Monday, May 20, 2013 Last Update: 4:38 pm EDT

Chris Leaman is the staff photographer for Washingtonian Magazine, and recently was able to shoot Congress’s freshman class for the magazine. The results are amazing and somewhat hilarious, as many of these freshmen are political newbies and not particularly guarded (or for that matter, groomed).

We chatted with Chris about his process and background:

So the assignment was pretty straightforward – we knew a bunch of the incoming congressmen were going to be attending a conference at Harvard’s Kennedy School on Nov 30th and Dec 1st, and we hoped to shoot as many single portraits of them as possible. For inspiration, I loosely looked to Avedon’s Portraits of Power and Nadav Kandar’s Obama’s People. The plan was pretty loose – set up in one location and grab folks to shoot as they had coffee breaks between sessions. The members were all told on Nov 30th that we’d be there shooting the next day, but otherwise we had no idea what to expect (didn’t know if people would be into having their photo shot or not – we half expected to come away with nothing).

What we got was pretty amazing. Since the conference was fairly casual we got a good variety of looks from each of the subjects (not just blue suits and red ties). And as a result of the whole tea-party situation, many of the congressmen had no previous political experience, and thus were not guarded or at all concerned about their appearance. Most of the folks we shot had never had a proper portrait made of them. The result, at least in my completely biased opinion, was that we were able to get some pretty candid, honest moments out of folks who will, if their careers continue, become increasingly difficult to access in that manner.

As for technical stuff, I wanted a pretty even light that would work on a number of different types of clothing and skin color. I ended up using just one light – a Profoto head/7A into that huge Elinchrome octabank. I had the light coming straight on at the subject, basically a little above eye level. I shot the whole thing on a Canon 5DII, using the 50mm 1.2 and the 24-70 2.8. That’s basically it – I’m into super simple set ups.

As for me, I’ve been on staff here at Washingtonian for 2+ years now. This job was a total career change for me – before here, I was working at the State Department doing really boring/confusing/classified things. However, my father is a photographer, so I grew up shooting and surrounded by photography and kept it up through college. 3 or 4 years ago I got my first digital camera and learned how to make a digital photograph. My wife is a writer at Washingtonian and clued me on to their photography internship, so I quit the State Department and have been here ever since. And since, I’ve felt like the luckiest person in the world. Being on staff is great, because you have a constant stream of work and all types of different work – its been a great way for me to learn how to be a photographer. One minute I’m shooting food for the website, the next I’m stumbling my way through a fashion story, and then I’m in Boston shooting congressmen. It really has been a great way for me to gain experience in super fast forward.

Here are some favorites:

See more from the shoot, here.

See more from Chris Leaman.

See more of the Washingtonian.

Manjari Sharma has had a great year. A breakout star with her highly lauded and publicized Shower Series, she’s been shooting commercially, working on a new project, and is now having a solo show at Kopeikin Gallery.

It doesn’t hurt that Sharma is just plain fun to be around. I asked her some questions about her recent whirlwind ride, and she happily obliged me. Enjoy!

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Tell me a bit about your Water work (that combines two series) on show at Kopeikin. What has drawn you to water as a subject, and how did these two projects take shape?

The Water Series, which is a project with the large open waterscapes that took shape in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil was made on an inspired evening when I was looking onto a private beach from the 17th floor.

The Shower Series was unknowingly a social study of sorts. A study of what water and intimacy can bring one to become. I’ve always been interested in the human mind and coming from the city I do, (Mumbai) there’s always one more person to talk to, one more question ask and one more thing to learn.

So while the two projects had water in common, they felt quite unrelated to me and happened at different times of the year. At first the whole “Water” themed year felt quite coincidental.

In retrospect however the one place in the world where where I feel reflective and sincerely alone with my thoughts is in the shower. Also as someone who cannot swim, looking at other people’s relationship to a large, ominous and overwhelming body of water is in a way an expression of my own awe. What I’m saying is, with both these projects I learned more than ever that, your most successful images will ultimately be really honest self portraits. That statement gets truer for me every time I make an image I’m happy with.

