plusDan WintersFlying BaByFrans lanting neW york nights meet matt eich20-inch taBletpanorama gear
Why would a big-time photographer use a phone on assignment?
Tim Flach talks about how and why he makes studio portraits of wild animals.
WeddingPhotographers
The aesthetics of an artist, the reexes of a sports shooter, the people skills of an Oprahand a big love for Love. Thats what it takes to be a top wedding pro today.
102013
Best
trends
profile
March/april $4.99
display until 5/6/13
A professional newspaper photographer for over 20
years, Reed began shooting digital in 1996 and is
an acclaimed digital expert who has helped nearly
50 organizations make the digital transition and
created countless photographic instruction and
workflow programs. A lover of the outdoors and
wildlife, hes covered everything from presidential elections to the
Super Bowl to Eco-Challenge adventure races across the globe, and
is a two-time winner of the National Press Photographers Association
Regional Photographer of the Year Award. A Nikon Mentor since 2000,
he has guided over 3- dozen treks, and hes impressed.
Mentor Treks are extraordinarily well planned, with a full and varied
itinerary. Everybody goes home exhausted but thrilled with what
theyve accomplished over several days, talking and living photography
with people on the same wavelength, and receiving personal one-on-
one critiques from friendly, accessible Nikon pro photographers. Its a
grand photo adventure that gives you precious time for exploration
and self-discovery, all while having a fun learning experience with
professional help always available. Two great things the China
participants came home with are a better understanding of control-
ling exposure and clearer concepts of composition, including framing,
foregrounds and backgrounds, and optimizing depth of field.
Were there to help people learn and grow, to better understand
photography so they can find their own great shots. The social element
adds another dimension to the experience because youre constantly
feeding off other peoples energy and ideas. You just might make
friends for life.
DAVE BLACKAn acclaimed sports shooter for over 30 years,
Daves dynamic images have appeared in such
iconic publications as Sports Illustrated, Time,
and Newsweek, and on the award-winning ESPN
show, Sports Century. Hes covered 12 Olympics,
countless NFL and NASCAR events, and his mastery
of specialized lighting is showcased in National Geographics moving
book on Arlington National Cemetery, Where Valor Rests. Ive con-
ducted hands-on workshops for over 25 years, says Dave, and this
Montana trek was one of the best. It gave trekkers from other regions
an authentic western experienceeverything from working ranches,
to Yellowstone National Park, to a real ghost town. As usual, the entire
event was superbly organized and we always seemed to be in the right
location at the right time to capture spectacular natural light.
One of the hallmarks of this program is that you dont waste time
youre usually busy making pictures, and when youre not, youre get-
ting great tips on photo techniques and technology that you then put
to immediate use to hone your skills. We covered light painting at two
different ranches and the cowboys and cowgirls we shot were working
ranch hands, not professional models. Anytime you can capture pictures
of real people it always makes the experienceand the imagesmore
authentic and meaningful. Another great aspect is the willingness of
the staff to stop when picture opportunities present themselvesthat
flexibility is priceless, especially in Montana where wildlife is so ac-
cessible. The camaraderie was exceptional, with everyone pitching in
to help fellow trekkers succeed. Best of all, these folks actually bring
home and use what theyve learnedas a mentor thats truly inspiring,
and its why so many people sign up for more.
LEARN FROM
NIKON MASTERS
WHILE TRAVELING
AROUND
THE WORLD
There is almost no better, faster way to enhance
your visual creativity, upgrade your photographic
skills, tap into the knowledge base of seasoned
professional photographers, and experience the
camaraderie and passion of fellow photo
enthusiasts than joining a Nikon-sponsored
Mentor Series Photo Trek. Acclaimed by experts
and participants as the most effective,
enlightening and enjoyable events of their
kind, they provide a unique hands-on learning
experiencea total-immersion course in
visual expression wrapped in a seamlessly
organized, carefree, once-in-a-lifetime
photographic adventure!
Mentored by approachable Nikon
professional photographers who share
their shooting secrets and priceless practical
tips, you will receive the kind of personal
one-on-one attention that will have you
shooting better pictures almost immediately.
You will also have the chance to use the latest
high-performance Nikon digital cameras with
legendary NIKKOR lenses, experience incredible
photo opportunities, and bring home images
to treasure forever.
What makes Nikon Mentors so special? Read
their amazing pro les and heartfelt comments
that follow.
REED HOFFMANN
Nikon D800 and D600 bodies, 16-35mm f/4, 50mm f/1.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8 VR Nikkor lenses SB900 Speedlight, Nikon Circular Polarizer, variable and graduated ND lters. When shooting wildlife, add 200-400mm f/4 VR Zoom Nikkor.
INSIDE REEDS CAMERA BAG
CHINA
MONTANA
Everybody goes home exhausted but thrilled with what theyveaccomplished over several days, talking and living photography withpeople on the same wavelength, and receiving personal one-on-onecritiques from friendly, accessible Nikon pro photographers.
One of the hallmarks of this program is that you dont waste timeyoure usually busy making pictures, and when youre not, youre getting great tips on photo techniques and technol-ogy that you then put to immediate use to hone your skills.
Nikon D4 and D800 bodies, 14-24mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 and 200-400mm f/4 Nikkor lenses, 2 SB900 Speedlights, Nikon SV-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander, graduated ND lter, (3X), circular Polarizer, SanDisk Extreme Pro CF cards.
INSIDE DAVES CAMERA BAG
Nikon 1 System: Nikon 1 V1 (now 1 V2) body, 10mm f/2.8, 18.5mm f/1.8, 10-30mm or 11-27mm f/3.5-5.6, 30-110mm f/3.5-5.6 in Nikon 1 mount, Nikon FT-1 adapter for mounting Nikon F-mount lenses. Alternate: Nikon D600 or D800 body, Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, and 70-200 f/2.8 VR.
INSIDE MARKS CAMERA BAG
PANAMA
DUBAI
The fun thing about a Mentor trek for me is that it takes a
learning experience and makes it fun and socialand when
you add travel, its a winning combination.
In the course of 4-10 days of intensive shooting with the prosyou have a unique opportunity to experience and explore amagni cent location in a safe and secure way while becominga better photographer.
Nikon D800 and D700 camera bodies, 16-35mm f/4-5.6, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, and 80-400mm f/4-5.6D VR Nikkor Zooms 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens, variable ND (3 stops) and graduated ND lters, electronic release, up to 5 SB800 Speedlights
INSIDE DAVIDS CAMERA BAG
For more information on Nikons digital
line-up, please visit nikonusa.com
WHERE ARE
WE GOING
IN 2013?
NEW ZEALAND
SAN ANTONIO, TX
WHITE SANDS, NM
CALIFORNIA COAST
SEDONA, AZ
UTAH
SOUTH DAKOTABLACK HILLS
GALAPAGOS
MONTANA
THAILAND
SCOTLAND
For more information,
and to sign up
www.mentorseries.com
MARK ALBERHASKYA retired physician, author, inventor, internationally
published, award-winning professional photogra-
pher, and esteemed educator, Marks experience
spans over 40 years, shooting subjects as diverse
as nature, wildlife, cityscapes, and peopleall with
a masterful use of light. Panama is remarkably
diverse, ranging from tropical rain forests to sprawling Panama City
to the historic Panama Canal, Mark recalls, and it was delightful to
cover it all with a Nikon 1 V1, a serious camera I could hold in the palm
of my hand.
The educational experience is seamless because the feature set is
identical to a DSLR, and Nikon even provided Nikon AW-100 cameras
so we could shoot underwater pictures in a mangrove swamp! The fun
thing about a Mentor trek for me is that it takes a learning experience
and makes it fun and socialand when you add travel, its a winning
combination. Trekkers are invariably enthusiastic photographers, and its
gratifying to show them how to see and use light effectively because
you can watch them evolve before your eyes.
