usual suspects spring to mind. Erwin Olaf, Nadav Kender, Gregory Crewdson, David La Chappelle. It changes from time to time and depends on the mood I'm in.

What are your thoughts on social media sites, like flickr, facebook, twitter, etc.?
I'm on Facebook as I regard that as the default standard. Even then I go through hot and cold patches where I'll be active for a week and then not check it for ages. I think I should be more active but the novelty wears off pretty fast.

How about your thoughts on stock libraries and image usage?
Puts on Frankenstein monster voice: "Stock libraries bad. Image usage good."
Allow me to expand on that. Stock libraries are a part of life and although I don't think they do the photographic community any favours they are here to stay. I think the predatory policies of some of the major players are known to most people but business is business and there's not much anyone can do about it. Once it really hits its stride it will be interesting to see how sites such as Flikr impact their business model. The major achievement ten years ago of the ACMP was the securing of copyright for photographers, thereby facilitating our charging for usage on our images. For that I will be eternally grateful. I believe that it should be integral to the business model of any photographer.

Your view on agents / producers?
I can see the value of having an agent/rep and when I first moved to Sydney I had one. It depends on the individual and where they are in the marketplace but I believe that the most important asset you can have in this business is a good producer. Without one it would be extremely difficult to work on high end advertising assignments. The work load of shooting and producing would be too much for one person to handle.I've been extremely fortunate to have worked full time with my producer and business partner Jules Zuppicich for the last six years. In the last two years James Wallis has come on board as well. They are both amazing and I can't speak highly enough of them.

We've formed a joint company called Diamond Firemonkies (DFM) so we can keep photography and production tightly integrated.

This is one of the major selling points for us as from the first contact with an ad agency they know us and they have certainty in regard to who they will be dealing with.

I think its important for Jules and/or James and I to be involved as a team in every step from the initial presentation of the folio right through to the post-retouch follow up of a job.

We model this more on a TVC director/producer arrangement rather than on the traditional photographer/agent model. (I guess that's influenced by the fact that Jules used to be a TVC producer).

I'd wouldn't feel as comfortable if I knew my folio was being taken around with a stack of others by anyone who happened to be free in a rep's office. Likewise, I would think the client would not have as much confidence in getting first rate service if they knew that I was one of a dozen or so photographers that were being represented by a company and that they were going to be assigned either a producer in a next-off-the-rank or possibly freelance basis.

A producer who may be juggling other jobs for other photographers.

At the top end of advertising clients want and indeed expect you to be focused 100% on their job and their job alone.

One on one and available 24/7.

Having full time producers is such an asset when dealing with clients and complicated shoots. So working as a team the level of service and attention to detail that we can deliver is unsurpassed. With even a modest advertising shoot the amount of to-ing and fro-ing from the agency to the producers can be mind boggling. You need to have someone with their eye on the ball the whole time and who can establish a rapport with the art buyer or agency contact. This level of dedicated service is of enormous value to the client and ad agency and we find it engenders a respect and loyalty that I could not achieve as a single operator.

Any advice you can give assistants or anyone first starting out in photography?

Its a different world from the one I started out in. I was just speaking to someone the other day about this and came to the conclusion that I don't know how you would do it now. Work hard and say no to drugs I guess.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Diamond Firemonkies (DFM) P/L

Jules Zuppicich Producer +61 (0) 409 558 459

Gary Sheppard Photographer +61 (0) 418 786 498

http://www.garysheppard.com/

interview with Jeremy Park, Photographer ... from Miniature Village to Largest Book

2009-11-04T20:46:00.044+11:00

How did you first start out in photography?

I started taking photos without career in mind but as a hobby. A family dark room in the house I grew up in Rockhampton and then years later in a Sydney garage darkroom. The whole process of developing film and printing was alluring to me, however, it wasn't until I started working with my brother in law, who is a commercial photographer, that I realised this was actually a profession that I could really enjoy!

How has your folio of work evolved over the years?

I have always been into the story telling angle in photos. I used to use more comic scenarios as the basis of my images, however, I am now attracted to a darker humour. So in line with this my images are literally getting darker.

Do you shoot editorial as well as advertising? What would the mix ratio be and which do you enjoy more?

I started shooting mainly editorial and have slowly moved into nearly all advertising. I think this is more of a reflection on the industry than me though as I like both.

Editorial is great for the challenges that can be placed on you. You become the creative, the director, the producer and the technician all with little time and budget. While also, I conversely like advertising shoots for the larger production values, the process put into creating images and working along side various creative teams. Good editorial briefs are rare nowadays for me and I do miss them. For example the Black and White magazine features I've shot were all intense creatively and therefore quite rewarding when complete.

How about stills on TVCs?

