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ASMP 'Best Of' Questionnaire
Then and Now: Photographers from the ASMP Collection Discuss Their Careers

The ASMP Collection at George Eastman House includes works taken over many years by top-notch photographers. We interviewed some of them for this article.


You can see some of the images mentioned below in the Summer 2005 'Best Of' edition of the ASMP Bulletin, freely available as a PDF file.

Barbara Bordnick

Web site: www.barbarabordnick.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

Tommy Tune - This was a portrait done as part of a series for GEO Magazine on "Broadway Gypsies" — men and women who are in chorus lines in Broadway shows. Tommy directed "NINE". I photographed him and the "gypsies" in his show for this story. He is so long, lanky and flexible, but I wanted him folded up a bit and more intimate. I believe that I was teasing him about trying to fit his body into my lens. Obviously, he was a joy to work with.

What about your recent image?

The Secret Landscapes of Flowers. I began working on the flowers in 2001 because a model didn’t show up. Canon sent several of us a D-30 camera to try when they first came out and said they needed pictures for publicity. I booked a couple of Alvin Ailey dancers, a man and a woman, and there was a miscommunication with the booking. The studio was set up and I had assistants, so I’d already incurred expenses. My studio is right near the Union Square Market and I always have flowers in the summer, so I said “Let’s just shoot these damn things.” I was really annoyed with myself. I took the set down and arranged something with the flowers really quickly. I took a shot and looked at the back of the camera and it looked really incredible. I thought “Everything looks so good on the back of these things.” I did another shot and it looked even more amazing, so I said, “We better put this in the computer because it’s looking too good.” I did and looked at it and said, “I’ve never been here before and nor has anyone else. I don’t know why, but no one else has been here.” So I started photographing flowers. But it’s a totally emotional relationship I have with the flowers, so nobody can really do it in the same way. That’s how it happened. And since I’m not interested in shooting tabletop commercially, I knew it was a book. Because it’s digital, I could make my own prints. That’s why I love shooting digitally.

When did you begin your career in photography?

It was probably 1968.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

I started out only interested in fashion photography, and I was very successful and, because of that, I was offered very unusual opportunities for a fashion photographer. I did work that a lot of fashion photographers didn’t do. I did annual reports and I did lots of different things, because I had wonderful art director clients working at magazines that didn’t have fashion but wanted me to do something for them, from my point of view.

Really, all the work I got was because I was a fashion photographer, even when it wasn’t fashion. I handled people a certain way and had a certain style. I knew how to make people feel good and look good. And whatever else the art director thought I knew how to do, often having much more confidence in me than I did.

I was asked to direct a campaign of commercials because I did the print campaign and the art director saw the film as I was shooting the print – but they had to talk me into doing it. I thought they were crazy! (and told them so.)

In 1979, Polaroid commissioned me to do the project which would introduce the 8x10 Polaroid to the market. I was a 35 mm shooter. I didn’t know how to use an 8x10 camera.

I did some digital work very early on, with the Leaf back on the Hasselblad. Very early, when it was still only black & white. I did a series of black & white nudes and they were very beautiful, and while I liked it, I didn’t know what I was doing. The files were terrible because I saved them only when they were adjusted to look like what I liked, instead of saving the files as they were shot. It was fun, but I wasn’t ready to go out and spend $100,000 on equipment, so I went very happily back to my film.

Then the New York Times Magazine asked me, because I had experience working digitally and I understood the process, to do a story that was shot with 2¼ film and composited digitally. It was a story about the Stettheimer sisters, famous patronesses of the arts. Florence was a painter, and she made a scale model of their apartment, including all the amazing artwork they had collected. She was having a post-mortem show at the Whitney. David Levinthal shot the scale model and I shot the fashion, and it was composited by a digital artist.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

I’ve always done my best work when I do something I’ve never done before. And I have no idea how to do it. I’m completely self-taught. I have no background in photography; my background is in fashion design and fine art. I don’t see myself as a risk taker at all, I think of myself as a perfectionist, and a classicist. When I go at something, it always has to be my way. And when it has to be your way, it’s always going to be different than someone else's. It always comes down to the same thing for me: It always has to be simple. I don’t like complicated.

For the most complicated things, like digital, which seemed so complicated at first, I have a great assistant I work with who makes it simple for me. He teaches me just what I need to know. I’m really good at it now. And I’m not interested in the technical parts of it. What interests me is, ‘what can it do for me?’ It was the same thing with the 8x10: I used to pull that camera and push it. Since I was a 35 mm shooter, if I was going to like the 8X10 camera, it had to do the same thing for me, but better. So I made it do what I wanted it to do for me. And the photographs were remarkably spontaneous for that format.

I also worked for Lears. Lears was a magazine for women over 40. No one would give us clothes because they didn’t want their clothes on old ladies. None of the models would work for us because they thought they’d never work again. None of the model agencies would give us models because they thought their models wouldn’t work again. The photographers that the editor had worked with before wouldn’t work with her because they didn’t want to photograph “old ladies.” And I was about to become that age so I was perfect for it. We managed to produce some amazing work for that magazine, some of the best editorial work being done in this country at the time. I did beautiful photographs of older women but didn’t get other work because my portfolio didn’t have Christie Turlington and Linda Evangelista in it, it had older women. Now, however, it’s very chic to have an older woman in every campaign. We did it way first, but we couldn’t get anyone interested because it was Lear’s. It wasn’t Vogue or W or Calvin Klein. So, unless you’re working for the right client, I think that being ahead of your time is worse than being late. Not much large format portraiture was being done, so I think I was ahead of the curve in that medium.

I also was ahead of the times when I directed my first TV commercials. We won Clios for these (it was a JC Penney campaign) but there was no other real fashion advertising on TV at the time because fashion was “small” budget advertising before licensing. Calvin Klein was the first to come along with his Jeans campaign and that was long after my foray into TV.

I just dive into these things, do it and find my way. It just has to say what I want to say. And somehow I’ve always figured out a way to do it, and surrounded myself with people who could help me get there, understood what I wanted, or whatever.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

I think first was the fact that I started at Harpers Bazaar in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. Getting the opportunity to work for Harpers Bazaar, then the Polaroid 8x10 project, and then the commercials. That was in 1977-78. Polaroid gave me the 8x10 project after I got the Clios for the commercials. It was a very fertile time.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

Looking back, I’ve never been aggressive in promoting myself. I’ve always been very fortunate to get great editorial assignments or whatever. I’d probably be more aggressive with agents and promoting myself.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

Getting a job as an assistant. Nobody would hire girls. Getting started as a photographer’s assistant was a huge hurdle. It took me a year in Paris in 1965-66, then nine months in the States. I finally worked for somebody for nothing. I was following his work and I called him.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

When I started, I didn’t want to be a photographer. I wanted to be a fashion photographer. And I didn’t want to be just a fashion photographer; I wanted to be a fashion photographer working for Harpers Bazaar, which was the best magazine in the world at the time. I really believe that if you know what you want and if you really believe in it, you’ll get there. Be focused and know what it is you’re trying to say. I had a very specific point of view about fashion, I thought, at the time. All my work has the same point of view. The film looks the same as the portraits, the same as the fashion, as my flowers. My flowers are just the same as my nudes. Because it’s all me. And if you’re really, really honest about your work and about how you feel about something, then it can only be yours.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

It’s totally financial. We used to be able to get a camera and a couple of lenses and a strobe and we were photographers. Some people started out really big; if you were photographing food, you needed a kitchen in the studio. But today, photographing digitally, you need a lot of expensive equipment and it’s changing all the time. The amount of investment is much greater. Cameras are $10,000 to $60,000 and in two or three years, there will be better ones. The files get so large that computers need to be bigger and faster and so we must purchase new ones every couple of years.

The other thing is that there are so many talented photographers out there, and there’s less work. The competition is fierce.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

Bob Richardson was a huge influence. Richard Avedon made me look at photography instead of just the fashion. Jay Maisel was an inspiration and a business mentor. Henry Sandbank as well. David Langley told me never to turn down a job. He said “If you don’t know how to do it, I’ll show you how to do it and I’ll lend you all the equipment you want.”

As far as influences: The Photo Successionists, who were my favorite photographers when I first started. I know I’m forgetting someone. The wonderful Art Directors I worked with. Karen Brown from Daytons was amazing, Mary K. Baumann from Geo, Bea Feitler and Ruth Ansel from Harpers Bazaar.

And, perhaps most of all, painting. The impressionists, the Dutch masters, Rembrandt.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

Nobody ever gave me any advice. Jay was a very good business mentor. He gave me business advice as far as how to deal with people. But I never had a mentor per se, until after I was already a professional. That’s one of the things I regret the most. Most people already have a community; I had none. Professional organizations are very important because they are your community. ASMP was my first community.

I think the reason I moved up so quickly to be president of ASMP was because I had a big mouth. And I’m very articulate. I was able to communicate, and I was the bridge between the advertising photographers and the editorial photographers. I believe we lost advertising photographers when I was no longer president. Nobody understood the lack of patience in the advertising community. In advertising, everybody wants something yesterday, and you have to deliver it yesterday. They’ll pay for it, but you’ve got to deliver it, and advertising photographers are the same. “I don’t want to hear what the editorial people's problems are, I don’t want to hear what the annual report people's problems are, that’s their fucking problem. I got a problem I want it solved now. I’ll pay for it, tell me how much it’s going to cost, but I want it solved now,” is the advertising photographer’s way of thinking/functioning. “Well we’ll have to have a meeting about that” was everyone else’s. And that’s how we lost them. I think I understood them, how to keep them at bay. And Henry was a hugely successful commercial photographer, so he too understood them. Before us, the tradition was more editorial, and even after. They trusted us and we understood what they were talking about. And we wanted the same thing they did. They knew that if we could wait, they could wait, and if we said we’d get it done, we’d get it done.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

Make sure you have a very strong point of view and be faithful to it; it separates you from everyone else. You need to believe in your work so produce work you can believe in.Shoot from the heart.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

As digital becomes more accessible and universally accepted, so will the demand for alternative processes, so I believe photography as we know it will be around for a while. Global consumption and the internet will make photographers have to be ever more diligent in protecting their work and more imaginative in ways to license it.

