Doing a Double-Take: The Ad Photos of Jonathan May

Looking through Jonathan May's ad campaign photos without the logos that usually adorn them is a privileged experience. Without the aid of catchy slogans to tell you what connections to make, you're free to create your own story--and May, who's quite the visual storyteller, gives you plenty of cues. He also has the unique ability to imbue potentially depressing subjects (the slums of Eastern Europe, the poverty of certain African countries) with striking beauty and, most importantly, humor. May sums it up best (from his bio):

Jonathan loves to find interesting characters and unconventional locations, using colour and treatments to heighten the visual experience. Always looking for subtle humour, his work visually engages us by drawing us in to share the experience of the subject.

May was just named one of the top 200 International Advertising Photographers for 2012/13 by Lurzer's Archive Magazine, an honor he also received in 2010/11. And his non-ad work isn't shabby either. "Embrace" (above) is currently on exhibit in London's National Portrait Gallery as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.

Meanwhile, if you've got shutter-finger, enroll in one of 3rd Ward's photography classes, from the basics of Learning Your Digital Camera to mastering Photoshop.

Catherine Kirkpatrick Profiles 30 Contemporary Women Photographers For Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month, and we're looking forward to a great project that one of 3rd Ward's own members will be unveiling throughout the month. Catherine Kirkpatrick will be presenting 30 by 30, a daily series of conversations with thirty contemporary women photographers about other women photographers who inspire them--hosted on the Professional Women Photographers website.

"The photographers range from photojournalists to fine art, fashion and portrait photographers, from age 26 to 99," Kirkpatrick tells us. A new segment will run each day on the PWP blog starting March 1.

"It grew out of a conversation with a museum publications director about how women of the Photo League were much less documented than their male counterparts," says Kirkpatrick. "And working in the Professional Women Photographers' archives I saw how much photography has changed in the past few decades. Opportunities we take for granted now didn't exist 30 to 40 years ago, both for women photographers and for photography as a fine art. So there was a need to acknowledge change, yet honor the pioneering women photographers who came before and were often overlooked."

Kirkpatrick is an accomplished photographer in her own right, and you can check some of her photographs after the jump. "I'm currently working on a portfolio of images using a Diana Camera plastic lens on a Canon 5D," she says. "It's a wonderful blend of high and low tech. The digital SLR provides a large, 16-bit file, and the plastic lens slurs the colors and warps the image in unexpected ways. Since you can't control everything, you have to relax, let go and have fun! Sometimes wonderful images result."

Photographers Gigi Stoll and Flo Fox, who are featured in Kirkpatrick's 30 By 30 series.Photoshelter named Kirkpatrick's article Sgt. Pepper Uncovered, on pioneering women photographers and policewomen in the 1970s, one of their Best Photography Blog Posts of 2011. Her image Train Coming (check it out below) also received an honorable mention in the PWP International Open Call, which was juried by renowned photography Mary Ellen Mark. You can find more of Kirkpatrick's photography and art on her website and more of her writing on Photospire.org.

Train Coming by Catherine Kirkpatrick Overpass by Catherine Kirkpatrick

Clouds by Catherine Kirkpatrick

-- John Ruscher

Infographic: How Photographers Actually Spend Their Time

If you've spent even 30 seconds hanging out on any social network in the past few days, chances are high you've bumped into a few different versions of a new Internet meme in which different professions are given the "What ______ think I do" treatment. For instance, here are ones about graphic designers and directors, the latter of which seems to have started the trend. There's also one about photographers, but since we're much bigger fans of fascinating, informative charts than crudely designed jpegs, we'd like to share the chart below, which compares how people think shutterbugs spend their time with the actual nitty gritty specifics of a career in pro photography.

When we first came across the chart, we thought its numbers might fall into that infamous 73% of statistics that are made up on the spot, but after a little research we discovered that they are actually the results of a survey conducted by the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. Whether they shoot weddings or not, we think the chart provides a thought-provoking contrast between the realities of editing, office work and marketing and the preconception of photographers as leading lives of endless glamour, traveling and creativity.

Next time you're out at an event and spot that photog snapping away on her DSLR, you can still be jealous, but don't forget the other hard work that goes on after the party is over.

