SAVERIO TRUGLIA

Why I love people.

2012-01-04T15:13:00.015-06:00

People are my subject. It's a broad subject because as we know all people can be so different. Each new person is a riddle and it takes time to really know someone. But once you've spent as much time shooting as many people as I have, you can't help but recognize shared human traits rather than those making us seem so different. In my work, there is a mini journey that happens which has me love photographing people. It can happen effortlessly or sometimes uncomfortably, but the good of it happens every time and without fail.

This journey begins only a few moment after we've greeted and shaken hands. This is when all preconceptions about who each other are, are unconsciously made. It can be a guarded moment for sure and maybe the most guarded of the entire shoot because we've only collected enough information to satisfy our human defense mechanisms. This preconception we make is prehistoric and only gives us a guide for how to deal with that person based on past experience. But from that point on there's an opportunity for constant renewal of our expectations. As the shoot moves on we progress and reveal to each other. By talking, laughing and telling stories; acting so simply as being ourselves, we can surprise each other and begin to alter the preconceptions we made so quickly when we weren't even aware it had happened. Sure there's plenty of posturing in there too (it's photography, not psychotherapy) but even that shares something authentic about each other. By the end of the shoot, a small bond exists. Looking back at when we first greeted seems like months ago because we both have a shared something of an experience. Shared experience is exactly what bonds us to our friends. This is why I love photographing people because it so regularly challenges my preconceptions of people and offers me a shared and experience and bond with strangers. It enlarges my life and give me confidence that I know a tiny bit more about people as a whole, and who I am myself.

The portraits below are from a recent assignment for The Chicago Reader's People Issue.
Each shoot took about 3 hours and had me experimenting with stories I could tell about each person one frame. By the end, each shoot got very loose resulting in experimentation and sometimes the best pictures. I'm really honored to have met all these exceptional and generous people.

Name: Dr. Titus Chiu
Age: 35
Profession: Chiropractic neurologist. Website
Profundity: "I have to say, love is the most powerful medicine there is."
Location: Undisclosed indoor skate park

Name: Phoenix Askani
Age: 23
Occupation: Adult film performer on Burning Angel
Profundity: "I don't think that every girl in porn is fucked-up in the head, by any means."
Location: Phoenix's apartment

Name: Jake Nickell
Age: 31
Occupation: T-shirt design entrepreneur. Threadless
Profundity: "I don't have a business degree. I think a lot of the time innovation comes from amateurs. "
Location: Threadless headquarters

In the horned forest: Chicago Magazine

2011-12-21T16:38:00.017-06:00

Multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Bird and instrument maker, Ian Schneller have again created sonic alchemy for another foray into the Sonic Arboretum. I shot an image with the both of them for this month's Chicago Magazine. See the Chicago Magazine story here on Specimen's website

Andrew Bird and Ian Schneller

The first time they explored this beautiful and dark place was in August of 2010 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The museum asked Andrew to perform in their famous spiraled halls for its new performance series, and like any artist destined for the history books, Andrew took itas an opportunity to try something new.

Photo: Specimen Products

He and his old friend Ian of Specimen Products have been experimenting with playing Andrews violins, guitars through his beautiful, handmade tube amps and horns. They quickly built and carefully shipped some 50 horns of various sizes to the museum and devised how each would transport Andrews music to a packed house.

Behind the scenes images by Esther Kang.

Andrew is playing again on the Sonic Arboretum on December 22 at the MCA Chicago with an ever larger array of multi colored horns. I am lucky to be able to attend and will post some images here after the show.

Watch the video of the Sonic Arboretum performance

ANDREW BIRD AND IAN SCHNELLER AT THE GUGGENHEIM from Victor Quinaz & Co. on Vimeo.

Photo editor: Megan Lovejoy

Set design: Angela Finney

Retouching: Tim Blokel

Bio-fuel tech for Fast Company Magazine

2011-12-19T12:20:00.040-06:00

When I bought my current car in 1999, I told the dealer that I'd drive it until someday I could reason to buy an alternative fuel car which could carry all my photo shit. That day hasn't come but it seems as though alternative fuel may instead be coming to my car.

Jim Rekoske of Honeywell's specialty bio fuel unit, UOP.

Fast Company Magazine recently assigned me to photograph a chemist for a feature on the growing field of bio fuel technology. Ethanol from corn is currently America's most common bio-fuel. It's used as an additive to gasoline to stem the use of oil. Corn is arguably a poor source of fuel so other sources are being explored.

I shoot Jim Rekoske at Honeywell who's perfecting making gasoline and jet fuels out of camelina, a non food crop grown in rotation with wheat. I visited Jim at his lab in Des Plaines, IL and he happily let me poke around his labyrinth of insulated pipes, gauges and cylinders. His lab was essentially a very scaled down version of what hopes to become large scale fuel production plant.

Jim Rekoske exchanging glances with HAL's younger cousin.

Photographing scientists and artists have been some of my most loved editorial assignments. There's a shared mind by both people. I can relate to how each looks at the world as an unfinished story with possibility for the future. To be either, I believe you need to have faith in new ways of looking at something old. (another post about a scientist.)

photo editor: Marian Barragan
retouching: Tim Blokel

Dark Matter Man

2011-12-15T15:19:00.017-06:00

Discover Magazine photo editor, Randi Slatken recently asked me to shoot a leading expert in theoretical physics, Dr. Joseph Lykken. When not appearing on Nova, you can find Joe lurking around the proton- antiproton collider, better known as the Fermilab Tevatron. It's a device out of science fiction in which subatomic particles are smashed together in order to find God or "dark matter", whichever you prefer.

Theoretical Physicist, Dr. Joseph Lykken

Spread in Jan. 2012 issue of Discover (modified layout)

On an overcast fall day we drove an hour through flat cornfields, through prairie grasses and slender trees west of Chicago to the Fermilab campus. We arrived and saw nothing spectacular, except a cold war era building resembling praying hands and rising 16 stories from the red grass. There was in fact lots more to see but it was all happening underground.

Fermilabs main building, Wilson Hall designed by Enrico Fermi

The Fermilab particle accelerator built in 1967 had up until that very week, been happily smashing subatomic particles together in a massive 4 mile underground tube in search of the Higgs Boson and the reason for our puny existence. Now the larger and newer Hadron Collider is doing that work in central Europe.

I had unprecedented media access to the Tevatron because the accelerator was in the process of being shut down. Because of this coup in timing I was able to photograph for the first time, the detector; the exact point where the particles collide and are analyzed.

The Tevatron's collision detector.

What I enjoyed most about hanging out with Joe Lykken was getting closer to understanding the narrow gap between hard science and theology, and how we grapple with the misunderstandings of our very existence. Fermilab is in essence a cathedral to physics.

One of the most thrilling places I had access to was what i called, the "neutrino machine". It's a very loud, Lost in Space robot housed in a metal room used to generate the very subatomic particles that would eventually get smashed together in the Tevatron. A new and improved one is being built today and is not surprisingly the size of a Prius. They now shoot these subatomic particles or neutrinos underground to Minnesota and study how they change along the way.

Where the subatomic particles are made.

Despite the closure of the Tevetron, so much science is still happening at Fermilab on the frontiers of energy, cosmology and technology. If you're into science, they're always hiring.

Long nights up at the Pole.

2011-12-14T11:36:00.014-06:00

This week's Time Out Chicago cover deserves a little coal for being bad. Not bad really, but naughty. Time Out Chicago's photo editor, Nicole Radja asked me to create an image where Ms. Claus gets an "upgrade" to her Holiday. Immediately this image of a shirtless St. Nick being admired by a more experienced Vixen came to mind.

Shooting got a little awkward for the talent when I asked Ms. Claus to put her right hand down the front of Santa's trousers. She game-fully agreed but couldn't keep a straight face. Who could blame her?

The issue was recently previewed here on Chicago's ABC channel 7.

Get some this holiday.

2011-12-08T13:07:00.018-06:00

Box of bodies

2011-11-27T14:18:00.008-06:00

Here's some behind the scenes of an image I shot for my friends at Collaboraction Theater for their upcoming production of, Dark Play. The story is about a phenomenon all who have dated on the internet has experienced. I call it "ideal projection". It happens when the person you've just met on the internet but know scant about seems to possess all the ideal qualities you've ever been looking for in a mate. In actually meeting them however, you find that your imagination has sorely let you down.

In Dark Play the story is fortunately more disturbing than what most of us have ever encountered on the web. In conclusion, things are not what they've seemed and let's just say the end comes with a visceral twist.

Our set was conceived and built by Collaboraction art director, Sam Poretta in my studio. We needed to shoot down on a box of writhing white bodies lit from below. Luckily I'd just received an iPad 2 and it came just in time for shooting this scene where the camera necessarily has to hover on a boom 12 feet in the air. I directed, shot and reviewed the whole thing from the iPad connected to a computer running capture software. Can photography ever get more slick?

Ameriville for Victory Gardens

2011-11-22T12:24:00.005-06:00

Marketing image for Ameriville opening at Victory Gardens in January.

I've been steadily working on shooting the season's marketing images for Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. We've finished the second to last for the play Ameriville opening Jan 27.

It's been a labor of love for everyone involved including the actors who've braved cold wet pavement, masturbating upside down and drifting forgotten in a flooded world . Ameriveille will be an eye opening examination of whether we'd be ready for another Katrina somewhere in America.

I was inspired by German painter Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's famous 1851 depiction of Washington Crossing the Deleware as a symbol of American perseverance and courage.

Retouching: Fred Muram
Assistant: Tim Blokel, Sarah Linder
Set design: Brynne Rinderknecht

Masters Cup Winner

2011-11-02T15:08:00.008-05:00

A few of my pictures were recognized in the 2011 Masters Cup international photography competition.

Butcher, won 3rd place in People category.

Dancing Man was a nominee in the People category.

In addition to this award I was awarded Best in Show in the 2011 APA Awards.

60 Second Portraits.

2011-11-01T15:48:00.007-05:00

Some of my editorial shoots are over before you know it. If shooting a celebrity, or a CEO, (who thinks he's a celebrity) sometimes I get 15 minutes. It's important to stay well lubricated for these assignments. Below are 15 portraits each shot in 60 seconds or less. All were guests (except for one) at my recent Open Studio party.

(This is coded in Flash. My apologies to iPad users)

Turning 40 before I do.

2011-10-28T14:33:00.008-05:00

My career was kickstarted back with the help of the Chicago Reader. For those of you who don't know the ways of Chicago, the Chicago Reader is the most bad-ass weekly politics and entertainment rag in these parts, and it's free. They celebrated their 40 year anniversary with a party at Chicago Urban Arts Society and asked me to show work I've shot for the them over the years.