Brian Lanker

Web site: www.brianlanker.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection and the image selected from your recent work.

This image was one of a number of pictures I did with Elle MacPherson in Tahitian Waters, shot for the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated in 1985.

What about your more recent image?

This portrait of Septima Clark is from the cover of my project about black women in America, which resulted in the book To Dream A World.

When did you begin your career in photography?

My professional career started during college. I took photography during high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and then I went to Phoenix College and studied Photography and the Fine Arts. During college, I went to work a summer job at the Phoenix Gazette. It must have been about 1967. At the end of the summer they offered me a full time job, so I took that and worked there for three years. After that, I went to Topeka, Kansas, to work for Rich Clarkson and worked there for five years. Then I went to Eugene, Oregon, and became the Director of Photography and Graphics at the Eugene Register Guard. While there, I was also freelancing for Life Magazine and Sports Illustrated. I worked there for eight years and left in 1982 to go totally freelance. Doing magazines, book projects, national and international advertising photography and documentary film projects.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

Computers. The other change in my career has been the income.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

I’m shooting digitally, but not all of my clients have gotten there yet, so I’m still shooting film as well, but certainly a number of them are quite comfortable with digital. Everything is computerized, whether it’s equipment in the field or in the office. It’s an office full of computers and hard drives, and printers, and scanners. It’s just major; I would say it’s a Jeckell-and-Hyde. It’s made a hell of a lot of things easier and a hell of a lot more work. I don’t like the fact that computers sometimes have a mind of their own.

I think this can have some very detrimental effects if you’re not careful. Fear of the unknown has driven many a photographer, fear of not knowing for sure what you have in that camera. And it has pushed you further. Instead of saying “I’ve got it” and walking away, you continue to work and explore. Many times, that exploration brought you into even better images, and you broke through a boundary that separated you and the subject matter. I think if you’re not careful, if you start paying too much attention to what you think is already in there, and if you quit too early, it’s a big mistake. So I continually try to be cognizant of that and continually push and remember that that’s an important part of the process.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Having spent time with all the great women from my book project. I Dream A World was one of the more memorable photographic experiences I’ve had. This was a self-generated project that spanned two years. It was a drum beat I kept encountering, of these African American women who were so important, were pioneers, and yet not really recognized as much as they needed to be, either alone or as a group. The whole time, their accomplishments took place under double discrimination; they were not only black, they were women. The funder for this was Eastman Kodak. I wasn’t in the position to be able to afford the travel and expenses for two years all over the country. Although I maintained a little bit of editorial and advertising work, I basically curtailed my assignment work greatly during that time.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have gotten into learning computers much earlier. I probably got into computers about five years ago, and it easily could have started five years before that. I just drug my feet. I kind of got forced into learning it, when I was directing the documentary film They Drew Fire: Combat Artists of WWII. We were probably dealing with about 1,200 pieces of artwork that we had to edit down and work into the film in one form or the other. The only real way to deal with this was through computer files. So it was a matter of having to go to the computer one day, and then you’re into it, and you have to learn a little more. Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to surround myself with people who are more knowledgeable and who could really help me out. So when I yelled help, they could really help me out.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

I think one of the big hurdles now is dealing with storage of all these digital files. And I don’t know how we’re going to solve that yet. I tend to be one who doesn’t like to do heavy edits, because I think photographs take on a different meaning and a different importance down the road, historically for one reason or another. That means a lot of hard drive storage. That’s kind of a continual concern here. Early on we were burning things to CD’s but we all know those aren’t going to last forever. It’s even questionable as to whether they’ll last 10 years. So that’s an ongoing problem. Currently we’re basically buying lots of hard drives to deal with this.

One of the things I’ve seen that’s happened, we were talking about Jeckell and Hyde…. the need to have a highly skilled photographer is no longer the case, because of the computers. There are art directors who will go out and shoot photographs and piece it together and play with it on the computer and turn it into something that looks rather avant guard and works wonderfully for the ad. So I’ve seen a change there. There are photographs where, ten years ago I’d shoot it on one sheet of film and it was a technical success, people today would look at it and say – oh that’s Photoshop. The need to have a photographer who can pull everything together on one piece of film is kind of going by the wayside. It’s kind of unfortunate, but I’m not crying in my beer.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

The important thing for me has been, for many years, to generate your own ideas. That’s really where the love of photography is really going to take hold. Do you want to sit around and wait for the phone to ring when somebody decides to offer you an assignment? or are you going to generate your own projects that are uniquely yours and then go photograph those and find a way to sell those as a story or book or project? That’s really the key for me. Let’s start with the premise that it’s a good story idea and then that the execution of it is really good. Is that salable? Of course it is. So, if it’s a bad story idea and mediocre photographs, forget it. But if it’s a good story idea and they’re good photographs, finding a market for that is not difficult. It happens very quickly.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

I think the challenges are many, and everybody’s challenge is going to be different. You can be a terrific photographer, but if you don’t really have much of a journalistic instinct for stories, that’s going to be your challenge. And if you have great journalistic instincts but you’re not that good visually, that’s going to be your challenge. Or if you have great ideas and you’re a great photographer, but you’re just too damn shy to get out there and approach people and sell them on the story, that’s going to be your challenge. Your challenge will depend on what your strengths and weaknesses are. I know some close friends who are terrific photographers who are just too shy; they want to call somebody up and start out with “You wouldn’t be interested in these photographs, would you?” You know. Of course not; I wouldn’t be, you wouldn’t be either. This isn’t a photographic problem, it’s a confidence problem.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

The two most important people would be my college professor, Allen Dutton, who taught Photography and the Fine Arts. He really just exposed me to and opened up the sensitivity of the photographer and the camera.

The other individual would be Rich Clarkson. He was the Director of Photography for the Topeka Capital Journal, then at Geographic for a while and now has his own company. He took that sensitivity and artistic training and really gave it a heavy dose of journalism. It was a demanding dose. He was like, “Yes, these photos might be beautiful, but do they tell a story? What’s the journalistic importance here?” It was really the merging of those two that really benefited me more than anything. Rich said, “Hey wait a minute, you’re not talking to yourself here – you have readers. You have people who are coming to this to learn something, and what are you feeding them? You’re working for them.”

When working at Topeka, you didn’t wait for an editor to hand you an assignment. We were required to come up with our own story ideas. We often would write text for that story as well. We always wrote the captions. We also did the layouts, we wrote the headlines. We were really immersed in the total journalistic endeavor. Isn’t it interesting that, at this age, I’m still finding my own stories. Going out and pulling them together, even doing some writing doing interviews. So it really wasn’t a far cry from what I was being taught at Topeka for a number of years.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

People are always talking about the death of photojournalism. It hasn’t quite died yet, but it is shrinking. Within that, we have to remember that there will always, forever, be room for someone who is very good. So, if you want to get into it, and you want to work, to be really good, you’ll be OK. But if it’s kind of, “Well it’s fun and, gee, I don’t do anything else very well, I’ll do this….” Good luck! If you’re going to be really good and pay the necessary dues, you’ll be fine.

I really believe in workshops, where you get a chance to be critiqued. And God knows there are plenty of those around the country, and there are plenty of really good photographers out there teaching them. But in the meantime, if somebody young came to me — say they were in high school — and they said, “I really think I want to do this, what would you suggest I do?” I’d tell them “Take your photography classes, take computer classes, take journalism classes and take art classes.” Because it’s all those things and you need to be good at all of them.

I don’t want to be too simplistic, but I’ve often used this technique throughout my career, and it’s how I often look and judge other photographs. When I’m critiquing my own work, I try to imagine it was shot by another photographer, one whose work I didn’t like. “OK, I’ve never really liked that persons work, now that person shot this photograph, now what do you think of it?” All of a sudden you start getting tougher on it. We know too much. We’re too willing to cut ourselves a little bit of slack.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

I’ve always loved the photography of Michael O’Brien, out of Austin, Texas. I absolutely love it. I’ve always felt impressed and moved by Greg Heisler’s work. And John Loengard has had an incredible eye through the years. John’s pictures are very interesting. He sees things in a wonderful way.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

I really don’t know. As I said earlier, the death bell of photojournalism has been sounded many times, and yet it continues to rise from the ashes. Now, does it rise stronger than before? I’m not sure about that; but it does rise. There are just so many photo projects out there that interest me, it’s almost like I just don’t have time to worry about it. I mean, I do, but I don’t. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, but I need to be doing this other thing here. I just want to keep moving forward. I suppose once it stops fulfilling and educating me, then I’m done. Then you are just going through the motions and it’s time to be replaced by somebody else.

Cosimo Scianna

Web site: www.cosimoandcompany.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

The image of the shoe on the street was shot in 1983. It was pre-computer time when most of my work was done in-camera. It was done for a shoe company. The idea was for this lonely shoe to be left behind after a night of year-end celebration. The headline was “Happy New Year”. It was shot in my studio with a miniature set built of the city street that was comprised partially of prints from photographs I had taken in the middle of 5th Avenue one early Sunday morning. The final shot was on 35 mm Kodachrome.

What about your recent image?

This is from a series of fine-art images I’ve been working on, inspired by my fascination with the aesthetic of the Chinese artisan and the exquisite beauty of the orchid plant.

When did you begin your career in photography?