You’ve had quite a breakout year! Many folks struggle to promote themselves, even when they have strong projects– how have you worked to spread the word about your work?

Honestly I put the projects out there in the world with no expectations. I think sharing your work with the right sources though is just as important as making the work. I do think I have arrived at a formula that works with my personality. When I’m making the work it’s best for me to stay focused on creating the images, getting lost in your concept and just shooting. When I surface from shooting I concentrate on stepping away from it, getting critiques, respected opinions and editing. Once I feel ready to share it I contact the channels I feel would be the best fit/ platform for the work. I think that has worked well for me for the last couple of projects since thinking about promoting it clutters your thought process often, it’s best to exclusively create and not think about anything else but what you what to shoot.

The last year though, has been a gracious one. I know that and am very thankful for it. Apart from working hard which there is no excuse for, I attribute that to luck and well wishers too. Having a fantastic family and a supportive better half doesn’t hurt either, but there’s miles to go before I sleep.

What is the new work you are starting now? Can you share a favorite image or two?

I am shooting a project in India I would rather keep a secret at this point but I also just completed a new series I have shared on my website called Anastasia.

The project in a nutshell is about the queer friendship between glamor and solitude.

How did you get started as an artist– did you go the MFA route, or follow your own path? What would be some advice you’d give to someone just starting out?

I have a double bachelors, one in visual communications and a BFA in photo. But I really don’t think there is a method to the best approach madness. My advice would be shoot, shoot shoot! Nothing can teach us more than our own images.

Do you also shoot commercial and editorial work? Can you share some tears?

I do. I have an upcoming shoot for Vogue in India here in a couple of days that I am quite excited about. Also here are a few recent tears.

Railroad Earth album cover:

Penguin Books cover:

Thanks, Manjari! See more of Manjari’s work, here. And check out the Kopeikin show!

MANJARI SHARMA – WATER
January 8 – February 12, 2011
Kopeikin Gallery

Closing reception, February 12th.

Kopeikin Gallery
2766 La Cienega Blvd (just north of Washington)
Los Angeles, California 90034
Our hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 – 5:00
310-559-0800
www.kopeikingallery.com

We’re pleased as punch to have fabulous and funny photo editor Robyn Lange on board with us today, with a fresh Q&A with filmmaker/photographer John Hicks.

Robyn Lange is a freelance photo editor who has worked with some of the finest publications on the newsstand. She lives in New York City and is obsessed with 19th century polar exploration.

Without further ado….
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With iPads breaking down editorial boundaries and art directors scrambling to harness their potential, I’ve been seeing more and more instances of photographers grasping the reins of video and driving them into the new wild west. Whether you have a lifetime subscription to Wired or SX70 4EVR is tattooed on your forearm it can’t be denied that we are on the brink of a precipice that could dramatically alter the editorial landscape.

For example, I recently opened an email and was presented with a stunning short film by John Hicks. His work has always been graphic and vivid, so his film pursuits weren’t entirely surprising. But with all these visions of new technology dancing in my head I decided that I should take a closer look.

Hi John. Let’s talk about the motion section of your website. What was it that prompted you to start creating short films? Was it an outgrowth of the new technology that is available to photographers thanks to the leaps and bounds that digital cameras are making?

I’ve always been interested in film and I’d already made a couple of short films, but video was not a cinematic option and 16/35mm film was just so expensive and involved such a big team that I couldn’t dedicate myself to it as well as to stills. So now to have a professional level film option in the camera that you use for stills and to be able to employ the same lenses to create amazing quality HD footage has just exploded the possibilities and made filmmaking accessible to anyone with a camera and a computer.

I’d say technology has definitely helped me get back into film, but my photographic work already had a very cinematic style. I’ve always like to shoot on the horizontal (even though it drove magazine editors crazy!!!!) because that’s how my eye sees the world and I’m known for shooting motion capture on location so all this combined to make my move from stills to film that much smoother.

Regarding your latest film, The Hardest Fight, what came first: the stills or the motion? Can you walk us through the process of making this film?

