Local leaders joined together for a ribbon cutting ceremony at Kamryn Baker Photography at 1022 N. Mill Street.
This new studio offers a variety of props and backgrounds to meet the needs of the community.
Kamryn Baker Photography opens new choices
Photography
Director of Photography Paul Daley On How ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Pulled Off That Locusts Scene
Awards Daily talks to Paul Daley, director of photography on The Righteous Gemstones, about all the bonkers scenes from the third season of the HBO dramedy.
Locusts. Musical numbers. Nude fight scenes. Season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones is filled with memorable moments, and in an e-chat, I asked director of photography Paul Daley about a few of everyone’s favorites.
Awards Daily: What was it like shooting that epic fight scene between Stephen and BJ?
Paul Daley: The episode that had the fight scene between Steven and BJ was directed by Jonathan Watson. In my opinion, the episode brought a great deal of tension to the season. It mixed the comedy and the drama to great effect. Myself, Jonathan, and Steve Thompson, the gaffer, went to the location on four separate occasions to completely nail down the camera, stunt, and lighting positions and to work out how to photograph the overtly sexual and nude situation comedically and not pornographically. The ultimate goal was to see BJ finally stop being the heel, and for the first time successfully assert himself. That scene was actually shot 2nd unit.
AD: Uncle Baby Billy’s big “Payday” song feels like an Esther Williams movie. Was that kind of your inspiration?
PD: Ah, yes, the “Payday” song. Every season of Gemstones has one blockbuster musical scene, and this was it for Season 3. As with all of our locations, we scouted extensively and frequently as this location had some unique challenges. The episode was directed by Danny McBride, and he had solid ideas and plans for the sequence. The production design was absolutely first-rate, showcasing the Zions Landing opulence, and we had all the tools necessary to achieve Danny’s vision. We incorporated a crane, dollies, steadicam, and underwater cameras a little hand-held in there as well. Obviously all the gear and prep gets you only so far; it takes a Walton Goggins as Baby Billy to produce yet another sublime performance. He got all of the background players excited and fired up, and the entire set was having a great time. It was the old Baby Billy magic that brought this scene to life. I think you’re right. It really does play like an Esther Williams movie. I take that as high praise.
AD: The locust scene on the Bible Bonkers set is so surprising and comes out of nowhere! Was that fun to anticipate that surprise?
PD: The locust scene is one of the more complicated endeavors undertaken on Gemstones. The entire game show set was built in a warehouse from scratch. I believe we had something in the range of 200 moving fixtures along with static units in the grid. There were a number of elements to achieve the effect of swarming insects. We had Ritter fans blowing packing peanuts across the stage during crowd scenes. We used actual locusts stuck to our actors for close-ups, and of course, we had CG locusts to round it all out. We used a great deal of interactive lighting to achieve the effect of insects flying across a stage through gameshow-type lights and used several settings on our board for the various degrees of mayhem. Gaffer Steve Thompson and programmer Matt Clark were instrumental in the process. I will say Levi falling off the balcony in a frantic panic has to be one of my favorite moments of the show.
AD: The Righteous Gemstones fluctuates between comedy and drama a lot in its tone. How do you capture that in its look?
I agree with you this season really straddles the line between comedy and drama. I spoke with Jody Hill, who directed most of the episodes, about shifting the look a little more toward the dramatic. I am greatly inspired by 1970s-era British and American films, and I specifically referenced a movie called The Ipcress File. I asked the camera operators to watch that movie, and we incorporated a number of the shots and angles that played throughout that picture in this season of Gemstones. I think Jody quite reasonably had some reservations at the beginning, but to his credit, let us get on with it, and I believe it ultimately worked quite successfully.
AD: The final scene of the season, with Mama Gemstone looking on, almost feels like a series finale. What does this scene mean for the larger picture?
PD: The final scene of Season 3 was actually shot in two pieces due to actor availability. Part one was Aimee Leigh Gemstone as a ghost-like figure observing her family from afar, which was done on a stage. Part two happened a few weeks later and had a particularly ambitious schedule because of shortened daylight hours at that time of year. It also incorporated simultaneously shooting the entire Gemstone clan and the monster truck stunt work with multiple frame rate passes. Having the entire family together at the same time was unusual and special, so I agree with you that the final scene does feel like a beautiful and natural ending. However, knowing the writers as I do, one should be cautious pulling the curtain down quite yet. Surprises are their specialty, so it’s just as likely to be the end of the beginning as it is the end of the Gemstone Empire.
