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One-on-One with NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

I know I’ve said it before, but what I love about my job is the variety of assignments I get mostly on a moment’s notice. Since I’ve been back in NYC from a week in Ohio shooting for a college, I’ve had a range of assignments each day since I’ve been back: a jazz club, an author’s portrait, a scent museum exhibit, Barbara Cook’s 85th birthday at Carnegie Hall, a dress rehearsal of a Broadway play, and most recently a rare portrait opportunity with NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

It all started with a call around 10:15 AM asking if I could meet the Mayor on the Upper East Side across the park from where I live for a shoot that was still being arranged. It would be at either 11AM or noon. No problem. Quickly, I was told the shoot was at noon, so I thought I had some time to finish editing the previous evening’s shoot. At about 10:35 I get a call saying “change of plans, the mayor wants to meet you at City hall at 11AM. Now, I live on the upper West Side of Manhattan which is quite a trek from City Hall in the first place. To top it all off, I still hadn’t eaten breakfast or really gotten dressed for the day.

subway

En route to the Upper East Side from City Hall with my subway friend.

So I had to quickly upload the photos I was editing while getting dressed and my gear ready to rush out the door in hopes of getting to City Hall by 11. I already knew the time was not going to work and told my editor as much, but I was their only hope of scrambling someone as the mayor’s schedule shifted. I grabbed a cab which took me to an express Subway station on 72nd Street and I took the 2 Train directly to City Hall. I was above ground right at 11, but after going through the security checkpoint outside City Hall, it was 11:15 by the time I was inside. At that moment I got a call from my editor just as a mayor’s aide said, “Sorry, he’s left!”

Ugh, so I spoke with my editor and she asked me to go back to the Upper East Side location, the offices of the Bloomberg’s charitable foundation, where the reporter and I would have about 45 minutes of the mayor’s time.  After waiting a bit, we were led to a room where we (well, the reporter) sat down and spoke with Bloomberg about his reason for not endorsing either presidential candidate. It really was an interesting conversation which led to a decent amount of photos of the mayor sitting in a chair gesturing.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

Towards the end of the interview, I stepped out of the room and asked one of the mayor’s aides if he’d stand in while I found a couple of locations for portraits if I could convince Bloomberg to give me a minute or two of his time. As the interview concluded I asked the mayor if he’d allow me to take a few quick natural light portraits in a large gallery room with floor to ceiling windows. I used the window light to make about 3 separate portraits with different and distinct looks: a full, medium, and tight shot.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

I knew that my editors would have a really nice variety of options both from the interview and portrait session with the mayor. As it turned out, only a photo of the mayor sitting alone giving the interview was used, so I thought this blog would be a good way to share the rest of the take!

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22 Oct 2012