I began my career in photography in 1965 after working for a time as an art director and illustrator.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

After a long and successful career as an advertising photographer, I turned my attention toward commercial filmmaking becoming a director/cinematographer, using my talents in lighting, composition and design honed during my still photography career. Recently I have turned my attention to fine and decorative art photography, garnering gallery shows and licensing opportunities.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

The recognition of my talent and creativity by my peers, through the many awards I have received for my work as photographer, director and cinematographer.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

I don’t look back...I look forward to new opportunities and challenges.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

I never looked at hurdles…only opportunities.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

The ever-changing technology. It seems today, photographers spend more time learning about new and changing equipment and software than they do in creating original images. Generally, they seem to be guided more by the technique than the originality of the concept.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

You have to make your own opportunities, but, of course, there are people along the way who guide you. Mrs. Monte (my first grade teacher) for recognizing the artist in me, my parents for allowing me to follow that artistic path and The School of Art and Design for teaching me about the world of art.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

My father once told me, “Believe nothing of what you hear and half of what you see.” My advice is: Do not accept NO for an answer, stay focused and be true to your vision.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

There are too many to list. I view all things that exist around me through a unique perspective, one that has been colored by my experience, my upbringing and those people and events that have touched me.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

Visionaries will rise to the top. Learning how to mix paint or master the computer does not make one a great artist or photographer. Ideas have the greatest power. Another quote I like very much is, “Bells and whistles. Last refuge of the insecure and talentless.”

Do you have any additional insights or stories to add?

Although the computer and the internet have revolutionized and democratized how we communicate and do business, the challenge today is how to maintain ones humanity and individuality in the way we reach out to the people, including clients, around us.

Dick Durrance II

Web site: www.drinkerdurrance.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection

This was

shot for Gallo Wines. This was one of my first major advertising assignments and it melded my instinctive way of seeing with the commercial requirements of the assignment.

What about your recent image?

This image also melded my instinctive way of seeing with requirement to show the character of a golf course.

When did you begin your career in photography?

1964. My first assignment was to photograph a canoe trip down the Danube River for National Geographic.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

I’ve migrated through a wide variety of photographic fields—outdoor adventures like the Danube trip, combat photography in Vietnam, National Geographic staff, annual reports and international advertising campaigns, panorama images of National Parks for posters still distributed globally, and now golf courses (for developers) and the golfers who play them (for books). I have recently been discovering my first negatives, taken when I was a 17 year old kid on my first road trip, and am seeing in those contact sheets one picture after another that I would be proud to shoot tomorrow (after 40 years as a professional photographer). This has convinced me that we are all born with natural instincts and that we build on a variety of lives and careers around those gifts. My instinctive way of seeing and photographing has remained constant as I have moved through my various photographic careers.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time? Please describe the most important aspects of this.

The different fields of photography required different format cameras—35 for combat and NGS, medium format for advertising, panorama for the parks, and large format for car photography. In addition I plunged into the chemical trays in a black & white darkroom to print the Vietnam images and to explore black & white landscape images. But none of those adaptations holds a candle to learning the computer skills that have been necessary for my conversion to digital.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Winning ASMP’s Advertising Photographer of the Year Award, which I received in 1987.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

No.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

Learning the technical skills that are required to capture the images I see.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

Vision without craft will not be manifest.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

Finding and holding on to his or her natural vision and learning the technical skills necessary to capturing the images.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

Easily the most important person in my career was Bob Gilka, the Director of Photography at National Geographic, who somehow sensed that I could do it before I had done it.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

Follow and trust your instinctive vision.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

Take full advantage of the technical and visionary opportunities that the digital revolution has brought to our doorstep.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

The power of the images comes from the vision, not the technology, so I look forward to seeing the creative insights that following generations bring to us.

Jay Maisel

Web site: www.jaymaisel.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection and the image selected from your recent work.

All of these images were shot for me & were selected on an intuitive ("I like it") basis.

When did you begin your career in photography?

1954.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

I’ve stopped doing commercial work and now shoot for myself.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

I shot b/w and color until the 60’s when I started shooting exclusively in color. In 2000 I started shooting exclusively digital.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Surviving.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

I still haven’t figured it out.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

Youth, then. Age, now.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

Obviously not.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

An intense bottom line mentality.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

Andreas Feininger, Irving Penn, Ernst Haas, Arnold Newman, Robert Frank.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

Walk slower.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

Love what you do, and do what you love.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

Gregory Heisler, Irving Penn, Arnold Newman, Stephen Wilkes, Seth Resnick.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

Unlike everyone else, I have no idea.

Lou Jacobs Jr.

Web site: No website. Twenty fine art photographs can be found on Art-Exchange.com under photography category.

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

About the Edward Weston image: After 1950 I visited Edward several times a year, having met him in 1949 when I was finishing Art Center School. He had Parkinson’s disease, and didn’t talk much, but when I showed him prints of my 4x5 black and white work, I was always pleased when he’d say, “Good seeing.” He died in 1958.

The photograph is part of a series I made of Artists of Southern California, and he was the exception geographically. Among other artists was Man Ray who lived in Hollywood, CA in the late 40s. The complete series was purchased a few years ago by the California State Library, and several of the images are included in some of the how-to photography books I’ve written. I selected the Weston photography because it is so expressive of the quiet man, a genius and great influence in photography, and his cat in his sparsely furnished living room. At one time he had 40 cats and did a beautiful book about them. Edward was a huge influence on my photography that was then in an early phase.

When did you begin your career in photography?

I began my photo career in 1950 as a photojournalist after graduating Art Center School (now College). I established myself as a magazine photographer for five years, went to Europe for six months, returned and continued to build a following among editors, Later as an ASMP board member for many years, and president 1984-85, I had opportunities to visit editors after ASMP New York board meetings.

Career change: In 1960 I wrote my first how-to photography book and followed it with 15 more for Amphoto. During that era I also started writing and illustrating children’s books and did about 21, some of which I illustrated photographically for other authors. I’ll enclose a complete list of my books.

I haven’t done any children’s books since the mid-seventies, but continued writing how-to photography books until the present day. My next from Amherst Media, How to Start and Operate a Digital Portrait Studio in fall 2005.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

In the past 20 years my career has phased out of assignment magazine and corporate photography, and settled into writing books. I also write monthly profile articles for RangefinderMagazine where I’m a Technical Editor. In addition I have been shooting people, landscapes and general interest stock leased by several stock agencies for over 45 years.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

My methodology and techniques have changed as I had more experience and gained skills in photography and writing. The most important aspect, besides becoming wiser in my art and craft, has been the development of electronically automated cameras that diminish old technical worries so one can concentrate on seeing. Equally important has been the evolution of the computer which has made writing books much easier, and communication with my editors smoother and quicker. There’s a lot to be said for being a veteran writer and photographer, even though I am not into digital very far. Slide film is still great.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

I’ve had so many books published, and seeing each for the first time is a career highlight, albeit personal. One highlight I recall was covering John Kennedy’s inauguration in LA in 1960 for the USIA. I’ve photographed numerous celebrities, and Dr. Seuss was one I remember vividly, as were Ronald Reagan, young Julie Andrews, Orson Welles and more.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have invested money more wisely so I could be traveling more in 2005. Otherwise, I still get a charge out of life. Which reminds me, Bradley Smith, one of ASMP’s founders, is one of my idols. He was a good friend who taught me a lot about book publishing.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

Hurdles? For many years working as a freelance magazine photographer was exciting, but freelancing itself is a constant hurdle. When will the next assignment appear, and where’s the check that’s in the mail? I’ve often said that freelancing is living in perpetual insecurity.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

Have faith in yourself and always try to improve in whatever you do. Optimism is a freelancer’s best friend.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

There are several challenges: Competition from other excellent shooters; mastering digital techniques and workflow; and being alert to future opportunities in photographic or personal areas in which you’re involved. I’ve always felt that new, good ideas are in the air, and I need to grab my share. Media varieties today are greater than ever.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

There have been so many people and opportunities that have helped me. I’ll narrow them down to my instructors at Carnegie Mellon University in industrial design; my instructors, especially Will Connel, my education and colleagues at Art Center College; and many editors who have helped instruct me. I must also include a host of friends in photography from whom I’ve learned so much through collegial conversations.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

Avoid fried foods, they angry up the stomach - from Satchel Paige, a wise baseball player from the past.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

I said it before, Have faith in yourself and always try to improve in whatever you do. Optimism is a freelancer’s best friend. And I’ll add: Learn to critique your own work with an objective eye. Only occasionally are you as good as you think you are.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

There are plenty of noteworthy photographers, but they’re not all contemporary. Just a few, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Sabastiao Salgado, David Muench, and dozens more. I am also influenced in making collages by Kurt Schwitters and Juan Gris.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

I feel that photography will continue to illuminate our vision through documentary, truthful images of people, places and things. More subjective photography will continue to amaze us, especially the best of creative (not necessarily literal) digital imagery. Photographers will continue to help fight tyranny as well as line the walls of museums with imaginative images. We will also continue to see in print and on display what I called in a book I wrote in 1976: immaculate deception. Clever visual fraud fools a lot of people.

Do you have any additional insights or stories to add?

I’ve strained my stock of insights. I’ll just add that the inventiveness, incisiveness and basic creativity of photographers past and present has enriched civilization in less than 200 years out of the many thousand years that art and knowledge were passed on by a fantastic variety of artists. I urge serious photographs to become aware of the greats in photography, painting, other hand media, classical music and cinema. Visual accomplishments in the past offer a staggering reserve of inspiration. Just visit Westminster Cathedral or a library rich in photography books, and you’ll be grateful.

Pablo Bartholomew

Web site: www.bartholomew.tv & www.netphotograph.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

The Bhopal image became an icon of the world’s worst industrial disaster after it won the World Press Award, Picture of the Year 1985. So, in that sense I am gratified that I have an image to which so much is attributed. It symbolizes so many things to different people; it is the tragedy to a family who lost their child; it is the face of capitalism and the ugliness that comes with industrial greed. It is science fiction come true. Like the special effects in a movie, the eyes stare out at you and they have a message, a message that when looking at the image decodes differently in each one of us, it has to do with our own awareness, consciousness, guilt and emotions.

What about your recent image?

The image I picked is photographed a day after Mother Teresa died. I like this image for many reasons that are not about the image itself but rather about how news evolves and affects your life. A girlfriend was visiting me at the time and this was a very important visit. It was more than just a visit, as she came to test India to see if she could live here and we could then look at a new life. So when the news about Mother Theresa broke we both flew down to Calcutta. There is nothing like taking someone to Calcutta—a trial by fire, for those partly initiated to India.

