graeme mitchell

Crops from a contact sheet.

Editing editing.

Full story will be out soon.

photo: from fashion story contact sheet, ©Graeme Mitchell 2008.

photo: from fashion story contact sheet, ©Graeme Mitchell 2008.

Some finals from the beauty story shot two weekends ago (Polaroids here). These three girls are with Ford NYC. If I recall their names correctly, Catlin, Matta, and Leane. Respectively.

Imported from the future.

photo: © Graeme Mitchell 2008

photo: © Graeme Mitchell 2008

photo: © Graeme Mitchell 2008

A Polaroid sheet from a beauty and hair editorial we did yesterday, working title is marble androids, or maybe robo-statues. Hair was by Sarah Potempa and M.U. by Meredith Baraf, both at The Wall Group. More to come on this once the film is souped and dried.

This is a portrait of the French Kicks done for an editorial feature. They ‘re a chill and charming bunch. They’re also becoming a prominent prominent feature on the indie scene…deservedly. Give them a listen and hit up their current tour (dates can be found on their myspace page).

Then you’ll be able to say you saw them when.

photo: French Kicks, Brooklyn NY, 2008. © Graeme Mitchell.

Details: shot on location in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn at band member Josh’s apartment.

This is a welcomed accolade for a photographer.  PDN’s 30.

A thanks to PDN for the opportunity, specifically staff members: Jeanine Fijol, Jacqueline Tobin, and Anthony LaSala.

PDN March 08, contents page, photo © Graeme Mitchell

PDN March 08, feature page, photos © Graeme Mitchell

The Imagist has a video post up of the model Natasa Vojnovic (w/Women) at work.

See the video here.

She’s tremendous, and I can’t iterate enough the affect a girl who moves like that and works that hard has on the final images. Models can make or break a shoot.

Down to brass tax, I want to photograph her.

Speaking of Sims and Natasa, here’s a peek of there up coming spread in V #52 (March, ‘08). Styling by Karl Templer. And that (wicked) hair by Guido.

photo: model Natasa V. in V #52, © David Sims.

Shot a feature story on Brooklyn. Currently working on prints.

This is a teaser:

photo: from the Brooklyn Bridge, ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007.

For the rest, watch the newsstands.

Shooting in color seems to be becoming a habit of late.

I wish to continue the theme of August and giving mention to photographers doing work I’m impressed with. Richard Burbridge (w/ Art and Commerce) is another name I get excited to see in the by-line. Mainly b/c the guy can light, and lighting that is both creative and proficient seems a bit rare these days. This spread is from Another Magazine.

(On a complete tangent, you can see by the watermark that I pulled the jpegs from Art and Commerce’s website. I’m always surprised when big reps have shitty scans covered with watermarks on their sites (A and C, Jed Root…). What am I missing? Why not get quality scans up?)

photo: story for Another Magazine, jpeg from Art and Commerce. ©Richard Burbridge, 2007.

photo: story for Another Magazine, jpeg from Art and Commerce. ©Richard Burbridge, 2007.

Mert and Marcus (w/ Art Partner) rarely produce anything but noteworthy and well realized fashion stories. They dabble in some celebrity portraits, but I liken them more to Meisel and those few others who are thoroughbred fashion shooters, photographing clothes really really well w/o the all too common pretensions of fine art or books or gallery shows. This seemingly, but all but so, simple concentration is something I admire. The photos here, from Mert and Marcus’ “Into the Woods” story in W (Aug 07), are an example of this exemplary work.

For me, these are the sort of photographs that exude an uncompromising method; you can see the effort on all fronts that went into making them this good.

This matters.

photo: “Into the Woods,” W (Aug 07), styled by Alex White, photo © Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.

photo: “Into the Woods,” W (Aug 07), styled by Alex White, photo © Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.