The stills came first because I originally met Dave Payne as the technical advisor on a fashion shoot I did for FHM collections. Fitter, stronger and tougher than most men half his age, there was a certain vulnerability about Dave and I was really inspired to take some portraits. Although I was pleased with the shots somehow I wanted to tell his story better which is what led to the film.

First I set out to find a location because visually I wanted to avoid the cliché of the gym or the ring and to look beyond the brutality and violence associated with a sport like boxing.

I found the abandoned warehouse and one of the first things that struck me was the incredible light it gave – it was almost cathedral like. It seemed like a lonely place – a place where a man like Dave would go to train and instinctively I knew straight away that I would film the solitary figure skipping from that high observer vantage point as the intro to the film.

I made up a storyboard – which is something I always did as a stills photographer and that really helped with the edits. I knew I wanted to film certain sequences but it was the work I put into the storyboard that enabled me to piece it all together like a jigsaw otherwise it would just have been a jumble of moving images.

I’ll admit that at first I made the classic mistake of working like a stills photographer but I soon realised that to tell a story it’s not enough to simply record the action. You have to create drama and suspense by moving the camera, you have to involve the viewer emotionally as well as visually and you have to get as many interesting angles of the same shot as you can to sustain interest.

So primarily I worked the images because I’m visually minded, then the edit pretty much followed the storyboard and finally I worked on the narration and music. I knew from the outset that I wanted a voiceover but Dave was reluctant so I just got him to talk by asking him a series of questions and recorded his responses.

When I asked him about the hardest fight he ever had his spontaneous reply sent shivers down my spine and I knew I had my title and a killer quote. I collaborated on the music because I wanted something haunting, evocative and original and I didn’t want to ruin the final piece so I saw the whole thing through from start to finish.

How do you see yourself progressing with this medium? Will it coexist side by side with your still work or might you move fully into motion work?

I’ll always love taking stills – I love the spontaneity and the way you react purely on instinct to what happens in front of you but, ultimately, when I want to tell visual stories i can do this most effectively with film and motion. So I hope the two mediums will continue to co-exist in my work and each craft will inspire and challenge the other to make a better photographer and filmmaker of me.

Okay, how did you find that spectacular location? Did you have to get any tetanus jabs?

I actually started out in photo journalism and have always had an eye for interesting and unusual locations but in my commercial work I became known for simple backgrounds and blue skies so I really wanted to challenge this perception because I love urban decay and industrial backdrops. I have a house in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands about 100 miles off the north west coast of Africa, and that’s how I found this abandoned warehouse.

I was inspired by the colors, the beauty in its decay, the natural light inside and I thought of it almost like a character in the film.

A building with a certain sadness, a soul and a story of its own to tell. I think one of my strongest points as a photographer is composition and here I had so many possibilities for filming that I wasn’t going to let a bit of rusted metal worry me and I’ve already had my fair share of tetanus jabs. Plus, to be honest, I’m more afraid of the injections than any danger or discomfort I put myself through getting the shots. When you’re in the creative zone doing what you do best it’s like nothing else matter – it’s hard to describe the feeling but it’s what makes film and photography so addictive and all consuming.

Who or what influences your work?

Location, light, inspiring and interesting characters and a love of film and photography. Photographers I admire include Bill Brandt, Don McCullin, Bruce Davidson, Diane Arbus, Josef Koudelka, Sebastião Salgado, Mary Ellen Mark, Annie Liebovitz, Richard Avedon, Guy Bourdin, Martin Parr, Jeff Wall, Gregory Crewdson, Chris Killip, Joel Sternfeld, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Stephen Shore, Joel Meyerowitz, Charlie Crane…..the list is endless and in film its Andrei Tarkovsky, Frederico Fellini, The Coen Brothers, Nicholas Roeg, Martin Scorcese, Jim Jarmusch… I could go on forever!!!

What new skills have you acquired since shooting film that you now use in your photography?

