gregory crewdson: king of cinematic stills andy gotts on set: he’s shot all the stars diane arbus’ unseen work unearthed the story behind that hendrix album cover Magnum’s big winners how to get publicity is a photograph ever worth a million?
Issue #12
unseen
diane arbus
andy gotts
shooting stars in space & beyond
Welcome
letter from the editor i will never look at a potato the same way again
This month’s cover features Simon Pegg, the Star Trek star, photographed by celebrity photographer Andy Gotts, whom we visit at his improvised hotel studio on page 74.
alking around Photo London was the perfect preamble before I went to chair this issue’s Round Table discussion (page 62), on whether a photograph is ever worth six figures. Admittedly, I didn’t see any million pound price tags at the Fair, but many had six figures against them, making those with just five figures seem affordable by comparison. You can’t help wonder what makes one image so considerably more expensive than the other. In fact, there are answers to that question, and the specialist, gallerist, agent and artist on our panel explain the disparity – it’s a great read. Much of the media thought it was ridiculous when Kevin Abosch’s picture of a potato sold for ¤1m. Ridiculous! But nobody stopped to ask who the photographer was, and how much his photographs usually fetch. Having heard his side of the story, I now feel apologetic about my initial reaction to that news – one of incredulity. ‘I could take that photograph...
why isn’t someone paying me a million for a picture of a potato?’ Like everything else, it’s so easy to get caught up in the money aspect. It’s the dream to earn that much from photography. But if I try really hard to distance myself from the fantasy that my own picture of a root vegetable might achieve such figures, I realise that the ridiculous part is how much ridicule Abosch’s picture generated. Van Gogh’s painting of a sunflower in a vase, or boots... I don’t hear people calling out the ‘mere’ flowers and treads as being inappropriate subjects for art. Okay, Kevin isn’t of Van Gogh status yet, but how fantastic that some photographers are so well respected, and their work revered enough to be viewed as worth seven figures. So the question is, how do you achieve such collector attraction? Our panel offers some useful answers. And in addition, we have the counsel of some public relation experts on page 56. Specialising in this industry, they help build and protect reputations, and they’ve been very candid on the best ways to get publicity. Heed their words and it could be you in the million-euro headlines... Emma-Lily Pendleton Editor emma-lily.pendleton@futurenet.com
Did you miss any of our first 11 editions? You can buy back issues of these at www.bitly.com/pp_back. You can also download digital versions. SEPTEMBER 2016 _ PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY _ 3
contents Issue 12 / September 2016 /
@prophotomag
facebook.com/prophotomag
profiles grEgory crewdson 16 The fine art photographer who blurs the lines between reality and fiction MAGNUM WINNERS 28 Meet the winners in the single image categories of the Magnum Awards SANDRA HOYN 32 The Magnum Award-winning series shot in a Bangladesh brothel Jerry Spagnoli The New York photographer on bringing back the daguerreotype
36
HOMER SYKES 42 A photography icon who captured Britain’s most eccentric traditions
MY STORY edmund clarke 10 A ‘redacted’ image that makes a powerful statement about rendition DAViD Montgomery 12 How Jimi Hendrix’s third and most controversial album cover was shot
rising stars marta kochanek 50 The Polish photographer on her personal project in the world of ballet
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16 104
grEgory crewdson: Theatre of the mind diane arbus: RETROSPECTIVE
to subscribe turn to page 48
The Business HOW TO GET PUBLICITY 56 We investigate how PR can help you get greater recognition for your work
36
jerry spagnoli: DAGUERREOTYPES
round table 62 Our experts discuss how an image can ever be worth seven figures SNAPCHAT 69 How can photographers make use of the latest hip social network? my space 74 Meet Andy Gotts, famed for his photographs of Hollywood actors
42
homer sykes: WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
62
Round table: ART PRICES
regulars
74
andy gotts: SHOOTING STARS
martin middlebrook subscriptioN OFFERS news calendar expos & festivals next month Bookshelf read this pro kit the long view lottie Davies
9 48 80 84 86 87 90 91 93 100 114
SEPTEMBER 2016 _ PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY _ 5
Contributors Issue 12 / September 2016 /
@prophotomag
facebook.com/prophotomag
This month’s featured pros gregory crewdson
andy gotts
Lottie Davies
Photographing tableaux of American neighbourhoods, the Brooklyn-born fine art photographer blurs the lines between reality and fiction.