I arrived the next morning with huge media queues outside Mother House, Mother Teresa’s residence. Among the chaos I was able to get up ahead in the queue and be in the first batch that entered the room. My flash was malfunctioning, the bounce hood hit another photographer and in the push and shove it dropped to a 15-degree angle. That is what good accidents are about, the bounce hood only lights up the foreground so the image of Mother Teresa, with nuns around her, has this soft narrow light in a very intimate moment that did not last more than a few minutes. What subsequent batches of photographers got I don’t know.

When did you begin your career in photography?

The magic of photography came to me when, as a child, I saw my father, make contact prints by oil lamps on our summer holidays in the Himalayan hills of north India. Later, I started as a young boy to understand and experiment in photography when given my first box camera by my father. By my mid-teens, I was able to process and print my B&W film and make decent prints. It was when I was kicked out of school a few years after that when I had to reconcile myself with the idea that if I did not want to go back to high school, an idea that I dreaded, then I would have to earn money from photography to support myself. It was the thought of not wanting to go back to school that propelled me to use photography to earn a living and I started to hunt for commissions in the NGO sector—working for the Red Cross and various UN organizations—and pursuing my own interests as a documentary photographer.

From some of this work, at the age of 19, I was awarded a World Press Photo Award for the best picture story in 1976. This encouraged me and I left to seek a life in Bombay (now Mumbai). I started working as a stills photographer in the Bombay Film Industry (now know as Bollywood). After a few years I did less stills photography and worked more in the advertising and corporate worlds. In 1983 I found an agent with Gamma-Liaison in New York. In 1985 I was awarded the Picture of the Year in the World Press Photo competition, for the image of Bhopal. By 1988, I had worked for and been published in just about every major US & European magazine.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

In fact it has degraded. When I use these strong words I would like to express several thoughts. The first is that the general need for images have changed drastically. This means that low-intensity, fluffy images that titillate have become the mainstay. This has the effect of brushing many stories and ideas under the carpet, making it harder and harder to find funding for interesting, meaningful story ideas.

Secondly, the image delivery vehicles have changed drastically—with all the mergers and acquisitions among photo agencies over the past five years, and with the rise of wire service agencies becoming full service agencies dealing with magazines and newspapers alike. In the old days the photo agencies dealt with magazines and the wires with newspapers.

Third are the shrinking budgets and the work-for-hire menace being enforced by increasing numbers of media houses and agencies. This makes it more difficult to work as a freelancer who values his rights.

Finally, the role of the photo editor or the director of photography at a lot of the magazines has now diminished to that of solely organizing the pictures. The Art Director has become much more important and this has serious ramifications for the type of photography that is run. With all these changes in play, working as a photojournalist and as a news photographer has degraded.

I could say that I am one of the fallouts of the mergers and acquisitions of the photo agencies. Yet one has had to reinvent oneself by going independent and marketing individually. I keep some contributor relationships with select agencies and work in India with clients.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

We all thought that the digital world would make things easier but it has prolonged the workflow and put more stress on the photographer. Particularly when on deadline—working all day and then having to download, edit and transmit images does not make things easier. Clients do not equate paying for analog film and processing with digital capture when compensating the photographer adequately for time spent downloading to systems and working on the files. All of these things translate into longer work hours for photographers.

I approached the changing digital scenario head on and I went completely digital starting in 1998. I started a small company, MediaWeb that creates photo database systems and solutions. I completely digitized my archive and was able to create a digital delivery system that I use and offer to other photographers for use in tandem with their own web presence. In 2001 for the World Press Photo we developed, and continue to enhance, an interactive, Web-based educational system for photography that allows interaction between students and tutors with editing and tracking tools. Desktop tools include a batch-captioning system that lets a photographer work quickly and easily to simultaneously infuse multiple files.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

I don’t know. I’m still waiting for it. You could say the early successes, the winning of a World Press Award for the Best Picture Story, 1976, at the age of 19, was a big kick. Unfortunately it did not do much for me as, being in India, I lived too far way from the centers of photography in Europe and the United States. Then winning World Press Photo - Picture of the Year in 1985 for the Bhopal image did make some difference, as I was working with Gamma-Liaison by then and presumably every photo editor in the world would have known my name. Other highlights were that before the age of 30 I had published in the National Geographic, LIFE Magazine, Time Life Books and every other conceivable magazine in the world. A dream realized that every young photographer grows up on.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

Maybe I should have remained a documentary photographer, just shooting black & white and not working with the photo agency world or stepping into the digital world. But then again, being isolated in such a distant country as India, cut off from all that is happening in global photography, would have killed me off in one way or the other.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

To be in step with technology. To be able to have all the tools and be able to reach the markets. To make contact or get your work seen by the powers that be in an ever-changing scenario of publications and to conduct oneself with strength.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

To be able to constantly re-invent oneself, with new ideas and approaches.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

To be able to find work for one’s ideas and to be strong when working in a system of photo agencies that want more out of you for less and growing numbers of publications that demand a work-for-hire scenario.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

As I choose to work in film as a stills photographer, working with the giant filmmaker Satyajit Ray influenced me deeply. So did the pioneer Indian photojournalist Kishore Parekh make a mark. Whenever he came to New Delhi on assignment, he plucked me out of high school to take me with him. When I was starting out in photojournalism and came to New York for the first time, the filmmaker/actor Paul Mazursky, who I met in India while he was filming there, was very gracious and let me stay at his fabulous apartment at One Fifth Avenue. Ernst Haas and Bruce Davidson were also very supportive of my work and gave me great encouragement. In fact they nominated me for ASMP membership. Henri Cartier Bresson, in Paris, was helpful in much the same way, and he invited me to attend several art exhibition openings with him. This was at that point when he went back to his drawings and was not photographing very much. And when I joined the Liaison Agency in 1983, the head of editorial photography, Jennifer Coley (much loved and/or hated by all), a powerhouse in the New York photo world, was a great motivator and someone who I worked with for over a decade.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

To stay with your ideas and to work. Sometimes ideas only see the light of day after many years of effort.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

Stay with your ideas and work at them. There are no shortcuts. It is the long haul that pays off.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

Sebastiao Salgado & James Natchwey are the two photographers who I look at as peers and I respect their journeys. The two are at opposite ends of the spectrum yet committed and true to their art and craft.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

It is dark or bright depending on which side of the coin has flipped on that particular day. Living out here in the outpost has advantages and disadvantages. I can see things at a distance, yet not be quite so close to them. Like every medium things have and will continue to change or evolve. For example, when TV came about, people said that it was the end of movies. When video happened the same thing was said. While every new innovation brings change, that innovation levels itself and the older technology still retains its intrinsic value. I just hope that silver paper is available for a few more decades and that all the manufacturers don’t dry up.

Nancy Brown

Web site: www.NancyBrown.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

The train picture was done for a promotional ad for the BlackBook. That was done in the early Eighties—an era when photographers were shooting painted backgrounds with a lot of styling and a lot going on. If you were doing an ad for yourself it was a good idea to combine a lot of elements—location, a period thing, costumes, makeup, different lighting. It was geared for the kind of things done to get work then and to make sure and cover all the bases. We went to Pennsylvania for the shoot. It was a very successful promotion. People would refer to it and say, “We want to see more like that”. Since I’ve been in Florida, a man licensed the image for a project. I’m not sure how he saw it, perhaps through the old sourcebook but we had to send him a copy of the image on CD.

What about your recent image?

The girl underwater was shot for myself, for promotion of my local area. It’s a Florida image. It’s funny and it catches the moment. This is more what you do now—the more natural and un-posed it looks the better. You let the person go and try to catch something that is a little bit different, so that it doesn’t look controlled, even though it might very well be.

When did you begin your career in photography?

I started modeling in 1959 and did that until 1979. During that time, photography was my big hobby and I was always making images. The last five years as I modeled, I began seriously building my photography portfolio and in 1980 my husband and I opened a studio in Manhattan. I worked there until three years ago, when I moved to Florida where I now have a studio.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

I’ve been in Florida 3 years this March. I sold my studio in Manhattan and now have a small studio in Boca Raton. I am 10 minutes from the beach and take advantage of that as well as all the great locations that are plentiful here. I’m shooting a lot of stock as always and have just started marketing the studio to the local market. This is such a growing area and we will see how much business is here. I always photograph people and whether they’re professionals or not have never mattered to me—people are fun!

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

The biggest change is that I now shoot only digital. It took me awhile to make the change because I thought it would never be as good as film. I now love it but there was a learning curve. I’ve always made images with blown out highlights—my style—and digital isn’t kind to that look. There are so many good things about digital and the fact that it’s here to stay makes it a must to master. I do need a full-time person who sits at the computer and works on images all day, everyday. A good computer person is more valuable to me now than a shooting assistant. We have two digital workstations in my studio and we need a third one.

My workflow has not changed a lot. I do stock productions continually—sometimes it’s just a day with talent, then every few months I block out a week or more. I prefer the longer sessions because the energy builds. I always pay everyone well and get a lot of images from a session. A lot of photographers don’t want to spend to produce and everything suffers. You must plan, be very organized, and be willing to spend money to make images because the market is not an easy one. I distribute my work with Getty and their standards are high. The one area that is easier now is the editing. I edit tightly and e-mail the images to my editor, then he picks what he wants and within a few weeks the images can be on the web. It used to take at least six months or longer for me to make any money on a shoot.

I still do my one-on-one workshops, which are even better in Florida because not only do we work in the studio but having all the locations right here and, of course, the beach is a big plus.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Probably the first time I was hired for a photography job. When I was first starting out as a photographer I took a night class at the School of Visual Arts with Joe Sapinsky. He was the art director for Woman’s Day Magazine. About three or four classes into the session he asked me if I would do a shoot for the magazine. That was my first job and it gave me confidence. I did quite a few shoots for Joe over the years and will always be thankful for his encouragement.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

I can’t think of anything—I’ve always tried to do what seemed right at the time but I’m sure if I really thought about it I could come up with something. Basically, I think timing is everything. For example: I was with The Image Bank for many years and decided to move to The Stock Market. When they were about sell to Corbis my contract was due to renew, so I met with the owners and asked for an image-exclusive contract, because that was how the business was moving. They said no and told me I had to sign an exclusive contract. I said I would think about it and left their office feeling uneasy about things. I walked over to Fifth Avenue, where I suddenly ran into my previous editor at Image Bank, Chuck Plante. He asked me how it was going so I explained my dilemma and he suggested I come back to The Image Bank—they needed photographers and images at that time—what timing!! As with the art director from Woman’s Day, I will always have special place in my heart for Chuck.