Chicago Urban Art Society: Chicago Reader 40th Anniversary from Nick Brazinsky on Vimeo.

When I was just a wee shutterbug in Wicker Park, I started shooting weirdos for the Reader. After the first documentary assignment, they never gave me documentary again. They liked my work but knew I was too much the control freak to let things play out without having some directorial say in the matter.

For the party, I showed pictures of R&B Legend Syl Johnson kicking back in his house, a black cyber dominatrix in white hot suit and some female mud wrestlers tackling each other.

The party was a riot and ended with a mad dance party DJ'd by the equally bad-ass, Flosstrsdamus!

Your hydration choices are Gatorade or beer.

2011-10-24T10:01:00.028-05:00

For photographing a portrait of a Walnut wood bicycle and its builder, I considered possible locations to shoot: the park, riding in the street or in the wood shop were all reasonable, but bored me to tears. So instead I indulged my affection for shooting at gas stations. I told Seth Deysach to meet me at the Ameristar gas station on Diversey and Pulaski, a shining beacon among dirty northwest side taco shops and funeral homes. I was honestly surprised he agreed.

Seth Deysach of Lagomorph Design

It was hot as Hell that day so I negotiated to use the gas station by buying from its owner, bags of ice and enough Gatorade to hydrate a whale. In exchange he gave me rein over his station as long as we didn't get hit by traffic.

It was late summer so of course I wanted to soak in all the vitamin D I could before winter, so I slathered up with SPF 50 and shot in the bright, hot sunlight. When I shoot I'm high on adrenaline and can be unfazed by the harshest elements, though I could see my subject was melting, so I moved us under the giant canopy shading the pumps. We could now all relax and shoot while dodging the cars of paying customers.

And if you are paying attention; No that's not Gatorade in his hand. The ice was for the High Life I got for Seth at the next door liquor store. Boy can drink beer on a hot day!

Fall 2011 cover of CS Interiors

Nocturnal visitors

2011-10-21T17:44:00.006-05:00

THIS is the what.

2011-10-18T10:28:00.003-05:00

A great New York photo editor, Kate Osba has this wonderful blog called THIS IS THE WHAT about photography and photographers. She interviewed me for a story posting today on her blog.

http://www.thisisthewhat.com/2011/10/10-minutes-with-saverio-truglia/

Visitors.

2011-10-16T19:44:00.002-05:00

58 portraits each shot in 60 second sittings at open studios in my building October 14, 2011.

2011 APA Awards-Best of Show

2011-10-15T08:43:00.030-05:00

You needn't remind me that reading while driving kills, but I was stopped in traffic when I peeked at my iphone. I was thrilled to learn that I was awarded the 2011 APA Awards-Best of Show.

My best of show image, PanAm-Pull, was entered in the Fashion category. You can see the individual category winners here.

I shot this picture as a campaign for Pan Am Brands, the company which sells those iconic travel products, and the namesake of the new TV series, Pan Am. You can read about the production and see behind the scenes here.

The APA awards were judged by a rock star panel of taste makers and taste breakers in the advertising, arts, and media fields. As part of my award package, I'll finally own that iPad I've been jealously bashing since it's invention.

The highlighted are official sponsor resources I use on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to using some new ones .

(Thanks corporate bro's.)

Client: Pan Am Brands
Art Director: Brice Cooper
Wardrobe styling: Heather Brooks
Hair & Make up: Cindy Shute
Talent: Ford Chicago
Assistants: Michael DeMarti, Sarah Linder
Retouching: Tim Blokel

Human Disco Ball.

2011-09-18T12:07:00.005-05:00

On the final warm days on summer, you want to soak up all the sun you can. Not reflect it back into space! Man oh man.

North Avenue Beach. Saturday September 17.

Bag check for Pan Am.

2011-09-16T11:39:00.023-05:00

Pan Am is back, but not exactly how you might remember it. Pan Am airways landed for its final time, bankrupt in the 90's selling its assets to Delta. After several reorganizations and name rights sales Pan Am has been reinvented as a brand that will harken us back to the glamorous days of flying, when hot food was set upon your tray table and you dressed-up for the airport.

Some of the bags we had on set.

Now selling travel accessories and gifts, Pan Am even has it's own TV show starring the lovely and strange Christina Ricci. It focuses on the lives of stewardesses and their adventures in passion, jealousy and espionage at 30,000 feet.

I was commissioned by Pan Am to help promote their line of retro travel bags by tying onto our memory of sleek, 60's era travel, though not with jumbo jets, but classic cars.

I was very young in the 70's just when all the great 50's and 60's design styles were being remodeled out. Though the memory of those clean rich lines are forever engraved in my mind as a kind of feeling. I remember flying those now defunct carriers like Eastern and Braniff and getting to visit the cockpit, mid-flight. The copilot pinning a pair of plastic wings to my proud cardigan. Making pictures with these design styles sure brings back some fuzzy feelings, like the muffled sound of afternoon soap operas filtered through shag carpeting while I napped. Oh, the age of innocence.

I'm not really that short. Really.

Shooting at a small airport outside of Chicago, we slathered on sunblock and shot images about a woman in a hurry to get the hell out! In the image above, she hits a snag in her plans on her way to who know where. Clothes were styled by the ever over-delivering Heather Brooks. Hair and make up by my new friend Cindy Schute.

A pristine 60's MGA with blood red leather interior. Droool.

Retouching and production stills by Tim Blokel

Pink my ride.

2011-09-12T18:56:00.037-05:00

In the waning days of summer I find myself drawn to the open-air markets that springs up in empty lots on the west side of Chicago, selling everything from air fresheners to zebra skin rugs.

Pink Pony Bicycle $30. No tax

I especially love the kids bikes. Minimally bubble wrapped and displayed to be advancing like baby armies; their iridescent tassels waving in the wind like Chinese jewelry shimmering in the sun. I checked out these beauties near a mini-mall at the off-ramp of the 290 expressway at Sacramento Ave.

And for the money you just saved, they sell pop culture cartoon piggy bank heads .

No gnocchi. Solo pesce.

2011-09-10T16:50:00.009-05:00

I had the gastronomic good fortune of shooting restaurant mogul Scott Harris, "the Don" of the growing empire of Mia Francesca Italian restaurants for Chicago Magazine. We shot him in the back room of his newest endevour, Salatino's in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood.

Food was styled by chef, Joeseph Farina. The 6 pound lobster (estimated to be +/- 25 years old) was eaten with butter and lemon. Lost to the crop were a dozen giant shrimp, pasta marinara, lobster tail and 6 other drop dead seafood dishes. On top of it all, the restaurant sent the whole crew home with their choices off the menu for dinner. Maybe being Calabrese myself does have its perks.

Styling: Angela Finney
Hair and Makeup: Morgan Blaul
Photo editor: Megan Lovejoy
Retouching: Tim Blokel

Evelyn!

2011-07-27T19:12:00.007-05:00

Evelyn is a character in a campaign I recently shot for Anthos (an International flower bulb association) with the fabulous Woodbine Agency. She's one of three lovely ladies, for who planting bulbs is the easiest way to rock their home spaces.

This was a hilarious project that spanned several days in studio shooting multiple print assets and my directing 6 motion/sound pieces.

Print ad for Anthos, Dig, Drop, Done campaign

Check out frisky Evelyn tell us about how her neighbors gardener "Roberto" inspired her to get those bulbs in the ground one day.

http://www.digdropdone.com/about-us-the-ladies-evelyn.html

Agency: Woodbine
Art Direction: Vickie Canada
Styling: Lani Paul
Art Producer: Liz Stovall
Account Direction: Ashley Dillon

Directing "Dig, Drop, Done!"

2011-07-20T13:52:00.026-05:00

I recently completed a week long motion and print project promoting tulips and bulb flowers with Woodbine agency in Winston Salem. We shot the project in a North Carolina studio where I directed each of three characters to represent different kinds of gardeners. Marcy is the young mom planting in her yard with the kids. Juliana is the single, urban fashionista who plants in pots on her patio. And Evelyn, our empty-nester also plants in her yard, but with the help of her gardener, Roberto. He's so hot!

The videos are a riot. Check one out below and be sure to watch them all . Click on it.

Stay tuned to see the very expressive print pieces running in magazines.

Agency: Woodbine
Art Direction: Vickie Canada
Styling: Lani Paul
Art Producer: Liz Stovall
Account Direction: Ashley Dillon

A city by another name.

2011-07-19T17:17:00.009-05:00

There's water out there (Los Angeles), and there's water over there (New York), but what some forget is that there's also water right here! Chicago, or The Second City, has another lesser known moniker which is The Third Coast. (Truly I don't bother with either to describe this fine chunk of asphalt)

None-the-less, many take their own names from this reproach to The City of Broad Shoulders. Third Coast Percussion is one of them. They are a energetic and creative four piece percussion ensemble based in the Windy City. I may go so far as to call them Post Rock cut from the same cloth as bands like Tortoise and Explosions in the Sky.

I recently photographed Third Coast Percussion under threat of rain near their rehearsal space. They were clear not to be be shot playing, so my concept was to photograph them instead with their instruments magnetically raining down from above.

With the help of creative folks like these, today my Sweet Home is better known today for things like Oprah, Wilco and This American Life than being the Hog Butcher for the World and as far as I'm concerned, that's just fine with me.

Who needs books?

2011-06-21T23:53:00.004-05:00

At a time when school libraries are checking out iPads and Kindles to kids, do we fear the loss of the printed book? This was the question posed by School Library Journal in a recent cover feature about the subject. I photographed all-star librarian John Schumacher with his (borrowed) iPad for the May 2011 cover.

Cows and ladders.

2011-06-14T18:15:00.006-05:00

Along with being good for strong bones and teeth, Horizon brand milk can do other amazing things for children, like offer them the occasional height advantage. Here's one of two cute ads I shot for Leo Burnett with our custom-made cow.

We interpreted "Happy", the 2D airborn bovine on the packaging of Horizon milk as a sculptural piece standing on all fours. After weeks of design and building, Happy was shipped with her extra head to Atlanta where I shot. I'm happy to say that I'll be seeing Happy again this summer where she'll be making more cameo appearances in the developmental lives of children.

Leo Burnett creative team: Nick Fantl and Chris Julcher

Reader: Refreshed

2011-04-27T18:16:00.017-05:00

I've been shooting for the Chicago Reader since it was a four section, black and white entertainment weekly. Back then, there was a whole section dedicated to classifieds! Over a few re-designs and three owners, the Reader is still available weekly but now refreshed as a color, single section with a new glossy double cover. Whoa!

Art director Paul Higgins and I collaborated on how to create an image about the Reader's redesign, our new mayor and city council and the coming of summer in Chicago. We settled on making one big splash.

