A few weeks ago, I bumped in to Super Model, Artist and Singer Karen Mulder at a party that was thrown by artist Philippe Pasqua. I hadn’t seen her since I last shot with her for L’Officiel Magazine and it was a real pleasure seeing her again.

Just wanted to share this amusing short vignette totally shot with my iPhone of Karen Playing the Photographer with my Camera…

Enjoy

Song “Regarde Toi” by Benjamin Kanarek © Adapted & Sung by Barbara Nicoli

Don’t Shit on Your Door Step

Well, most of you are probably thinking “…yeah, that is pretty obvious…”, but in actual fact, I have been shit on by several people in my life that may have benefited by my input, knowledge, connections etc… But rather than being somewhat  diplomatic, they decided to go in to some kind of offensive diatribe, leaving a pretty bad taste in my mouth regarding my feelings about them.  Now, I may be a small cog in this rather large machine, but you can never really know what can happen.

I say this, because of the nature of this business, which is fickle in the best case scenario, I suggest that no matter where you are, remember this, “a vengeful caustic comment, can go a lot further in besmirching your reputation than you can probably imagine…”

I used myself as an example, as I rarely hold a grudge. I turn the page a lot faster than most. But be warned, most people do hold grudges and if your name were to ever come up in a conversation and that conversation went south because of an offhanded remark you made to someone who is now in a position of influence, you have probably already lost the gig and for a very long time.

So a word of advice… Don’t shit on your door step. This Biz hasn’t a lot of space on the landing, if you catch my drift.

PART 9

Just wanted to share with you that I am in Pre-Production for several Harper’s BAZAAR’s coming out in September and October of this year. Harper’s BAZAAR China is coming out July 10th for the August Issue. Look out for the Video Teaser of the Making of Harper’s BAZAAR China… Stay Tuned.

All Photos ©Regen Chen 2010

Today I had the opportunity to speak with Regen Chen, who won our first Benjamin Kanarek Blog Fashion Photography Contest.  It was a pleasure speaking with him and as with most interactions, it was  a very illuminating experience for me.  I appreciated that he was well prepared for the call and laid out a panoply of questions that covered a very wide scope pertaining to the “Biz”.

I asked that he share some information about himself, as well as some other samples of his work. To listen to the interview just scroll down to the media player.

Short Bio

Regen Chen is a 23 year Toronto based photographer, who has studied three years of Graphic Design at George Brown College, and two years at Seneca College in digital photography. In that time he has managed to publish several of his works in local life style magazines. Recently Regen has developed a passion for fashion photography by combining his distinct technique of lighting and post processing. Regen believes that fashion photography is about expressing a concept, telling a story, and creating desire.

About the submission

The piece I submitted was a school assignment which required me to do an on location portrait with one lighting. I wanted to take it a step further than just a portrait shoot by adding some style and flare. I asked friends to model, do the makeup, hair, and styling for this project. My idea was a night out in downtown.

For equipments I had one ring flash attached onto my camera plugged into a battery pack. The technique I used was slow-sync with 1-2 seconds exposure to capture the city ambient light, and also have the flash to stop the motion of the model. I intentionally shifted my camera each shot in order to blend the ambient lights on the model; meanwhile I asked my model to move around slowly.

One problem I had was focusing and framing the model because modeling light from the strobe was restricted when plugged into a battery pack. I ended up using the light from a cell phone as a replacement to help me focus. Other than that the shoot went smooth.

In post-production, I increased the contrast and clarity, with a touch of HDR. I wanted to keep intact elements such as colour and movement, but still focus on the garment.  I played with the layout a lot, trying to find the right composition. I ended up with something that not only shows these elements but also maintains the edgy look I was going for.

My feeling about the industry I am pursuing

Advertising is where I want to go. I believe it will allow me to continue to express my point of view while still making my works sell able. I feel that photographers are usually underrated, because often people don’t see the whole process behind each photo taken. With today’s growing technology, it’s harder to have a sense of stability because photography is becoming more accessible to people. At this point it comes down to who I am as an artist, and I often find myself thinking, “Do I have enough good ideas?”

Regen Chen Interview

You’re Not Published Until You Are Published

When someone views a fashion or beauty spread in a Fashion magazine, I suspect that most of you think that what you are seeing was what was shot for that spread. Well more often than you can imagine, it is just a fraction of what was actually shot for the magazine.

There is nothing more infuriating than shooting a 16 page story to see it reduced to 8 or 10 pages or a 6 page beauty story reduced to 2 to 4 pages. The politics of Fashion & Beauty photography is a very fickle animal, where those who make the final decision were often those who were not in the loop in the first place.

How one deals with this issue depends on many factors. It could be that they finally  didn’t have enough space to support the story, they might have decided that it was too strong for their issue or it could come down to purely personal decisions. I react depending on the circumstances. But if a brief has been given to do a 16 page fashion story and your storyboard or mood board has been accepted, it is more than frustrating when you see your story cut in half.