I guess, for me, the most important has been to look for a lot more interesting angles for the same shot. High/low/eye perspective – don’t just settle for the obvious observer point of view in every shot.By moving more around the subject and the location its really opened my eyes to the many different ways we can all see the same thing.

Also because, in film, you’re not so dependent on one shot to tell the whole story, it really allows you to be more flexible and in turn more creative with your craft so that when you get back to shooting stills that lack of rigidity over ‘capturing the perfect image’ really helps free you to explore and develop your single images further.

For a closer look at John’s work please see his website www.johnhicks.co.uk.

And see more of Robyn Lange!

Dear Jaime Martínez,

What was your favorite photograph from 2009?

And what was your favorite animated gif?

What about a rock star gif, do you have one of, say, MIA?

What about someone rocking out onstage?

And the fans who love them?

Thanks!!!

Who needs a local Q+A when you can take the express Q+A train?

Here we go, all fast and furious:

Question: what do Eadweard Muybridge and Carlo Gesualdo have in common?

Answer: the 19th-century photographer and the 16th-century composer both murdered their wives’ lovers, and got away with it (Gesualdo also did away with his wife while he was at it).

Read more about this, here.

Question: Why is this relevant?

Answer: Because there is an awesome Muybridge show opening at Tate Britain on September 8th.

Question: What kind of work did Muybridge make that you don’t know about?

Answer: Landscapes!

Question: Can we see some, please?

Answer: yes!

You have now arrived at your final destination.

Excitement is now; we have Brea Souders in TPP’s online house today for an interview, and it’s a good one. Ms. Souders is awfully thoughtful and clever, and her work speaks for itself. But we’ll speak with her anyway. Enjoy!

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Brea! it’s been quite a while since we formally checked in, so this is a treat. The last time we chatted, it was about Ms. Scarlett Johansson; tell me what you’ve been up to recently.

Let’s see, I’d say the most significant development regarding my work is that I’ve moved from a small apartment with few windows in Chelsea to a space 3 times as large and bright in Brooklyn. I knew that I’d appreciate having studio space, but I didn’t expect it to change the direction of my work as much as it has. I used to shoot primarily outdoors and directly “from life” and I now I don’t ever want to peel myself away from the studio. Also, gone are the sorry days of having to schlep my new prints to the brightly-lit local diner for inspection.

Another development is that I recently invested in my first high-quality digital camera. This came after years of severe protesting on behalf of film and I have to say I will never again resist technology just because it is technology. It’s freed up my creative process tremendously. It suits me very well.

I like how you seem to have several personal project rolling at once- Islands & Streams, Constellation, Sealeaf/Psychoflower; how did you get started on these? Are they longterm projects? What do you hope each will become?

Islands & Streams is inspired by the desire to examine, understand, and interact with others. For the past several months, I’ve been reading the dream journals of well-known figures, and then creating specific parts of their dreams in my studio. Many elements in the photographs aren’t specified in the original dream description and need to be improvised – the color of a wall, placement of an object, or expression in one’s face. There are times when I’m frustrated by the passiveness of reading a novel or listening to a beautiful song.

It can be difficult not to interact directly with something that I love, admire or find interesting. In this way, the act of creating these images has helped to satisfy some of that desire for interaction. Also, I’m paying special attention to currents that run throughout the various dreams. For instance, I’m drawn to the way that the black shawl in Untitled #7 (a dream by the Marquis de Sade) seems to reappear in another form in Untitled #9 (a dream by Victorian-era Sexologist, Havelock Ellis).

The small connections among people are comforting to me, as are the differences. As I create these images, I’m learning about myself as well as the dreamers. I hope that viewers of the work will ask some new questions, and maybe find some answers too.

Constellation came out of my feelings about turning 30 and a recent crisis in my family. I’ve always been drawn to and comforted by objects, beginning when I was very small. Many objects have become inseparable in my mind from various life-events, and recently I had become overly sentimental in this regard. I don’t like to look back. So I began to round up these objects and focus primarily on their physical nature -what the object actually is, what it is made of, what it can physically do. And I have been looking to see if the object can physically express the meaning it encapsulates for me in a photograph. It’s about bringing these objects into current time and trying to look at them in more simple terms. There are many more images to be made, but eventually I think I’d like to incorporate these photographs into a book.