The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 is streaming on Max.
Investigation Finds Israeli Tank Crew Responsible for Photographer’s Death
An investigation conducted by the Reuters news agency into the killing of one of its visual journalists in southern Lebanon has concluded that an Israeli tank crew is responsible.
Issam Abdallah, 37, was killed by a 120mm fin-stabilized tank shell round as he lent on a wall that Reuters asserts was fired from an Israeli tank. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28, was severely wounded; needing a leg amputation.
Abdallah and Assi were part of a group of media covering cross-border clashes between the Isreal Defense Force (IDF) and Hezbollah on October 13. All present were wearing press jackets and clearly identifiable.
Expert analysis of munitions fragments along with satellite images, survivor accounts, and video recordings led Reuters editor-in-chief, Alessandra Galloni, to declare that an “Israeli tank crew killed our colleague Issam Abdallah.”
“We condemn Issam’s killing,” Galloni says. “We call on Israel to explain how this could have happened and to hold to account those responsible for his death and the wounding of Christina Assi of the AFP, our colleagues Thaier Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, and the three other journalists.”
The press that day had chosen a spot on an open hillside where they were clearly visible. The group of journalists and photographers had been filming smoke and gunfire for an hour before the first shell hit which killed Abdallah.
A second shell was fired at the group less than a minute later which caused a car owned by Al Jazeera to explode. The two strikes in quick succession make it likely it was targeted.
The remnant of the 120mm tank shell found at the scene is used by the Israeli military’s Merkava tanks. Reuters report claims Hezbollah does not have tanks and the Lebanese army’s largest caliber tank round is 105mm.
“The strikes were deliberate and targeted,” AFP says. “They arrived within 37 seconds of each other and just a few metres apart. The journalists were clearly identified as press, away from any military activity. The Israeli army has extensive aerial surveillance resources in the area.”
Direct attacks on journalists who are classed as civilians are illegal under international law. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say the attack should be investigated as a possible war crime.
“Those responsible for Issam Abdallah’s unlawful killing and the injuring of six other journalists must be held accountable,” says Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa
The IDF and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire on a daily basis since Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on October 7. Two journalists have died in Lebanon since the war began.
Convenient but boring: iPhone photography doesn’t cut it for this filmmaker
Digital film photography and video are immediate, functional and convenient, but they could never be called poetry, according to leading British concept artist, Tacita Dean.
The pixels of the digital camera or video recorder are not of the physical world and those self-correcting filters and functions that help tidy up imperfections remove chance, mystery, and artistry from the format.
Tacita Dean in the fore of The Wreck of Hope (2022), depicting a receding glacier and the impacts of climate change.Credit: Janie Barrett
“I’m not condemning it, but it just doesn’t move me,” Dean says ahead of her solo show, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s summer blockbuster, which opens on Saturday.
“There is something so generic about an iPhone picture. The challenge has gone out of making an image and I think the younger generation feels that torpor, and they want the challenge of making something in a different way.”
MCA director Suzanne Cotter regards Dean as one of the most important living contemporary artists of modern times for her extraordinary work, “aesthetically seductive and scintillating in its intelligence”.
Her oeuvre encompasses photography, printmaking and monumental chalkboard drawings, but it is for her works made in 16 mm and 35 mm film that she is best known.
Such formats first allowed millions of people to make home movies in the 20th century.
“Video and digital is more like seeing, but film is more like looking because you have to think about it the whole time; whether you are going to run out of film, the focus and imprint of light.”
Tacita Dean
For the past decade, Dean has been campaigning to save the threatened medium from new digital players who she says have “aggressively” characterised the traditional formats as old-fashioned and end-of-life technology to boost profits.
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Dean first raised the public alarm about the threats to analogue film in 2011 when her London film lab closed overnight, once comparing the loss of film stock to a painter suddenly losing access to their oils.
In 2015, she linked up with film-maker Christopher Nolan to convince Kodak to keep production of film going.
The success of Nolan’s 70-millimetre release of Oppenheimer vindicated their stand, the boutique format proving a success with audiences worldwide.
“The 70 millimetre projections were completely sold out, but the digital projections did badly,” she said.
“Four or five years ago we were saying we wanted people to cross town to see a film projected as film and that happened with Oppenheimer. So it’s coming back. [Quentin] Tarantino gets it too, it’s building momentum. I’m trying to let others do the fighting now because it took two years out of my life.”