Participants are given the priceless opportunity to pursue a non-stop,
dawn-to-dusk photo experience grouped with like-minded people
excited about making pictures. Everything is perfectly organized with
special access to spectacular venues at optimum times. The instructors
are all very knowledgeable and friendly, with an uncanny ability to con-
vey complex concepts one-on-one in simple language so you remember
what you learn. Their passion is contagious and thats one reason why
there are so many repeat trekkers.
DAVID TEJADAOne of Colorados most esteemed location photog-
raphers, David specializes in shooting iconic images
for the corporate annual reports of Fortune 500
companies, and has over 30 years experience in
creating visuals for graphic design firms and other
demanding clients. His work brilliantly integrates
exciting color, strong graphic composition, and a masterful use of light
to make the emphatic and memorable statements that define his style.
A seasoned educator, he has taught workshops all around the world.
Dubai is a great ice-breaker for Westerners traveling to the Middle
East, David observes, because it combines traditional Arab culture
with a vibrant Western influence. Our incredible itinerary included a
hot air balloon ride at sunrise, photographing Whirling Dervish dancers,
a Bedouin dinner in the desert, and shooting from the top of the Burj
Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Even more remarkable, while
taking in all these exotic sights, trekkers are busy meeting new friends,
shooting memorable pictures, and learning new skills from a variety
of accessible mentors, thereby increasing their joy of photography im-
mensely.
In the course of 4-10 days of intensive shooting with the pros you have
a unique opportunity to experience and explore a magnificent location
in a safe and secure way while becoming a better photographer. Youre
having so much fun youre on sensory overload, and everybody includ-
ing the mentors, goes home refreshed with new ideas and techniques
they can carry forward. Photography is always evolving and, as sea-
soned trekkers are well aware, its a great adventure.
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March/april 2013
March/april 2013 aMericanphotoMag.coM 5
cover:
Matt M
iller. this page, from top:
tim
Flach;
Samm Blake.
Features
28 The Top 10 Wedding Photographers With the reexes of sports shooters and
the aesthetic skills of artists, the best
wedding pros bring their own sensibility
to the party. here are 2013s standouts.
BY aimee Baldridge
47 #iphoneonly in the brave new world of breakneck
news cycles and global social media
platforms, savvy photographers have a
new favorite tool: the smartphone.
BY travis marshall
54 Animal Insight We have no choice but to view animals
through human eyes. What do they
tell us about ourselves?
BY tim flach
On the cover in Matt Millers double portrait, bride
and groom Kendrick and David bring
a little Mexican spirit to their
wedding in St. petersburg, Florida.
28
54
This page: Tim Flachs portrait of Grace,
of the great gray owl (Strix nebulosa)
species; Samm Blake captures bridesmaids
helping the bride into her dress. Next page:
Alligator hunting near Shell Island,
Louisiana, 2009 by Matt Eich;
actor Colin Firth by Dan Winters.
SubScriptionS: American Photo (ISSN 1046-8986) (USPS 526-930), March/April, Volume 24, No. 2. American Photo is published bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec) by Bonnier Corporation, 2 Park Ave., New York, NY 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10016 and at additional mailing ofces. Authorized periodicals postage by the Post Ofce Department, Ottawa, Canada, and for payment in cash. poStMAStEr: Send address changes to American Photo, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142; 386-246-0408; www.americanphotomag.com/cs. If the postal services alert us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. One-year subscription rate (six issues) for U.S. and possessions, $15; Canada, $25; and foreign, $35; cash orders only, payable in U.S. currency. Two years: U.S., $30; Canada, $50; and foreign, $70. Three years: U.S., $45; Canada, $75; and foreign, $105. CANADA POST: Publications Mail Agreement Number: 40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Pitney Bowes, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. For reprints email: [email protected].
6 aMericanphotoMag.coM March/april 2013
March/april 2013
Departments10 EDITORS NOTE
Another Faceintroducing our own art-world star.
By MiriaM Leuchter
Focus13 ONE TO WATCH
Triple Threat Matt eichs commercial work supports his ventures
in ne art and photojournalism. By MicheLLe Bogre
18 WORk IN PROGRESS
A Flock of Symbolsin suspended sculptures, thomas Jackson explores
the idea of groupthink. By judy geLMan Myers
20 BOOkS
Winters WonderlandDan Winters unleashed, Frans lanting in the wild,
nYc after hours, and arthur Meyerson on the road.
By jack crager
24 ON THE WALL
Cry Hometownlatoya ruby Fraziers city in ruins, george
georgious divided turkey, Sandy haber Fields
dreamworks, and more. By Lindsay coMstock
Gear63 COMING ATTRACTION
Screen Star panasonic shows off a 20-inch tablet prototype.
64 NEW STUFF
The Goodsthe coolest tools for all kinds of photographers.
68 REVIEW
Works on PaperWe put canons new pixma pro-10 photo
printer through the wringer.
By andrew darLow
72 PARTING SHOT
Flight of Fantasyin Flying Henry, rachel hulin sends her son aloft.
By Lori Fredrickson
20
From top:
Matt eich;
Dan W
inters
13
This product is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MIRIAM LEUCHTER
FEATURES EDITOR Debbie Grossman
TECHNICAL EDITOR Philip Ryan
MANAGING EDITOR Jill C. Shomer
PHOTO EDITOR Amy Berkley
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DESIGNER Michael Moreno
COPY EDITOR Meg Ryan Heery
FACT CHECKER Rebecca Geiger
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Jack Crager, Michael Kaplan, Steve Morgenstern
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10 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 11
Another Facefew months ago, when i added the job of lead-
ing American Photo to my work as editor-in-
chief of Popular Photography, i vowed to make
the change as seamless for you as i could. this is my
second issue, and ive altered very little, aside from
sharpening our focus on contemporary photography
and how its practiced at its highest level. and one of
the people helping to reshape that discussion is also
helping to reshape the art of photography itself.
meet our new features editor, Debbie grossman.
readers of Pop Photo will recognize her as the
longtime writer of the monthly Software Workshop,
as well as the force behind its coverage of image edit-
ing. But Debbie (im forgoing our formal style as a
colleague and friend) is also an artist. While working
full-time for Pop Photo, she earned an mFa in photog-
raphy, video, and related media from the School of Vi-
sual arts, where she won the paula rhodes memorial
prize; she is now represented by the Julie Saul gallery
in new York city. her images are in the permanent
collections of the metropolitan museum of art, Jewish
museum, and others. in fact, her series, My Pie Town, is
on view at the met in after photoshop: manipulated
photography in the Digital age through may 27.
one example of Debbies extraordinary work in
My Pie Town is at left. Using high-resolution, public-
domain scans of russell lees Depression-era photos
of pie town, new mexico, she
transformed it into a commu-
nity made up solely of women.
She subtly reshaped jawlines
and gures, smoothed over
beard stubble, and erased at
least one husband altogether.
her artwork challenges as-
sumptions about photography.
and i think that her experi-
ence and curatorial eye will
add a new dimension to what
you nd in American Photo.
MiriaM Leuchter, editor-in-chief
a
Debbie grossman/Julie Saul gallery
Debbie Grossmans
Jessie Evans-Whinery,
Homesteader, with Her
Wife Edith Evans-Whinery
and Their Baby, 2010.
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M
att Eich
Matt Eichs Chop, Houma,
Louisiana, 2010, from the
project Trouble in the
Water, about the alligator
industry in Louisiana.
ven as an undergraduate at Ohio Uni-
versity in Athens, Ohio, Matt Eich had a
rigorous work ethic. He freelanced as
a photographer, interned at newspapers including
the Orange County Register in California and Port-
lands The Oregonian, and picked up honors as the
2006 College Photographer of the Year, always a
career boost.
Then, when Eich was 21, he became a parent,
and life changed dramatically. I knew I had to up
my game if I was going to be able to support my
family, says Eich, now 26. I couldnt rely on one
client or one market. I needed some stability.