Sealeaf/Psychoflower is a project that I worked on during a one-month residency at the Camera Club of New York. This was an agonizing exercise in black and white printing. It had been years since I had stepped into a darkroom and I’ve never been very good at printing to begin with. These images were improvised using materials that I happened to have on hand in my studio: spray paint, plastic flowers, dried plants, glitter, etc. The relaxed nature of the project was refreshing – I should really do more things like this. In many ways, it felt like a return to my very first experiences with photography. I made many more negatives at this time but haven’t printed them. Hopefully I’ll have access to a darkroom again soon.

Are you currently doing editorial/commercial work? What sorts of projects have you been working on, if so?

I’ve been collaborating with a video artist, Julia Oldham, to create multi-media educational videos that describe various physics projects going on over at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. While it may be a bit nerdy, I’ve really enjoyed working out ways to describe some difficult scientific concepts in visual terms. Sometimes this makes my brain feel sore. But, no pain no gain!

Also, I’m excited to have recently signed on with Daniel O’Gorman Visual Research in Dublin. He’s working with some other artists that I really admire like Sam Falls, Orrie King and Skye Parrott, and I’m very happy to be working with him as well. Hopefully this will lead to some interesting licensing opportunities for pre-existing work.

Tell me the story behind Yellow Paint Samples (creating light post-breakup). I’m not sure if I love the picture or the title better, but the two of them together blow my mind.

A week after graduating from college, I broke up with my boyfriend of nearly six years. It felt like everything that I had known in my adult life was collapsing, and the horizon was looking dark. At some point after many weeks of wallowing, I decided that yellow paint was going to save me. My favorite room, the kitchen, HAD to be yellow. I drove over to Home Depot and there they were: rows and rows of glowing yellow paint samples all nestled into their containers. I was instantly saved. They say if you force yourself to smile, you’ll soon stop frowning. With the help of some yellow paint, it definitely worked.

What’s something visual that is blowing Your mind?

Youssef Nabil’s hand-painted photographs, especially his self-portraits.

Also, Flip the Frog animations from the 1930’s. Pure joy.

What’s next for you in 2010/11?

This week, April 14 – 19, my work will be shown in the Hous Projects Gallery booth at Zona Maco, an art fair in Mexico City. In May, I’ll be exhibiting a photograph as part of the collaborative exhibition Graphic Interesections at Umbrage Gallery, Brooklyn. The Exposure Project curated this show, and it’s going to be good! Also, I’m looking forward to taking part in an exhibition curated by Daniel O’Gorman for the PhotoIreland Festival in Dublin taking place in July.

I’m going to keep working on Islands & Streams and Constellation until they feel finished. This should take some time.

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Thanks, Brea! See more Brea Souders, here.

I don’t remember how Lee Jennings and I started talking on the internets, but she’s been an extremely congenial and pleasant person to know, and quite the resource. You see, Lee is an agent. A photographer’s rep. A Jedi.

The agency world has always intimidated me, so it’s lovely to have someone answer my naive questions with a smile. Lee is at Vaughan Hannigan — an agency with incredible talent, and if Lee is any indication — zero attitude. We like this.

Without further ado…. the Qs and As:

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Hi Lee! Thanks for for chatting with us. First things first: how did you get started in the business? Were you a photographer first and an agent second, or just a photography lover? Tell us how it came about.

Hi Rachel! I’ve got a bit of the classic “fell in love with photography as a teenager” story. I got a Polaroid camera for Christmas during 7th grade, saved up all my pennies from babysitting and summer jobs to buy a 35mm SLR, spent an insane number of hours in the darkroom in high school, and managed to convince my parents that a BFA in Photography was not a ridiculous idea.

A BFA from NYU and a need for a steady paycheck (damn student loans) led to teaching photography at a high school in California, a brief stint racing sailboats (don’t ask), then doing studio manager/photo editing and production work at a design studio, which ultimately led to art buying.