With the help of Isa from the ChicagoLooks, we found Karen who was a super sport letting us hit her with two gallons of (warm) water over and over again. The image was expertly retouched by Paradigm Color. You can watch a sorter, 7 second splash video here.

Make-up: Jennifer Brown
Digital tech: Tim Blokel
Splash Artist: Derick Smith

Flipping the career switch.

2011-04-10T13:56:00.005-05:00

Have you ever asked yourself whether you could abandon your successful but ultimately unsatisfying career to venture out in the great wasteland of Monster.com and CareerBuilder to instead have a job you really want? It's not an uncommon question to ask oneself, even in a down economy when just having a job means great success. But sometimes the devil you know is worse than the devil you don't.

I was asked by the Chicago Tribune Magazine to contribute portraits to a cover feature running today about 3 women who have done just that. One was a journalist, another a Radio City Rockette and the other a lawyer. They've all traded in the old gig for something fresh and new.

I'll leave it up to you to guess which woman was what in her previous career. Answers are way down below.

Becky Bartsch, Fourth-grade teacher

Nora Jewett, Fashion Designer

Dr. Laura Michaelis, Hematologist

Photo Editor: Michael Zajakowski

Answers:
Becky Bartscch was a Radio City Rockette
Nora Jewett was a lawyer
Dr. Laura Michaelis was a journalist

Chill Out for Arc Worldwide

2011-03-30T18:04:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple posters I shot for Arc Worldwide for Icehouse beer. These were shot in Chicago last year and running in your finer liquor establishment now. Steal one!

Hardball Fantasy

2011-03-30T17:04:00.011-05:00

It's been 66 years since the Chicago Cubs have been in a World Series. (103 years since they won) The south side Chicago White Sox are better off having just won World Series in 2005. None-the-less, baseball fans hope that each new season will be THEIR YEAR. The crew over at Time Out Chicago dreamed up a little fantasy of their own for this weeks baseball season issue.

I was asked to make an image of two hardcore Chicago baseball fans invoking lucky superstitions to bring fortune to their team this year. Time Out liked my idea to have an appearance by the Billy Goat famous for the curse cast upon the 1945 Cubs during their last chance at a Series win.

Using 8 original seats borrowed from Wrigley Field, two funny looking dudes and a petting zoo goat, I assembled the cover by doing an in-studio shoot. Some 12 pieces were shot separately and retouched as one seamless image.

Time Out Associate Art Director, Carrie Ferris enjoys livestock detail.

The challenge was not so much how to technically create what appears to be the nosebleed section at a ball park on a limited budget, but how to keep the goat from peeing on the floor. I quickly realized it was futile, put on my rubber boots and went to work.

Me photographing the goat plates.

Stylist-Liz Klafeta
Talent-Planet Earth Agency
Asistant-Krystina Archer
Make-up- Jennifer Brown
Retoucher-Tim Blokel
Photo Editor-Martha Williams
Assoc. Art Director-Carrie Ferris

Fffffffriigggggid frame.

2011-03-24T20:24:00.021-05:00

When we arrived at Chicago's 39th street beach in two vehicles and a bag of Subway sandwiches, the place was crawling with cops. Five police cars scattered the parking lot with all occupants eating their lunches. Not good. I was there to do a run-and-gun photo shoot for a magazine on a budget and rightfully should have called the Chicago Film Office for a permit costing many hundreds of dollars. Not really an option. After unsuccessfully waiting for the cops to leave I decided that we were "art students" or shooting for Oprah (either usually charms the authorities). We unloaded the truck.

I was shooting a photo illustration for Runner's World Magazine about an online service that rates your body's recovery and advises you to take a break or go for a run. The creative direction was to show a runner resting in a chair while another considers that he should take a break too. It was winter, snowing, gray and blustery. Non-seasonal locations were limited, so I took it to the lake shore running path to avoid signs of winter. Or so I thought.

Under the layers of sleeping bags, blankets and improvised hats, these dudes wore extra-light running clothes.

Part of my job is to just get-it-done despite the odds. Beyond the cops about to bust me for lack of paperwork my other challenge was to make a blue-sky summer day of late winter in Chicago. This day began with light snow and the windchill left temperature hovering in the low 20's. A stiff wind along Lake Michigan sent white surf repeatedly topping the seawall, threatening my electronic lighting gear. We pressed on.

The lake frequently overtook the seawall threatening to drench our gear.

We placed the props: one $30 reclining chair from Craigslist, one flag built from a trip to Home Depot, and a table "on loan" from Target on the driest part of the path. Once lit the guys dashed out from under their blankets and sleeping bags. They assumed their positions and gave me 30 second performances before retreating beneath their cocoons. I had them repeat this drill again and again until I shot all the necessary parts for compositing (or rather, until I was about to get punched by two icy male models).

You'd never guess it was 20 degrees.

The skies cleared for a time toward the end and I shot the sunny sky which replaced the gray that dominated 99% of my shots that day. Within a few hours at the computer all pieces were assembled and the final was uploaded to the magazine. All extremities intact. The lessons learned here were two: Bring hot beverages to winter location shoots; everyone will feel better. And never fear a cop on his lunch break; he could probably care less.

Goat is Meh friend.

2011-03-18T20:16:00.013-05:00

Meh-Meh, the stud goat (above) came over and brought his buddy, Nugget (below).

Me shooting Nugget. Food inspires his greatness.

Groupon: A full shoot in half the time.

2011-03-10T18:15:00.029-06:00

In this months Fast Company Magazine, I have pictures of Groupon founder, Andrew Mason. My research on Andrew found that for a CEO of a billion dollar company, he was quite an eccentric. Maybe even a nut job. I was prepared as I could be.

We arrived before dawn. With only had 30 minutes with Andrew and three locations to shoot in, we couldn't make a mistake and everything was triple checked. Once my sets were prepped, I felt we needed props. You know...in case he was shy. So three of us spread out and raided desks and cubicles on multiple floors of office space borrowing personal oddities like balloons, business card helmets, and stuffed animals. We arranged them on a table to throw in when needed.

Andrew arrived on time, slightly paunchy and wearing jeans with a light blue button down shirt. Once through make-up, he jumped on the first set and I began shooting. He wasn't taking direction well and seemed distracted. He wiggled with some discomfort then and declared he'd feel better wearing less clothes. I agreed. Shorts were quickly produced. He changed behind the set and emerged wearing an employee's sweaty workout clothes and loafers. No socks.

Now comfortable Andrew giggled and seemed to transform into an eight year old, laughing spontaneously and flitting from flirtatious modelesque poses to rolling over and hiding his face in a corner. Andrew has a signature good nature and was game for the challenges I threw his way. At one point I gave him 30 seconds to stuff his face with as many chocolate chip cookies he could cram. 15! Ten minutes later we got him dressed and onto our second set which was for possible cover use. He donned an employees Scotch taped Groupon business card helmet borrowed from the 6th floor.

Done with set two and ten minutes left with Andrew, my second assistant dashed upstairs to meet us in our last location, "Michael's Room", a converted windowless office turned beer soaked teenager's bedroom and meeting space. Don't ask. Andrew quickly changed back to his first stripped down look and mounted an exercise bike which plays a 45 record when you pedal. He gave a light spinning workout on the bike and 5 minutes later we wrapped. While leaving Michael's Room I overheard Andrew gently scold the PR girl, "You should have stopped me back there."

I've shot Andrew again since. When we shook his hands for the second time I think there was a tinge of embarrassment on his face. However, now knowing a little more about him, it was probably just pride.

Photo Editor: Leslie Dela Vega and Jessie Adler
Set and Props: Jay Neander
Hair and Make up: Karen Brody
Assistants: Harrison Hillman and Tim Blokel
Wardrobe: Andrew Mason

The Mocking of a Photoshoot.

2011-03-08T18:51:00.022-06:00

It was snowing heavily when we showed up at the Congress Theater in an equipment van to shoot for Wahl salon products. You know Wahl clippers if you've ever been to the barber shop and the guy lays a cold, sharp, noisy electric clipper to the back of your neck and you think , "I should be seeing blood now". Wahl also makes Kayline portable salon furniture which was what I was shooting.

The creative was to showcase Kayline's portability on a professional photo shoot. With a tight crew and even less heat, I shot two ads with one professional model and two official Wahl stylists who traveled with our client. It was a riot thinking backwards about what to include in a "photo shoot" because they can be so....well, un-beautiful at times. See behind-the-scenes here.

I truly enjoyed working in the old Congress Theater again. I've shot many dirty, hairy rock bands there for magazines in the past. Before the shoot I considered how to play down it's fading graces and emphasize it's old glory. With clever lighting we carefully placed our shadows over the dingy bits and took decades off its age. The snow continued to fall, the heat finally kicked in. By the time we we finished around 6 o'clock we all skidded our cars away down a snowy street, me with two pretty ads on a hard drive in my pocket.

Agency: Grip
Art Director: Josh Blaylock
Hair and make up: Joyce Taft
Wardrobe: Brynne Rinderknecht

Viva la revolucion

2011-02-21T17:29:00.009-06:00

Not since the Tiananmen Square the protests in 1989 have I been so floored by mass uprisings of people. Today's revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have inspired a new wave across the Arab world that is writing history. Inspired by the same, my friends at Collaboraction Theater have dedicated their annual debauched throw-down, Carnaval to recognize our past and current change agents. Let Them Eat Cake is this year's theme for the March 19 event at Double Door.

A variation of this image I made is being used to promote the event in
wild postings and on the web.

Before designing this image, a long conversation ensued among myself and the event's designers about the nature of revolution. We asked, who are revolting today and how might contemporary Americans identify with current events in the context of a party invitation? The phrases "Let them eat cake" is commonly misattributed to the 18th century queen of France, Marie Antoinette but so commonly so that we chose to visualize a character from France circa 1790, but with a fiery little spin.

Mindfulness and The Oprah Magazine

2011-02-01T16:08:00.014-06:00

When magazines seem to be getting thinner with fewer original photographs, O, The Oprah Magazine is a model for great editorial imagery and content. O, published by Hearst in New York collaborates with great photographers, and is fun to shoot for. I've worked with their talented photo editors a number of times and each assignment has been a day of learning and freedom.

Cheri Maples and her dog at a favorite place for meditation near her
home in Madison, Wisconsin.

A few months back, before all this snow I spent the day in Madison, WI with Cheri Maples, a ex-policewoman turned Buddhist monk and teacher. She founded the Center for Mindfulness & Justice and a follower of Buddihst monk and activist, Thich Nhat author of Being Peace. Cheri now teaches criminal justice personnel mindfulness techniques to better perform in their jobs.