What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve faced as a photographer?

When I started doing advertising photography in the early Eighties there weren’t a lot of women photographers. The big campaigns for cigarettes, liquor, cars, etc. were rarely given to women. Actually this is probably the same today! I shot the Maidenform ads for many years because they had been using a man and thought a woman photographer might be good for the account. I finally did a big cigarette campaign in Barbados and felt really good since I had been up against only male photographers. I’ve always been a very commercial photographer, as opposed to many women photographers who specialize in fashion, children, or fine art photography, so I think the biggest hurdle for me was just getting into the advertising world.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

To make images until you know what you love to shoot—whether it be fashion, travel, children, brides, still-life, lifestyle, women, beauty, etc. and then to work to create a style that is your own. Then comes the hard part—finding a market for what you love to do. The next hurdle is probably not getting discouraged and being persistent, and one thing that helps this is to keep making images that you feel good about.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

To stand out from the crowd and make a living in photography. With the coming of digital there are more photographers than ever. Digital makes it easy to make images so it’s not easy to create a style that is your own. Also all the stock imagery currently available in the marketplace makes it harder to get assignments once you have your body of work ready to show.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

I think the most important resource was being in the business as a model for twenty years. I worked with so many photographers and clients on TV and print shootings that I think through osmosis I learned how important it is to keep the energy positive and the production efficient.

I also love traveling, movies, museums, and magazines as a source of inspiration for images. But my most important source is the people that I meet and photograph. I use the same ones again and again, which makes photography fun – which it should be. Photography is changing technically very rapidly, but the human element is consistent and to “catch the moment” is what it is all about to me.

I remember certain photographers that I worked with—Hal Davis and Klaus Lukas were my favorites. They were commercial photographers in Manhattan and shot very big accounts. They both had innate good taste and a very good sense of styling. They also were good with the talent. It was a pleasure to work with them and the images they made were like WOW. I learned things to do and not to do from the people I modeled for. Being in so many studios and working on so many T.V. shooting taught me the value of being really organized and doing really good production before a shoot. The shoot should be the fun part for everyone and with good pre-production it is. Nothing was worse than a hectic, unorganized atmosphere.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

When I started modeling I worked for a photographer named Carroll Seghers ll in Florida (another very good photographer). I was complaining to him how I needed to get pictures of my husband (also a model) and myself for our composites. He said, “Nancy go get a camera and do your own pictures.” He used Leicas, so I got a Leica M3 and that started me taking pictures. I had two lenses and shot mostly with a 50mm, which for me now is really funny since I use the 70—200 zoom 90 percent of the time. I worked very simply, learned the basics and used Kodakchrome film, which I loved.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others today?

If you love photography take a lot of pictures and push yourself to make better and better images. Figure out what you love to shoot and look at the work of photographers who do what you love as well. Set that as your standard and SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational.

I love Greg Gorman’s fashion. I thought Helmet Newton and Herb Ritts were pretty amazing. I love Pete Turner’s images as well as Jay Maisel’s and I think Eric Meola’s new book is wonderful. There are so many wonderful images on many photographers’ websites that it’s hard to remember them all.

What is your vision for the future?

For me personally I’ve always had the belief that “You Bloom Where You Are Planted” and that is what I’m doing now and in the future. I am cultivating the local market here in Florida and doing my usual stock productions. Actually I’m doing more stock productions since the talent pool here is wonderful, with all the great seniors and the big ethnic market here in South Florida. Also my granddaughters are my favorite subjects, especially underwater—they are little fish!!! Making images has been my life for many years and the only thing that really changes are the subjects I photograph. I feel very blessed to be able to continue to do what I love wherever I am.

Do you have any additional insights or stories to add?

I think ASMP Photographers should avail themselves to the FIND A PHOTHGRAPHER WEB SITE—we have gotten several nice jobs from this and so have some of my photographer friends here in Florida.

Pete Turner

Web site: www.PeteTurner.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection and the image selected from your recent work.

The Shapes of Things to Come–This picture was done as a personal project and produced using an optical printer. The image shows a group of multiple geometric shapes on top and on the bottom. I had models made about an inch high and we laid them all out on black velvet in rows and reflected them in black Carerra glass. The image is part of the George Eastman House collection because of Robert Sobieszick and a show called the Art of Persuasion, about the history of advertising photography.The Shapes of Things to Come was a stepping-stone conceptually to an advertising campaign I did for Bell Atlantic in 1985-87, which was electronically produced using a Hell machine. It was very exciting and innovative advertising and the layouts were great.

Cloud World–I’m working on a series of architectural color things and I thought these worked well with The Shapes of Things to Come image. I’m using different places and architects I like, such as Madaleno in Mexico. Cloud World is really kind of wild because it’s just a huge sphere with a cloud. It’s personal work and I might even do a book on it at some point. I think it’s really important to have personal projects. One thing leads to another.

When did you begin your career in photography?

I was about six years old when I got my first camera and I loved it. I was into chemistry and saw what you could do in the darkroom and it was amazing. So it was just a natural transition. I studied at RIT, in the class of 1952-1956. It’s a great school, I highly recommend it. Immediately after college I got drafted. They didn’t give you much time back then, you got your letter from the government, the president. I remember it said “Greetings”. I was stationed at the Army pictorial center in Long Island City; I ran the color lab there. When I got out of the army, I showed my pictures to the Airstream trailer people and they gave me the Africa assignment.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

Everything’s changed. Change has become a bigger and bigger word as we progress in the whole workflow thing. It seemed so simple the way things were, like the good old days when you could just shoot a roll of slide film. I knew some photographers who would just drop it off at the drugstore and get it back, when they weren’t in a hurry. The whole digital thing hasn’t simplified things as much as you think. When you go on a trip you have to bring along power bars with you to plug all the different things into the wall. You need a suitcase just for the wiring. I look back at the days of film and it’s kind of simplistic.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

I do both film and digital. There’s a lot to be said for both mediums. Like we’re working on a book, The Color of Jazz. It’ll be a book that Rizzoli is doing with about a hundred of my best album covers. To do it we shot the covers digitally, because it’s really quick and we’re able to make comps for presentation. We feel it’ll be fine for most pages, but for double page spreads that go 24 inches across by 12 inches high you can’t use a full sensor on the back of a 35mm camera, and that’s what I shoot. So when the final selection is made I’ll probably go back and rephotograph those covers on film just to be sure all the typography is crisp. Basically I love digital and I use it as much as I can, it’s just incredibly fast. You don’t have to wait for a lab, you’ve got it right away, it’s already a workable file and you can color correct and play games with it. It’s there. What I don’t like is how fast your hard drive fills up and backing up and all. It seems like a lot more work to me, to tell you the truth. Before it was really simple. We had Kodachrome and our favorite camera and our favorite lens. There’s something kind of nice about throwing a roll of film in the camera and shooting pictures, but now it’s kind of funny. You’re looking at the back of the camera wondering why you can’t see what happened and you don’t have that instant replay. So I find that I pick up the digital every day.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

That’s easy, I was offered to go on an African expedition. Years ago, when I first started, I got out of the army and I was offered to go and photograph people who were taking Airstream trailers over land from Capetown South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. And that’s a big hike. Heading from south to north, it took us seven months to do the journey. At some points we were digging our own roads. It was fantastic. And it was at the stage of my life, when you get out of the army you’re used to almost anything. To me it was great.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

I don’t think so, maybe little things, you know but nothing that keeps me up at night and says “Pete you should have done this.” Well, I would have joined ASMP earlier. But actually I’m an early member. I think I joined in 1959. You know, the people were great. ASMP, we’d go to meetings and there were small groups of like 50 people and you’d meet everyone who was working at the time. It was a great place to get informed and exchange ideas. It’s always been the group of choice for me. You can learn so much by being a member of ASMP. There’s the handbook, that’s the bible ….

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

When I got back from Africa I showed my color film to the people at Geographic and they offered me staff. And that was probably the biggest hurdle I ever faced. I remember going down to Washington and they offered me the job as staff photographer at Geographic. And I chewed on it for a while and then I turned it down. I said it was either the stupidest thing I had ever done in my life or the smartest thing. Because I really wanted to freelance, I had always wanted to freelance. I really liked magazines like Esquire and Sports Illustrated and Fortune and Look Magazine and all the different magazines. And what I didn’t like about Geographic was that it was very country oriented. I felt I’d be exposed to a wider choice if I freelanced. But it’s very risky, turning down such an offer, because I was not a rich kid and didn’t have a lot of money to speak of. But, looking back, I think I definitely made the right decision. I was very lucky. No offense to National Geographic. After that I started working with Esquire, and a wonderful editor, Harold Hayes and all sorts of exotic and interesting and different things to shoot. It was just really fun. And that’s what photography should be all about.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

Bank account budgets. So they can afford to keep, and maintain, and upgrade and buy all of these new gadgets. It used to be that you had one camera, a tripod and a roll of film. Now it’s like IBM.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

Well my teachers from school. Ralph Hattersley, was just wonderful. Minor White was up there. Robert Bagby who’s been a commercial photographer in New York and a wonderful color teacher. There’s a whole list of those teachers who were great. My classmates were fantastic at the time. Jerry Uelsmann, Carl Chiarenza, Ken Josephson, Peter Bunnell, Bruce Davidson. They called our class the golden class at RIT. It was a heck of a good class. We all did different things.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

When you photograph, don’t photograph the way you think people want you to photograph, but the way you want to photograph. Try to be innovative and not imitative.