I loved art buying, had the opportunity to work with many amazing photographers and creatives, but eventually came to the realization that it wasn’t joyful for me. Mini crisis of conscience and narrowly avoiding going back to grad school to become a teacher, a lightbulb went off in my head: maybe I didn’t have to leave art buying and the industry to find joy in my work again. Perhaps being an agent and negotiating on behalf of the photographer would do the trick.

I took a few agents out for drinks to pick their brains and discern whether being an agent was the right move, whether my preconceived notions matched up with the realities, etc. The reasons people loved it really resonated with me, and the reasons people said to stay away didn’t scare me.My mom will tell you I’ve been negotiating since I was a kid, so it’s a natural fit. One of my photographers says I was born to be an agent. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not…ha!

Did you start off at VAUGHAN HANNIGAN, or is that a new move?

I’ve been at VH since last fall. I’ve also been an agent at a huge agency representing many photographers and at another small agency.

You folks have quite the roster.  What’s the agency’s goal in terms of tone/attitude/mission statement?

VH is a boutique agency representing eight fantastic photographers: Scott Frances, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Christopher Griffith, Brad Harris, Timothy Hogan, Giles Revell, Martin Schoeller, and Mark Zibert.

I love the relative youth of VH (Bill Hannigan and Thea Vaughan founded the agency in July of 2007). I adore the roster – the work is stellar, and they’re all nice people, too.

We place a premium on a personal approach to working with our artists and working with clients. We have a high agent to artist ratio (4 agents, 8 artists) not found at many agencies. A producer we work with recently referred to us as offering “white glove service” – I’d say that’s true, but without the snooty overtones.

Our artists are passionate and active image makers. They pick up the camera not just when a client is footing the bill and are continually producing personal work. The roster is heavily involved in the fine art, book publishing, and editorial arenas in addition to commercial work.

What is your role at VH? Are you working with specific artists?

I’m a senior agent at Vaughan Hannigan working with a variety of clients – advertising agencies, entertainment, design firms, architects, clients direct, and editorial. We don’t divide the roster, each agent (there are 2 of us plus Bill Hannigan and Thea Vaughan) reps the whole crew.

On a basic level, I connect photographers and clients and solicit new business for the photographers we represent. I estimate and negotiate fees and expenses for shoots ranging from small budget editorials to $500k+ advertising shoots.

I strategize with photographers on new imagery, promotions and marketing, portfolios, and overall career management. I show books at one on one appointments with photographers and photo editors, host portfolio reviews at advertising agencies locally and around the country (San Francisco, can’t wait to see you in May!), set up one on one meetings for photographers to meet art buyers and show off their latest and greatest.

I cultivate continuing and new client relationships (this is one of my favorite things about my job – I can count a number of clients as honest-to-goodness friends).  With lots of conference calls in between.

What work/campaign/anything artsy is knocking your socks off right now?

Brad Harris went to Iceland and came back with these amazing images of teenagers running through the crazy, craggy Iceland landscape:

Scott Frances spent 24 days shooting City Center in Las Vegas with the advertising agency SK+G. The images are stunning and seem to do the biggest construction project in the world justice.

I love love love the time lapse behind the scenes video his assistant Andrew Frasz made over the course of the shoot:

And it’s not brand spanking new, but Martin Schoeller’s National Geographic feature about the Hadza, one of the last hunter gatherer tribes in the world, is pretty stunning.

You know what’s knocking MY socks off? Martin Schoeller’s Paul Rudd Poodle picture (attached). Can you tell me the story behind it?

Ha! I love that picture. Martin photographed Paul Rudd for GQ’s May 2009 issue. He knew a woman who owned a bunch of poodles, and he always wanted to include them in a shoot. The Paul Rudd assignment came up, and he knew he finally had his chance.

Martin had the opportunity to shoot Paul again for GQ’s “Man of the Year” Portfolio, published December 2009 (Martin photographed the whole portfolio, including 5 covers). Image below. Hmmm….pink seems to be a recurring theme with Martin and Paul…

How would you advise a young go-getter who wants to be an agent. How do they get a foot in the door?