And up his game he did. Since graduating in
2008, Eich has built a roster of A-list clients such
as Apple, AARP, National Geographic, Time, and
Newsweek. Hes earned grants including an Aaron
Siskind fellowship, a National Geographic Magazine
Photography Grant, a ShootQ Grant, and a National
Press Photographers Association Short Grant. Hes
received international awards and his work is in
several museums and private collections.
E
tHE pEopLE bEHind tHE piCs Work in Progress 18 Books 20 on the Wall 24
MARCH/APRIl 2013 AMERICANPHOTOMAG.COM 13
Matt Eich hustles commercial work to fund his photojournalism and ne art projects By Michelle Bogre
triple threat onE to WatCH
one to Watch
M
att Eich (3)
This year Eich will present a new solo show (his
sixth) in collaboration with the Virginia Museum
of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach for his
project The Seven Cities. I wanted to nd a reason
to work close to home, he says. I pitched to the
museum the idea of photographing all the cit-
ies that make up whats known as the Hampton
Roads and how dependent the area is both on the
water that surrounds it and the military industry.
Other work has come from the photo collective
lUCEO, which Eich formed with ve friends in
2007 to provide mutual creative feedback and cama-
raderie; he left it in 2012 to pursue other projects
and spend more time with his family. I thrive in a
creative community, and thats what lUCEO was
for me, he says. We would critique each others
work and thats where the real learning happened.
While with lUCEO, Eich began an ongoing
project, The Invisible Yoke, which comprises The
Seven Cities as well as two other series, Carry Me
Ohio and Sin & Salva-
tion in Baptist Town.
The latter began in
2010 as a brief assign-
ment on rural health
care for the AARP
Bulletin. Baptist Town
is a neighborhood in
CLosE-Up
Matt Eichmatteichphoto.com
Lives In Norfolk, VA
Studied At Ohio University
Awards F25 Award for Con-
cerned Photography, 2010;
Pictures of the Year Interna-
tional Community Awareness
Award, 2009
Clients Include Apple, Bloom-
berg Businessweek, Esquire,
GQ, Harpers, Mother Jones,
National Geographic, Time,
Sentara Healthcare
In the Bag Canon EOS 5D Mark
II; Canon EF lenses including
EF 35mm f/1.4L USM, EF 24mm
f/1.4L II USM, and EF 50mm f/1.2L
USM; Canon Speedlite 580EX II
14 AMERICANPHOTOMAG.COM MARCH/APRIl 2013
above: tornado after-
math, Joplin, Missouri,
2011, from an assignment
for Esquire. Right: Guy
McRoberts, Russellville,
ohio, 2012, from Carry
Me Ohio, part of Eichs
project The Invisible Yoke.
top: Mail boat to tangier
island, Virginia, 2010,
from Eichs series Poems,
Half Remembered. bottom:
demolition derby, athens,
ohio, 2012, from the series
Carry Me Ohio.
16 AMERICANPHOTOMAG.COM MARCH/APRIl 2013
one to Watch
Greenwood, Mississippi, plagued by poverty and
crime but held together by a sense of family
and community. I knew there was a much bigger
story there about the real legacies of racism in the
South, so I begged my editor, Michael Wichita, to
send me back, he recalls. I brought prints to the
Randal Ford (2); portrait by
Austin lochheed
people I had photographed and made friends.
After his second visit, one of the people hed be-
friended, Demetrius Butta Anderson, was shot to
death. Eich needed to photograph the funeralbut
he was broke. I didnt even have money for gas, so
a friend gave me money and my editor got me an
assignment so I could spend 48 hours there.
Even more determined to nish the project, he
raised $5,690 through the crowd-funding platform
Emphas.is so he could spend a month in Greenwood.
Then in 2012 he received $32,000 in grants, which
he applied to continuing the series. The Baptist
Town project functions well for me in the documen-
tary sphere, but thats not enough for me anymore,
Eich says. I want the images to function for the
community, so Ive been thinking about how to have
it play out in the streets or in social media. This
idea was sparked when he used Instagram as a sort
of digital Polaroid to engage people. Instagram is
much more permanent than a Polaroid if I can tag
[the subject] on a social site.
In upping his game, Eich always has different
projects in play. Between sessions on The Invisible
Yoke, he shoots commercial work. I hope that people
hire me for the way I see, he says, but I also hope
they know my pictures arent always dark. I nd
that I can create a situationand then real moments
will occur if I step back and let life unfold. AP M
att Eich (2)
New York Institute of Photography
My experience with the New York Institute of Photography was beyond what I expected. The books and
lessons provided all the information I needed. I always looked forward to receiving feedback from my
instructor. She was very professional, polite and always gave me great feedback and advice. Now that
I nished the course I feel much more comfortable with my camera. I highly recommend this course
to anyone who is interested in getting into the photography business or anyone who just wishes to
improve their skills. Thank you NYIP, youll always be a part of my photography journey.
ELISA B., CALIFORNIA, 2012 NYIP GRADUATE
Become a Better Photographer!
REQUEST A FREE COURSE CATALOG AND SPEC IAL TU I T ION D ISCOUNT CERT I F ICATE AT
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2 1 1 E A S T 4 3 R D S T R E E T , S U I T E 2 4 0 2 N E W Y O R K , N E W Y O R K 1 0 0 1 7
18 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
ine-art photographer thomas Jackson
seeks to give form to shapes that appear
in his head. in his current work, those
shapes look a lot like self-organizing systems
or, in everyday lingo, ocks of birds, schools of sh,
termite mounds, swarming locusts. Swarming in-
sects ll us with fear and fascination, says Jackson,
and he loosely employs them as models for the
sculptures he constructs out of everyday objects
to tap into our subconscious dread of those forces
which we cant see but we know are real.
Jacksons recent photo series, Emergent Behav-
ior, also has roots in his work with found objects.
While working on an earlier series called The Robot,
Jackson fell in love with the art of building and
F
Thomas Jacksons suspended sculptures illuminate the idea of groupthink By Judy Gelman myers
A Flock of Symbols
lighting staged scenarios; he wanted to continue
that process with something more abstract. the
original idea was to pick up stuff lying around new
York city that i could build into a sculpture and
photograph to make come alive in a hallucinatory
sort of way, he says.
Jackson headed to an industrial section of imlay
Street, in Brooklyns red hook neighborhood,
where he found hundreds of pallet shards scattered
along sidewalks and gutters. he collected the scraps
and brought them back to his studio in Dumbo,
built a small sculpture, then returned to imlay
Street at 4 a.m. to photograph his creation in the
middle of the street with a 30-second exposure in
ambient light. he shot the sculpture in a slightly
Works from Thomas
Jacksons series Emergent
Behavior reect the collec-
tive action of self-organizing
systems. Above: Glow
Sticks #1. Opposite, from
top: Cups #1; Leaves #1.
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 19
thomas Jackson (3); portrait by carrie Dutcher
work in ProgreSS
different position, then repeated the process six or
eight times before assembling the shots digitally to
produce Broken pallet.
For his next image, leaves #1, he trekked to
the forest, where he gathered branches off the
ground. this time, though, he wove them into a
30-foot-long support structure hed built of wire
mesh. to get the oating effect, he hoisted the
thing eight feet in the air and attached it with
rope to nearby trees.
But Jackson soon became aware of the reality
of limiting himself to found objects: it basically
meant walking around new York city picking up
garbage, or out in the country picking up leaves
and sticks, he recalls. Ultimately, i found the
idea of extreme juxtaposition more interesting.
So for leaves #2, he rst took a photo at a city
intersection in Brooklyn, then wove that image
together digitally with shots of leaves thrown in
the air back at the studio.
context became the concept: For cups #1
he digitally relocated a welter of plastic drink-
ware from pennsylvania, where it was shot, to
the catskills, adding the shadow to give it a
sense of occupying space.
