graeme mitchell

Randomly, an Aunt in Canada sent me this link that she’d heard of; it’s the collection of a man (Jamie Livingston) who took a Polaroid a day for 19 years, right up until the day he died.  It’s a beautiful testament to photography and to keeping your eyes open in life.

See it, here.  (And I suggest clicking on the new version where you can zoom and pan 5 year blocks at a time).

photo: screen shot from http://hughcrawford.addresszero.com/

Or for a nice review/summary on it you can go, here.

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.

Photographer, Steve Steckly and girlfriend, Michael-Anne.

I enjoy this picture b/c it is a Polaroid, thus making it one of kind, and also b/c it is attributed to neither Steve nor myself. I believe it could only ever be attributed to our collective love of making photographs…indeed, it makes me think of the practice of working for works sake, even if often an abstraction, is wonderful and something to remind one self of from time to time.

photo: shot at Steve Steckly’s studio in Portland, OR. ©Steve Steckly and 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

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)

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.)