-- John Ruscher

The Photo Surgery of Bobby Neel Adams' "Agemaps"

We were recently introduced to photographer Bobby Neel Adams' project, "Agemaps," which--for the visual aficianado out there--may remind you of Irina Werning's "Back to the Future" series from last year. It's a similar exercise in the meticulous replication of old film stock, lighting, art direction and facial expression--not to mention the freaky effect of looking at yourself today the way you were decades ago.

Adams has a similar goal, but by ripping his subjects' faces down the middle and pairing their adult faces with their faces as children, the contrast is much more striking. There's something haunting about how much a white-haired, seventy-year-old man looks like he did as a young boy, all decked out in his sailor suit and ready to have his photo taken. Adams has several other series that use similar techniques which he deems "photo-surgery."

If Adams' is the type of work that gets you going, feel free to peruse the slew of Alternate Process and Image Manipulation classes we've recently added.

Meanwhile, check out Adams' "Family Tree," a series of portraits of immediate family members (father/son, mother/daughter) that shows DNA at work without the use of photoshop.

-- Perrin Drumm

NEW MEMBER PROFILE // In Yulia Gorbachenko's Photography, Pleasure Produces Perfection

Yulia Gorbachenko was well on her way to a career in marketing when a birthday gift that changed everything. Having graduated with a marketing degree from the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics, she scored an internship in the United States and was excited about entering the professional world. "During the internship I began to wonder if marketing was something I really wanted to devote my life to," she says. It was then that she received that gift: a Canon Rebel XS.

It quickly became clear that photography was what she really wanted to pursue. "I spent all my spare time photographing, editing, reading about photography, and basically, breathing photography," she says. "I slowly understood that photography was the thing I enjoyed more than anything else." It soon became clear that she was a natural. "I won’t deny that I was pretty good as a beginner and that fact made me even more confident that I found my place," she says. "I actually got so good at it that the company I was working for hired me to photograph their main shows instead of dealing with marketing, which was the initial job I was intended to do. In that point I realized that I found my real passion in life."

Read more about Gorbachenko and feast your eyes on her dazzling photographs after the jump.

With her dream coming into focus, Gorbachenko packed her bags and headed to New York, where she's made it a reality. She's worked with a variety of prominent modeling agencies, and her work has been featured in many major publications, including Harper's Bazaar Ukraine, Marie Claire China and PDN. She's also been recognized multiple times in the International Photography Awards, as well as in many other major competitions. In 2010 she signed with JUMP Management, which recently connected her with a major beauty company for an exciting collaboration later this year.

A look at Gorbachenko's work makes it obvious that she's a jaw-droppingly talented photographer, but her extraordinary use of color is particularly remarkable. "For me colors are as important in my works as composition and cropping, they simply draw the eye of the viewer," she says. "Colors can change the mood of the story dramatically so they give me an amazing opportunity to bring the mood that I want to my pictures."

She's found 3rd Ward to be the perfect home base for a career that requires a large studio but also frequently takes her overseas. The space is there when she needs it and doesn't go to waste when she is away. She was also drawn to the friendly atmosphere. "When I first entered 3rd Ward I felt at home," she says. "The people were cool and nice, and the great design immediately caught my attention."

If you're looking for proof that pursuing your true passion is a worthy goal, you'd have a hard time finding an example better than Gorbachenko's story. "Aristotle said that 'pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work,'" she says, "and I agree with every word.

In addition to her professional work, Gorbachenko will also be traveling to Russia and Ukraine in February to teach master classes on fashion and beauty photography. She's also planning workshops in New York and Washington, DC, so stay tuned to her Facebook page and website if you're interested.

And now for more of her stunning images:

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER PROFILE // Matthew Murphy's Photography Channels The Essence of Dance

Dancer: Kiira Schmidt photographed for Broadway.com's Gotta Dance!, styled by David Withrow, Hair and Makeup by Ariel Vega. Photographed at 3rd Ward.

It's not surprising that Matthew Murphy creates amazing dance photography. He's graced the same stages as the dancers that he now captures with his lens, and he's exercised the same extraordinary dedication and drive that made him a great dancer to become an equally virtuosic photographer.