The passage of time, erasure and entropy are themes of Dean’s Sydney show, which comprises 25 major works or series by the artist who spreads her time between Berlin and Los Angeles. Nine new works were made especially for the MCA.
Geography Biography (2023), comes directly from the Bourse de Commerce in Paris.Credit: Janie Barrett
Dean’s most recent work, Geography Biography (2023), comes directly from the Bourse de Commerce in Paris. It’s created on her preferred medium of 35 millimetre film and comprises outtakes from her life over three decades collected from spools of footage she had haphazardly boxed in her basement.
The four-metre-high images are projected via two synchronised cinema projectors, their flapping mechanical gears forming the soundtrack to an 18-minute silent film loop that adopts masking techniques first pioneered by Dean in the 2011 edition of Unilever series set in the Turbine Hall of London’s Tate Modern.
Dean values the distinctive quality of paper prints, early photographic techniques and the chance effects that come when light imprints on layers of film emulsion. A prodigious collector of vintage postcards, these appear in her film works as frozen frames for moving images.
Analogue film and photochemical photography, she says, are beautiful and rich mediums worthy of preservation.
“It’s so physical. You can hold a second of time in front of you,” she says. “Video and digital is more like seeing, but film is more like looking because you have to think about it the whole time; whether you are going to run out of film, the focus and imprint of light. Therefore, it’s a decisive medium.”
Film offcuts and wastage are goldmines for Dean’s work. At Tate Modern, she used flash images – spot colour frames that appear at the end of film reels – for her homage to 35 millimetre film.
The MCA is to premiere a new film of the American pop artist Claes Oldenburg after Dean revisited footage she had left on the cutting room floor from a prior film portrait.
Apart from items of juvenilia, the MCA show has concentrated on works created by Dean over the past decade.
They include The Dante Project (2021) commissioned by The Royal Ballet in London, and the monumental chalk drawings, Chalk Fall (2018) from the collection of Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.
Recalling the crumbling White Cliffs of Dover, created during the turbulence of Brexit, Chalk Fall is presented together for the first time with The Wreck of Hope (2022), depicting a receding glacier and the impacts of climate change.
The new show comes just a week after the MCA revealed it was considering introducing paid entry and reducing its opening hours due to a shortfall in government funding to cover its rising costs.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
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LEGO Retro Camera is a Fun and Affordable Toy for Photographers
LEGO has announced what could have been the perfect stocking-stuffer, a new Retro Camera Creator Set that will cost only $20. Unfortunately, it will arrive in stores just after Christmas.
As seen on Kosmo Foto, the LEGO Retro Camera set allows builders to craft a 35mm film SLR camera, complete with a moving lens, film loading, and film-inspired strap.
The set includes the necessary parts to build the camera, two film rolls, film canisters, a working film rewind handle, and a hot shoe.
Alongside the 35mm camera build, which includes little LEGO film rolls that have transparencies of photos, like wildlife snaps of a giraffe and some butterflies, LEGO fans can also create a retro video camera with an opening flap or a retro TV with an antenna using the parts included in the 3-in-1 set.
The set is recommended for builders aged eight and up and includes 261 pieces. The LEGO Retro Camera will be available for $20 beginning January 1, 2024.
It has been a good year for the cohort of vintage image-making enthusiasts who also love LEGO. In early July, LEGO announced a Walt Disney Tribute Camera, a beautiful vintage cinema camera, as part of LEGO’s Disney Centennial celebration.
In June, PetaPixel featured a LEGO Ideas project that pays tribute to Ansel Adams. The proposed LEGO set reached the necessary 10,000-supporter threshold to enter official review by LEGO, meaning that the set may one day become a reality.
The impressive LEGO build includes an Ansel Adams-like figure on top of the famous photographer’s iconic station wagon, capturing a landscape scene with a large-format camera. Hopefully, for photography fans everywhere, LEGO will approve the set, and it will land on store shelves.
It would not be the first time a photo-related LEGO Ideas project became a reality. Minibrick Productions’ Polaroid Onestep SX-70 project was supported, reviewed, and eventually approved by LEGO.
Per Bricks Up, the LEGO Ideas Polaroid Camera (#21345) is rumored to be released next month, joining the new LEGO Creator Retro Camera 3-in-1 set. It is expected to cost $80 and promises to be similar to the original design submission, albeit with about 20 fewer pieces. It should still include a functional film tray and, according to Bricks Up, may even feature some electronic components.