Everybody thinks of RIT as a technical school and it is, it’s an incredibly good technical school but we were blessed, at that time, beyond the technology, we had great teachers who taught photography as well as technical. Hand and hand, so that was really special. And I can remember when I had to do this type C photo lab thing in the Army. They had just come out with the process, I didn’t know about it and they told me I could have the job if I could make a print over the weekend, so the first thing I did was call my teachers and asked them if they knew anything about this. I said, “How do you do it” and they ran me through it. It was a brand new process, it wasn’t on the market yet, but the military had it. Prior to that the process was dye transfers. Nobody ever knew about going into a darkroom and projecting an image, negative color, onto a piece of paper and processing it and coming out with a color print real quick, because dyes took forever. It was a piece of cake; it was just like developing a roll of Ektachrome. When I got out of the army and went around to get my work and whatnot I had a hundred prints and they had never seen portfolios like that, with a hundred prints. People would usually just have one or two dye transfers and that would be a big deal. I was in this world where everyone was showing black and white work, color was very new and a big change.

All the tools, the Photoshop tools are similar (to chemical processes), like hue and saturation and things. In the past they were controlled by acidic acid and things. I wish I could say things happened logically but a lot of things happened by experimentation. I found a need to make a duplicate of my slides because what used to happen in the early 60’s was that you’d give an original out to a magazine and when it came back it looked like it was rubbed by a brillo pad, It was terrible, so I was trying to work out a process where I could make a duplicate of my originals. I tried out all sorts of things and I ended up with a machine called a Repronar. I took it apart and put a Nikon body on it with a Nikkor macro lens and a strobe unit, like a Balcar, underneath the stage and used color correction filters for hue. Saturation was accomplished automatically by going with Kodachrome. But Kodachrome was so soft that the saturation was just right, just enough. Once I saw that I said, “Gee, this is not just a way to make an extra copy of chromes, this is a way to have a finished product, that is more intense.” It had the color spectrum that I liked.

There’s no doubt that one thing leads to another. But the biggest help to me was realizing what the printers had, the actual printers, the separators. It was in the 1980’s, back to the Art of Persuasion thing, when I could not get the retouching I needed done, and people said, why don’t you try going to a separator and they can make film scans and put them together on a computer. So I went over to a company called EMR and sat down next to their technicians. And it was pre-Photoshop, but the same deal though, just the processing power that was needed then. What we have today is unbelievable compared to then. Actually, I’ve been called by some people, the pre-computer, computer photographer. Because I was doing all those things before the computer. What I got known for was changing the colors and the saturations. I had techniques for doing that and no one else had them.

I think we all grow, through all the experiences we have. It’s an amazing thing. And I’m sure the African expedition was really a growing tool for me in terms of color. But I don’t know what it was, but I’ve always loved color. And all my friends did black and white. And I love black and white, that’s where I first leaned photography. But when I was a kid, like seven or eight years old, I was collecting stamps, because I liked their shapes and I liked the different colors on the stamps. And I especially liked the pictures that I saw on the stamps, people, places, things. Fascinating. Triangles and things. That turned me on a lot. I think stamp collecting was a big part of it.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

It’s sometimes hard to be choosy. Like it was hard for me to turn down that job. Because you may not know where the next job is coming from. But I can give this advice. Always, when you’re shooting for an art director or a magazine or whatever—shoot the assignment the way they asked you to do the job, and then always try at the same time to solve it in a way that you think it should be done, Because, it’s been my experience that what people really want—they want you as a photographer. They want your mind and they want your emotion in the picture. They want that to come across. They just don’t want somebody to go out and shoot an exact replica of a sketch or something. A lot of times you have to do that for typography reasons, but still there’s a lot of ways that you can get yourself to do your own thing.

In addition to assignments, you should also try to have a personal project that you’re shooting. I find when you do this, other people get interested and it opens up a world.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

I’ve always loved Ernst Haas’ work. He’s a true master of color. Believe it or not, I love black and white. Like the recent show at ICP, the Southworth and Hawes Daguerreotype show. I have never seen Daguerreotypes like that, so wonderful. That’s a totally different process; here you have pictures that are kind of etched. It’s wild.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

One thing’s for sure, things are going to change. I always think, that at some point, there will be stereo photography. You know, photographs that you can walk into. I just kind of think that something’s going to happen. It has to. We know about stereo photography. I remember I used to have a stereo camera, when I was in high school and it was wild, you could project them. And then they had ways of printing stereo, but it was always crazy with different colored lenses and things. But I know there are ways where you can polarize light in different ways so you can see, different wavelengths and things. I would bet that in the future there will certainly be a way to photograph so that you can walk right into it, at least have the illusion of being able to do that. I think image-makers are going to have a lot of fun in the future. And there will still be people doing it in a way you know, still in black and white. We’re in a wonderful profession, we don’t give up anything. I think photography is an ever-expanding medium.

Do you have any additional insights or stories to add?

There might be one, and it’s just a simple story. In 1959, in Africa, I found this hut in the Sudan. There was a triangular rooftop, it was at sunset and the sun was a nice orange ball. It was immediately very visual. A triangle and a circle and the sun. As I walked around the building I realized that I could make the sun kind of creep up the side of the triangle and back down and put it on the top of the triangle. That was a very big learning point for me—that I could not only find pictures but I could make them, and make them move in relation to my position in the world. You don’t have to just always accept the things at face value, I guess. And the name of that image is Rolling Ball.


Arthur Meyerson

Web site: www.arthurmeyerson.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

The photograph was from the 1977 Lighthouse For The Blind Annual Report. Since the project was for a non-profit organization (no budget for photography), I approached it as an opportunity to shoot what I wanted, work with a talented designer and end up with a printed piece that I could use to go after more work. The gamble paid off in that the photography won many awards and helped me "break in" to the annual report photography market.

What about your more recent image?

This photograph was part of an annual rice planting festival in Kyoto, Japan. It has since become a very important photograph for me in that it occurred during a photography workshop/tour of Japan conducted by Ernst Haas. That workshop became a life changing experience for me, because from that point on Ernst became my mentor and friend.

When did you begin your career in photography?

In 1974.

How has your career changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

I always thought that if I did a good job, treated people fairly and got a little recognition for my work that at this point in my career, I could sit back and pick the jobs. Dumb! Like many photographers who have been doing this for a while, you realize that you have to keep evolving. Not only photographically, but business-wise as well. Trends come and go. Markets change ...annual report photography has been cut back considerably since the Enron debacle, stock photography giants like Corbis and Getty, along with "royalty free" images have turned the photo stock market upside down, advertising assignments are more competitive than ever and editorial photographers continue to work at low rates. Technology has caused everything to happen faster or at least it has given the expectation that things should happen faster and that mentality doesn’t necessarily produce the best work. You have to innovate and remind yourself why you got into this business in the first place ...love of photography.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

See my previous statement.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Simply, having been able make a pretty good living doing something I love.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

Sure. But then I probably wouldn’t have had as much fun.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced as a photographer?

Maintaining copyright. I’ve been adamant throughout my career not to give my work away and occasionally it’s cost me assignments but in the long run I have no regrets.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

Don’t be afraid to negotiate. Put it in terms that they (client) can relate to. But, never sell your copyright.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

I suppose the transition to digital. Besides the knowledge needed, there is the reality of purchasing equipment which is more expensive, the commitment to upgrade that equipment every 18-24 months and the necessity to educate clients in regard to these costs as well as this new technology.

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

I always considered Ernst Haas my mentor. Every photographer I know who met him was moved by his work, his philosophy and his charm. However, Jay Maisel, who I consider one of my closest friends, has constantly been a source of inspiration as well as my "go to" guy whenever I have a question regarding business.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

Avoid preconceptions. Otherwise you’re likely to be disappointed and overlook the obvious.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

Learn to distinguish between style and trends. Know photographic history. Learn film and digital. Market your work. Maintain your enthusiasm. Work your ass off and if you’re lucky, you might be successful.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

Depending on how you define "contemporary" I would say Irving Penn, Arnold Newman, Jay Maisel, Sebastiao Salgado and James Nachtwey.

What is your vision for the future of photography?

I hope it’s about photographers with a vision as opposed to assemblages created in Photoshop.

Do you have any additional insights or stories to add?

Today, there seems to be too much talk by photographers about "which is better," film or digital.

When Ernst Haas, was asked his preference of color vs. black and white, he remarked, "You should not judge a photographer by the film he uses but rather, how he uses it".

I think that same philosophy can be applied today regarding the film/digital question.


Daniel Kramer

Web site: www.danielkramer.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

Crossed Lights: The Crossed Lights image was part of a little more than a year of shooting Bob Dylan during the time he metamorphosized from folk singer to iconic rock star. This was during the year in which he changed the world of music, and the business of music, and social issues and a lot of other things. During that period I was doing this self-assigned project. I sought him out and after months of turndowns I succeeded in one session. I just wanted to have one sitting with him, for an hour - a portrait for my then growing, new portfolio as a photographer. And he saw the pictures two weeks later and he just said, "I’m going to Philadelphia next week, you ’wanna go?" And it just started, and it went from situation to situation, to invitations to go up to Woodstock, to travels. I felt it was a very historic and important moment in music. He was a very exciting entertainer and what he was saying, his lyrics; I thought were very powerful and insightful. Although I didn’t know anything about this kind of music before we started this.

I saw a TV. show, I think it was the Steve Allen show, and this young kid came up with his guitar and he sang The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol. And here, in public, on T.V. was this guy standing alone, saying this incredible stuff. I said, "If this is true, if there really was a Hattie Carol, and this man really did kill her and he did walk away with just a six month sentence because of the social conditions in the South." I said, "This is amazing that he’s standing up and doing this," I was really bowled over by his courage and his poetry. So I said, "Who am I watching and how do I get to him." And so that was my odyssey. I started the pictures in the summer of 1964. Crossed Lights was done later in 1965, in March, in Connecticut at a large civic auditorium there. He was doing a joint concert with Joan Baez during this period, and I had done a lot of pictures from the front and the dressing room and what not, and hanging out. We were there all day, and it was kind of boring, and I had shot a number of shows already with them, so I wandered around to the back of the stage and then this picture unfolded. For me it was also symbolic of them, because they were Crossed Lights. She was the queen, princess of the folk world and loved by all. And he was the new, young kid on the block. And he was then the prince and becoming the king, icon of rock. And so they were the crossed lights, and the lights were the crossed lights. I felt it was very photographic, it had design, and it had excitement, the fact that it was from the back. So I enjoyed it, I enjoyed seeing it, photographing it.