"I spent my entire adolescence training to become a professional ballet dancer," Murphy says. At 17 that devotion paid off when he became a member of the American Ballet Theatre, one of the world's leading ballet companies. A few years later illness forced him to retire from dancing, but he soon picked up a DSLR and found a complementary passion. "The similarities between art forms were apparent to me from the start," he says. "They are both about exploring space and people through movement and light. My work as a photographer focuses a lot on identity and movement, whether physical or emotional." 

He may be behind the camera rather than at the barre, but Murphy still approaches his work with the heart and mind of a dancer. "I find the art of working with a portrait subject to be much like a pas de deux, where trust is more important than anything," he says. "Whomever I'm photographing has to be willing to take my hand and let me lead them. Likewise, I have to listen to their impulses because I may find that their energy leads me to a more exciting breakthrough."

Hit the jump to read more about Murphy and check out some of his excellent work.

When Murphy first joined 3rd Ward he was worried that commuting from the Upper East Side would be draining, but he's found that trek is worth it. "3rd Ward has been an amazing setting for me to expand my style," he says. "I always find myself energized to take the train out in the mornings and find new ways to use the space." He's spent time in all of the photo studios, but you'll likely find him in Studio B. "It's the most malleable for the type of work I do," he explains. "One day I'll open up the blackout curtains and let the natural light shine in for headshots, only to close them off the following day for a shoot with a dance company." 3rd Ward has also inspired Murphy to experiment and explore. "The reasonable price point of a membership has allowed me to feel more adventurous when it comes to trying new things," he says. "I've really been able to expand my work to not only include environmental portraiture but studio work as well, which is extremely valuable when creating press materials for different theater and dance companies."

DISPLACED, an exhibition of Murphy's work featuring "a series of 32 portraits that explores what happens to a dancer when you take away virtuosic movement," is on display through December 30 at Dance New Amsterdam.  He also recently started Gotta Dance!, a new portrait series for Broadway.com that features dancers styled and dressed in outfits inspired by the current show that they are in.

To kick off 2012 he'll be starting another portrait project, a "series of diptychs exploring the emphasis the ballet world places on physical perfection," and continuing his work on evening-length multimedia musical 35MM, a collaboration with composer Ryan Scott Oliver. "He has created songs inspired my images of mine, and I have created images based on songs of his," Murphy says. The two are more than half way to their Kickstarter goal to fund a cast recording and a live production in March. Help out and you can score everything from a digital download of the recording to first amateur licensing rights to put on your own production.

Check out some of Murphy's photographs below and head to his website and Facebook page for more.

Dancers: Lana Jones and Amber Scott of The Australian Ballet, photographed at Lincoln Center.

Beyonce photographed at Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

Michelle Dorrance, Hair and Makeup by Alex Michaels. Photographed outside of 3rd Ward.

Marcelo Gomes photographed for the series "DISPLACED," currently being presented at Dance New Amsterdam in Manhattan.

Dancer: Ashley Browne of Keigwin + Company, photographed at 3rd Ward.

-- John Ruscher

THIS THURSDAY // Holiday Photo Op: Say Cheese And Get Your Own Holiday Photo At Etsy Labs

Photo by sinstuff

With their seemingly infinite range of unique items, our friends at Etsy are an essential stop on your holiday gift hunt. But for those of us in the NYC area, they're offering up another way to spread the holiday cheer. This Thursday, December 8 from 6-9pm Etsy Labs in DUMBO will be hosting Making Smiles Bright: A Holiday Photo Card Event.

Bring along your family, friends, apartment mates, coworkers and whomever else you can think of and pose for a classic holiday portrait. You'll get to choose from three hand-curated backdrops featuring merchandise from Etsy sellers, and Magnolia Photo Booth Co. will be their to print and send your pictures. If you want to turn your photo into a proper holiday greeting card, printshop Moo will also be offering a 15% discount on their services. Etsy will be leading workshops to help you make your own envelopes, so bring along your favorite paper, old or new.

In addition to walking away with a timeless snapshot, you'll also have the chance to win some of the items featured in Etsy's backdrops as they'll be raffled off throughout the evening. So pull on that ugly holiday sweater, gather up your friends and grab your ticket for Thursday's event. We'll most definitely be seeing you there.

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER SHOW PROFILE // Claire Sheprow's Photography Captures The Intimacy Behind The Entertainer

 

At the 3rd Ward Member Show this Friday, November 18, you'll be able to check out a wide range of amazing creations that represent our diverse community, including photographs by Claire Sheprow.