Cover of February, 2011 O Magazine.
Photo: Ruven Afanador

Full version of the published portrait of Cheri Maples

Now weeks later, the same location is lovely as before and blanketed with snow.

This photo: Maureen Brady

Photo editor: Olivia Barr
Make up: Lindsey Williams
Assistant: Derick Smith

Agree to disagree no more.

2011-01-27T18:59:00.007-06:00

So, let's say you and your husband have been raging about what to do with that huge tax refund you just got in the mail. (um. Right) He wants to take a dream trip to Vietnam, and you want to pay down your credit cards. Every night you go to sleep a little further apart.

Kevin Weilgus and Angelo Rago photographed for Chicago Magazine.

You can see his side, but you just KNOW the responsible thing to do. No longer must you bear those awkward, solo cuddle sessions. Air your grievance with the world! JabberJury.com will soon launch as an online community where strangers can vote for the direction of your life.

What factory.

2011-01-26T22:14:00.001-06:00

Crawford Electric Generating Plant, Chicago

Old theater. New collaborator.

2011-01-26T20:00:00.012-06:00

Here are a few behind the scenes stills from one of my shoots this month for some great new collaborators at Grip Design.

Try and find me in the maze of props and gear. Nope! That's Waldo. I mean Harrison.

We shot at the Congress Theater in Chicago for its grandeur and early 20th century feel. The Congress was one of the great and opulent movie houses from the 1920's when Chicago was Hollywood, and Hollywood was a spec of dust in a desert. Now the Congress hosts rock shows and lots of Mexican wrestling.

The crew was Harrison Hillman, Tim Blokel, Joyce Taft, Brynne Rinderknecht

Eating the props

2011-01-24T16:23:00.020-06:00

I immediately can tell when a conceptual assignment is up my alley. So when Runner's World called to commission an image about eating more fish, I knew to set the table. They wanted to see a runner who just bagged a giant fish, like some Acapulco tourist.

March 2011 issue of Runner's World

The trick however was less about how to make a 4 pound fish look like 240, but just where to shoot it. You see, it was December and although we have plenty of seaside-y locations in Chicago, Lake Michigan was frozen. None-the-less my assistant Tim and I geared-up for winter winds and shoved off to the lakefront.

Tim in front of the Columbia Yacht Club.

Frozen Monroe Harbor

We scouted high and low, and after unsuccessful efforts to creatively avoid ice and snow, we strolled out to the Chicago Police Safety Station. There we found the newly renovated "lighthouse" that exuded the cool qualities of coastal Massachusetts. We also discovered one added benefit: the cops keep their water from freezing by bubbling air throughout the entire harbor.

View of the Police Station looking northwest toward downtown.

We shot several frames for where to place our runner who I was shooting the following day in studio. Afterward that day I shopped for the fish. At two different fish markets I bought a beautiful Striped Bass and an New Zealand Snapper, both of which I later ate.

New Zealand Snapper which I filleted badly.

I prepared the Bass with a recipe given to me at the fish market for Salt Baked Fish. It was so fun and easy, and made the greatest fish tacos for 2 days!

Photo editor: Marc Kauffman
Retouching: Paradigm Color
Makeup: Morgan Blaul

In print. On my table

2011-01-14T17:54:00.004-06:00

One of the small pleasures of what I do is seeing my work in use. Which is to say, in magazines, books or where ever it was intended to be seen. Here are a couple from this week. I'll try to keep up with sharing my tear sheets as I find them in the world.

Advertisement for Steppenwolf Theater's production of Sex with Strangers.
Link back to read the behind the scenes of this shoot with Ogilvy Mather, Chicago.

My own self promotion in Lurzer's Archive, Vol. 6.
Watch a video interpretation of this image.

Taking a shot at the Midfielder: Freddie Ljungberg

2011-01-09T18:28:00.014-06:00

I had the opportunity to meet and photograph a Swedish gentleman for today's cover of the Chicago Tribune Magazine. Freddie Ljungberg, an international soccer superstar on par with David Beckham now plays for the Chicago Fire. He's a big deal in soccer, though in the U.S. he's likely most recognized for showing off his body on Calvin Klein underwear billboards.

I shoot him for a fashion/ fitness issue so we chose clothes that showed off his bod, but didn't recreate those famous Y-front ads from a few years ago. For all my efforts to show some skin, we kept it modest and PG.

On a technical note for you photo nerds, I kept it simple. We made a hand chalked backdrop that morning an used no more than 2 Profoto lights. The cover was shot with a customized Lowel Rollo rig, and got up in his face with a favorite lens.

On a fashion note, I could have left the jeans but I wanted to take this Burberry Jacket home (below). But oh Snap. It's $1,595. Take me to the sale rack at Macy's.

Art Director: Daivd Syrek
Photo Editor: Mike Zajakowski
Stylist: Patrick Chavez, Make-up: Morgan Blaul, Retouching (inside pages): Paradigm Color

Portrait of the Artist: George Klauba

2010-12-27T19:23:00.011-06:00

Maybe it's because I too have had a lifelong connection with the sea that I'm fascinated by the work of my friend, George Klauba. George has completed a near decade long romance with a great whale. For as long as I've known George, he's painted his interpretations of Herman Melville's saga, Moby Dick in his intricate, dark style.

Portrait of George Klauba

I've been documenting George's paintings for his catalogs and exhibitions since beginning in the photography business in the 90's. He's actually the reason why I still own a view camera with which I make his 4x5 inch transparencies.

George, a former Navy sailor and tattoo artist lives in Chicago with his wife Judith and visits my studio every few months with some new paintings. I'm simply fascinated by the detail and narrative that he builds into his work. It's lonely yet alive and full of determination. So rich with that salty tradition, it has me craving New England clam chowder every time.

George's newest work Celestial Voyagers depicts the spirits of sailors who have been lost at sea. His work is represented by the Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago.

All artworks © George Kaluba

Stopping The Moving Architects

2010-12-18T17:34:00.019-06:00

It's been very busy in the studio this past week. Among a two day ad shoot, a couple editorial projects, and a pair of castings, I managed to shoot The Moving Architects .

Natalia Negron-Dancer

It was impressive to watch how these guys combine their bodies into shapes that both revealed characters and stories. Four hours of falling, leaping, and stomping left us with a formidable library of bodies frozen in movement.

Laura Vinci-Dancer

Free Ballet for Public Schools

2010-12-09T12:01:00.014-06:00

I do much of my charitable giving each year through offering my time and services. Today I shot a dance class taught by the Joffrey Ballet at a Chicago public elementary school. The students are first and second graders who may never have experienced ballet before. With the help of private funding, this program is provided to the school at no cost to the students or families. Select students will be invited to continue their dance education at the Joffrey Academy of Dance.

I was asked to help document the class by Communties in Schools of Chicago who coordinates the partnerships between dozens of arts and enrichment organizations like the Joffrey Ballet with the public schools that lack arts education programs.

If education like this is meaningful to you and you are interested in how to support arts courses like this one, contact Communties in Schools of Chicago.

Improvisational impersonation of an anti-Imperial

2010-12-06T18:48:00.006-06:00

It's not my rule to meet men at bars and bring them back to the studio, but rules are made to be broken. My new friend Aaron Alonzo agreed to let me make some portraits of him as a Latin American revolutionary. You know...for fun.

Aaron is a improv actor and can be seen in some funny videos with a group called Lady Parts.

Closed for Winter

2010-12-06T15:35:00.009-06:00

I grew up on coastal New Hampshire next door to my father's seafood restaurant. His place was opened only seasonally and named, The Pirate's Cove Restaurant and Peg Leg Lounge. It was set directly on the beach with a heavy pirate theme, inside and out. On a recent visit back east I visited the tourist trap that is Hampton Beach, N.H., about 8 miles south, and encountered two related examples of this history of mine.

First is the only seasonal McDonald's in the country.

It's across the street from the beach and in the winter is barricaded from the lashing winds and sand that blow through this giant t-shirt stand.

The other is a block away, and hard to believe, I'd never noticed it before.

My Dad would have snatched this up and placed it in the center his parking lot, had he the chance.

Soul Drippin': Syl Johnson

2010-11-22T16:09:00.020-06:00

I spent one recent weekend afternoon with legendary R&B artist, Syl Johnson for an editorial project running this week.

Cover of Chicago Reader

I started the shoot at his home on the near south side of Chicago (where he tends an amazing organic vegetable garden) then over to my studio to shoot the cover. His house is lined with gold and platinum records on which his music has been sampled.

Me and Syl Johnson

Syl's been playing since the 50's but his work has most famously been sampled by everyone from Michael Jackson, Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan to the The Beastie Boys.

"Severio. Good Job. Peace, Love, Happiness. Syl Johnson."
Cover of Different Strokes 67-69 featuring a platinum record from Wu Tang Clan.

Syl's energy for a 70 year old is vibratory and had me keeping pace with his erratic moves. We shot while playing his song Right on Sister from his record, "Is it Because I'm Black?", on continuous loop because it's the jam!

Your number is up.

2010-11-02T19:44:00.005-05:00

This is my last post about a favorite annual project of mine, the Illinois Lotto Halloween Raffle. If you bought a $20 ticket and didn't win, feel good that you're supporting public education with your donation to the state.

Agency-Energy BBDO
Art Director-Tim Mikus
Art Buyer- Laura Feeney

Getting hooked on photography.

2010-10-30T12:44:00.006-05:00

We all got started on photography at some point, usually when we were teenagers. This morning, I hosted a dozen high school students from Marwen Foundation at my studio with their instructor, Carl Sweets to show them a professional studio, my work, and to go take some pictures outside.

I coached them on directing subjects into a picture and how to creatively use available light . With half a dozen DSLR's shared among the class, they accosted Halloween costumed passersby and explored a garbage dump I took them to:)

Afterwards, I made time for their class portrait. Maren makes available excellent arts education for FREE to any Chicago child.

Now offering dance lessons.

2010-10-15T12:18:00.008-05:00

I shot a cover on Tuesday for a weekly Sunday magazine. It was an athletic shoot for me, but especially for my talent. I squeezed him for all he had to give:) Check back on Monday November 8, to see the cover.

video: Sam Porretta

Chicago Reader Cover

2010-10-07T09:02:00.005-05:00

I shot the cover portrait for this weeks Chicago Reader about the new Leed certified shared use, "Logan Square Kitchen". It's a culinary business incubator which has been caught up in Kafkaesque red tape with the city over zoning and permitting.
Cover design: Paul Higgins

One very scary, million dollars

2010-09-29T15:03:00.003-05:00

It's almost Halloween and time to scare up some cash. (Yes. I said it.)
Here's some work I shot for the Illinois Lotto to promote their Halloween Millionaire Raffle on sale Oct 1. In addition to these classics, I shot NEW horrific portraits that you can see at gas stations or convenience stores all over Illinois.