Jacksons preference, however, is to work entirely
in the eld and to create these mysterious effects in
camera. So now he uses the logistical lessons from
early experiments to build his sculptures onsite.
this often entails a race against the clock to get
materials assembled and shot by sundown and
battles with the weather. in plates #1, the sculp-
tureplastic plates attached to dozens of monola-
ments strung between a tree and a stepladderis
35 feet long, 9 feet tall and 4 feet deep. his glow
Sticks #1 looks as if its suspended in space, but its
sitting on a stand to keep it from swinging in the
breeze. Jackson removes the sculptural supports in
post production to keep the magic, he says, but he
no longer builds images in photoshop. i subtract,
but i dont add, he explains.
Jackson says hes halfway through the series
and wants to improvise further: instead of work-
ing around the wind, hell use it, making sculp-
tures that are supposed to move. he also hopes
to draw on scientic phenomena for his swarm
images. not long into his work on Emergent
Behavior, he was contacted by andrew hartnett,
a researcher at the couzin lab at princeton who
had seen Jacksons swarms. hartnett studies
startle events in schools of sh by poking one
of the creatures with a small monolament then
recording the schools response with a high-speed
camera. its super-cool, says Jackson, and
theres much more to be done with that.
he adds that hartnett is working on a theory
of collective decision making with potential ap-
plications on voting in human groups. Voting in
human groups? that should give Jackson plenty
of material for tapping into our dread of forces
we cant see but know are real. AP
and Caltar II-N f/5.6 150mm
lenses; Profoto AcuteB and/or
AlienBees strobes
Background After taking photo
classes in high school and
college, Jackson put the camera
away for 15 years and worked
as a magazine editor and
writer. He bought a Leica M3 to
shoot landscapes and, later, a
4x5 Graex Crown Graphic to
experiment with staged images.
He shot commercial work be-
fore dedicating himself to
ne-art photography.
CLOSE-UP
Thomas Jacksonthomasjacksonphotography.com
Lives In Brooklyn, NY
Studied At The College of
Wooster, Wooster, OH Awards/Honors Critical Mass,
Top 50, 2012
Inuences Environmental
sculptor Andy Goldsworthy;
artist/writer Yayoi Kusama;
lm director Andrei Tarkovsky In the Bag Shen Hao HZX45-IIA eld camera; Schneider Kreuz-
nach APO-Symmar f/5.6 135mm
The wild imaginings behind the craft of a top editorial image maker By Jack crager
Winters WonderlandDan Winterss america: icons anD ingenuityBy Dan Winters Telfair Museums of Savannah, GA $40
This book contains multitudes. Dan Winterss
America is at once wacky and poignant, buoyant
and grim, slick and artsy. Having established a
signature celebrity-shot style for publications
including The New York Times Magazine, Vanity
Fair, and Rolling Stone, Winters duly showcases
editorial portraits, from the campy Will Ferrell
cover image to somber studies of Heath Ledger
and Tupac Shakur. But Winters also reveals
his breadth with abstract art projects, surreal
anatomical montages, cameraless images of
Clockwise from left: Chris-
tina Ricci, Hollywood,
1997; Shuttle Endeavour
Launch, Cape Canaveral,
2011; Dolphin Tail,
Florida Keys, 1989.
20 americanpHoTomag.com marcH/apriL 2013
BOOKS
Dan W
inters (3)
splotchy ink patterns, and scientic forays such
as sepia-toned negative close-ups of honeybees.
With a chapter on space-shuttle photographs
from his project Last Launch: Discovery, Endeavour,
Atlantisthe subject of another book he released
in 2012Winters makes his point: The human
experience is the limit. photography has allowed
me to step into the lives of others, however briey,
and be inspired and amazed, he notes. it has
given me access to places and events that have
only been available to me as a practitioner of my
craft. He gives access, in turn, to his audience.
22 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
clockwise from top left:
Frans lanting; N
ew
York
at N
igh
t: P
hoto
gra
ph
y a
fter
Da
rk edited by norma Stevens and Yolanda cuomo, published by powerhouse Books; arthur m
eyerson
BOOKS
OkavangO: africas Last EdEn By Frans Lanting Taschen $40
expanding on material he rst published 20 years ago, photographer
Frans lanting returns to the okavango Delta region of Botswana to
update us on the fate of an untamed refuge. this volume offers a diverse
mix, ranging from insect close-ups to sweeping aerials, from scientic in-
quiry to aesthetic wonder. With his editor and wife, christine eckstrom,
lanting provides plenty of fun facts: We not only see warthogs butting
heads but also discover that lions consider them a delicacy. We learn that
antelopes have splayed hooves and eat tender
papyrus crowns, and that while hunters have made
crocodiles wary of humans, when crocs strike, they
do so with astonishing speed and strength. and we
witness an ecosystem in a delicate state of preserve.
in Botswana, he writes, the legitimate claims of
local people and the economic aspirations of a devel-
oping country must be balanced with the growing
concern over preserving the earths last edens.
thE cOLOr Of LightBy Arthur Meyerson Arthur Meyerson Editions $80
its abstract title sums up the contents: iridescent studies of
reections and shadows, textures and patterns, moods and
hues. meyerson is a houston-based commercial photog-
rapher whose nearly 40-year career has taken him to far-
ung locales; this self-published volume (arthurmeyerson
.com/book) highlights personal
snaps made along the way. With
help from designer lowell
Williams, meyerson pairs scenes
that are separated by time and
place but linked chromatically.
his favorite images are photos
that ask questions, he writes.
this collection is full of them.
nEw YOrk at night: PhOtOgraPhY aftEr dark Edited by Norma Stevens and Yolanda Cuomo powerHouse $125
With the possible exception of paris, no city has held a
more constant sway on the cameras eye than new York.
the editors of this 100-year survey credit its nocturnal
charmsfrom the honeycomb glow of Berenice abbotts
cityscape to the shadowy grit of Weegees candid shots to
the underground vibe of nan goldins party scenes. like a
taxi ride down Broadway, the story veers wildly but clips
along: haunting portraits by Diane
arbus, a deftly framed candid by irving
penn, and an iconic study in light by
Walker evans coexist in this scattered
narrative. the book makes a noble ef-
fort to live up to its epigraph, by F. Scott
Fitzgerald: the city seen for the rst
time, in its rst wild promise of all the
mystery and beauty in the world.
Clockwise from top left: Frans Lantings shot of four lionesses
awakening for the hunt in the wilds of Botswana; Berenice
Abbotts New York cityscape, The Nightview, 1932; Arthur
Meyersons Outdoor Restaurant, Vancouver, 2010.
24 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
latoya ruby Frazier (2)
on the wall
LaToya Ruby FRazieR:
a HaunTed CapiTaL
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Mar. 22 Aug. 11 brooklynmuseum.org
in the tradition of social documentary that strives
to capture the essence of america, latoya ruby
Frazier has trained her lens on her troubled home-
town of Braddock, pennsylvania. located downriver
from pittsburgh, Braddock began as one of the rst
steel-mill towns in the United States. Since the
collapse of that industry, the once-thriving city has
shriveled to a population of less than 2,500, and the
state has considered it a distressed municipality.
in both still and moving images, Frazier document-
ed her family there for a decade, capturing human
resilience and family bonds amid the hard times.
her thought-provoking worksome of which was
included in the prestigious Whitney 2012 Biennial
and the new museums exhibition The Generational:
Younger than Jesustakes center stage in this solo
show of about 40 images.
an associate curator at rutgers University, where
shes also taught photography, Frazier calls her
artistic motivations both personal and sociological.
her work addresses how an individuals environ-
ment impacts the body and shapes how you perceive
yourself in the world, she said in a 2012 lm clip.
her stark black-and-white portraits challenge how
the poor are portrayed in the media, how we think
about the relationships between mothers and daugh-
ters, and how environmental racism persists in
many american cities like
Braddock, where environ-
mental degradation occurs
in low-income and minority
neighborhoods. the mind
is the battleground for
photography, Frazier says.
LaToya Ruby Frazier faces a homeland in ruins by Lindsay ComsToCk
Cry Hometown
From top, two of LaToya
Ruby Fraziers portraits
from her series The
Notion of Family: Self
Portrait (March 10am),
2009; Grandma Ruby
and Me, 2005.