Famed for his black and white portraits of Hollywood actors, Andy Gotts invites us to his temporary ‘studio’ at Flemings Mayfair hotel in London.
This month Lottie wonders why we spend so much time and money on our own projects, without any prospect of ever being paid for them.
kyle weeks
hannah modigh
sandra Hoyn
Born in Namibia, Kyle Weeks is the founder of the agency Cape Collective Assist. We celebrate his Magnum Award-winning shot of African life.
The Swedish photographer has lived in India and across Europe. We showcase her Magnum Award-winning work in a declining coal-mining town.
The German photographer focuses on social, environmental and human rights issues. She talks us through her series shot in a Bangladesh brothel.
jerry spagnoli
Martin Middlebrook
homer sykes
The New York photographer explains how and why he’s resurrected the daguerreotype, and adapted it to suit a contemporary clientele.
How quickly can an image become ‘legendary’? Martin argues that social media commentators are debasing the term with unwarranted hyperbole.
Capturing some of our country’s more eccentric traditions over the decades, Homer Sykes’ work offers fascinating insights into the British psyche.
marta kochanek
eleanor macnair
emma bowkett
The freelance publicist, who counts Magnum, Beetles+Huxley and GOST Books among her clients, explains how to run a good PR campaign.
The director of photography at FT Weekend Magazine reveals how photographers can get their work noticed by journalists.
page 16
page 74
page 28
page 31
page 36
page 50
An award-winning commercial assignment from Birmingham Royal Ballet inspired a key personal project for the Polish photographer.
page 32
page 9
page 42
page 59
Kristina Salgvik
bao
page 114
page 56 Kalpesh
Photography by Daniel Karp Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
Just some of the photographers, industry experts and writers that feature in this issue…
louise clements
tom bol
nunzio Prenna
The artistic director of QUAD and FORMAT international photography festival shares her favourite read, The Jungle Book by Yann Gross.
Based in Fort Collins, Colorado, Tom Bol explains how the Elinchrom ELC Pro HD 1000s help him shoot adventure sports, portraits and travel.
The London-based commercial photographer explains how and why he uses the ELC Pro HD 1000s in conjunction with BRXs.
page 91
Editorial Editor Emma-Lily Pendleton emma-lily.pendleton@futurenet.com Art editor Michelle McLaren michelle.mclaren@futurenet.com Designer Rosie Webber rosie.webber@futurenet.com Operations editor Tom May Head of testing Rod Lawton
Editorial contributors
Kevin Abosch, Kathrine Anker, Jonathan Bachman, Ofir Barak, Tom Bol, Emma
page 101
Bowkett, Ben Brain, David Clark, Edmund Clark, Louise Clements, Gregory Crewdson, Lottie Davies, Natalie Denton, Kathleen Dolmatch, Brandei Estes, Steve Fairclough, Simon Fremont, Andy Gotts, Sandra Hoyn, Marta Kochanek, Jay Kowalik, Asger Ladefoged, Eleanor MacNair, Daisy McCorgray, Valery Melnikov, Martin Middlebrook, Hannah Modigh, David Montgomery, Angela Nicholson, Laura Noble, Nunzio Prenna, Matthew Richards, David Shankbone, Tobi Shinobi, Matt Shonfeld, Jerry Spagnoli, Jörgen Sundberg, Homer Sykes, Chris Toala, Kyle Weeks
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page 102
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Thomas Struth Nature & Politics
MACK mackbooks.co.uk
Martin Middlebrook OPINION
What makes a photograph legendary? Commentators are debasing the term with unwarranted hyperbole
couple of weeks back, the Reuters photographer Jonathan Bachman took a picture of a black woman standing calmly in front of advancing police officers at a rally in Louisiana (see page 82 for more of the story). The picture was immediately described as ‘legendary’ by commentators. Now, what follows is not a critique of Mr Bachman and the portfolio he created that day, which contains many notable images. The issue is, what was so legendary about the image, how does an image become legendary, and who decides? Things achieve a legendary status over time, as they seep into our consciousness. It is an unexplained phenomenon, born of many small things that seem to accumulate a mass. But simply telling me that something is legendary is not enough. And doing so 30 seconds after the event is certainly insufficient. Photographs have become pawns to be sacrificed in the name of social, cultural and political advance. Once they drove the story, now they’re used merely to expedite it. There was nothing new in the image I’m referring to, and there is nothing wrong with that either; with such events being attended by a phalanx of observers, repetition is inevitable. Images lose their power as a result, the senses dulled by a feeling of déjà vu, but that’s not the photographer’s fault. You can only shoot what’s in front of you. On 1 January 2016, a BBC reporter posted on his Twitter account an image by photographer Joel Goodman, taken the night before in Manchester. It quickly went viral, and suddenly the world became aware of just how drunk people get in Manchester on a good night out. But anything anthropological or informative about the image became subsumed by an inexplicable claim that it had something of the Caravaggio about it. It was soon designated as a piece of absolute high art. I read that the photographer did well out of all this, which is a bloody wonderful thing, and I hope he can reap that patronage