First off, I’d congratulate them on knowing what they want to do. And be prepared that it may not be their last stop in the business – it sometimes takes doing a few different roles to learn where you fit in this crazy business of ours (says the former high school photo teacher/sailboat racer/photo editor/art buyer).

If you’re in college, intern with an agency if you can – you’ll get to see first hand whether agency life suits you, and you’ll gain good contacts who may be able to hire you in the future. (We just hired a fellow Tisch grad who had interned with me previously for an entry-level position.)

Talk to people in the business, not just agents – producers, photographers, etc. Network, network, network.
Good luck! It’s not the easiest path to choose, but it can be really inspiring and rewarding.

THANK YOU, you win.
No, thank YOU!

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See more of Vaughan Hannigan.

And read their blog!

The Photography Post hosts a Q+A every Tuesday.

I am very excited to check in with Frank Evers this week, as he is the man behind the recently launched (and highly lauded) agency INSTITUTE for Artist Management. Evers is no stranger to the industry;  he has helmed the VII Agency and founded The New York Photo Festival. His new venture boasts incredible talent- the roster includes Joshua Lutz, Gillian Laub, James Pomerantz and Simon Norfolk, among many others.

Without further ado…

TPP: Tell me about INSTITUTE- everyone’s talking about it! It’s interesting that you’re representing artists across many platforms — is the structure a response to the ever changing needs of the marketplace, or something you’ve been planning to do for some time?

FE: The goal for INSTITUTE is to build a company around our artists which supports them in all that they do.  Already, we are involved in documentary film funding, book publishing deals, facilitating fine art representation, producing print/video commercials (LEVI’S in Beijing for BBH Singapore), as well as the usual assignment and image licensing deals.  We also have three very big educational initiatives that we are developing.

Lauren Greenfield for New York Magazine

Gerd Ludwig feature on the Salton Sea

Simon Norfolk for Sunday Times Magazine

The structure of INSTITUTE is in response to the ever changing market conditions and the comprehensive needs of our artists. I don’t claim to have the silver bullet, but we are working very hard to raise the opportunity sets for our artists.

TPP: You’ve got quite the roster already. Are you looking to grow even larger? What does INSTITUTE want to be a few years from now?

photo by Gillian Laub

FE: We may take on talent, if that is the right thing to do.  Our focus is on growing the business for the betterment of our artists and the work that they do, and want to do going forward.

TPP: Your announcement of new artists Jeff Jacobson, Matthew Niederhauser and Lorena Ros is super exciting. How did you choose these artists?

photo by Jeff Jacobson

photo by Matthew Niederhauser

photo by Lorena Ros

FE: I love their work, their work ethic, and their intelligence.  It is really the same metric that I used for all of our visual artists.

TPP: You’ve had quite an impact in the photo world, with your work for VII and NYPH; what do you love about imagery, and what makes you strive to find new outlets for it to be shown?

FE: I don’t know the answer to that, but I can tell you that my entire life has been dedicated to all things visuals.  Perhaps being born with a hearing impairment, I gained a greater appreciation for visual media.  My mother nurtured my love of the visual arts, and her own personal frustrations as an professional actress taught me the importance of artistic expression and fulfillment.  Artists need a lot of support and to be fully enabled.  That is what I do.  As for new outlets…I guess that is all about finding new ways of getting the work out to the widest possible audience.  This is why I created the New York Photo Festival, because I saw a need for contemporary photography to be presented in a context of scholarship and ideas, not just as a commercial commodity.

TPP: How did you start out in the business- were you ever a photographer yourself?

FE: I got my first film camera when I was 8 in Egypt, and I have been photographing ever since.  My interests in photography really expanded exponentially in the mid-90s, when we began to collect.  During that time I was making movies and video games, mostly producing and running game development divisions/studios.  It wasn’t until 2005 that I got involved with photography professionally.

TPP: Thanks, Frank!

See more of INSTITUTE, here.