26 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
on the wall
F GeorGe GeorGiou: Fault lines
Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, through April 13 jacksonneart.com
the title of georgious Fault Lines refers to the ssures between
eastern and Western culture in turkey, where the British
photographer lived and shot for several years. georgiou creates
planes of vivid color and surreal light, depicting everyday life
in these rapidly developing communities. the underlying social
tension is made palpable as religious, political, cultural, and
geographic battles brew and the country oscillates between
holding on to its tradition and moving into modernity.
G Color rush: 75 Years oF Color
PhotoGraPhY in ameriCa
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, through May 19 mam.org
this collection explores innovations in color photography between
1907, when autochrome lm was rst marketed, and 1981, when
(the curators maintain) color photography was fully accepted by
the art world. included among the nearly 200 images and objects
are works by pioneers such as harry callahan, William eggleston,
nan goldin, cindy Sherman, and Stephen Shore.
E Japans Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto The Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA, Mar. 26 Aug. 25
getty.edu
This exhibition contrasts the work of two inuential
Japanese lensmen: Hiroshi Hamaya, whose docu-
mentary work explored social and regional issues,
and Kansuke Yamamoto, whose experimental vision
brought traditional Japanese realism into the realm
of avant-garde surrealism.
Unseen: The Photographs of Jessica Lange Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA, through May 19 mopa.org
MOPAs retrospective unveils cinematic stills by the Oscar-winning actress.
The black-and-white images from Langes shoots in Europe, Ethiopia,
Russia, and North America demonstrate an eye for everyday drama. I nd
photography a most mysterious process, she notes, capturing that
moment in time and space, elusive and eeting, and crystallizing it.
Takuma Nakahira Circulation: Date, Place, Events Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY, May 23 July 12 yossimilo.com This solo exhibition was rst shown at the 7th Paris Biennale in 1971. Over
a week in Paris, the activist made around 100 images each day, developed
the lm at night, and showed works the next day without omissionwhat
he called pieces of reality cut out by means of the camera.
Also...
Clockwise from top left: Trabzon, by George Georgiou, 2006;
Missing Stair, from Sandi Haber Fields series After the Threshold;
A Chronicle of Drifting, 1949, by Kansuke Yamamoto; Huntsville,
Alabama, 1978, by William Eggleston, from Color Rush. clockwise from top left: george georgiou, courtesy Jackson Fine art;
Sandi haber Field, courtesy rick W
ester Fine art;
toshio Yamamoto; John glembin, eggleston artistic trust, courtesy cheim
& read, new York
G sandi haber FiField:
aFter the threshold
RICk WeSTeR FINe ART, NeW YoRk, NY, APRIL 18 MAY 30 rickwesterneart.com
the dreamlike vision of Sandi haber Field is built on what she
calls collisions and alignments of unrelated images. Drawing from
her archive of imagery, Field threads together incongruent scenes
in triptychs and quadriptychs. as a result, she explains, formal
connections reveal themselves and suggest the reassuring possibil-
ity of meaning and order in the apparent randomness of experi-
ence. the show coincides with a monograph of the same title.
7642 Woodwind Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
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The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
30 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
Morgan Lynn Razi met both of her great loves
photography and her husband-to-bewhen she
was just 15 years old. By the time she was a ne-art
photography and business student at the University
of colorado, Boulder, she was already shooting wed-
dingsnever mind that her sideline didnt impress
her instructors or peers. i didnt feel like it was a
cool, hip thing to do, she says. But she combined
her artistic training with a meticulous technical
approachand came into her own just as wedding
photography was becoming more respected. now
its a really desirable job to get into, she says.
even more than her photographic skills, its her
afnity for great love stories that allows her to
bring out the beauty in each event. i get excited
and inspired by peoples joy and emotion, and by
people who are in love, she says. i can really
relate to that, because ive been so lucky in love.
the couple are now based in houston, where her
husband, amir, has recently started shooting with
her full-time.
razi applies her technical skill in the houston
event halls where receptions with elaborate and
varied lighting are often held, seeing the possibili-
Morgan Lynn razi
ties in challenges that many photographers would
nd daunting. her view reects the sanguine at-
titude she has toward every wedding she captures:
i probably have rose-colored glasses on, she says,
but i want to believe that these are two people
who are insanely in love with each other.
Above: The groom realizes
his wifes dress is hiked up
dangerously high during a
Houston wedding. Below:
Bride and bridesmaid dance
to a favorite song.
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 31
Sometimes it takes a big shift to set you on the path to the love youre meant
for. after matt millers punk-rock band decided to take a break in 2007,
he moved back to atlanta from Brooklyn and tried various jobs, including as
a concert photographer. When a friend recommended him to assist on a
wedding gig, he was skeptical. it sounded awful, he recalls. i didnt know
anything about wedding photography, and all i could think of was overly posed,
very stiff weddings, tuxedos, and boringness. But he needed the money, so he
went for it. the wedding, it turned out, had so much love and interestingness
to it, which for some reason id never thought of in wedding photography, that
i kind of fell in love with it. after assisting for three years, he took the lead
and started booking his own shoots.
as fate would have it, his background as a musician turned out to be a boon
for his wedding career. Being in a touring band for seven years, i got to meet
people across the U.S. and worldwide, he explains. i know tons of people in
bands and the punk-rock subculture, so a lot of the weddings i shoot are very
alternative. thats been a blessing for me. it ends up being a lot more personal.
the lighting skills miller picked up while working with bands in dark venues
also come into play in his wedding work. During receptions, he often sets up
studio lights that illuminate the whole space.
as miller has stuck around the wedding scene,
his rock-star dreams have taken a back seat, mak-
ing way for a brighter photographic styleand a
sunnier disposition. the more weddings i shot, the
more i fell in love with it and with the people get-
ting married, he reects. my outlook as a per-
son became a little bit happier. When my outlook
changed, the images started changing, too.
Matt MiLLer
Top: The newlyweds say
farewell to friends and
family in the Blue Ridge
Mountains, Georgia. Mid-
dle: The bride and groom
dance at the reception.
Bottom: A guest sweeps the
barefoot bride off her feet.this page: m
att m
iller (3). opposite: m
organ lynn razi (2).
Top: The 11/11/11 newly-
weds, also pictured on the
previous spread, kiss at
their reception. Bottom: A
ower girl hams it up at
a Manhattan reception.
34 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
this page: ryan Brenzier (2). opposite: Samm Blake (4).
When I started doing weddings, it was a eld
day for me, says new Yorkbased ryan Brenizer.
he had been working as a photographer for
columbia University, shooting academic events
that were usually less than exciting. at a wed-
ding, he says, i was walking into a scenario where
there were emotions and there was beauty, and i
could just build on that.
Brenizer certainly had the tools for the job,
with a knack for the technical and a background
in journalism. i do tend to approach weddings as
assignments, he says. Whoever the people are, i
want to tell their story. i want to show the things
that are different and unique about them, what
makes it their wedding.
recognized for his own unique approach,
Brenizer uses such techniques as composite light-
ing, free-lensing, and light painting, and he has
even come up with a way to capture panoramic
portraits with shallow depth of eld thats become
known by photographers as the Brenizer method.
nevertheless, he insists, the technical stuff is just
a means to an end. Whats important are the
moments between people.
ryan Brenizer
mentary projects. i realized that when im quiet,
its giving room to the couple, because im not
interjecting, she says. thats where the shots that
i really love start to happen. Blake gives her sub-
jects room to breathe compositionally too, creating
a spacious feel that echoes the western australian
landscape where she grew up, even when shes
shooting in her latest base, new York city.
many of Blakes clients work in creative elds
and appreciate her blend of artistry and documen-
tary, but above all, both they and Blake herself
value the moving authenticity her subtle style
achieves. i dont want it to just be a pretty picture
on a wall, she says of her work. When somebody
looks at my photography, i want their heart to beat
faster for a moment.
Clockwise from top left: The
newlyweds go up the stairs
of the Parliament House in
Melbourne, Australia. The
bride takes a moment. The
couple greets cheering re-
ception guests. On a balcony.