It has happened to me on at least 3 occasions and in all cases, it is medicine that is difficult to swallow. Those viewing the story don’t know that this happened, but the team do and that in it’s own right is injurious to ones self esteem. You just never know until you get the final layout from the art department, what your spread is going to look like.

I recently did a major spread for one of the Big Two magazines where I was asked to do a 14 page spread, did so and was even asked to suggest the order and layout of it. Luckily all of the images were accepted and I have yet to see the layout, as it is for the July 2010 issue that doesn’t come out till the end of June. I had another story in one of the two majors that was destined to be a 5 page story that was reduced to a 4 page spread with 3 of my images. I was quite taken aback to say the least. C’est La Vie.

I’ll get over it, but when it happens, it is something that is inexplicably difficult to explain emotionally. One might feel robbed, befuddled and disoriented, because in your mind you saw it as one thing and it comes out entirely different.

So as the saying goes; “Your Not In Until You Are In”… In fact, not until it is print, can you be sure that what has been shown to you as the final layout will actually make it to press until it has done so.

So, for all of you out there who look at a fashion or beauty spread in a magazine, remember that what your seeing just might be only part of the huge effort made by all of the members of the team…

That’s the “BIZ” like it or not…

Continued in Part 8

Bruce Jones, Photographer, responded to my Post “The Politics of Fashion Photography Part 6“ with his very illuminating thoughts. I felt it was worthy of a separate post so here it is:

by: Bruce Jones

This is hardly unique to “fashion photography.” In my former life as a freelance corporate communications producer, I had plenty of opportunity to observe how the game is played in the executive board rooms of the Billionaire Boys Club. If you have any aspirations of climbing the management ladder of a Fortune 500 you learn the rules of communication: you don’t piss people off, even when they deserve it; you don’t bring your personal problems to work; you keep your personal opinions to yourself; you don’t gossip about somebody else’s rotten attitude in the break room; and you network network network, which means above all maintaining good relationships with the people you’re already working with.

Congress follows Robert’s Rules of Order, not because they’re a bunch of antiquated stuffed shirts, but because it provides a formula for how to vehemently disagree with somebody today in a manner that allows you to cooperate with him tomorrow.

I also worked as an actor/director in theatre for a lot of years; it’s a collaborative art form, and its pecking order varies–I’m directing you in this show; you may be directing me tomorrow. Asserting power needlessly when I have it is likely to bite me in the ass later when I don’t.

Every major institution, particularly if it involves the generation of money, is based on a management hierarchy that gets smaller in numbers at the top in inverse proportion to the amount of influence wielded by the few who occupy the big offices. And it’s pretty hard to predict today who that’s going to be tomorrow, so smart ladder climbers know that getting in a snit with a peer has little present upside and huge potential downside down the road.

Heck, even a functional family understands that it’s best to hold your tongue when you’re angry because otherwise the words that come out get sandblasted into the memories of the people you care about and can sit there for years, gunny-sacked away for ammunition in a future disagreement.

The irony is that your advice is only partially and very selectively true. Your stylist was a bitch who, in spite of her rotten attitude, now works for a company you’d like to do business with. Apparently your outburst didn’t help you, but hers apparently had no adverse affect on her career. The fashion world is full of annoying divas, both photographers and models, who can’t accommodate all of the requests they get for high-end work. Annie Leibowitz is a notorious walking disaster in her personal life, and her inability to manage her business affairs in a professional manner has her infamously in trouble with bankruptcy courts, but I just saw her starring as “famous photographer Annie Leibowitz” in a Hewlett-Packard commercial yesterday. Any one of us who follows fashion photography could name a dozen lesser-known photographers with equal or greater talent who would be far less drama (and $1000s less expense) to work with than someone with this much baggage who always runs her productions massively over budget, but I’m assuming her reputation–both the good and the bad–isn’t affecting her bookings any.

Take your pick of examples from the corporate world who have proven to be fabulously incompetent but who continue to shuffle from company to company, precisely because–not in spite of the fact that–it’s a small universe at the top, and people who hire important people like to work with known commodities. You may have failed in your last stop–as Carly Fiorina did spectacularly at HP–but the fact that HP was willing to hire you as CEO in the first place is all the resume you need to move to the next job. I hear she’s running for Congress now. Go figure.

The bottom line is that notoriety and historical achievement often trump talent, disposition, and manners when the good jobs–the ones people’s reputations depend on–are handed out. Following the common-sense networking rules of work-place decorum that you just handed out probably won’t ever HARM the average guy’s opportunities for advancement, but if your talent has gotten you a big enough name, bad behavior probably won’t hurt you either. John McCain’s reputation as a shoot-from-the-hip independent thinker didn’t exactly endear him to the rank-and-file Republican flock, but once he finally secured the nomination, EVERYBODY wanted to stand next to him for the photo op.

Yes, unkind words can come back to haunt you. Unless they don’t.

Just wish to announce that our 2nd Benjamin Kanarek Blog Fashion & Beauty Photography Contest is Coming Soon. But this will be very different.