Check out the old fashioned movie banner ad on the Lotto site.
Agency: Energy BBDO
Art Direction: Tim Mikus

Anatomy of: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

2010-09-28T14:16:00.019-05:00

Throughout the month of September I'm blogging about the making of a black and white project I recently shot with Ogilvy Mather, Chicago. The print campaign was for Steppenwolf Theater Company's 35th season entitled Public/Private Self. This is the last update in the series.

Edward Albee’s play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1962) is a raucous story about a middle aged New England college professor and his nearly schizophrenic wife who engage in scathing, drunken tirades and physical battery in front of their two young house guests. Eventually their lies and abuses turns on their guests, none-the-less, the party rages on.

Final image

The objective was to create a moment in the mid 60’s, which our two unwitting houseguests are greeted at the door by the inebriated older couple, played by Tracy Letts and Amy Morton. The older couple has been drinking for hours, but embattled for years. The time of day is 1am. Our shoot had to be scheduled in the late morning however.

My pre-pro pencil

I was thrilled to be working with actors Tracy Letts and Amy Morton as my talent. They have established working relationship, most notably from Amy’s performance in Tracy’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, August: Osage County. Needless to say, they bounced off each other like Seinfeld and George.

Amy and Tracy take aim.

I learned that seasoned stage actors are not inclined to be the most natural photography models. Their forte is telling stories with their bodies in time. It's important that they get how their character arrived at this moment: A fair question. I talked to them separately about how I wanted to distill the various themes of the play into the single moment which they'll never perform again.

Me talking to Tracy Letts about the shot.

Location scouting took me across the city to find a Victorian era, wooden porch. I first investigated buildings with phone numbers attached to them; Bed and breakfasts in old Chicago neighborhoods could have worked. It was important that once the doors swung open, we saw plenty of interior space to position a small wet bar in view and none did the trick. With the help of a location scout, we found a private home that was willing to work with us.

Scouting shot of the location

Wardrobe styling was crucial to convey the right era. Our touchstone was the fabulously styled show, Mad Men. When my art director emailed me this wardrobe shot from the show, the hunt was on for a plunging neckline cocktail dress (middle). Not all too common in the early 60’s.

Styling period

The icing on the cake was a white fox stole which became my favorite prop in this story of an overdressed and aging debutante, flirting with her house guests.

La piece de resistance

My technical challenge was to create a lighting strategy to shoot under broad daylight but making it feel dark outside. To accomplish this, there were a lot of lights firing but not all at the same time. The talent was lit with several strobes positioned as if coming from the two sconces beside the door and trailing off into darkness.

Lots of gear to remove in post

Once talent was shot and released. I created the plates that would give us another cue of nighttime but on the house itself. Strobes were directed to strike the siding just how the sconces might at night. The quality and length of shadows needed to replicate how the tungsten lights would look to the eye.

What I like about the final shot is how Amy's character is upstaging her husband. And from him, we understand that it's not for the first time.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf opens December 2 at Steppenwolf's downstairs theater.

Directed by Pam MacKinnon

Equipment: Multiple Speedotron packs, Hasselblad H4D, Hasselblad 35-90 zoom,
Crew: Annika Howe, Brynne Rinderknecht, Mark Doddato, Morgan Blaul, Jabari Zuberi
Retoucher: Studio Satellite
Ogilvy Mather: Allie Armstrong AD, Gabe Usadel CD
We ate: Heartland Cafe.

Today's Faceblock

2010-09-26T18:26:00.009-05:00

Faceblock. It should be a social media privacy app...but cruelly it's not. Ever since my nights of huffing darkroom chemicals in art school, I've loved what I would call, Faceblock pictures. They're those pictures where the photographer accidentally or intentionally, blocked a person's face by some object, decapitating them at the shoulder and obscuring their identity. Like America's funniest home video shows, I think they're amusing.

This week two of my more intentional Faceblock pictures are being used in the world. One nationally and one locally.

September 26, Washington Post Magazine, cover.
Photo Editor: Evan Jane Kriss

October 1, Fashion Mash-Chicago, poster.
Designer: Malcolm Felder.
Agency: Collaboraction

Anatomy of: Sex With Strangers

2010-09-21T13:13:00.030-05:00

In the play, Sex with Strangers, a young blogger's telling of his sexual exploits launches a hugely successful book-writing career. When his sex life intersects with that of a 30-something writer who’s career is on the rocks, the younger man shows his new love interest how to get noticed on the internet.

The final image

Using two characters and a laptop, the objective was to create a metaphor that told of a sexual relationship that gets corrupted by the desire for microfame. The picture had to be highly sensual but foreshadow the mistrust that later develops.

This production was the first in my series of photos for Steppenwolf's next season. I was then uncertain of what tone the pictures would take or how I’d work with the seasoned actors, most of whom don't do photo shoots. I felt a little out on a limb actually. My subjects, Sally Murphy and Stephen Louis Grush met me in a third floor bedroom of a bed & breakfast on Chicago’s south side.

An 1870's mansion served as the location.

In the tiny room, the walls were painted deep red, the heavy curtains drawn and a single yellow lamp was lit at the beside. As we talked about what I had planned, I quickly learned that Sally and Stephen were in fact strangers themselves. They’d never met or rehearsed whatsoever. This photo shoot was going to be an ice breaker and be their virgin professional experience together.

The room color was red. Very red.

After make-up, they both undressed on set and changed into the wardrobe we brought. Early on, Sally was wearing pajama pants but asked if I might want her to strip down to her underwear because it would be more realistic. The ice was already beginning to thaw. A few shots later, my stylist found a patterned pajama short and black tank worked best.

I used their reflection in the mirrored door of a hand carved armoire to be the source of their image. Much in the play revolved around ones own perception of self that the furniture's framing was at once beautiful and conceptually right.

Directing them required a different solution than most of my jobs. Their initial discomfort was of course felt in the room, but after a little giggling and joking around, I talked them through how their character’s were to be feeling. Using a slow monotonous voice I guided their hands around each others bodies, and their faces into expressions of pleasure and apprehension. Between takes we all climbed on the bed and looked at the shots on my laptop. It was an unusual place for a creative meeting but was a great way to bond.

A range of expressive positions were tried.

Back on set, I coached them to the point which they became familiar enough to take charge and try positions I had not asked of them. At which point my coaching only encouraged their movements on each other, and told what gestures I wanted repeated. My assistant joked that he had to remove himself from set because he was feeling like a 5^th wheel.

The computer screen was shot dark and we had a few ideas how to treat it in post. Originally we considered presenting a naked torso and breasts, suggesting that the computer stripped Sally naked. For this I cast a traveling model from Dallas to shoot some nudes in my studio for later use on that screen, but it was later decided that an ambiguous glowing screen would focus the viewer better.

Not Sally Murphy

My retouching notes

I love the final execution because Sally's character is into it, but doesn't really know what to make of this new person she's becoming. I am especially looking forward to seeing this on stage.

Sex with Strangers opens January 20 at Steppenwolf's upstairs theater.

Written by Laura Eason

Directed by Jessica Thebus

Equipment: Multiple Speedotron packs, Hasselblad H4D, Hasselblad 35-90 zoom,
Crew: Annika Howe, Russell Lord, Mark Doddato, Courtney Rust, Morgan Blaul
Retoucher: Studio Satellite
Ogilvy Mather: Allie Armstrong AD, Gabe Usadel CD
We ate: Potbelly sandwiches and an ice tea bottle was

accidentally broken on the bathroom floor.

Anatomy of: Middletown

2010-09-14T09:41:00.044-05:00

Throughout the month of September I’m blogging about the making of a black and white project I recently shot with Ogilvy Mather, Chicago. This print campaign was for Steppenwolf Theater Company's 35th season entitled Public/Private Self. Updates will be posted each Tuesday afternoon in the month.

Middletown (written by Will Eno) is a play about the universe of a small town to which its newest resident has moved to have her first baby. Her hopes of forming tight bonds with the town's people fizzle when she finds that moments of connection are shallow, and strangers remain just that. A central moment comes during a town walking tour when stopped at a simple stone memorial, existential questions of humankind are awoken and wrestled with by tour-goers and the tour guide alike.

Final image

This shot was one of the more ambitious productions in the series as it took place in three U.S. states, on location and in studio, and over a period of weeks. The art direction had the moment take place beneath an exploding starry sky, dwarfing the tour guide played by Alana Arenas.

I live in Chicago which is no small town. Finding quaint, open space within an hour of the city is a tough call. Instead of shooting close to home I chose to find the locations in New England while visiting my family. It was a great solution because New England is rife with open town commons, commemorative memorials and adorable centuries old homes.

While motoring through southern Maine with my fiance, I slammed on the breaks to shoot what would become the town memorial. A cemetery entrance built from ancient granite was the perfect, unadorned and average memorial I needed.

Monument shot in York, Maine shortly after sunset.

A week later, I drove to Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts (with my teenage niece as an assistant) to shoot landscapes and architecture which would later make up the image's location. Maintaining a flexible vision for what I was making, I shot a library of structures and grassy public spaces. Night exposures are long, and tested my 14yr old assistant's patience.

This house appears in the left background of the final image.

With the landscape now shot, I retouched together different versions of a town commons landscape. The details were carefully chosen so to direct the cues to a small town common.

Two composited landscapes we considered for where the hero was to be placed.

Another week later and back in my Chicago studio, the last element I shot was our hero. We chose the landscape with the more dramatic, directional back-lighting and set up a similar lighting scheme. It was important that her lighting match that of the landscape I'd already created. The floor was blacked so not to reflect, and directional edge lighting, key light fall-off and long shadows would anchor her to the landscape.

Alana shot as a separate plate in my studio

Each shot of Alana changed the tonality of the story so there was much discussion about which expression and body language best served the narrative. I chose this one because her look of wonder was mixed with an ounce of loneliness. She looks not only up towards the night sky but out to the town that surrounds her. Once all the elements were selected, I sent the parts to the retoucher to begin assembly and finishing treatments.

My retouching notes and a hero images switch.

After a last minute image switch, a new name plate was illustrated inspired by historic plaques and an old Jamaican coin.

An image I sourced on Internet used as guide for plaque.

Middletown opens June 16th at Steppenwolf's downstairs theater.

Equipment: Multiple Profoto 7A packs, Hasselblad H4D, Hasselblad 35-90 zoom, Canon 1DS Mark III,
Crew: Jabari Zubari, Annika Howe, Mark Doddato, Sage Reed
Retoucher: Brian York
Ogilvy Mather: Allie Armstrong AD, Gabe Usadel CD
We ate: Italian sandwiches and iced coffee.