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 35
As a young photographer, Samm Blake explored
multiple genres, earning a degree in communica-
tions and making professional forays into the
fashion and commercial worlds. But it was the
wedding photography shed gotten into as a stu-
dent just to make a little money that ended up
captivating her. it was the one type of photogra-
phy where i was given complete creative freedom,
she explains. i could be completely myself and
have no one telling me how to shoot or what to
shoot. i guess im stubborn like that.
not that her approach is just about her creative
druthers. Blakes shooting style is informed by the
lessons in restraint learned from personal docu-
SaMM BLake
The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
ryan joseph (3)
When Ryan Joseph was recruited to play foot-
ball at ohio University, little did he know that he
was enrolling at a school with a top photography
program. Four years later, he left ohio with a
photography degree in hand, eventually settling
in tampa and opening his own studio. joseph
works in a ne art style, but relishes drawing on
a wide variety of skills to achieve it. a wedding
photographer has to be a little bit of everything,
he observes. Youve got to be a photojournalist,
a portrait artist, a storytellersometimes youve
got to be a psychologist.
When it comes time for portraits, joseph puts
on his directors hat, making careful compositions
that use natural light. he also brings an attentive-
ness to his subjects that allows their personalities
and presence to determine the look of the im-
ages. the point of a portrait is exposing who that
person is on their wedding day, he explains. the
enduring quality of those pictures, joseph says,
comes from bringing out the genuineness in his
subjects. i want them to be as classic 20 years
from now as they are today, he says. and the job
never gets old for joseph. every time i think ive
seen it all, something else happens at a wedding,
he says. it keeps me on my toes.
ryan JoSeph
Opposite: A moment after
the bride has put on her
dress in Tuscany, Italy.
Right: The groom enjoys
a cigar and a scotch at his
reception in Montego Bay,
Jamaica. Below: In Tus-
cany, the bride and groom
share their rst dance after
the rain.
The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 37
38 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
Top: A ower girl with
balloons. Bottom, from
left: A bride gets ready.
Bridesmaids talk with the
bride. The bride and her
sister help their father x
his bowtie.
The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
For Emin Kuliyev, each wedding is a journey of dis-
covery, a photographic treasure hunt embarked upon
with an unusually happy bunch of traveling com-
panions. You dont know where youre going; you
dont know the people; you dont know anything, he
explains. Youre like a bee ying to the ower.
Kuliyevs own journey began when he left his
native city of Baku, azerbaijan, and settled in new
York. after he found work as a graphic designer,
his course made an unexpected turn when a car
crash took him off his feet for a year. he used
the time to learn how to operate his new digital
camera. When i could walk with a cane, he says,
eMin kuLiyevi started to shoot everything around my building.
Soon, he was exploring the city with his camera,
honing his skills by photographing everything from
portraits to cityscapes to gorillas at the Bronx Zoo.
When Kuliyev discovered wedding photography,
he realized hed found what he was looking for: im
my own boss, he says. i like to see happy people
around me, and i use all my skills in the wedding
eld. his thoughtfully composed images are by
turns witty, expressive, and poignantthe work of
someone who has, as he puts it, found my passion.
that isnt to say hes not open to the next adven-
ture. its hard to say what will happen tomorrow,
he muses. maybe i will write a poem, or paint
something interesting.
Top: Newlyweds on the
Baltic Sea island of Got-
land, Sweden, where the
groom spent summers when
he was a boy. Bottom: The
same bride, just before leav-
ing her cottage to walk to
the nearby church.
When Ashley Parsons was rst asked to photo-
graph a wedding, she was working as a doula and
presenting at a health fair for expectant moms. i
just laughed and said, im not a photographer, but
thank you, she recalls. But the requester, who had
seen family photographs she had taken, wouldnt
let it go. Shooting that rst wedding turned out
to be a revelation. i went from one experience to
another, and every photograph that i made was
like giving myself a present, she recalls. i came
home and said, jeremy, we have to become wed-
ding photographers. her enthusiasm won him
over. i went for it because i love spending time
with my wife and i hated my job, says jeremy, who
was working for a loan servicing company in their
home base of Kansas city, missouri, at the time.
the couple spent their savings on a booth at a
bridal show. they booked 18 weddings, and jer-
emy quit his job. now, after years of developing a
natural-looking documentary style together, the
parsons work with clients whom they get to know
personally before the wedding. Weve got to have a
connection to them that feels different than a cli-
ent, ashley explains. if we wanted to work with
clients, we could go back to the business world.
We want to have couples that we get. We get their
stories and what theyre about, and they get us.
that the leap of faith they made together has
worked out so well doesnt seem to surprise them.
as ashley says, how can you not feel inspired
when you have the love of your life with you?
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 39
aShLey and JereMy parSonS
this page: ashley and jeremy parsons (2). opposite: emin Kuliyev (4).
Above: Newlyweds share
a playful moment in Paris.
Below: The brides sister-
in-law-to-be xes her hair.
Opposite: Bride and groom
with a skull the groom
found.
The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
40 americanphotomag.com march/april 2013
Sean Flanigan began his career in 2005 shoot-
ing a combination of photojournalism and wed-
dingswork hed begun as a photography student
at the art institute of Seattle. But he came to a
crossroads when he was offered a staff position
at a newspaper. i was getting assignments, he
recalls, but they ended up not being as fun as the
jobs i was getting from wedding clients. Flanigan
turned the position down and began to cultivate a
clientele that valued his sometimes unconventional
aesthetic. only images that i would want to take
again would go in my portfolio, he explains.
as a result, many of his clients today are cre-
ative professionals who share his enthusiasm for
an artistic take on the wedding event. my bride
and groom are like my art directors of the day, he
says, and i want to get them on board with me to
collaborate as much as possible, so were coming
away with the images as a team.
Flanigans artistic approach includes occasional
shots with lomo lm cameras, plus a keen eye for
available light developed in the Seattle area, where
he grew up and where his business is based. it has
Sean FLanigan
a real scarcity of directional light, he says of his
hometown. So when i see the light, i go right to
it. ive got a knack for seeing where the interesting
light is. it just jumps out at me.
Beyond technique, Flanigan credits his suc-
cess to the trust and access his clients give him in
capturing the event. Ultimately, he says, what it
comes down to for me is just seeing them get mar-
ried and the looks on their faces. its awesome.
Sean Flanigan (3)
T
odd H
un
ter M
cG
aw
Todd Hunter McGaw The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
The bride walks across
a eld on the family
property in the Gold
Coast hinterland of
Queensland, Australia,
where her wedding
was held.
MARCH/APRIL 2013 AMERICANPHOTOMAG.COM 43
Above: A bride with her
bridesmaids. Below: A
groom (second from left)
walks off jitters with his
groomsmen.
this page
todd h
unter m
cgaw (2). opposite: tyler W
irken (4).
The Top 10 Wedding Photographers
I didnt set out to be a wedding photographer,
says todd hunter mcgaw. i always wanted to be
a commercial photographer. But when someone
asked the Brisbane, australiabased photographer
to shoot a wedding, he realized he could work with
all of the elements he liked from multiple genres in
one place. i found that i could bring variety to my
approach to photographing weddings, and people
responded to that, he says.
mcgaws location brings lots of variety to him,
too. australia is quite a multicultural society, he
explains, so we do Vietnamese and chinese wed-
dings, tea ceremonies, Serbian orthodox weddings,
and also people with pop-culture inuences. mcgaw
has shot a wedding ofciated by Darth Vader and a
video-game-themed event where the bride walked
down the aisle to mario Brothers music. there are
lots of people injecting their own personalities into
their event, which we love, he says.
the common thread running through all the
weddings mcgaw shoots is his clients enthusiasm
for photography and the inventive portraits he cre-
ates with their collaboration. Were known for the
conceptual, creative shoots we include on the day,
todd hunter Mcgaw
he says. But as much as his clients love the por-
traits, theyre often pleasantly surprised when they
see the candid shots in their album. Says mcgaw:
We tell people, Youre really going to love the pho-
tos of you kissing your mom, and they say, Yeah,
yeah, but lets get to the interesting stuff. then
when they see the albums, they really appreciate
those little moments, which is honestly the whole
reason we do it.
march/april 2013 americanphotomag.com 45
Top: The bride sheds a tear
during the rst dance with
her husband. Bottom, from
left: The bride tosses her
bouquet. Reception guests
celebrate. The groom
dances his signature dance.