Image credits: LEGO
Composer Christopher Young’s dark journey into photography
LOS ANGELES — Christopher Young is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after composers, scoring classics such as “Hellraiser,” “The Wonder Boys” and “Spider-Man 3.” Young began to experiment with photography using his iPhone, collecting thousands of black-and-white images from his travels.
Consisting of 25 in total, Young is releasing three digital photography books every three weeks on his website, ending Feb. 26.
Photographer Texas Isaiah on Archives, Aliases, and André 3000
Isaiah Texas, self portait, 2023
The L.A. based photographer Texas Isaiah is concerned with capturing the contemplative moments that make up daily life, particularly for those who navigate complex and evolving identities. “I think that Black people, people of color, Brown folks, we need a variety of images of ourselves to reflect on,” he told us earlier this month, before the opening of his solo exhibition It’s the Starkness of the Day, presented by Residency Art Gallery and on view at Art Basel Miami this weekend. The show features a series of intimate portraits that grapple with the quiet moments one takes as they navigate grief. Having recently lost his grandmother and aunt within two weeks of each other, Isaiah (his legal middle name) provides a window into a world where solitude, transition and reflection are prioritized. “I don’t want the editorial, the commercial, or the fashioned images to take over the archive or to be pedestaled as more important, which they often are, because I think that we enjoy fantasy and other worlds,” he explained, remarking on the sudden influx of attention many Black artists received after the 2020 protests against the murder of George Floyd. “What about the images of us in our homes being contemplative, moving through different transitions?” As the multi-hyphenate artist prepared for his Basel show, he spoke to us about growing up in Brooklyn, shooting in black and white, and his dream of one day photographing André 3000.
———
CHLOE SHAAR: Where are you right now?
TEXAS ISAIAH: I’m in Detroit at the moment.
SHAAR: Are you there for the holiday or are you just hanging?
ISAIAH: I’m just spending time with a really good friend who’s coming in from Berlin, and also my partner.
SHAAR: I love that. You’re from Brooklyn originally?
ISAIAH: Yeah. East New York, Brooklyn.
SHAAR: Do you visit often?
ISAIAH: Yeah, I go back home intentionally to visit my parents and to be in proximity to my community, and to emotionally support the development of other artists who are either from the city or who have moved there. It’s very important for me to visit as often as I can outside of work.
SHAAR: Do you enjoy L.A. as a home base though?
ISAIAH: Yeah. I think that it’s more of an internal experience there. I have a core group of friends and my home. That’s just pretty much where L.A. meets my needs.
SHAAR: Right. Which is all that you really need, I feel. Your inner circle or just the people that are keeping you together.
ISAIAH: People always ask me–which I know that you’re not asking me–this question of L.A. or New York? It’s like, you can’t compare the locations.
SHAAR: I’m also a bi-coastal person, so I get it.
ISAIAH: I think that it also conflates so much of the histories of each place, too. Which part of California are you from?
SHAAR: I am from L.A.. Tell me a little bit about growing up in New York. Have you always been interested in art and curating? Or was it something that happened as you got older?
ISAIAH: I recall some interest in the arts. But the area where I’m from didn’t have a lot of resources to maintain those programs, or didn’t have those programs at all. Art wasn’t really a staple in my household but it became more of an interest as I witnessed other people within their art practices and became curious about what that could look like for me.
SHAAR: When did you start using two first names? Or have you always used two first names?
ISAIAH: I went through a lot of different aliases. Isaiah is legally my middle name, but I prefer it just to be used as a whole. I would say the reshaping of my name had a lot to do with protection and people not feeling too familiar with me so fast. I just love the flow of Texas Isaiah.
SHAAR: I find it so intriguing because I feel like a name is supposed to be one of the most personal forms of identity.
Prologue/My-Grandson’s Prayer, 2023
ISAIAH: It’s a personal testament.
SHAAR: They don’t need to know anything about you unless you want them to.
ISAIAH: Exactly.
SHAAR: What initially piqued your interest in photography? Would you say it was experiences in life that you wanted to capture?