Anatomy of: The Hot L Baltimore

2010-09-07T13:33:00.041-05:00

Over the next three weeks I’ll be blogging about the making of a black and white project I recently shot with Ogilvy Mather, Chicago. This print campaign was for Steppenwolf Theater Company's 35th season entitled Public/Private Self. Updates will be posted each Tuesday afternoon in September.

The Hot L Baltimore (1973) is a dark comedy about the occupants of a condemned grand hotel who face eviction. The play’s title is taken from the hotel's neon sign with a burned-out letter "E”. The central character of a night clerk who's life is orbited by and ensemble of prostitutes, pimps and runaways, is played by K. Todd Freeman.

Two challenges of this particular shoot were to represent the neglected hotel in which the story happens and create a metaphor for the chaos of the occupants vs the stability of the night clerk. The image was to be use across a wide array of print media.

Final image

I began location scouting on the Internet searching for swanky turn-of-the-century hotels and social clubs, then calling to get cooperation from their PR departments. Hotel Intercontinental was my first choice and the one who graciously hosted our shoot. Once entering this particular room, I fell in love with the verticality of the space but was most taken by the iconic hotel carpeting. It was a room that would translate perfectly in black & white because of it’s high contrast tones throughout. Also its burled walnut wood paneling would take on an old sooty quality in high speed black and white digital capture. We borrowed mismatching furniture from adjacent rooms and carefully “broke” a curtain to give the room sparse, run down feeling.

Empty room plate

After establishing our camera angle (8' high looking out and down) I brought K.Todd to his position. We chatted a while about where he wanted to take his character in the play, and what I had in mind for the photograph. I always find this conversation with professional actors fascinating because until then, I can only guess how they might translate the written script. What's most fun is that I get to become part of developing his persona too. He felt the night clerk was intense, patient and observant. Kind of a dry and serious man.

Subject was shot mostly alone so to focus on his direction.

Our main subject now shot, I focused my attention solely on our three extras to populate the background. Once dressed in 70’s period costumes by my stylist, I set them wandering in big loops across the room. This part of the shoot was something of a dance where the talent weaved and flirted with each other making grand gestures that would look cool when stopped in action. I wanted a lot of motion so the exposures were long to capture the ambient blur. At this point I had very little certainty about where each person might be placed in the final composition nor could I plan on the randomness of their actions, so I shot hundreds of variations.

Motion blur came from 2 carefully placed lights and a longer exposure

When it became time to assemble the image for the retoucher, I sat down with Photoshop, a Wacom tablet and a glass of Scotch.This patient part of the image assembly is where the story's details are told and something I can only do myself. I look at each of the frames and choose the ones that when placed together make the varied moments feel like one. I was so taken by how these ghostly figures became a suggestion of the past, that I couldn't resist using each character twice. This added to a sense of the passage of time which is in fact integral to the story.

My final mark up notes to the retoucher

The Hot L Baltimore opens March 24th at Steppenwolf's downstairs theater.

Equipment: Multiple Profoto 7A packs, Hasselblad H4D, Hasselblad 35-90 zoom, Phocus 2.5
Crew: Jabari Zubari, Annika Howe, Karen Brody, Nate Smith, Damien Thompson, Heather Brooks
Retoucher: Brian York
Ogilvy Mather: Allie Armstrong AD, Gabe Usadel CD
We ate: Panera bread sandwiches, iced tea

Bozo boob tube.

2010-08-06T11:07:00.003-05:00

This shoot for Time Out Chicago was simply hilarious! The story was about some new shock TV productions coming to Chicago. Filming in the same studio as the legendary Bozo's Big Top, it asks where is the state of TV production in the city heading?

Kelly McKaig-Set, Kate O'Neill-production and props, Tim Blokel-retouching, Douglas Grew-Talent, Photo editor-Nicole Radja. Special Thanks to Monica Zaffarano. Screen image provided by Time Out Chicago.

O, Oops!

2010-08-06T10:33:00.002-05:00

I shot for O, The Oprah Magazine recently for their Sept 2010 issue. My awesome subject was Paty Lopez- Pullman, a 36 year old mother of 3 who had an "energy makeover". The order of the day was to shoot Paty outside doing activities like bike riding with her kids but a huge summer thunderstorm rolled in as we arrived. Anticipating this I kept my eye out for alternate locations.

Honestly I thought I was screwed, until 3 blocks from Paty's home I noticed an old school roller skating rink! I quickly put on my location scout's hat and negotiated to use the rink for the day. Everyone was thrilled to have our production there and we were grateful to be out of the heat and rain.

Chicago Magazine-Puppet Person

2010-06-18T12:35:00.004-05:00

The July opener in Chicago Magazine is a portrait I made of Blair Thomas, puppeteer extraordinaire. We shot many set ups, but I liked this one best of Blair and his friend up on the Metra tracks near his west side studio.

As trains whizzed past we shot Blair, in and out of character. It was really fun because I got a private performance from this originator of Chicago's Redmoon Theater Company. Blair is now on his own with Blair Thomas & Co performing original works around the country.

Sketchbook X

2010-06-10T10:13:00.008-05:00

For ten years, Chicago's Collaboraction theater company has been producing their annual Sketchbook festival of short plays. It's a unique and dizzying night of live theater and musical performance that runs June 10-27 at the beloved Chopin Theater. This year see 20 plays (optionally) over 2 nights.

Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche- Devised by Andrew Hobgood

I've been an artistic associate member for many years as I contribute to marketing images for the company. I've gratefully made a lot of theater connections through our relationship and always look forward to working with them.

Tight curls today-by Jennifer Barclay

This years festival, more than ever, incorporates video and live music with performances by Nick Tremulis , Unicycle Loves You and DJ Miles Polaski.

What I'm looking for- by Brett C. Leonard

Coke for Kids

2010-06-08T19:47:00.007-05:00

I almost forgot to share this project I shot with Atlanta's, always wonderful, Fitzgerald and Company for Coke. We shot an outdoor campaign for their World of Coke Museum in downtown Atlanta. I cast 3 awesome kids to stay up LATE, drinking Coke and watch movies for me.

The best part of World of Coke is the tasting room where you can sample Coke products from around the world. My favorite was brand called Beverly Cola from Italy that tasted like Campari.
Wild!

Disc-Oprah.

2010-06-08T18:40:00.004-05:00

Over the weekend we shot an upcoming feature for O The Oprah Magazine. We got rained out, so on the spot I came up with a location solution. Buy the September issue and see where we shot.

Doin' it for the Grrrls.

2010-05-27T15:56:00.010-05:00

This weekend I shot what will be a very fun campaign for Columbia College. The images will advertise their upcoming 3G Summit, which introduces and encourages young women to study gaming design. A field typically over-run with dudes.

The creative direction of this is inspired by South Asian female goddesses and will be masterfully retouched by Brian York.

This was another shoot captured courtesy of Hasselblad USA and their loan to me of the crazy-good H4D-40!

Me liking Phocus 2.5.

A Sapphire Salon

2010-05-27T15:25:00.006-05:00

On yet another tech scouting mission for a project I'm doing with Ogilvy Mather, I explored the grand hotels of Chicago looking for a location. One such mission lead me to Hotel Intercontinental I was shown this beautiful Sapphire gem I thought I would share.

The Volcano has my Hasselblad

2010-04-23T10:07:00.002-05:00

I am very honored to be chosen by Hasselblad as the featured photographer to launch their new Hassy Community in Chicago. HassyChi.com is were I'll blog and upload photos I make using the new H4D-40 camera they're giving me for the month of May!

I had readied a safe place in my studio for my beautiful little visitor to live, but learned last night my camera was delayed by the volcanic ash cloud hovering over Europe! Thanks Eyjafjallajokull.
(That's a volcano, not an Ikea bed set.)

My Bad Ass Leprechaun

2010-03-20T15:13:00.006-05:00

If you were feeling lucky, you might have bought a ticket from the Illinois Lottery for their St.Patricks Day Million Dollar Raffle. I made these two shots with Energy BBDO. Art Director, Tim Mikus. Art Buyer, Liz Miller-Gershfeld.

We shot all the action inside at the Meigs Field airport terminal on Chicago's Northerly Island.
Outside plates were shot before and after, and married in post with just a touch of CGI by Giannini Creative.

Portraits from First Baptist Church.

2010-03-15T01:43:00.009-05:00

These portraits were taken at the First Baptist Church on the west side of Chicago. I went expressly to make a portrait of the Pastor who was celebrating his 13th anniversary leading the congregation. Afterward I was invited to eat so I stayed and made pictures of other people I knew and met.

Sister "Katie"-church nurse

Brother Laddell-deacon

Sister West-greeter

Sister Washington-church nurse

Bloodiest (adj.)

2010-03-11T15:14:00.003-06:00

Bloodiest is the inflected form of the word, Bloody \ˈblə-dē\. It is also a band (proper noun) and a modifier (adjective). The adjective modifies the noun, therefore you get a dark and brooding 7 piece band who I shot last week for the Chicago Reader. You get?

Pit Bull Photos in Time Out Chicago

2010-03-10T18:10:00.007-06:00

Some of my pictures made the cover feature of this weeks, Time Out-Chicago. The story is about my friend, Jeff Jenkins, founder of Pitbull Training Team who's amazing program is working to end dog fighting in America.

Pit bull Training Team's, Jeff Jenkins with his dog Lola.

Jeff, with the help of his crew, teach kids and adults in communities where dog fighting is prevalent, that their animals are smart, loving and to be cared for. Through obedience and agility training, Jenkins is helping humans and animals bond together and dispell the "status" associated with dog fighting violence.

I had a bad idea.

2010-03-10T15:26:00.005-06:00

Fan the Fire is a VERY cool online magazine that features stories about music, film, style and art. This months issue includes selects from my personal project, Best Practices.

As a homeowner, landlord and small businessman, I am always dreaming up inventive ways to be "DIY". I have to. These pictures are about the great satisfaction I get by doing it my way, despite the risky potential of blowing-it.

Feature interview with me on The FStop Magazine

2010-03-01T12:17:00.005-06:00

Saverio Truglia

Written by Zack Seckler
Edited by Joann Jovinelly

Clients ranging from McDonalds to Rolling Stone seek out Chicago based photographer Saverio Truglia for his distinctive brand of ironic and often dark sense of humour. His signature images include a cow standing in a grocery store aisle stocked with ground beef and an open casket funeral displaying only the fashionable shoes of the deceased. Truglia’s imaginative humour along with a penchant for creative problem solving have been fruitful, winning him many awards and a long list of repeat clients.