Were not for everybody, says tyler Wirken of his
Kansas city, missouri, studio. his clients, he explains,
are usually more interested in images of other people
at their wedding than of themselves. theyre not
center-of-attention people, he says. You could say
the same of Wirken himself. having started out as
a photojournalist, he takes an unobtrusive approach
to capturing the wedding day through candid shots
of shared moments. outside of portraits, i dont
direct anything, he says. if i talk to them a lot,
then i end up affecting the integrity of the moment.
Wirken even removes himself from the scene, at
times shooting with remote cameras in churches
and reception halls. But that doesnt mean he
tyLer wirkendoesnt have a personal connection with his clients.
i spend a lot of time with my couples before the
wedding, he explains, so by the time i get there,
ive got their trust.
establishing that personal relationship reso-
nates with his family-oriented clientele. i think
my style really ts in here, he says. most of my
clients still live in the town they grew up in. that
strong family bond really makes a difference.
illuminating long-standing bonds is his ultimate
goal, which is why he stays until the very end. if i
can dig deeper and show more of who people are,
aside from it being a wedding day, then i feel ive
succeeded, Wirken says. Usually at the end of the
night, that comes out. the partys over, and they
one hundred percent become themselves. AP
Camera. Lens. Lightroom.Youve got the camera, youve got the lens. Now theres one essential tool lef :
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 sof ware. It helps you take your photos to the
next level, let ing you do everything from correct the tiniest details to unleashing
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2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, Photoshop, Lightroom and the Adobe logo are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other counties. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Smartphone-savvy photographers nd their niches in the brave new world of pocket publishingby Travis Marshall#iphoneonly
March/april 2013 aMericanphotoMag.coM 47
s Superstorm Sandy bore down on the
eastern Seaboard, Time magazines direc
tor of photography, Kira pollack, had a
snap decision to make about how to document the
impending chaos. We came in Monday morn
ing [october 29, 2012]Sandy hit Monday night,
pollack says. We really didnt know what would
happen: whether the power would go out, or how
we would le images.
the solution? pollacks team contacted ve photo
journalists and handed them the keys to Times
instagram feed, granting unmediated access to
the magazines presence on the socialphotography
platform; the images would also appear on light
aBox, the magazines online photography portal.
i had immediate access to hundreds of thou
sands of viewers, photographer Michael christo
pher Brown says about shooting the assignment.
there was this tremendous sense of power, as
i was both a photographer and an editor, able to
reach an audience faster than any wire service.
Within hours, ve shooters hit the ground to
document the devastation: Brown, fellow editorial
photographer Ben lowy, frequent National Geo-
graphic shooter and Vii member ed Kashi, recent
australian transplant to new York and World
press photo award winner andrew Quilty, and
Stephen Wilkes, whod earned accolades for his
Journalist Ben Lowy
covered the aftermath of
Superstorm Sandy (above,
left) with his phone. Hed
used his phone for his work
before, for instance, docu-
menting events in Libya
during the summer of 2012
(above, right).
From left: Benjamin lowy/reportage by getty images;
Benjamin lowy/reportage by getty images for the M
agnum emergency Fund (4).
48 aMericanphotoMag.coM March/april 2013
largeformat interiors in Ellis Island: Ghosts of Free-
dom. the kicker: Four of the ve relied primarily
on their smartphones. (Quilty used his DSlr and
his iphone; Wilkes had a laptop, which he used to
download one image.)
it was really about speed, pollack says. it was
a way to get images up as quickly as we could, but
we had to have the right photographers to make it
work. She explains that lowy, Brown, and Kashi
especially were chosen for their smartphone shoot
ing chops. these are extraordinary journalists, and
what they do with the technology is equally amaz
ing, she says. Brown was literally shooting images
in the middle of the nightin total darkness, with
the power out in the city and only minimal light
availableusing nothing but his cellphone.
lowy and Brown are no strangers to chaos in
the eld. each specializes in conict photography,
where, theyve found, smartphone technology adds
a layer of exibility and freedom to their jour
nalism. in libya, everyone used phones to take
pictures and videos, so what i was doing was no
different, Brown says.
Brown had shot mobile for a project in china
and then got his rst smartphoneonly assign
ment covering the Democratic republic of congo,
rwanda, and Uganda for Times mobile tech issue.
i ew to africa with three phones and no photo
equipment, he says. i have to thank Kira pollack
for believing in the project. on previous jobs with
other publications, the consensus was we were only
safe if we were using a 35mm.
lowy similarly garnered recognition when im
ages he took in afghanistan with the app hipsta
matic landed in The New York Times Magazine.
i ew back to new York from california as the
storm was coming in, lowy says. When the plane
landed i had an email from deputy photo editor
paul Moakley at Time saying they were thinking
of having me cover the storm, and i realized the
rockaways and coney island were where i needed
to be. in hindsight, his instincts were right on; his
iphone image of the waves pounding coney island
made the cover of Times subsequent print issue.
ConneCted CamerasDigital photography has become easier for every
one to create and distribute thanks to smartphones
and access to instantpublishing tools.
i think, with the democratization of photogra
phy, people look at what they have readily available
and they can say, i take a picture of my lunch or
my cat with my iphone, and this guy is using an
iphone to photograph afghanistan or libya or the
hurricane. it brings it that much closer to them,
lowy says. its not some foreign tool. its like a
very small psychological bridge that you can use to
connect with your audience.
this simple tool may have the power to change
how professional photographers interact, not only
#iphoneonly
M
ichael christopher Brown (3)
March/april 2013 aMericanphotoMag.coM 49
Covering the Democratic
Republic of Congo (opposite
and above) with his iPhones
has given Michael Chris-
topher Brown increased
freedom and exibility.
with their craft, subjects, and audiences but also
with the outlets that buy their work. its difcult to
shrug off the impact of connected photography.
in november 2012 Samsung released the galaxy
camera, a rst attempt to incorporate the android
oS and a cellular antenna into a compact camera.
then canon introduced the eoS 6D, a fullframe
DSlr with WiFi and sharing tools built in. this
connectivity will become the new normal, says
richard Koci hernandez, an emmywinning
multimedia journalist, assistant professor of jour
nalism at Uc Berkeley, and mobilephotography
maven. i never bet against technology.
hernandez was an early adopter of iphone
photography and social media. as a photojournalist
for the San Jose Mercury News, he bought his rst
iphone in 2007the rst iteration, with its brutally
grainy 2Mp cameraand almost immediately start
ed using it on the job. the combination of a camera
and an internet connection meant i didnt have to
bring out my laptop, hernandez says. it was so
convenient, i didnt want to use anything else.
hernandez was an avid lomo and holga user
before he embraced the iphone, and he thinks the
smartphones shortcomingslike poor lowlight
performance and lack of manual controlsare
50 aMericanphotoMag.coM March/april 2013
small sacrices to make for the ability to edit and
publish images from the palm of his hand.
today hernandez has more than 160,000 follow
ers on instagram, and the moody blackandwhite
street images that populate his feed have been pub
lished everywhere from The New York Timess lens
blog and Slate to a national geographic book (pub
lished in germany) titled iPhone-Fotograe, which
features hernandez alongside four other iphone
photographers, including Michael christopher
Brown. With the iphone 4S, at least, the camera is
nally acceptable, hernandez says. good enough
to get blown up for a national geographic book.
at a time when every part of the imagemaking
businessne artists, news outlets, multinational
brandsare ghting for increasingly fragmented
and distracted audiences, nding ways to engage
people through social media and photosharing
sites is considered the brass ring. ive been ap
proached numerous times by major car companies,
clothing lines, and alcohol brands looking for mobile
photography expertise, hernandez says.