ISAIAH: I had witnessed somebody using photography as their format of expression and I became very curious about it. It was also during a time that I feel like a lot of us experience, where people are attempting to tell you where you need to go in your life. I don’t think that I had the capacity to build a formal relationship with photography around that time, but I still practiced it. Then I started to develop a more intimate relationship when I got into music. I used to take photos of bands, specifically hardcore and punk bands. The practice started in nightlife. A lot of live shows, nightlife events in New York City. I wasn’t technically allowed to be in those spaces because I was underage.
SHAAR: That’s the life of a New York kid.
ISAIAH: Yeah, definitely. 2013 was the year that I communicated to others that it was the beginning of a career, and the development of a more serious, intimate relationship with photography. It’s been a very unconventional journey into photography and not anything that was steered by academia, which I’m really grateful for, because I think that I learned a lot from my peers and my friends who are immersed in the art world.
SHAAR: I think that that’s one of the things that puts certain people apart from others, ones that are self-taught and base their craft off of their actual experiences and identities. Capturing a potion and the rawness of life, that’s not something that you learn in a textbook. And as your identity grows, that changes your craft as well.
ISAIAH: I mean, sometimes. If you allow it to.
Pray You Hear My Touch 2, 2023
SHAAR: Has your identity as a Black trans person changed your perspective on your art at all? Does your identity bleed into your art or do you try to separate the two?
ISAIAH: No, I don’t think that there’s any separation. I think that it always informs the work. Even the ways in which I attempt to have fun in my work is informed by so many of my experiences. This doesn’t only have to do with gender. I think that when you are you, when you’re embodied, when you have accepted your embodiment, you don’t necessarily have any other choice but to see the world as is. A lot of people fight against that because there is a lot in the world that is devastating and disappointing. But that’s not all that exists. I think that there is a lot of hope, faith, and joy that I practice as well. I’m interested in the development of an archive, as well as collaborating with other people who are interested in developing archives of intentionally marginalized folks, who were either taken advantage of within the photographic format or have never really been present.
SHAAR: I love your use of the word archive because when I was looking through your work, it really felt like an archive of Black and Brown voices, people that aren’t always seen in media. Since 2020, there’s been this push for a certain kind of perspective in the fashion and art worlds. But your photographs depict the actual experience.
ISAIAH: As somebody who created and attempted to live off of personal work for a while before 2020, when that year approached, all of these editorial and commercial jobs started flooding in. I’m really grateful for that.
SHAAR: I’m sure the inbox was filled.
ISAIAH: Yeah, for a lot of artists, Black artists in particular. I was never an artist who called or emailed editors. But I know a lot of other visual narrators who did. It was a little bit confusing and daunting to be emailing somebody for a year and then have them respond to you because of the things that were going on in the world, things that have been going on for a very long time. It felt extractive for a lot of photographers. I’m grateful that I was able to continue to lean into my personal practice. I don’t want the editorial, the commercial, or the fashioned images to take over the archive or to be pedestaled as more important, which they often are, because I think that we enjoy fantasy and other worlds. For me, I’m always thinking, what about this world? What about the images of us in our homes being contemplative, moving through different transitions? And they don’t always have to be immersed in grief, but they’re immersed in all of these different emotions. I think people jump to conclusions and they’re like, “Oh, you don’t like fashion?” And I’m like, “No, I love fashion, I love style.” There’s nothing wrong with that. But I think that Black people, people of color, Brown folks, we need a variety of images of ourselves to reflect on.
SHAAR: Well, there weren’t any being taken for so long.
ISAIAH: I love Renata [Cherlise] who does Black Archives. What I really love about her Instagram and her archive practice is that it reminds me that we do have a lot of images, but they’re lost. There are an abundance of images, but they’re not prioritized, or they’re lost and then they have to be found.
SHAAR: Certainly. Your profile picture right now is inspiring me a little bit.
ISAIAH: I apologize for not being on video. My partner and I got a new puppy. Her name is Aurora, she’s a Fitzu-Maltese mix. She’s sleeping on my foot right now, I think she likes hearing us talk. But if I’m on video, she’ll just be like, “Hey, can you give me some attention?”
SHAAR: Don’t even worry about it. Your profile picture inspired me because I feel like not everyone is interested in shooting in black and white. I noticed that for so many of your images, you have just as many black and white as you do in color. Is there a particular reason that you’re drawn to black and white?
ISAIAH: I took a lot of black and white images before I made my way to California.
SHAAR: What year was that?
ISAIAH: That was 2016. That was the year that Pulse [Orlando nightclub shooting] happened. And that was the year that Ghost Fire happened in Oakland. My friend Andre D. Wagner gave me a Yashica camera. I would develop my own film, scan my own film. I was very tethered to the process. I was also visiting Studio Museum a lot because I was so intrigued by that space, which was introduced to me by Kimberly Drew when she worked there. I would photograph the artists in residence, Eric Mack, Sadie Barnett, Lauren Halsey, Jordan Castile, EJ Hill within the next year. When I moved to L.A., I didn’t have access to that practice. I mean, this is public knowledge, but I was houseless for about eight months. So, I was between Oakland and L.A. trying to find my foot in. I was also very intrigued by just how colorful L.A. was. Walking around the neighborhoods, I’m like, “Wow, there’s so much plant life here.” I love plants.
SHAAR: That’s what I miss.
ISAIAH: When I was in Brooklyn, I wasn’t a good plant dad. I didn’t know how to interact with that section of nature yet. I was just so intrigued by the color. So, that’s when the transition happened. I still love black and white, and I’m thinking about going back to the foundation next year as I’m prepping for projects.
SHAAR: Is there a dream subject that you would love to shoot?
ISAIAH: People have been asking me this a lot lately. I would say Regina King, André 3000, and Wu-Tang.
SHAAR: Wait, did you listen to any of the new flute album? [New Blue Sun]
ISAIAH: I haven’t intentionally sat down and listened, but it’s been in the background of the house lately.
SHAAR: I listened a little bit when I was cooking the other night, and it was so good, obviously. It’s definitely a wind down type of album.
ISAIAH: Yeah. I’ve always wanted to photograph André 3000 and then not have the pictures be public. Just the experience of it. I love his relationship to privacy.
Private Delight, 2023
SHAAR: I love that. Do you think photography is the only medium that you see yourself diving into?
ISAIAH: No. I did a photographic and video series for Google Creators Lab, which is an incubator program that supports artists to make whatever they want to make, but it has to be made on the Pixel. I did a project with my partner, who is a Detroit-based artist. Our name is KESSWA, and we just collaborated and made this beautiful project called, I May Not See Myself As Others See Ne Not. It pays homage to Samuel Foso, who’s a photographer and uses autofiction, which is autobiography and fiction to recount one’s life. That involved video and that was a lot of fun. I also incorporate altars in some of the still work that I’ve done, and people call those sculptures. I wouldn’t use that term for those altars, they’re just simply altars. But I’m also thinking about how to create more things with my hands. I think that I’m moving in the direction where I want to build things and have that be in conversation with moving images and stills.
SHAAR: I love that. What’s an average day like for you? Are you a morning person?
ISAIAH: Yeah, I am. It depends on how jet-lagged I am and which city I’m in. Detroit is pretty cold right now, so that’s also the privilege of living in L.A. So I’ve been finding myself being a little bit more sleepy. I love to wake up with the sun if I’m able to, and I love quiet moments. [Isaiah’s dog wakes up] What’s up? She’s making noises.
A Recollection – My Grandson’s Stretch, 2023
Astro Guy: A Belle Mead Resident Photographs the Moon & Cosmos from His Drivewayhttps://www.themontynews.org/single-post/farmermarkets
Astro Guy: A Belle Mead Resident Photographs the Moon & Cosmos from His Drivewayhttps://www.themontynews.org/single-post/farmermarkets
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Midcentury Modern photography giclée Eero Saarinen Womb Chair art print
The Midcentury Objectified series is a body of work that is photographed with a
scientific approach to the cataloguing of historical Midcentury objects.
Experience Midcentury Modern luxury with this vibrant giclée showcasing the iconic Eero Saarinen Womb Chair. This print meticulously captures the timeless design and comfort of midcentury design. Perfect for enthusiasts of classic furniture and the Midcentury Modern vibe.
DETAILS:
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Printed with pigment inks on 100% cotton archival, fine art paper.
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Frames are roughly 1” wide on each side.
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Unframed artwork ships flat or in a sturdy mailing tube within 5-7 business days. Framed work ships in a box within 10-15 business days.
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Shipping cost is based on each item. For multiple items in one order, please contact for custom shipping price.
Here’s Why AI Headshots Are Great for Photographers
Since the introduction of AI-generated headshots, many have been lamenting the inevitable end of our industry, forecasting doom and gloom across every online forum almost on a daily basis. But one photographer isn’t afraid, and in fact, he believes that AI technology is actually good for headshot photographers and ultimately will strengthen our industry.