I spent a bit of time working various roles on short films before deciding on stills. So I have some interest here. We shoot a handful of TVC's every year and they are always good fun. The challenges of working with little time and often dim lighting compared to my own productions is something that takes experience and isn't as simple as it may look. I recently shot for DDB on a Glad TVC and although I used little gear and the brief was simple enough, it was the lens and camera combination pushed to the limit of what would render sharp, non grainy and colourful images that made the shoot work. When pushing the technical aspects of what your gear can do, you need to balance the associated risks wisely.

What would you like to see change about advertising photography in general?

The old problem of good ideas being buried by advertisers is unfortunately not changing fast enough for mine. The RTA buried the waving the pinkie campaign (is that what's it was called?) for 2 years before releasing it to win awards. Makes you wonder how many other great concepts get lost in time. It seems to me the general public could probably grasp a higher level of creativity thrown at them than given credit for. Although, I did have to explain why the girl in the recent Telstra ad was called Melanie to someone the other week.

How has the GFC affected advertising, editorial and photography in general?

Budgets in general have been slashed and images are recycled more and more. I feel overall it will be a cleansing period for photographers where many will not see it economically viable to continue in the industry. Look at the price of high end digital cameras falling through the floor.

However, the most interesting area affected for me is the Internet. The GFC has made it more a more attractive space to advertise in by being comparatively cheap. Along with environmental reasons and that more people use the net everyday, we have a few factors pushing it to suddenly be the number one media. Unfortunately photography hasn’t garnished a strong position on the net, at this stage, which now has 30% of all advertising budgets spent on it. For example, I used to shoot ads for the major banks consistently, however, now so many people use online banking I see in-branch posters don’t have the same money put into them. So the GFC is catalyst for photographers to think about changes to their practice and new medias.

New techniques and equipment continue to impact on the craft of photography. What is your view on this?

I love that cameras continue to deliver higher resolution, less noise, preview images faster on larger screens and now HD as we all know. I was even reading about a guy who has done a PHD on how to re-focus an image after it was taken. Seriously! Although the fundamental elements to a good picture are not effected by technology much, it has eased the process. Black and white printing in dark rooms still has it's place though and is something I have thought about getting back into one day in the future.

New cameras have also raised the issue of clients now buying there own comparatively (to the past) cheap gear and not requiring photographers for simple shoots. This I feel will continue and that's cool, but it will work out to have it's place. Essentially the easy money brief has disappeared. I do however imagine some clients are now shooting themselves in the foot more often by taking on projects where the technical aspects may not have been apparent until the shoot unravels before them! Again, experience is one of the main attributes a client pays for.

As far as biting off more technology than I can chew goes, I have actually been shooting a few HD videos and even recording and syncing sound. I am taking a slow approach to one day offering video on some projects when it suits the still project I am working on. Recently Curtis Jones Brown asked me to shoot a video as part of a pitch for them. It was the perfect way to test the water and push myself. Editing and directing your subject with sound recording isn't easy! So its good to know your limits when handling new technology. I look forward to finding a niche here, which maybe very handy for internet based applications.

You've done some really interesting projects over the years; Homage to Magritte, Miniature Village, Largest Book. What is the story behind each?

The homage to Magritte was originally to be a homage to Jeffery Smart. It was essentially a self devised work in order to build a more interesting folio so I could approach ad agencies and offer something creative. It worked well and somehow I still get calls from people wanting to buy prints. I have been asked to shoot other artist homages, however, I feel its been done now.

The miniature village was a great find. It looked set up and highly stylised, however, for my part it was pure documentary. Something I hadn't done much of previously. Ian put over 15 years of hard work into that mini village so I felt very privileged to have his permission to take on the project of shooting it and being able to give it a new interpretation and audience.

We have also just printed possibly the largest and smallest books ever in Australia with Digital Press. It was really a challenge to shoot a whole book in one day due to time constraints, so I came up with simple idea we could pull off. We set up a simple studio on Bourke street and shot close ups of passersby, asking them for a few quick shots and a few words of advice. The book is called " footpath philosophers"... When opened it's about 3 meters wide!! The camera’s resolution was pushed, but handled the job well. I was so impressed that I contacted the camera company to let them know.

Personal projects aren't cheap, even the portraits on Bourke street cost me a few thousand all up. (I blew the largest and most expensive flash tube available). However, all personal projects usually pay back in time through new commissions. I would have to say the Magritte series was perhaps the most profitable shoot I've ever done. The trick of course with personal work is having good ideas. I wish I had them more often.

What inspires you for personal projects?