for a long time to come. Few have a once-in-a-lifetime image, and however that happens, I am all for it. But if it were me, I think I’d feel a bit embarrassed about what is a fascinating, if slightly voyeuristic, news image being elevated to the level of Renaissance art. Even the Manchester Evening News apparently buried it deep in an online gallery when it was initially filed. I’m all for the democratisation of photography, even if the economic model has undermined the value of our product. And I’m all for people talking about photography. When I started, people looked at you strangely but respectfully when you asserted it was your profession. People are more knowledgeable than ever, and there is more great work than ever before also. But with this comes a more insipid narrative; the hijacking of photographs. I’ve never been able to attain the right balance between my trust in the academic commentary on photography, and that of the layman. Each has its perils, each comes with an unsatisfactory, often misplaced utility, a misrepresentation of the value of any specific image. Somewhere in between hides the truth, I suspect. But to hand over that authority randomly, through the ether, as now appears commonplace, is to leave opinion open to heavy-handed hyperbole. It is rare indeed that a photograph can reach the status of legendary, or be considered high art. Both are attainable, and all the more important for that possibility. But we must stop handing out awards without discretion or proof, because we become the hit parade at a time when you only need to sell 5,000 copies to reach number one. My words here are in no way a critique of the images discussed; they’re merely two that I picked as part of what, for me, is a worrying trend. Commentators from all sides will have their say, but ‘time and indifference’ will decide. And those images that survive time and indifference have the chance to lodge in our consciousness, and become legendary. But can we please let time and indifference decide that, and not some social media parliament that is, as we speak, busy looking for Pokémon on the streets of Detroit or some other.
Photographs have become pawns to be sacrificed in the name of social and political advance.
SEPTEMBER 2016 _ PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY _ 9
© Edmund Clark, courtesy of Flowers
Story _ Behind _ Edmund _ Clark
10 _ PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY _ SEPTEMBER 2016
story Behind
“I can’t tell you how
I found where he lives. I’d risk getting someone into if I did that.”
trouble
Edmund Clark This street is where an American pilot lives. He flew rendition flights [a controversial CIA practice allegedly aimed at facilitating the torture of prisoners on non-US soil]. They carried people around the world to secret prisons and to be interrogated. I can’t tell you how I found where the pilot lives. I’d risk getting someone into trouble if I did that. The image was taken in America, three years ago. My research led me to those houses: I wanted to record those spaces. I was also working in and around the homes of men who’d been subject to extraordinary renditions. I decided to redact the image on legal advice, but also after reflecting on it myself ethically: did I want to reveal this man’s location? He has a reasonable expectation of privacy and security in his own home, although that was not afforded to the people who were his cargo on rendition flights. Ultimately, I think it’s important that it’s censored. When I look at the image now, I think it’s stronger and more aesthetically appealing for its redaction. The tones of the mosaic redaction, the way the redaction works in relation to the V of the parking space and the water, the grass on the foreground… it actually makes it more interesting. It also plays to the imagination, which is vital in engaging people. You’re encouraged to think about what’s been covered up. You draw your own conclusions about what you can’t see. Censorship and secrecy are visual themes that run through my work, which also reflects on how terror works on all of us. Terror moderates our behaviour, it moderates the way we think, it moderates the way we relate to the spaces around us. Edmund Clark: War of Terror is open until August 2017 at the Imperial War Museum. Negative Publicity: Artefacts of Extraordinary Rendition is published by Aperture/Magnum Foundation, for US$60. SEPTEMBER 2016 _ PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY _ 11