March/april 2013 aMericanphotoMag.coM 51
Early adopter Richard
Koci Hernandez (who
shot the three images on
this spread) has been a
camera-phone devotee since
he started using the rst
iPhone (with its 2MP
camera) to shoot assign-
ments for the San Jose
Mercury News.
#iphoneonly
Instagram takeoverthe role socialsavvy photographers such as her
nandez play in galvanizing communities around a
topic, whether its a new craft distillery or a vital
news event like Superstorm Sandy, is still very
much in its Wild West phase. But examples abound
of pioneering shooters who take great images with
simple tools, engage online audiences, and ulti
mately carve out careers for themselves based in
some part on photography they make with their
smartphones.
take liz eswein, whowith two other insta
grammers with big followings, Brian DiFeo and
anthony Daniellecofounded the Mobile Media
lab, one of the rst socialmedia marketing con
sultancies built almost entirely around instagram.
eswein was a student at nYU when she joined
the startup social photography site in 2011, well
before its current status as a Facebookowned
tech juggernaut. She casually chose the username
@newyorkcity. i decided i wanted to show photos
of the city. i tried a few names, and amazingly this
one was available, eswein says. i was so excited
when i had 50 followers, but then it just exploded.
eswein quickly realized the inherent value
of her username when people from all over the
world started liking, sharing, and commenting on
her snapshots of skylines, street scenes, food, and
fashion. her following quickly swelled into the
hundreds of thousandsmore than 560,000 as this
went to printand early last year eswein started
getting offers from nYcbased brands willing to
pay to build their mobile marketing and appear in
her photo stream.
Fresh out of college, eswein, then 23, had inad
vertently become a onewoman publishing house
with an audience to rival that of many magazines,
her feed the de facto face of new York city. cue
the light bulb.
Brian, anthony, and i were already being ap
proached individually when we decided to cofound
the company, and we got a big campaign with
Samsung right after we teamed up, eswein says.
its been really successful so farid say about 95
percent of our clients approach us, rather than the
other way around. Mobile Media labs recent work
has included coverage for Krastase at new York
Fashion Week and evian at the U.S. open, as well
as virtual guest appearancesknown as instagram
takeoversfor such outlets as Lucky magazine.
toward a mobIle aesthetICone byproduct of the spike in demand for mobile
photography is the widespread use of lters and
frames on images shared through instagram and
similar apps. they serve to mask the aws that
come with lowerquality images, but ltering has
also become its own kind of aesthetic.
Veteran sports photographer Brad Mangin
brought that look to the print pages of Sports
Illustrated when the July 23, 2012, issue included a
threepage spread comprising 18 instagram base
ball images that he took during spring training
and the regular season.
like many photographers getting a new per
spective on their craft thanks to the simplicity and
creativity of smartphone photography, Mangin
found it liberating to shed his big cameras and just
experiment. We are always looking for ways to
present the game of baseball in a fun photo essay,
Mangin says. and we liked the idea of instagram
because it was kind of newnone of the big weekly
magazines had done much with it yet. richard Koci hernandez (3)
52 aMericanphotoMag.coM March/april 2013
Former art director turned iphone ographer
tim Young had never seriously picked up a camera
before he began sharing his iphone photos on insta
gram, but two of his images were selected for inclu
sion in the rst international iphoneography Show
at the Soho gallery for Digital art. the ensuing
snowball effect included a book with the creators of
the apps FX photo Studio and color Splash Studio,
more gallery shows, and commissioned works.
im a photographer that chooses to use an
iphone. its about ease of use, unobtrusivenessits
my dark room, apparatus, and gallery, Young says.
the technology lets me share test images with ef
fects quickly, then turn around the nal shots on a
tight deadline, but at the end of the day, my clients
want me for my artistry, not the device.
edItorIalIzIngWeb publishing is another venue for which instant
mobile photography is a perfect t. the past ve
years have seen an explosion of original online
content, and it all needs Weboptimized images Brad M
angin (4)
March/april 2013 aMericanphotoMag.coM 53
Sports photographer Brad
Mangin (opposite) used
an iPhone and Instagram
for his baseball portraits,
which later became part
of a book. Liz Eswein, who
shoots on Instagram with
the handle @newyorkcity,
has turned her feed into a
business. This shot (right)
was part of a sponsored
series for handbag designer
Gryson. Constantly on the
road, travel photographer
Kirsten Alana counts on
her iPhones camera to
quickly turn around images
like the one below.
#iphoneonly
that can move from camera to reader quickly.
Kirsten alana, a travel photographer, blogger,
and socialmedia consultant, fell into iphone pho
tography thanks to an equipment malfunction. My
canon eoS 5D Mark ii had a bad water encounter,
she says. So i decided to travel light and carry less
equipment, testing myself to see if i could still cap
ture images good enough to submit to editors.
now alana spends much of her life on the road
as a contributor for travel outlets such as Afar
magazine, Gadling, and Hostelworld and as a cor
respondent for expedia; she gives talks and classes
about smartphone photography along the way. ive
now been using an iphone as my work camera for
nearly two years, she says. So far, no complaints.
alana credits the pocketsized portability,
endless supply of apps, and the ability to publish
photos from anywhere as the primary reasons shes
chosen to work with a smartphone rather than her
DSlrs. i want people to feel like they are there,
traveling as well, experiencing a destination along
with me, she explains. an iphone lets me do this
better than most digital cameras.
the tos debateas this article was being led, instagram an
nounced planned changes to its terms of service,
sparking criticism among pros who use the site,
including many of the photographers interviewed
here. the most controversial among the proposed
changes were those construed as giving instagram
and parent company Facebook the rights to publish
and sell images for advertising without consent
from or compensation for the photographer.
the huge backlash among highprole users led
instagram ceo Kevin Systrom to release a clarify
ing blog post within 24 hours, part of which read,
to be clear: it is not our intention to sell your
photos. Shortly afterward, Systrom announced,
We are reverting this advertising section to the
original version that has been in effect since we
launched the service in october 2010.
Michael christopher Brown was willing to wait
for the dust to settle. initially, my reaction was to
wait for the nal verdict, he says. though if they
had changed the terms to what they were propos
ing, i would have closed the account. Mangin says
he was worried and would have left the service had
instagram not rolled back to its original terms, but
ultimately, is happy that the company listened to
its users. he continues to use the service.
in the era of social networking and instant
publishing, debates like these will keep popping
up. instagram, like many other social networking
platforms, may be a powerful publishing tool, but it
is also a forprot enterprise.
prInt-worthyUltimately, the reasons that Times photo team
chose smartphones to cover Superstorm Sandy
are much the same reasons eswein and alana use
them: in a fastpaced world, convenience, speed,
and connectivity rule the day.
Both a magazine and its readers benet when
reporting spreads as far and wide as possible.
pollack had published smartphone images before
Sandy; she even incorporated instagram into
Times rst Wireless issue. But the magazines
storm coverage was still very much an experi
mentits rst attempt at using the platform for
a breakingnews event of this magnitude.
the experiment worked, driving 13 percent of
the entire websites trafc during a week with one
of the highest trafc days in its history. the images
were strong, immediate, and emotional. and they
spread like wildre, pollack says. When it lends
itself to the right story, with the right photogra
phers, ill do it again. AP
From top: liz esw
ein; Kirsten alana
Jambo, a chimpanzee living
at Twycross Zoo in War-
wickshire, U.K., suffers
from alopecia totalis
and has no hair. Hes the
dominant male chimp in his
colony; this may account for
the scar on his head, per-
haps a consequence of trying
to maintain control over
the other chimps.
A commercial photographer based in London, Tim Flach rst became fascinated with
animals in 1993, when an ad shoot for Guinness required him to pair a python with a
vulture. He went on to pursue an ambit