I will treat it like an editorial, i.e. The Fashion shoot will be a minimum of 6 images and the Beauty shoot will be a minimum of 4 images. They will have to have a theme based on a real direction, just the way it is done in the Big Leagues.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

The Prize will be announced once I can figure out what it will be

We are pleased to announce the winner and 5 runners up in the Benjamin Kanarek Blog 1st Beauty Photography Contest.

There were several interesting submissions, but after many hours of deliberation, the winner of the Beauty Category goes to Grant Thomas.

His sense of style, colour, composition, casting and identification of what is important in an image, gave Grant the edge. It is a wonderful Hair Illustration that we believe could be worthy of an Advertising Campaign.

We will shortly contact the winners of the Fashion and Beauty segment, to have them write us a short bio and story about their image submission, as well as their feeling about the industry they are pursuing. They will also be interviewed by me and be given the opportunity to pick my brain. The interview will be recorded for posterity.

Here are the runners up images. They are not being presented in order of preference…

Alex MacPherson

Conrad Norton

Erlinda

Martin McElligott

Paulius Gasiunas

We are pleased to announce the winner and 5 runners up in the Benjamin Kanarek Blog 1st Fashion Contest.

There were many very good submissions, but after many hours of deliberation, the winner of the Fashion segment goes to… Regen Chen.

Regen was chosen for his unique presentation and his image stopping power.  We loved how he mirrored the original image yet added a different twist by pulling back to reveal the boots and hand bag in their complete context.  Placing the image upside down added to the impact. We were also very impressed with the styling, hair & make-up and choice of model for this shoot. Although technically well executed, we were more impressed with the impact of the overall image and felt that the technique employed married well with the overall result. A very nice balance indeed.

We will shortly contact the winners of the Fashion and Beauty segment, to have them write us a short biography and story about their image submission, as well as their feeling about the industry they are pursuing. They will also be interviewed by me and be given the opportunity to pick my brain.  The interview will be recorded for posterity.

Here are the runners up images. They are not being presented in order of preference…

Erlinda

Grant Thomas

Paulius Gasiunas

Sorin Constantin

Stephen Jonas

Keeping Cool… Or Walking on Eggs

Your probably asking what I mean by the above phrase. In fact it means many things pertaining to the “Biz”. It can mean keeping your nose out of trouble, keeping your distance when you really want to get involved in a model’s problem with her agency, boyfriend, client etc. It can mean, don’t say too much when with the team, as in many cases they are transient and when shit happens, it gets around faster than the speed of light. It can mean, using the utter most diplomacy when speaking with a repugnant agent at an agency, who really doesn’t know her “A” from a hole in the ground. Not losing your temper, even though the top of your head is about to explode. It doesn’t mean that you can’t be enthusiastic about what your doing, but always remembering that what ever you do, will permanently engraved in the memories of those with whom you work with.

I mention these things for many reasons, but the main one, is that I am always aware of how easily one can blow it, if you are not always in check of your demeanour. One must always remember that your one bad day might be the only day that people will judge you by and no matter what anyone else says about you, it will be that one day that you will leave with others to share with everyone who mentions your name.

Once a while back, I was working for a very prestigious fashion magazine in Paris. The stylist working with me was having what I would call, her bad day. Now, I was really excited about this shoot. The location, the styling, model, hair and make-up were excellent. So, I shared my excitement with the team. The more excited I would get, the more hostile the stylist became until, I finally couldn’t handle her attitude any longer and spurted out, “…Why do you do what you do if you hate it so much. You looked bored, disinterested and totally detached. Why don’t you just get a day job!” She looked at me utterly shocked by what I said, kind of rolled her eyes and continued her negativity until I finally said, “Look, I cannot have you on the set if you continue to project your disdain of the positive energy around you. I would feel much better if you just dressed the model and get off the set, once she is done.”

Well not only did she get off of the set, she said, “Fuck You, I’m Leaving!!!” Now that really put a major dent in to the day, as without her and her assistant, we could not continue the shoot and the Editor in Chief of the magazine would most definitely not be pleased. I got on the phone to the E&C and told her what transpired. After about an hour or so, another stylist, with the same clothing showed up to the shoot and we continued for the rest of the day and the following day as well. The bad news is this… About two years later, that stylist ended up working for a magazine I would have liked to work for. As she was close to the E&C of that magazine, just the mentioning of my name was enough to get an adamant NO F’ing Way!

That is just one of many stories I could share with you regarding the importance of keeping your head cool, even if you feel that your actions were justified. Another no no, is giving models advice, especially if that model asks you the classic question; “Is my Agency good?” Trust me, you do not want to go there. If the agency gets wind of the fact that you either bad mouthed them, or even worse, suggested another agency, you will probably be black listed until all of the employees of that agency are long gone and a new generation of booker’s have taken their place.

The Politic of Fashion Photography is akin to walking on egg shells with spiked golf shoes.

Continued in Part 7