Personal projects are something I used to work hard on to start my career. Now they are something that I do only when a good enough idea comes up. I am actually (very slowly)building a house in the country, so power tools tend to get more time than the camera on weekends at the moment. I figure I'll try and pursue art photography when older or when this house gets finished. My uncles grandfather, Bertram Park, published a photography book called "A Study of Sunlight and the Female Form". Maybe I'll follow on with that path?

Do you have a most memorable shoot and favourite image?

If I were to hang one of my own photos on a wall in my own house - I guess I'd choose this one from the miniature village series.

What are your thoughts on social media sites, like flickr, etc.?

I really don't have any time for social networking sites. I guess I would rather have a drink with someone than share a twitter. Can you share a twitter?

How about your thoughts on stock photography and image usage?

Stock imagery is a tricky one. I might consider selling some of my images via a stock library, but feel they are usually too cheap and cluttered. Getty is as near as you get the photographer’s to arch enemy as they try to subvert the careers of photographers, art buyers and photographic producers. I just hope good quality photographers don't feel the need to become economic slaves as large stock libraries try to take over the industry. Of course that is a bit hard-line and I acknowledge their place. It just seems to be homogenising of creativity and I sincerely hope agencies don't make too many deals with them for all of our sakes.

Image usage is also a tricky one. If anyone could produce the image in question then I guess royalties seem unjustifiable, so the question is: have you produced a creative work that warrants your name to be put on it? I think about this when quoting.

Photographers are really in the same camp as actors, writers, musicians, illustrators and fine artists. All have the copyright over their creative work. I do, however, feel that royalties could be better spread across the whole creative team when that is justifiable. Designers and art directors sometimes seem to get a bit of a raw deal in my opinion. Without image usage though a lot of good photographers would struggle as their clients don't shoot a new campaign, but would rather rehash older work more and more in these economic times.

Your view on agents and producers?

I have worked along side a few freelance producers and have also worked with a few photographic agents. For me, the ‘one photographer and freelance producer combo’ is ideal. I like to be pretty much over all areas of a shoot and feel with an agent this isn't as easy. Currently I work with Corina Slack, who came from Universal Music where she was a label manager handling large budgets, budgets we could only dream of! However, as good friends and work colleagues we offer a personal approach to our clients that I feel is better for everyone involved.

Bite Me was a good example of a fair sized production using a freelance producer and working as a two man team to oversee multiple aspects of a shoot. Various talent from street and agency, a large crew with food, hair and clothes stylists, meetings and client relations as it was direct with no agency, conceptualisation of ideas from beginning and large shot list over two days and then finally retouching.

Any advice you can give assistants or anyone first starting out in photography?

My advice is don't pay to study at one of the private photography schools. But rather learn as an assistant and shoot personal work. I think at least 2 or 3 years full time assisting should expose you to enough variety to take what you want to add into your own style of working. If you can assist a photographer that you earn respect from, then ask to borrow gear for personal work so you have a chance to be hands on with good gear. I would be wary of commercial photographers that haven't done time as an assistant.

Some of my favourites ...

PHOTOGRAPHER +61(0)415 850 575

ah ... a remix

2009-10-25T17:03:00.001+11:00

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/10/22/editor-vs-photographer/

look hugh's talking

2009-10-03T14:16:00.010+10:00

... a catch up with L.A. based photographer Hugh Hamilton when he was in town recently - one sunny, post dust storm, Sydney afternoon.

AD: A few words about you, Hugh?

HH: I’ve been a photographer for twenty years. I trained at Studio Ben Ericcson in Edgecliff with guys like Grant Mathews and Paul Austin. In the beginning I shot a lot of theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir St. And I was shooting portraiture for Vogue, Follow Me and mags like that. Mid nineties I wound up in advertising almost accidently. I shot campaigns for Volvo, Qantas, lots of CBA stuff. The theatre never left my blood so along the way I did a lot of work for Sydney Dance Company.

AD: You worked for many years in Sydney and now for quite a few in L.A. How do they compare? What are the big differences?

HH: Size! Los Angeles and America are GIGANTIC. I was in at Saatchi’s here in LA seeing Simon Mainwaring (another Aussie) and I walked past the art room, which held around three hundred portfolios for art directors to look at. I'm not kidding. I don't think you could find three hundred portfolios in Sydney. That was a few years ago and since then it does seem to have gone almost totally online. Much easier and cheaper for everyone!

AD: What brings you back to Sydney?

HH: I come once or twice a year, depending on the state of the business. I’d like to end up back here. Its nicer, the foods better. And people answer the phone when you call them.

AD: How is life in L.A.?

HH: A roller coaster, particularly in the current economy.

AD: Tell me about your recent shoots in L.A. People, locations, etc.

HH: See above. Los Angeles is a very big place. Lots of driving. Lots of flying. LAX is a horrible place to commute from and I seem to do it a lot. But that is a huge difference between the countries. In Sydney no one ever seemed to go anywhere much but here you really rack the frequent flyer points up.