His problem solving skills are particularly apparent in our featured image of an innocent young girl lying in her bedroom next to an ominous looking snake. The image, a self-promotional work created for marketing purposes, is deceiving. It appears to be a well-executed location shoot but was actually shot in Truglia’s studio following a week of production. One could imagine doing this for a deep-pocketed commercial client but Truglia pulled it off on a shoestring budget of only $1500.

In our interview Truglia starts out by revealing all the details of creating the featured image; covering everything from production to lighting. We then learn all about his marketing strategies, his creative process and his advice for young photographers.

Seckler: Please explain how you came up with the idea for our featured image - your self-assigned image titled Yellow Bird and the Snake?

Truglia: I had been working on a series of pictures about kids. I wanted to make a picture about a young girl on the verge of adolescence and toying with something dangerous. I had an idea of a girl on the floor of a bedroom with a snake. The inspiration for the details came from different places. I was inspired by the idea of recreating a tiny room in an attic with slanted walls. The photo was taken on a set that I designed and built.

Seckler: This image involves many expensive elements: custom-built set, set design, exotic wildlife, talent, etc. and you were paying for it all out-of-pocket. How did you bring this together on a limited budget?

Truglia: I started by painting with a really big brush, trying to put the bigger pieces together, like the set and talent. I’ll often look for ideas on Flickr by searching with keywords. I found a series of self-portraits of a young girl who photographed herself in abandoned spaces like old warehouses and broken down apartments. I sent the images to Angela Finney, my prop and wardrobe stylist I work with in Chicago. I explained that they represented the kind of spaces I wanted to recreate, especially the lighting, and we discussed it. Meanwhile, I kept going back to the girl’s Flickr page, thinking, ‘Wow, photographing this girl would be great. She’s probably in her early twenties, but she looks like she’s twelve, and I can direct her into something that’s a little sexual without it being totally inappropriate.’ I learned that she lived in Chicago and wrote to ask if she would consider being in my photo. She said she’d do it.

The set was built in my own studio. I made some drawings for my set builder. We combined wall pieces that I owned with ones he fabricated. It was assembled in one day. Angela, my stylist, brought a window that she had owned and we added it into the wall. Styling the set took three days. We then considered the girl, who she was and what her hobbies were. How old was she, what time of day it was, and the overall color pallet.

[Next] I needed a snake, so I contacted the Chicago Herpatological Society which is a group that handles reptiles. The next day I got an email that included seven or eight photos of snakes. I requested several, a yellow albino Python and two different green and brown ones. Although I told her what the shot was, I didn’t know how the girl was going to feel about being so close to the snakes. Fortunately, she was comfortable.

Seckler: Tell me about the lighting…

Truglia: My plan was to make a warm sunlit room, so I chose to use as few lights as possible. When you’re shooting in the sun there’s only one sun. You often don’t need more than one light. I used a pair of Speedotron 2400 Ws packs powering a quad tube head with an 11” reflector and a layer of ½ Atlantic frost, set 11’ feet from the subject and 11’ high. This served as my sun. I pointed it through the window to cast a patch of light on the floor and project natural shadows around the room. We used several 4’ x 8’ white bounce cards off set to reflect this light back onto set and open the shadows as a small room would. The only other lights were one coming from camera right bouncing into a white v-flat. This light was another Speedotron 2400 Ws pack and a single 202 VF head and standard 7” reflector. A Speedotron 1200 pack with a 20” x 24” Photoflex soft box was outside the window illuminating the fake tree and a small white flat. There was a tiny Morris slave light gelled pink in the clip lamp above the aquarium illuminating the alligator. This was the little guy’s “heat lamp”.

The exposures were 1/125 @ f8 on a Canon 1Ds Mark III using a Canon EF35mm f 1.4L USM lens. The only significant retouching plate I used was a nice bright patch of sunlight from an overexposed plate. Retouching was relatively simple and consisted of manipulating color. I did it myself. Since we built the set so specifically there was nothing I wanted to dramatically alter in post.

I shot 300 or 400 frames [during the shoot]. The snake kept changing positions. Eventually it stayed still and I could reposition it safely. Snakes that big are like lumps of meat—you can pose them however you want.

Seckler: In the end how much did this all cost?

Truglia: [The budget for this shoot] was about $1,500, which included building the set, paying a donation to the Chicago Herpetological Society, buying lunch, plus a little honorarium I gave to the talent. It takes a lot of begging, borrowing and stealing to bring everything together on my personal pictures.

Seckler: Was the photo meant to be self-promotional or something that you wanted to do creatively?

Truglia: It was self-promotional. Usually, even if I do something great for a client, there is always a lot of lag time before I can use it so it's important to do things on my own schedle. When I plan my photographs, I like to think that I'm making pictures that I haven’t made before, which is the ongoing exercise. I wanted to create, in a technical sense, a simple lighting situation that wasn’t going to hem me in creatively.

I also think about what I’m telling the market with my personal work. What do my images reveal about me as a photographer? In this case, I wanted to make a picture that looked effortless; I didn’t want it to look artificial. I guess it’s a response to a lot of the work I see in the world—I unconsciously made a decision to go against that.

Seckler: You created this self-promotional image been successful for you?

Truglia: I shot it in the spring of 2009 and used it in a promotional poster. It has become one of the images to which people, even non-professionals, most refer. I think something about animals and children resonates with people.

Seckler: Where do you market your work?

Truglia: Even when I’m not shooting there’s always some promotional effort going on in the background. It could in the places where I pay to advertise, such as At-Edge.com, workbook.com, and wonderfulmachine.com.

Seckler: How valuable is that paid advertising for you?

Truglia: That’s the million-dollar question that I cannot answer. Art directors who want to work with you can’t tell you how they found you. If you’re chosen to work with somebody it’s probably because they saw your images or heard or read your name repeatedly—multiple references to you or your work that happened in unison. Maybe they’ve read your name in a blog or maybe they saw your image in Archive. Eventually those media references reach a critical mass. Getting hired is never from one reference. No one has ever told me they hired me because they saw my image in At-Edge. If a photographer is considered because his or her work appeared in one place, art directors will likely not be entirely comfortable with you. They need to know your work from lots of resources.

Seckler: Why do you think that is?

Truglia: The market is saturated with talented photographers. Art directors want to work with people who are most committed to their craft. I don’t think that photographs occur to art directors any differently than Pepsi occurs to a consumer. Or why do you think MacDonald’s needs to continue to advertise? They need to keep at top-of-mind for consumers or sales would drop off. As a photographer, you have to be everywhere. Whenever possible, you have to be on art directors’ minds, which is probably the greatest challenge. There are just so many good photographers.

Seckler: What else do you do to promote your work, aside from advertising?

Truglia: There’s my website, which changes every couple of years. The website I’m currently using is two-years-old. It will be replaced by May 2010; I’m already working on a new one with a different design, look and feel from the current site.

I meet a lot of young photographers who are active in Chicago, including in the art and trade schools and the trade groups, like the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the Advertising Photographers of America (APA). I always tell them this business is about photography. It’s about being an artist, but it’s also a battle of perception—You try to win the battle of perception. There are a lot of talented photographers who go unnoticed because they didn’t craft their message, which has everything to do with marketing—how your work shows up or how often it is seen. It even has to do with your Facebook postings. You have to build your profile conciously. in this business, we all have a public face that must be maintained honestly and well.

Seckler: How do you use Facebook to market your work?

Truglia: Facebook is just a supplementary place for marketing. I use Facebook as a business tool. I communicate with friends, but I keep those conversations offline. If you read my wall posts, they all have something to do with my business. Sometimes I use Facebook more than I use my actual blog, which is yet another outlet for marketing, such as posting videos or behind-the-scenes photos.

Seckler: Do you do any other direct self-promotion?

Truglia: Books are still important, though I think they are less relevant today. I made five copies of my last book. For a short while there they were all circulating, but nowadays it's not often that my book is called in pre-bid. Repeat clients don’t seem need it. Book requests often come from new clients who want to feel you out and see your quality.

Seckler: When did you notice that people stopped calling in your books?

Truglia: About two years ago, shortly after I made some newly bound books at great expense. Now I don’t invest as much money into revamping bound books. I keep three books up to date; if I make a new picture I will print it and put it in there. Bound books are useful only but your website is primary.

Seckler: What I love most about your photography are your clever, unique ideas. Can you describe your creative process?

Truglia: Usually, when I get the inclination to make an image for a personal project or a get a layout or concept from a creative, I try and disconnect my brain and my heart from what's reasonable, so for some time, I am free to explore the idea. I also sketch to help feel out the composition. I push the concept as far as I can go with it— into the realm of the absurd. I learned how valuable it is to push your ideas beyond practical reality so that when you come back and settle on something it’s already out of your safety zone. Some artist might not don’t pitch risky ideas because someone important might not follow you there. I push myself to the point where I am uncomfortable with the whole undertaking.

Seckler: A situation where you know you’re challenging yourself…

Truglia: Yes. I like to challenge myself. For example, I shot this cover of a magazine last week and I had to make a vintage Playboy inspired cover for a story a story about a librarian who collects Playboys. I wanted to create a picture of a pin-up girl holding a phallic stack of books. The art director liked it but the editors were not crazy about it. So I shot my idea and a safety. Eventually the headline changed and suddenly the picture was irrelevant to the story. The safety was used. But the situation of pitching my idea to my client put me in a place of discomfort—like the Snake picture was a little uncomfortable—because I didn’t know what the snake was going to do or how the talent would deal with it. The shoot could have been much different. I know I must often give up some control to let good stuff happen.

Seckler: How did you get started as a photographer? How did you break in?

Truglia: I went to college at Mass Art in Boston from 1990 to 1994 where I studied photography. I originally became interested in photography by an exhibit, Polaroid 20 x 24 Portraits. Up until that point I was a graphic design major. I immediately changed my major to photography. In 1995, I moved to Chicago because I had friends living here. I was 23, and I started working at an art gallery photographing art. It was a very blue chip gallery, where I photographed Picasso’s and such. That exposure launched my first business—photographing artists’ sculpture and paintings. Although I was earning good money, the work was tedious.

I almost gave up commercial photography completely until I reinvestigated what I was photographing in college. I had always made portraits, so I decided that’s what I wanted to do. I had been shooting all along with Polaroid. I always had a camera with me, but I never took it seriously after art school. Until I threw together some portfolios, made postcards and sent them to agencies. Quickly a couple of them resonated with the right people. My career started in 1999 when I began shooting editorial work. By 2004, I landed my first advertising job.

Seckler: What were those first four years like? I think people always wonder about those “in-between” years…

Truglia: Fortunately I didn’t assist anybody, because had I, I’d have have realized how hard the job was to make it worthwhile. I did it slowly and very blindly. I had to learn everything from first-hand experience and from some very important mentors. I spent a lot of time with Vanity Fair looking through the eyes of Annie Leibovitz, trying to figure out how she might have lit something.

