Before we get down to crucifying Annie, let me say that as a person she (to me) really, really, really, really likes to get her way. But sure, she had enviable opportunities and let us note that without ‘opportunities’ I’m sure that both her career and mine (and those of others) would be largely different and rather boring. Various contract employers got me into CLOSED A: US Senate hearings on everything under the sun, B: House hearings on everything under the sun including Nixon’s impeachment hearings, C: rock star green rooms, D: Muhammad Ali’s training camp for an unrestricted day, E: coal mines, the Nevada Test Site, the plane graveyard known as AMACG, etc. where cameras are either strongly disliked or FORBIDDEN. I don’t know if I have the record (I doubt it), but I spent 10 days shooting on the NTS with a ‘guide’ whose only caveat was to not shoot ’those mountains as there is a secret military base behind them’ (Area 51). Do I have to go on? And yes, I would have killed for Annie’s ‘opportunities’ in the 1970’s as arranged by Rolling Stone. ‘Opportunities’ make a photographer’s time into more than meets the eye. I made portraits of the Dalai Lama, Muhammad Ali, Bill Bradley, and many others and if I hadn’t had ‘opportunities’ they would not have happened. I didn’t just see them walking down the street and Annie didn’t just see Whoopi Goldberg on the sidewalk and ask her to pose in a bathtub full of ‘milk’. Don’t think for a minute that any of the pro-am shooters on this list would turn down an opportunity no matter how nervous it made them. Have you ever been almost alone in a studio with a big softbox on a ProFoto flash head and one of your heroes sitting there conversing as though we are meeting in your home? No? Too bad, as it is a really incredible experience. The ‘real shooters’ on this list are very, very few. Shooting a 6-pack of Tuborg is easy, but shooting Mick Jagger is not. First of all, you have to get him in a studio where you have the right camera in your hands. Jan On Feb 8, 2014, at 3:06 PM, Gregory wrote:
Art Faul The Artist Formerly Known as Prints ------ Art for Cars: art4carz.com Stills That Move: http://www.artfaul.com Greens: http://www.inkjetprince.com Camera Works - The Washington Post . |