AD: What would be your fondest memory to date of a shoot in L.A.? What have been the high points and low points?

HH: The low point was definitely the first year, when person after person would look at my book and say “I can see you know what you’re doing, but I have no idea who you are” It took me ages to see things the way they see them here. I was used to being a pretty good craftsman but I had never tried to inject my personality into my commercial work. Here they want that. They want to see total specialisation and a true expression of your deepest passions. High points? Shooting Gabriel Byrne for the movie Jindabyne in New York. He was just a lovely man who gave me as much time as I needed.

AD: What would be the balance of editorial V’s advertising jobs?

HH: Oh I’m an editorial photographer here! I think I will crack ads eventually. The book makes much more sense now, its much more an expression of my interests and personality than just my skills. I have bid on a few things which at least means they know who I am now! And I do a fair amount of just straight commercial work, direct to client. Good honest photography.

AD: How has the GFC affected advertising, editorial and photography in L.A.?

HH: Rates are getting hammered, as they are everywhere. And everyone is whinging about how slow it is. And the writers strike didn’t help. LA’s industry is the film industry. This town was suffering before the GFC. It just made it worse!

AD: What would you say most dominates your folio at the moment?

HH: Location portraiture, both celebrity and real people. I didn’t realise they were separate categories till I came here! I always thought people were just people.

AD: What inspires you for personal projects?

HH: Human beings. They are endlessly fascinating. And beyond strange.

AD: Who would you say are your greatest influences?

HH: Anything that takes my breath away! The guys that are out there in their own little world. Matt Mahurin, Javier Vallonhrat, Bill Brandt. I have no idea if you can see it in my work but I just love photographers who seem to have invented their own genre.

AD: Do you have a favourite shoot / shot?

HH: My ten minutes with Steve Martin. We didn’t exchange more than ten words but I wasn’t there to be his friend. I had ten minutes and its a great shot. I just totally wanted to be a fan and I couldn’t be. It was incredibly generous of him to be part of my project and I wasn't going to fuck it up by behaving like a starstruck puppy.

AD: What are your thoughts on social media sites, like flickr, etc.?

HH: Facebook and I are very close. Flickr I haven’t looked at in years. I finally started to realise I was happy with my own work now when I stopped looking at everyone else’s.

AD: How about your thoughts on stock photography and usage?

HH: Oh, we’re getting screwed, what else is there to say. Its just economics. Too many people with too many cameras and the cameras are too good now. That said, creativity and talent will always be needed but the immense flood of imagery that digital photography produced only shows you that the market actually doesn’t need that much creativity...it just wanted a picture to put at the top of the page and a buck on istock will get them that. I recently had an Australian agency offer me two thousand dollars to shoot a celebrity here for a national campaign back home. Two thousand inclusive of all costs! And they wanted 24 months outdoor, print, collateral and internet usage for that. After I picked myself up off the floor I found that they had found someone here to do it for fifteen hundred dollars! And you know the celeb is costing them a couple of hundred grand. Its just rude now, and because the cameras are cheap and the quality is amazing there are more and more people out there having a go. Thats their right, but oversupply means the price of what we do is coming down.
Its just economics.

AD: Your view on agents / producers?

HH: Worth every penny.

AD: Any thoughts on returning to Australia? Why?

HH: I have two daughters. I don’t want Hollywood teenagers...and Australia is wonderful. You can't imagine what they think is a beach in California - it just doesn't compare.

AD: Where to next? Have you got any interesting projects or exhibitions lined up?

HH: I’m still working on the Rosebud project with Gia Carides - hopefully it will be a book both here in the US and in Australia. My Australian agent loves the idea and is going gangbusters to set up the shoots down there when I next visit. If you’ve ever seen Citizen Kane you’ll know that rosebud was Kane’s childhood sled. And that's the idea. People with an essentially meaningless object that means everything to them - objects that they have dragged through their lives for no reason but
that their life would be emptier without it. Steve Martin’s was the magician’s hat he bought when he was eleven. Mine is a hairbrush that was a christening present...its been everywhere with me and still sits on my desk. I don’t have enough hair anymore for it to do any good!

AD: Anything else you’d like to share about ad land and photography?

HH: I think fifty per cent of what I’ve done in the last year has just been for the web.
So we better get used to it!

AD: Thanks Hugh.

All Images © Hugh Hamilton

Hugh Hamilton
http://www.hughhamiltonphotography.com
http://wipasnapa.com/hughhamilton/
USA (310) 633 3396

print media today

2009-10-03T12:16:00.000+10:00

this link was emailed to me by a photographer. it's sadly and embarrassingly, funny and familiar .....

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090929103500534