We just sold a limited edition print, only about 3 weeks ago, to someone in Hong Kong. It’s a small edition, 25 copies and 20 x 24 inch size. And I do my own prints. Only I print the Dylan negatives, except when I have to make something very large for a museum or a special display, then it goes from a digital file or a copy negative from one of my prints. I do not allow anyone to have my negatives for any period of time, period. And I really never have.

What about your recent image?

Portrait of Victor Lassiter: I just did some digital portraits for a photographer friend. My theory has always been that you should be able to make a pretty good picture of someone, not just because they’re a personality, or a famous actor, or writer, or the president. So I wanted to use this picture of my friend, whom I just photographed for himself, because I think it’s a successful picture.

When did you begin your career in photography?

When I was fourteen. I was in a darkroom and I saw a picture come up in the developer, a print. And it was the magic of the ages; I had witnessed and seen alchemy, before my very eyes. It was at the local YMCA. My father was an amateur filmmaker; he had kind of a high-end movie camera, a Bolex, 16mm. I really started fooling with the 16 mm camera when I was about fourteen, and then someone told me there was a way you could develop film, and someone else lent me a folding camera, and I started shooting, I just enjoyed it, I just loved seeing the pictures come up. And I bought a 4x5 camera. I photographed in the snow when I was about fifteen, I shot all these kids in Prospect Park on their sleds, my fingers were frostbitten, I was exhausted, it was a terrible windy, wind-chilled day, with a 4x5 camera. It took me three days to process the film because I worked in the kitchen, keeping my equipment behind the living room sofa and chair, and each night I would do a little part of the process. At the end of this time I showed my mother about six or seven 8x10 prints that all this had yielded and she said, "I don’t know why you do this, you don’t even know these people." When I was fifteen I had my first one-boy show at my junior high school.

My first professional experience was just around that time, a landlord asked me to photograph an apartment that had been destroyed when the tenant moved out, he said "Could you photograph the torn wires and all these spots and things" So I gave him the pictures and he said, how much is that?" And I had no idea what to do so I said, "It’s nothing". I always felt it was so easy, why should someone give me anything for it? So he gave me five dollars.

You know, Philippe Halsman, for whom I worked for many years said he became a photographer the way someone goes into prostitution. He said first he did it because he enjoyed it, then he did it only for his good friends, and eventually he did it for money. And that’s how I became a photographer. I had no intention of being a photographer. It didn’t seem like a good idea.

How has the interest in your pictures changed or progressed in the past 20 years?

Generally speaking, the interest in my pictures has increased with each passing year. There was just a twenty print show over at the Whitney, Lee Friedlander, Cindy Sherman, Robert Frank and one of my Dylan’s. The title of the show was American Pictures, chosen over the past fifty years. I think the interest is growing and growing. It’s kind of caught me up a little bit by surprise, because it’s taken time away from so many other things. When people say, "What are you doing right now?" I say, "Well right now, I have a huge show coming up in England in September and I have to prepare for it, I’m part of a show in Minnesota, there’s the show in Memphis we’ve been preparing for, and just as we got in today Arline looked at the computer and said somebody needs a picture for some benefit, it just goes on.

I have also been fortunate because the Dylan office has looked favorably upon my pictures. I think as Bob grows and continues to grow, the collection becomes more valuable because that was the year that it broke open. What it is, is its vindication for me, it means that what I saw on that TV show was correct. I was amazed, I was surprised, almost shocked that this 23-year old young man was doing this and I said, "This is different, this is special". And he is, and he’s proven that, and everybody knows that now. So I think the pictures go on.

Has your methodology, technique or workflow changed during this time?

It never changes. There’s a show on at the Metropolitan right now. The photographer Roger Fenton, he photographed in the late 1850’s. There’s no difference in his work, essentially, than any photographer working today. He did corporate, he photographed some bridges, he did portraits, he did reportage, and he did battle scenes. It’s the same. Julia Margaret Cameron proves this. Now you tell me, who’s making better portraits, who’s making essentially a different portrait? Yes there are variations on the theme. Very little has changed in what we do. What we say may be a lot different, but the equipment and the technique is nothing. We just use different equipment but we do the same thing. Photography is not in the camera. Gene Smith once said, "The real future is going to be when there’s a chip imbedded in my head and all I have to do is look at something and want it to be imbedded on the chip." That’s the camera he was waiting for, he just died too soon. So I don’t think too much about the equipment. It makes it easier.

Look I did my pictures for part of my life with a camera that had no meter, no winder, no this, no that. Now I use cameras that have all of those things. It means I can do some of the challenges but it’s only what you point it at, you still have to point the damn thing, and that’s when it all begins. Or where you are, where you put yourself. One of the things a director does - by the way I am a director I’ve been a film director since 1968. One of the jobs of the director is to say where the camera goes, where you put the camera. But that’s what photographers do; they have to decide where to put the camera. And it’s a very important decision. And then you have to decide first what you want to point it at and then where to put it in order to point it properly.

The marriage between the subject and the photographer is an old story. You don’t make pictures in a vacuum or alone. And the photographer cannot take credit for the shoot, period. Because he’s shooting something, or someone, especially when it’s a personality, especially when it’s a person who has a mind of their own and everything else. There’s something happening between the two. But as a result of the process, someone like Dylan, I take no credit for his talent, his ability, his anything. There would have been Dylan without me, but the Dylan we had, I’m a little bit responsible for how he was seen, for how we chose to present him.

The album cover Bringing it all Back Home was monumental because it was nominated for a Grammy. It was a picture I created and made because it was my first album cover. I had a big chance here, and I did something that was different than all the ones that came before. And it changed a little bit the way art directors thought about the album cover after that. The Sergeant Pepper album cover came three years later.

So you do have something to say. I mean it happened with Marilyn Monroe, the photographers who worked with her early on. They helped create this image. Of course Hollywood and what we used to call PR people, know this very well and they look for certain photographers to make certain statements. But now the control is so enormous. When you see a picture of Paul Newman, that’s not Paul Newman. It’s not even his clothes. The clothes are provided, you look at the credits - clothes by Ralph Lauren, hair by so and so, shoes by you know. And then when he’s leaving the shoot, he’s wearing his own clothes, then he’s Paul Newman. So all that’s changed, if you shoot a rock concert today, you get to do the first three songs, and then you’re gone. So you can’t do a certain kind of photography anymore.

I’m still a film photographer but everything goes to digital. No paper goes out, no prints go out except for sale. Everything to magazines, books, publication, clients, everything goes out digitally because that’s how people want it and we provide that, and we scan. I just recently started doing some digital pictures.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Other than working with Arlene? I guess the biggest highlight has been the successful, ongoing publication of my book on Dylan. It was the first book of text and pictures about Bob Dylan; it was the first major work on him. There have been a number of publishers and the original publisher was called Citadel Press. It’s been published about five times since then over these years. That is the single best thing that happened and because of that there have been many tributaries.

Frank Zachary at Holiday Magazine probably gave me my first assignment there because I had the book in my hand when I was in his office. The group U2 asked Life Magazine if I could photograph them because I had the book. Even things that have nothing to do with this kind of work - I did a lot of corporate work but people knew the book. People who read the book when they were in college, and now they were in important positions where they could give me an annual report. It was like a thesis for a doctorate, but it was unexpected.

Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?

That’s a hard one because I’m a counter puncher. I don’t plan a lot of things; I don’t even plan a lot of a session. I respond to what’s happening to me. You have to be a little braver than plotting it all out but I enjoy that. I don’t know, I might have done more studio to location work ratio. I might have increased some percentage of studio work and done more of that and a little less of the location work over the years. But the lifestyle came first and the world travel was important.

A lot of people told me when I first started, my good photographer friends said that it’s very hard to stay married in this business because we’re always away. So I thought the best thing to do was that Arlene and I should work together. And she had to give up a very good piece of work on her own, but this meant we could work together and travel together. When I see a great sunset in Morocco, it’s much better when I can be looking at it with Arlene. Then it serves some purpose, and then we can have a romantic dinner together. So it’s just a different life, and it enabled us to be together, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for forty years and still going. Oh my goodness!

What is the biggest hurdle you’ve faced as a photographer?

The biggest problem that I think photographers in general face, that I face - it’s worse today than ever. Everybody wants your stuff, I mean they want it, they want to keep it. "You want this job kid, sign here."

Now, we never did that. We own our stuff, and we’re having a good time with it. You know, I photographed a lot of interesting people. I photographed Norman Mailer more than I photographed anyone else. I photographed a lot of writers and actors and people of interest and political people and the first black congresswoman and so forth. And these pictures are ours, not the magazines. I don’t have to ask permission. So that’s the first big hurdle.

And the second thing is - own your own things, and protect your rights, and get what it’s worth. People are usually afraid to do that and out of fear photographers really back down a lot. I guess people do in every business. This is called a negotiation. But we seem to negotiate out of weakness and not out of strength, or to realize who we are or what we have.

Something happened just yesterday. A magazine in Japan wanted some pictures, so the agent in Japan e-mailed and said they definitely wanted these two pictures and they offered us such a small amount of money that it’s really an insult. And the agent is saying "Yes we know it is, but that’s what they pay." So I say, "Well, that’s what they pay, but they don’t pay that for my pictures. They’re my pictures, they don’t tell me what my pictures are worth." So she said, "What do you want to do?" and I said, "I don’t want them to have the pictures, Forget it." If you can’t say no, then you’re lost. Now, I’ve been saying no to this magazine for the past 48 hours, and now they’re saying a partial yes. The price is reasonable now. But I’m still not doing it. Now I’m going to punish them. I think we can get it up a little better.

