Posts tagged ‘studio’
From The Archives: Legendary Artist Chuck Close
Years back, I was given the opportunity to visit and photograph legendary artist Chuck Close at his New York City Studio.
The shoot was for the Los Angeles Times Calendar Section cover story on Chuck. I was familiar with some of his work at the time, but didn’t know much about him personally. In 1988 he suffered a collapsed spinal artery which left him paralyzed on one side of his body. Through rehabilitation, he’s able to continue his painting, which makes his artistry that much more amazing.
I was given an address of a non-descript apartment building on a corner in SoHo and was amazed when the door opened onto a two-floor studio. Chuck’s easel, if you want to call it that, is located In the back of the studio against connected to a lift that can move the artwork up and down on the wall between the 1st floor and the basement so he can work on his paintings at eye level from his wheelchair.
I wasn’t able to take an overall shot of the setup because the piece he was working on at the time, a portrait of President Bill Clinton’s face, was embargoed. I was able to take pictures of chuck around the studio and details of the painting. Though you can see the painting and setup in the background of one of the photos.
Since the shoot I’ve become more familiar with his work and have been taking note of his work whenever I see it whether at a museum, the web, or an office building. I’ve also run into Chuck a few times over the past 7 years at various events at the MoMA and the United Nations.
Anyhow, it was a really fun experience to meet Chuck. The man is a legend!
A chuck Close painting in the JP Morgan Chase Headquarters in New York City.
Covering the Double Dip
Yesterday I was sent out to Times Square by The New York Times to photograph what was quickly becoming America’s double dip recession. I was assigned to take photos at the Nasdaq building in Times Square where I was told screens showed walls of red monitors displaying plummeting stock prices. My mind quickly went back to 2008 when I found myself covering the initial market crash.
I was familiar with the Nasdaq building as I’ve shot there numerous times in the past and immediately had an idea to make an artsy reflection photo showing the stock prices within the building against a reflection of the craziness of Times Square in the background. When I arrived to the scene I was bummed to find the window blinds were drawn, which put a wrench in making any sort of stock market related photo.
I called back to my editor on the photo desk and we scrambled to call the media relations team who let me inside the building to make some pictures from within. Thirty minutes later I was back in business inside the studio lined with a video-board backdrop which is essentially a TV studio used for various news services to report on the economy. While I was there a correspondent for New Delhi TV was reporting the stark financial news to India.
To my good fortune while I was shooting inside, the blinds were raised revealing the busy streets of Times Square. Excited, I exited the studio to make the pictures I was originally envisioning. Due to the time of day, the bright sun made it difficult to shoot from the Broadway-facing set of windows, so I was forced to shoot along the 43rd Street side, which was less busy, but still made some fun images.
I rushed back to my office to transmit the images to the paper. My editor called to compliment the photos and to alert me that the stocks were still tanking, so the story was big. I decided to go back out to see if the ticker in Times Square was showing news of the crisis, which it was. I made a few more photos and stopped back into the NY Times office a few blocks away to deliver them directly as deadlines were approaching.
It was a vague assignment that tasked me with making artistic and abstract photos that told the story… just the kind of assignment I enjoy!
From The Archives: Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera – Images by Robert Caplin
This dive into the archives goes back 3 years when I was commissioned by the NY Times on a last-minute assignment to photograph Christina Aguilera during a listening session for her new CD due to release back in the summer of 2006. The CD she was releasing was titled “Back To Basics”.
My editor at The Times called me last minute to see if I could run to the Sony Studios where Ms. Aguilera was playing her new tracks for friends and executives inside the studio. I quickly called up my buddy Noah Gilbert to give me a hand lugging my gear and assisting during the shoot. We arrived at the studio as the listening session was underway. As it turned out, my editor at the NY Times had worked with Aguilera’s publicist, who didn’t get in touch with her manager, so they had no clue I was coming! I had to use my silver tongue to get just a few moments to take the portrait.
We couldn’t set up the portrait during the listening session because the large studio was packed with 40-50 friends and executives. Leather couches were strewn around the studio and dozens of candles burned while Christina played each track and talked about the songs. After about an hour of lounging in the back of the room by the catering table (yum), Noah and I had about five minutes to set up and two minutes to shoot, all while guests lingered. Needless to say it was a rush job. My first thought was to take advantage of the soundboard since we were in the fancy studio. Unfortunately, after getting my lights set up, the sound technician had turned off the entire sound system. Due to the limited time and other pressing issues, he couldn’t boot the system back up, so we had to go with the flow: a soundboard switched off! Strict ethical policies at the NY Times prohibits any digital alteration, so I’ve never Photoshoped the soundboard into the “ON” position.
This was one of the more difficult shoots I’ve done due to the chaos in the room and Christina’s surprise of having to sit for a NY Times portrait after a long presentation. Though we were rushed, I was able to pull off a couple nice shots of the Grammy Award winner. In just the few moments I had with Aguilera, it was obvious she knew how to work a camera. I think I could have a lot of fun shooting an extended session with Christina should the day ever come.
Christina, have your people call my people….
NY Times Article and layout:
