graeme mitchell

For Adidas’ David Beckham FW10 line:

photo: for David Beckham’s Adidas FW10 from www.adidas.com, ©Graeme Mitchell / Adidas

photo: for David Beckham’s Adidas FW10 from www.adidas.com, ©Graeme Mitchell / Adidas

photo: for David Beckham’s Adidas FW10 from www.adidas.com, ©Graeme Mitchell / Adidas

photo: for David Beckham’s Adidas FW10 from www.adidas.com, ©Graeme Mitchell / Adidas
Stylist: Kemal and Karla w/ The Wall Group
Groomer: Cheri Keating w/ The Wall Group
Photo Assistants: Blake Williams, Charles Lee, Erika Shisler
Grip+Lighting Rental: Samys Camera Hollywood
Shot on location in LA

Just finished Study by Tara St. James‘ FW10 book.  Another beautiful season.   And we decided to put those flower still lives I did recently to use by making diptychs.  These will be printed large on newsprint…love love working on stuff like this.

photo: Study FW10 by Tara St. James. ©Graeme Mitchell

photo: Study FW10 by Tara St. James. ©Graeme Mitchell

photo: Study FW10 by Tara St. James. ©Graeme Mitchell

photo: Study FW10 by Tara St. James. ©Graeme Mitchell

photo: Study FW10 by Tara St. James. ©Graeme Mitchell

Hair and make-up: Jessa Blades
Model: Nykhor w/ Red

These are from a job shooting portraits of a legal company for their marketing needs.

photo: ©Graeme Mitchell.

photo: ©Graeme Mitchell.

photo: ©Graeme Mitchell.

photo: ©Graeme Mitchell.

photo: ©Graeme Mitchell.

The look book for Study by Tara St James’ SS10 line.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

Study Clothing, SS10. ©Graeme Mitchell.

An Adidas job from this summer.  Not retouched.

photo: Adidas Style Essentials FW09, ©Graeme Mitchell

photo: Adidas Style Essentials FW09, ©Graeme Mitchell

Someone sent me these 3 videos on Mario Testino (thanks, Brandon!), and they literally came across my phone as I was looking at the current Testino spread in V magazine featuring Natalia.  It was all fitting, since I was thinking of how Testino’s work is quit simple in many ways but that it nearly always works, and how he definitely deserves a nod for what he’s done over the years.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

From V:

photo: Natalia in V #58, S09.  ©Mario Testino.

And an old favorite add that Testino shot for Gucci back in the good ol’days of Tom Ford.  I believe this was from ’98, but don’t hold me to that.

photo: from Gucci campaign (1998?). ©Mario Testino.

Sneak peak at Covet Spring 09.

photo: Covet S09, ©Graeme Mitchell 2008.

photo: Covet S09, ©Graeme Mitchell 2008.

photo: Covet S09, ©Graeme Mitchell 2008.

photo: Covet S09, ©Graeme Mitchell 2008.

Shot at East Coast Studio
Models: Ilona w/ Major and Dylan w/ Next
Stylist: Sara Dunn
Hair: Sarah Potempa (w/ Wall Group)
M.U.: Meredith Baraf (w/ Wall Group)
Photo Assistant: Nyra Lang

And while on the topic, I was recently emailed this picture of, Tara St. James, the creative director of Covet and I at an opening.  Tara said, “we look scared!”  I said, “no, just very sober.”

photo: Tara St. James and I at the Aperture Gallery, Chelsea, NYC, Nov 2008.

I was talking with a friend at W+K, and she was genuinely proud of the new courage spot they’d put out recently for Nike.  Click here to see it bigger.

Nike/W+K is one of the reigning kings of transcending product and making their product seem nearly intangible…or as tangible as being a hero in a Rocky Balboa manner of being, I guess.

( ).

This of course entails heaps of bathos, but so what.

video: Nike “Courage” tv spot, done by W+K Portland.

Kodak asked if I would let them use an image for their booth at the upcoming Photo Plus Expo.  I did mull it over for a bit but in the end obliged with this shot. I wanted to give them something that I personally don’t think could have been done on anything other than black and white film.

photo: from Bolivia series. © Graeme Mitchell 2008.

And, yes, this was indeed shot on Kodak film, Tri-x.  And for those photo dorks out there, notice the increased edge of density where the image meets the negative border (i.e. edge effects).  Call it a fault, or call it an interesting byproduct of using a paraminophenol/non-solvent developer invented in, like, circa 1890.

A scan of an ad I did for Covet, found it towards the front of the Sept 08 issue of Zink:

Unfortunately, one of my favorite parts of this photo was a big-noir-Hitchcockian bird pasted ominously in the sky like an act of God collage, but, alas, it was cropped of the top to make page dimensions.  Oh, the crop, how it can break my heart.

It surprises me I haven’t posted this before…

photo: Jean Shrimpton, evening dress by Cardin, Paris studio, January 1970. © Richard Avedon.

This is an update to this recent post. It’s possible you’ve already seen these as I also put them up on my portfolio page. Right now I’m waiting for the final edit from the creative director, but during this wait I’ll begin working casually on a few of the images that interested me immediately. I’ll play with different options for final prints, let them sit, digest, rework them, repeat. So by the time I do get the final edit I have a clear direction as to how I plan on interpreting the negative and can get it out to them quickly.

photo: Covet Spring ’08, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007.

photo: Covet Spring ’08, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007.

Some snaps Covet’s creative director, Tara took whilst we shot her spring ’08 line. It was hard not to feel a sadness there at Coney Island; neglect was apparent, and you could see that it’s long life was coming to an end. There was also a mood of bitterness, nostalgia and heartbreak amongst the proprietors, people who’ve lived and worked there their entire lives, and who were now watching the boardwalk fall into disrepair.

On another note: Tara did a great job on this season, some great pieces to photograph!

Location: Coney Island, NY.
Hair: Sarah Potempa w/ Wall Group.
Make-Up: Kehla.
Assistant: Aaron Modico.
And a big big thanks to J.T. at Cha Cha’s on the boardwalk for staging the shoot.

Update to this post here.  So you can see how Polaroids can translate to final prints.

photo: Covet Fall ’07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

photo: Covet Fall ’07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

photo: Covet Fall ’07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

You have to love 690 Polaroid! The stuff is so old-school and far from accurate (by todays standards) it toes the line of nonsense as a proof, and it’s poetic for that very reason. But why spend $18 for a pack of the poetic? Well, I use it b/c it’s iso 100 (a default), b/c I’m used to it, and b/c it looks like shit compared to the film, which can be a good thing; if you’ve ever shot Fuji’roid you know it can be sexier than many a proof sheets – no doubt making for the occasional anticlimax.

Anyway, these are from the freshly wrapped Covet Fall 07 line. In my opinion this is some of the strongest work yet by Covet’s designer, Tara St. James. I can only imagine what she’s going to be pulling out of her bag of tricks in the seasons to come. About tricks from bags, I should give credit to Mr. Steve Steckly for showing me the tricks of one of the odder technical aspects of this shoot, geeky stuff.

Polaroid: Covet Fall 07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

Polaroid: Covet Fall 07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

Polaroid: Covet Fall 07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

Oh, and I can’t not post this one, which Tara saw, then turned to me and said with stark sincerity, “you’re creepy looking.”

Polaroid: Covet Fall 07, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

The team:
Hair: Gregory.
M.U.: Munemi w/ See
Girl Model: Catie Parker w/ Elite NY
Boy Model: Marcus w/ Next NY
First Assist+Lighting Tech: Aaron Binaco
Location/Studio: Northside Bank in Williamsburg