Now that’s not just for me, it’s for the other photographers too. And this is something that’s always bothered me. I have a lot of colleagues who I know don’t have to sell out for what they do. And they make it harder for me when I have to negotiate, because clients say, "Oh, so and so just gave us this at that price," And what do I do now, if so and so did, and so and so is a pretty good photographer, who doesn’t have to sell at that price?

I think there’s a lot of fear in our business, fear that you won’t be loved, that you won’t get the job. A lot of this is ego driven, because they say, "You’ll get your picture in and you’ll get a credit line," And then when the landlord comes around you say, "Here is a copy of my credit line, will that do?"

This is one of the big hurdles. The hurdle is, protect yourself, like a fighter, at all times. Own your stuff and try to get a fair deal. You don’t have to kill; you have to get a fair deal. But of course it also depends on the work. If you have what they want, they will pay the money and you have to be prepared to deliver the goods. We spent 20 years doing corporate photography and this is one of the things. The rates are there, the prices are there, but they have to feel that your pictures are going to help make them money.

Do you have any words of wisdom for others in facing similar hurdles?

The other thing is, don’t let your subjects take over; don’t let them push you around. In discussions with Mailer, what emerges is, I realize sometimes we use boxing and the fight ring as an example of other things. When you have a sitting with someone, you’re the professional. It’s like putting an amateur, a golden glover, in with a real pro boxer. So the pro boxer doesn’t have to be concerned, you don’t have to go after the kill immediately, because you can do whatever you want. But a lot of people, when they have their portrait sitting, they challenge you in a lot of ways. They want it their way, they test you, they challenge you, but you’re the professional. So you cut down the ring, you give them less opportunity and eventually you wear them out. Because they can’t take all the punches, so you get what you need. And you make the good pictures.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge an individual photographer must currently face?

The biggest challenge is to own your own work. The biggest challenge is to manage your own life and career. The biggest challenge is not go with the pack. The biggest challenge is to try and understand who you are. It’s very hard to understand who you are while it’s going on. You don’t see yourself. You have to step aside for a moment and understand yourself, in the midst of everything. What are you offering, what can you do that would be a little better, when someone else might do this. What can you package a little differently? And then you have to offer what you want, so you live the way you want.

But you see, what happens is, first they give you a mortgage, then they give you a lease on a loft, and then they give you a lease on your equipment. These days, photographers don’t even own half their equipment. And when you have all these obligations, that’s it. You work for the company store. It’s true. But, I think these are the dangers, and you have to protect yourself.

Once, at an ASMP meeting, Gjion Mili said he was going to destroy 90 percent of his work because it was said only 10 percent of what a photographer does is worth something. And Philippe Halsman said, "Gjion, how come you think so much is good?" When you think about it, how many really have 100 pictures, I mean the real 100 pictures.

And now, here’s the other thing and here’s what we’re facing. Philippe once said to me, "an unpublished picture is dead" and I didn’t believe that and we had a big knock down, drag out fight about it. But it’s like; if the tree falls in the forest does somebody hear it? I don’t know, maybe philosophically he’s right. But what I’m discovering now, because some of my very good photographer friends are either not working or not here, you realize that a lot of the work never gets seen. And a lot of the work that doesn’t get seen is as good as the work that got seen. Sometimes better. Sometimes there’s wonderful stuff. So you have to set aside a certain amount of time that you don’t get paid for, to catalog, make the prints, to have it produced, make it available - because that’s how you respect the work. If you use the work only to pay the bills, to pay the mortgage - I’m not against that, that’s fine. But if the work has some other value, then you have to respect it and make sure it comes to light. And you have to do all the right things. And we’re trying to do that right now. The main current project I’m working on is all the work. Recently, I’ve discovered negatives that are fantastic; they’re really wonderful pictures and I’ve ’gotta get in the darkroom. I mean I’m salivating. We have pictures we’ve never seen, of course. You go and shoot a job and then deliver 200 pictures to the client and what happens to the rest of them?

Please describe the most important people or resources that have helped you in your career.

The most important people are really the people I spent time and worked with. Diane Arbus, Philippe Halsman, Eugene Smith. Of course at the head of the list, is my wife Arline. You cannot do this stuff alone. You cannot work alone. It’s an inside job. And Morris Sorkin, he’s not alive anymore. He’s the guy who published my first book. He was the sweetheart who expected the book in six weeks and then waited a year. And let me do whatever I wanted. And I approved every page, designed every spot, chose all the paper, stayed at the presses, stopped the presses, three o’clock in the morning, and they called Morris at home. It was this man, who let me make this book, was very important to me. And he was also a sweetheart.

Now one more thing. ASMP. Very, very, very important. Photographers who are not part of ASMP or another important organization like that are really silly. I spent 15 years on the board, I served as vice president, and I was responsible for making the first White Paper and seminars. In the Seventies and early Eighties put on about a dozen seminars working hand in hand with two or three other people, we had a very small group. We made buffet dinners for every seminar. Some you would have wonderful hot food, and then you would hang out with superstars. Suddenly you could sit down and talk to Jay Maisel about stock, and what’s his name, and what’s his name, everybody was there. And then we did White Papers. We did a big, big seminar on stock photography, and out of that came the stock committee and out of that came Michal Heron and she made the book on stock photography. All of that grew out of our little seminars. We went to The Image Bank and Larry Fried opened the doors for us, and he said, "Here’s how we do it, these are all our little secrets, what do you want to know." Everybody helped us. So we worked hard for the ASMP and I think it’s very important, what it does and what it gives. I think it doesn’t do enough these days, for some of the things it once did, because of legal fears. But you see, it always comes down to courage. There’s a fine line and sometimes you have to be willing to put one foot across.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that anyone ever gave you?

The most valuable piece of advice anyone ever gave me is that a picture is worth a thousand dollars, as opposed to a thousand words. And Philippe said to me "If you don’t charge for your pictures, no one will care about them."

I’m sorry it all comes down to money, but that’s the world we live in.

And Gene Smith said "Don’t show your work, don’t show your contact prints. It’s your thinking." It’s like saying to a print journalist, bring in all your notes, bring in all your books, bring in all your scratches and what you wrote on the backs of envelopes and we’ll tell you what your article is. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to others working today?

There are two things. The first is get ready. You have to be ready. Opportunity knocks for every person. You will get your chance. It’s very rare that you don’t get a chance, that serendipity doesn’t happen. But, if you’re not ready, so what? Does it matter? So the first thing you have to do is prepare and get ready, you have to do everything you can to get ready.

The second thing you have to do is to have a sense of history. You have to know where you’ve been. I don’t mean you personally, I mean where the work has been, how it came to your spot. It’s important to understand that, to know that, to have a sense of it. Going all the way back to the cave walls. You have to have a sense of history, of how the imagery came about. And then you have to be ready. And if you do those two things, things will probably work out. And you should always carry a pencil and pad.

Can you list any contemporary photographers whose work or careers you find especially noteworthy or inspirational?

Anton Corbjin. I like him because he’s very to the point. Albert Watson. There are so many I like. I would really have to sit down and think about that, I don’t really pay attention. I don’t make lists. We like Gardner, the war photographer. He’s just terrific, but he’s not contemporary. We like the ones who don’t showboat too much. There are so many. Among all the photographers there are wonderful pictures.

Do you have any thoughts about the future?

The future is terrible. Because I have three things to get out tonight, we’re not going to sleep. At four o’clock in the morning, we’ll be fighting here like cats and dogs and we’ll realize we haven’t eaten. At eleven o’clock we have be on the plane tomorrow, so my future doesn’t look very bright.

The future is like the past, only different. We’re getting new equipment, which means longer days. That’s why people have agents, so they can sleep. And they have labs to make their prints. I’m still holding on to everything. I just never wanted anyone to tell me what to do. I’m still my own boss. You want the picture, talk to me. I do have an agent; I have Camera Press in London, for 40 years, on a handshake. I have four or five galleries that represent me, here and in Europe. But I hold everything pretty tight. It’s not the best way but it’s my way. But right now I am very much involved with trying to find the things that have been neglected. By going back to find the pictures that should have been printed, the articles that should be put together. I think I have two or three books that are obvious and have been neglected. I used to worry about things being in the venue I work in and now I don’t care, because I feel that it’s all one venue. Photography is photography.

Do you have anything else to add?

Current solo exhibitions featuring Dan’s photographs of Bob Dylan include:

Dan’s photographs of Dylan are also part of the museum exhibitions: Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA "Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-1966" November 20, 2004 through April 2006 (then a national tour).


Phil Marco

Web site: www.philmarco.com

Please provide some background about your image from the ASMP Collection.

The image of the “crushed oil can” in the George Eastman House collection was a found object. One summer in the city I was crossing the corner of 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue. When a strong glint of light caught my eye. Upon closer inspection it looked like an interesting piece of rumpled steel, two thirds of which was imbedded into the street asphalt. It was about eight feet away from the curb near the corner crosswalk. Totally oblivious to the car and pedestrian traffic, I found a discarded wire hanger nearby and began to evict the object from it’s home which had been rendered into a soft tar like glue by the midday sun.

When I took it back to the studio I cleaned it off with some solvent, and put it under a light, I was mesmerized by how this discarded piece of trash was suddenly transformed into a very special object of beauty. I added some extremely viscous oil to a few of the crevasses to emphasize the feeling of compression, and to extend the narrative; it also brought an additional dimension of color and texture to the visual. The image is probably one of the most published and exhibited of my early pieces.

What about the image from your recent work?

The subject of the “roach” image was also a found object. Both images also share a common sense of simplicity and graphic design. However that’s where their similarity ends. They evoke different emotions. One is beauty the other is the beast. This was one of a series of shock images I worked on last year for an independent study at the Rockefeller Institute. So I selected a subject that is so despicable and repulsive, that simply mentioning it’s name, dispatches a slow crawling chill up your spine. Then just imagine discovering it lying there, in that intimate cup of morning coffee you’ve just drawn from your lips.

When did you begin your career in photography?

I guess it officially began in the fall of 1959 when I received $7.00 to photograph a wallet for the Miller Advertising agency. Actually it was painting that spawned my interest in photography. As a child I was always drawing and beg