Sheprow is experienced in a wide range of photography and has been honored with multiple awards for her work. She's cultivated such diversity with a unique openness to the images that she sees in the world. "To me, there are portraits to be made of shadows, and stories to be told about landscapes, abstractions to be found in faces and so on," she says. "The feeling I experience while creating the images is what I'm trying to capture and to convey—the dialogue between me and the subject, whatever it is."

For Friday's Member Show, Sheprow is presenting portraits of local variety and burlesque performer Anna Copacabana. "Her variety show is a very public appearance involving wigs and lots of flash, but I knew immediately that I was interested in shooting a more intimate side of her real-life persona, which for me started with shooting her without her signature wigs," she says. "We met to talk about the concept I had in mind, and were both enthused. However, as things would have it, the shoot didn't come to happen until about a year and a half later. Which was actually quite wonderful, because in that span of time we became quite good friends, which only deepened the silent dialogue between us during the shoot and opened up the amazing vulnerability and intimacy of her story that I wanted to capture."

Hit the jump to read more about Sheprow and see more of her work.

As a successful photographer whose clients have included Gibson and Fender guitars, Time Out NY, Glamour, MTV and many others, Sheprow finds that 3rd Ward is a good place to recharge and stay connected with herself. "Although I pour all of my creative energy and voice into my professional work, when meeting the needs of clients, editors, and art directors the lines between my 'art' and 'work' sometimes become painfully blurred," she says. "3rd Ward has become a space for me to carve out time for my own personal work, and to reconnect with a voice that is deeply my own. Taking classes to re-spark my creativity, hanging work in the shows, and just being in a community of such talent and creative energy, witnessing the work being created around me has really helped me to refocus on my personal work separate from my professional work."

What's Sheprow up to as we speak? "Currently I'm in the Arizonian desert exploring various means of self-discovery and the complex stories of the people who come here to experience them," she says. "Hearing their past stories and daydreaming about the future paths their lives may or may not take beyond these 'life-changing experiences.'  However I hope to be back just in time to attend the Member Show!"

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER SHOW PROFILE // Photographer Beril Gulcan Plays Connect the Dots

All images courtesy of Beril Gulcan

On Friday Nov. 18th, 3rd Ward's Fall Member Show goes down. In the run-up, we'll be profiling a handful of the members/artists participating. Today, we bring you photographer, Beril Gulcan:

Gulcan was a producer for fashion photographers in her native Turkey before moving to New York and becoming a photographer herself--so, people are a common subject for her. But her latest series Unknown Texture is the realization of a lifelong fascination. (See more after the jump.) "I've always had an obsession for freckles," she says. "All of the men in my family are redheads with freckles." So she got up close an personal with her relatives' speckled skin, and that of her best friend--"but I consider her family." 

This is Gulcan's second time in Member Show. After finishing an International Center for Photography program, we saw her work in the May show Between You & Me, a series of portraits of mothers and daughters together. "For that one, I shot them in their homes, so it would be more natural."

Gulcan is working on opening a studio in Williamsburg, where she'll do portraits and other commercial work. "That's really what I've been working on lately, is opening the studio," she says. "The business plan, finding a space, it's a lot." We're quite confident she'll make it all happen.

Now hit the jump for those photos.

 

 -- Layla Schlack

OCCUPY ART // Occupy.Inside.Out Puts Faces With A Movement

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

Last week we relayed a call from Brooklyn photographer Steven Greaves and the folks at TED.com, who needed volunteers to help wheat paste Greaves' 99 portraits of everyday people involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement throughout Downtown Manhattan. The project, occupy.inside.out, was staged as part of photographer JR's global Inside Out endeavor.

We're happy to report that the wheat pasting was a massive success. Greaves sent along some photos of the portraits going up and told us more about the project. "We wanted to offer people a way to share their stories," he says. "The Occupy Wall Street movement has been portrayed as a mob of discontent. While there are definitely complaints, that's not the whole story. What we've experienced is much to the contrary: veterans, priests, doctors, lawyers and other everyday people who are more than just angry. These people work every day of their lives and are starting to become empowered to do something about the injustices that they see around them and in the system."

Check out photos of the occupy.inside.out wheat pasting after the jump.

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

image courtesy of Charles Meacham - http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

-- John Ruscher