Seckler: So you did a lot of self-teaching?

Truglia: I bought a digital camera early on and started using it exclusively. You can teach yourself much faster with a digital camera because you have an immediate response to your technique. Digital photography has made me a better photographer because what used to be a risk—like quickly moving a light somewhere or bouncing it off something weird—was no longer risky.

Seckler: You started out in fine arts and ended up doing largely commercial work. Are you still interested in fine art photography?

Truglia: I so enjoy being a spectator to wonderful fine art photography, though I don’t actively participate in commercial fine art world. If I make a picture for myself it’s always one I think could both hang in a gallery or in my book, like the picture of the snake. That’s the sort of image enjoy making whether I'm getting paid or not. That image interested me as an artist. My personal work is not a radical departure from my commercial portfolio. I try and have my photography be all one thing, a reflection of who I am.

Steppenwolf Poster-Now Posting!

2010-02-17T15:17:00.005-06:00

Last summer, Steppenwolf theater asked if I would make two posters for their acclaimed Steppenwolf for Young Adults series. One was House on Mango Street and the other, A Seperate Peace is opening this month in Chicago.

Jake Cohen and Chance Bone
"John Knowles, A Separate Peace is a quintessential American classic about trust and betrayal, war and peace. A Separate Peace is a quintessential American classic about trust and betrayal, war and peace."

Because of scheduling, we were unable to shoot on location so I shoot in studio and compose the image from 7 parts in retouching myself. We shot 254 frames of both actors leaping from a 10 foot ladder down to a plush mat waiting for them below. Nobody was seriously injured. After an exhaustive search of the greenways of Chicago for the right background tree, I found my perfect tree directly outside the door of my Chicago home. How convenient.

Hide this under your mattress.

2010-02-03T14:49:00.006-06:00

I shot a new cover for my ol' friends at the Chicago Reader. We riffed on the February 1970 Playboy cover for a feature on a girl who collects girlie magazines. Pick up the paper this week, and don't let mom find it.

Art Director-Paul Higgins, Hair and Make up-Joyce Taft, Styling-Heather Brooks, Retouching-Jamie Bayer, Assistant-Jabari Zubari

Reality is no match for AVATAR.

2010-01-19T18:23:00.007-06:00

After having my mind bent by seeing AVATAR, I went looking for beauty in the real world. I found left over Christmas decorations hangin'-tough on my block. Beautiful? In a way...yeah!

I Heart Canada

2010-01-13T19:08:00.006-06:00

I've always admired Canadians for their considerate regard to fellow humans. In fact, my next international vacation will be Montreal. Until then, I thank The Lunchbox for featuring my work on their spacious and French website.

Alex

2010-01-09T19:55:00.002-06:00

Had enough 2009?

2010-01-05T12:08:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays.

2009-12-17T21:13:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Stephanie Foyer-producer, Evan Sears-assistant, Jay Neader-props, Planet Earth Agency and Real Talent-talent.

Dessert Book Cover

2009-12-10T18:28:00.004-06:00

I photographed the cover of a new cook book by the sweet and generous, Alain Roby. Alain is the Hyatt Hotel's Senior Corporate Pastry Chef and a Guinness Book Award winner. Alain Roby-American Classics is the French pastry chef's take on classic American desserts. I photographed him in his home kitchen outside of Chicago, and yes we ate the props.

A Risque Reader Cover

2009-11-18T15:01:00.014-06:00

One of my shoots this week was to photograph the cover of the Chicago Reader. The weekly paper asked me to make a portrait of Joeseph Laiacona, candidate for Illinois State Representative and well known writer on bondage and leather fetish.

So not to get Laiacona's campaign into hot water, I chose to shoot the cover somewhat differently than originally art directed. Thanks to Yunya Hirai (cover talent), Suzan Abud, Natasha Gornik, and Busy Beaver Button Co. for their help in coordinating this project. Photo editor Paul Higgins.

Joe Laiacona behind his Chicago home.

And for the uncut version.

Creativity and Collaboration Panel Discussion. FREE

2009-10-15T18:34:00.007-05:00

I will be part of a FREE panel discussion about collaboration in the design and advertising fields. I am thrilled to be on such an esteemed panel of hyper-professionals in their fields. Panelists: Saverio Truglia, Andrew Martin, Todd Hoffman, Jonathan Amen, Liz Miller-Gershfeld and Chris Froeter. Moderators: Caroline Cook Juhlin and Richard Zeid.

October 27, 6:30pm
Columbia College 600 S. Michigan.

October 17-Slideluck Potshow-Chicago III

2009-10-12T16:50:00.008-05:00

I invite you to participate in the third annual Slideluck Potshow Chicago. SLPS is a unique photographer's slideshow and potluck dinner, rolled into one. This edition's theme is LOST & FOUND. I'm a co-organizer, so will guarantee that you'll have a great time.

October 17, 7-11 (Sideshows begin at 9)
1287 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
**Free**

We: Show a 30+ photographer's musical sideshows.
You: Bring a dish and some beer or wine to share.
We: Provide plates, utensils and recycling.
You: Relax, socialize and hang out.
We: Have invited DJ LA Jesus to spin before, between and after the programs.
You: Come to our after-party at Loft Six Ten

Here's my own LOST & FOUND submission.

Speaking tonight at Harrington College

2009-10-08T13:10:00.006-05:00

October 8, 2009
I'll be speaking tonight at Harrington College of Design in Chicago. If you're a student please stop in. I think there will be beer!

I'll be talking about my work and career as well as the importance of personal work. Other topics will include business strategy and why to bother being an artist.

Bin Laden Blowin' Up!

2009-10-08T12:45:00.007-05:00

What's in a name? Plenty of innuendo and some art direction I suppose. BBU (which stands for Bin Laden Blowin' Up) is a politically minded Hip Hop unit that makes some of the best dance floor jams this side of Kabul. I shot them for the Chicago Reader. You can read Miles Raymer's accompanying article here.

Buck-Wild!

2009-10-06T13:45:00.003-05:00

Wild postings of my Illinois Lottery ads are out in force this month. They fit in nicely among the crop of Halloween movie posters. (That was the point)
They appear in neighborhoods, vacant lots and out of the places all over the city.
See smaller ones inside wherever you score your lotto tix. Good Luck!

Agency: Energy BBDO
Art Director: Tim Mikus
Art Buyer: Laura Feeney

A pretty good stand-in.

2009-09-29T16:37:00.012-05:00

I joined forces with Collaboraction Creative Director, Sam Porretta to create and shoot the marketing image for G.I.F.T. It's a theatrical performance that looks at ideas that accompany the possession and sharing of our gifts. The short run begins in mid November.

Thanks to Tania Bowers for make-up, Anthony Tortoriello for assisting and Alex, the real baby.

I shot the Mayor!

2009-09-28T09:38:00.005-05:00

Last week I had the pleasure to present Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley the gift of one of my hand made "I Hot Dog Chicago" T-shirts. This immediately lightened the anxiety he must have been feeling about being in my lime-light....Um yeah. Seriously though, we did both get a chuckle when I forced him to pimp my shirt.

A Rodent Love Story

2009-09-28T09:01:00.004-05:00

Out now is a story I shot for very cool, Discover Magazine about why some mammals are more monogamous than others. Dr. Sue Carter of University of Illinois Dept. of Psychiatry, studies a brain chemical called Oxytocin and in particular the Prairie Vole who can't seem to get enough of it.

Steppenwolf Poster is out!

2009-09-16T12:10:00.005-05:00

I'm honored to have created a poster image to promote a new play at the Steppenwolf Theater, House on Mango Street.

For their next Steppenwolf for Young Adults play, Sandra Delgado stars in as Esperanza (front), a young girl who's beliefs are being shaped by her run-down Chicago neighborhood and the people who live there. Also in picture, L to R are Belinda Cervantes and Christina Nieves.
The run begins October 13.

Thanks, The Letter!

2009-09-10T10:30:00.002-05:00

Glasgow based designer, Blair Millen has a great visual website called, The Letter where he compiles interesting and colorful tidbits about design and art to share with the world. He posted a nice comment about my work on his beautiful website.

Shooting for the Chicago 2016

2009-09-08T19:05:00.003-05:00

I was up by 3:30 today to help promote Chicago to the International Olympic Committee in October. Maybe after 15 hours of shooting, climbing a 10' basketball hoop was not the best idea, but I probably did my best work of the day up there.

Photo: Richard Lech

Virgin Mary, meet Grim Reaper

2009-09-05T16:40:00.002-05:00

Mama Lucy's, S. Archer Ave., Chicago

Giant chocolate covered donut.

2009-09-05T16:34:00.003-05:00

That's right.

3414 S. Archer Ave., Chicago

Picture in NY Times

2009-09-01T15:02:00.003-05:00

A picture of mine recently accompanied a New York Times story about a stage production which made it's mark using foul language, graphic violence...and a most controversial money back guarantee. Read the full story here.

Steppenwolf Poster

2009-08-25T12:18:00.007-05:00

I'm honored to have created a poster image to promote a new play at the venerable, Steppenwolf Theater.

For their next Steppenwolf for Young Adults play, Sandra Delgado stars in House on Mango Street as Esperanza (front), a young girl who's beliefs are being shaped by her run-down neighborhood and people in it. The run begins October 13.

Opener for Chicago Magazine

2009-08-25T12:10:00.003-05:00

My portrait for Chicago Magazine of Stephanie Smith, curator of Chicago's, Smart Museum is on newsstands now. Thanks to Lambs Farm for hosting this production and allowing us to play with the animals.

A (im)perfect pair.

2009-08-20T20:53:00.004-05:00

I've been very curious about these things, so I decided to get to know them.

Portraits on Cermak Rd Vol. 1

2009-08-20T19:14:00.010-05:00

Some new work in a project I'm currently calling, "Portraits on Cermak". They are portraits of small business owners or employees along Cermak Rd. in Chicago.

Tim, Palace Cleaners

Cermak Rd. is an industrial and business zoned street that bisects the city from the lake to the western suburbs. It's home to thousands of small businesses and storefronts that serve the communities it runs through...More to come!

Jose, Family Hair
Thanks to my intern, Richard Lech for breaking the language barrier.

A shark shack.

2009-08-17T11:44:00.004-05:00

This is the midwest, but in so many ways, you could also be on the Mexican Rivera.

On my bike this weekend, I visited locations that have intrigued me for a while, but never stopped for in my car. These were both taken at a south side seafood restaurant next to a giant donut shop. That's GIANT donuts!