Recently, I sat down with Scottsdale, AZ, based headshot photographer Tony Taafe to discuss his view of AI and its impact on the photography industry. To my surprise, Taafe has taken a decidedly different view of how the technology will change the headshot landscape, as he believes there are still many challenges before AI headshots can be a truly viable alternative to the genuine article, if they ever can be at all. Looking at the long-term impact, he believes that AI headshots will ultimately bolster our industry, becoming a net positive for headshot photographers after the initial excitement over the technology has waned. Here’s why.
A Security Risk
According to Taafe, “It’s a security risk. Companies, or individuals, don’t own any of the information once it’s uploaded to AI generators.”
He adds that with both of his businesses, Tony Taafe Studio and Headshot Booker, his largest clients have never once agreed to a contract that doesn’t include some control over the images taken of their employees. “Corporations who have even the slightest idea of brand protection will never agree to you photographing their employees and saying ‘We’re good with whatever you want to do with these images.’”
We’re the key to authentic marketing in a world where everything will look and feel the same.
Companies we work with often request that they have exclusive usage rights to their images. I’ve heard photographers comment that companies do this because they want to take advantage of the photographer. They don’t. They have to protect their information and brand from outside usage.
No One Relates To Perfect
In addition to being a security risk, AI-generated headshots give a false sense of perfection. “’Show me perfect, and I will show you a liar’ is a well-known marketing phrase, and if it isn’t, it should be,” Taafe says.
Large companies spend millions of dollars on marketing in order to present their brand and unique as authentic. Tony says that “the most impactful way to do this is through their people – most products can be replicated, people can’t. AI headshots completely obliterate this. It’s a more sophisticated version of the iPhone emoji; people know it’s fake.”
It’s a “marketing disaster” in his view, because no one relates to perfection, which AI-generated headshots attempt to create. Companies understand that clients relate to the humanness of their team members, and that even if it’s on a subconscious level, genuine photos of their employees are one of their greatest branding assets. Showcasing employees as perfect automatons does not build trust with potential clients, because it creates a first impression with them that the company is fake, or worse, obscuring the truth about their people, hence, dishonest.
Taafe believes that AI headshots are fine for those looking to garner likes and comments on social media, but not for the serious professional. This is because they not only fix every imperfection, but also change the shape of the face, create unrealistic lighting, and even place the subject in a fabricated environment. People who want this kind of photo are our “nightmare clients,” he adds.
It’s a Copyright Minefield
Perhaps the strongest argument Taafe makes against AI headshots is that they present “a copyright minefield.” Regarding working with both large and small companies, He says: “Companies we work with often request that they have exclusive usage rights to their images. I’ve heard photographers comment that companies do this because they want to take advantage of the photographer. They don’t. They have to protect their information and brand from outside usage.”
Taafe cited a ruling by the US Copyright Office which calls AI generated art a “completely mechanical” process with “no place for novelty, invention, or originality,” and therefore not worthy of copyright protection. He continues, “This is great news for companies who want to use the images without having to secure exclusivity, but a complete no-go for companies who need to make sure their images aren’t used by anybody who wants to use them in any way they like.”
Those of us who have worked in the headshot industry know that it’s also common for companies to require photographers to sign NDAs when contracted to capture their team. These agreements often ban the photographer from not only sharing the photos online, but from even sharing social posts that include BTS images of their office space, firm name, or any other information about the company and their location. These companies don’t just value their privacy; they understand the legal implications of having their spaces and people broadcast across the internet without their consent or branding control. If they choose to use AI headshots for their team of hundreds or thousands of employees, they cede legal recourse and invite others to use images of their team members in whatever way they like, without the ability to protect themselves.
A Bright Road Ahead
Taafe told me that he is not against AI headshots. He believes they are fun and here to stay, and that they have “earned their own place on our journey.”
He continues, “AI headshots are a very decent social media product; what we provide is an exceptional marketing product.”
Finally, after reading and speaking with many photographers over the last year who forecast complete doom for our industry, it was refreshing to get a different perspective from Taafe. As our conversation wound down, he concluded with some encouraging words: “I genuinely believe that headshot photography, even with a potential short term rollercoaster of companies who dip their toes in the AI water, will come out of this stronger and even more valuable than it is today.”
“We’re the key to authentic marketing in a world where everything will look and feel the same.”