Man Ray was ahead of his time, indeed, way way ahead of his time. He’s the kind of photographer that will always inspire and scare other photographers - forever - b/c he did things first and best that will continue to come and go from fashion. What does this mean? Well, it means after I use solarization in my next story, later whilst I’m loafing around Cafe Gitane pontificating on the trends I’m setting, I’ll have eating away in my conscious the fact that Man Ray already hit that nail on the head nearly 100 years ago. (This goes even for artsy lesbian pornography, which I’m not shooting yet, but which Man Ray already did.) I really have noticed solarization is trying right now in fashion photography. It’s hard to gather enthusiasm about it in it’s modern Photoshop-filter form, at least compared to Man Ray’s pieces…just look at this pic and how timeless it is:

photo: woman with folden arms, © Many Ray (date unknown)

vs. this recent pic by Ruven Afanador (with Art Dept), who’s other work I’m fond of,

photo: © Ruven Afanador (publication and date unknown, found here)

Or if you’ve seen much of Inez and Vinoodh’s portraits (at Art and Commerce), you’ll see an - intended or not - development upon Man Ray’s blurred faces.

photo: La Marquise Casati, 1922, © Many Ray

vs. this portrait of Philip Seymour Hoffman for the New York Times 2006 Great Performers Series (slide show here).

photo: Philip Seymour Hoffman, © Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for The New York Times

All fantastic work.

Nick Knight has a really gorgeous spread w/ Naomi in this months Visionaire magazine (#47). You can see more pics from the story here. Mainly it impresses me b/c it’s one of those ideas that so so easily could have been a disaster. I believe the reason it isn’t is b/c Nick’s work has refinement, and it also concentrates on reductionism. It is a strong idea, parred down to it’s fundamentals and done with great skill. Really killer fashion work, Nick.

photo: Naomi in V #47, ©Nick Knight

photo: Naomi in V #47, ©Nick Knight

It looks like Art and Commerce has added the Norwegian photographer Solve Sundsbo to their stable. Kudos to Sundsbo, b/c Art and Commerce is top tier. Sundsbo has been doing some radical work lately, which deserves respect b/c most people aren’t. This particular picture of his is fantastic:

photo: ©Solve Sundsbo. (From the Art and Commerce website).

Looking through Vogue Paris and the rest of the news stand I also want give props to David Sims (at Art Partner); he’s been shooting hordes of good work recently, and he can make a model move like nobody else.

photo: ©David Sims. (From the Art Partner website).

And finally to Michael Thompson (at Jed Root) for understanding the power of understatement.

photo: ©Michael Thompson. (From the Jed Root website).

Mr. Roversi, if you have a free moment this summer I’d like to visit with you, to drink an obscure vintage while watching the Seine meander through Paris, then go to shoot couture under the warm dusty lights in your studio, well well into the night, well into the models’ tired eyes, before finally retiring for a cigarette, a bite, and a talk about the caustic lingerings of a Polaroid’s smell.

p.s. okay, Paolo, this Vogue Italia “Storm” spread was tops as far as I’m concerned.

photo: Vogue Italia “Storm,” ©Paolo Roversi

photo: Vogue Italia “Storm,” ©Paolo Roversi

photo: Vogue Italia “Storm,” ©Paolo Roversi

(for everyone else, more at Paolo Roversi’s site and his rep’s, Vincent Simonet’s)

The NY Times Magazine style issue caught my eye because of the article on David Lynch with portrait by Nadav Kander. As you can probably surmise given my other tastes, I’m one of those people that really likes David Lynch, one of those people, that in college, turned in hyperbolic-quasi-intellectual-DFWallace-inspired essays on Lynch with, in retrospect, embarrassing pride. Still, he’s atop my list of people I’d like to take a portrait of, and I wish I’d the balls to say I could have bettered Nadav on the job, but the portrait he shot for this article was perfect, so I secede.

photo: David Lynch, photographed by Nadav Kander for the NY Time Magazine

Check out more of Nadav Kander’s work here. You can tell the guy just loves to make cool images. Plus, I don’t know a photographer that isn’t envious of his ability to have such a varied body of work that functions so effectively as one.

Polaroids from a spring editorial. Keep your eyes on the newsstands, should hit’em in May.

polaroid: ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

polaroid: ©Graeme Mitchell, 2007

Details:
Styling: Anna Shimonis
M.U.: Meredith Baraf
Hair: Sarah Potempa
Model: Marissa w/ Elite
Location: Studio 814 (yes, a special thanks to Studio 814 who facilitated our every need.)