GLAMOUR MYTH.
"I still come home with dirt under my nails. It"s a physical business. It"s a lot of work. It"s NOT glamorous. There was a time that I was flying back and forth from Paris to New York to LA constantly. That"s not fun."
WHAT IT REALLY TAKES.
"You have to be able to talk to your client and your agency and director. You have to be able to have relationships with the fashion houses. It"s people skills. It"s also politics. Being nice to and honest with people. And being professional."
GRATEFUL.
"My father was so insistent that I go to college-even as a dancer. I was always into it because I was in the city at NYU." (Cristina earned both a bachelor of fine arts and a master of fine arts at NYU and studied dance in London.) DON"T YOU GET TIRED OF DRESSING PEOPLE?
"I"ve broken up with boyfriends because of that comment."
THE CONSTANT CHALLENGE.
"Making sure it"s still fresh and has a pulse."
THE BOTTOM LINE.
"I cannot say I have been lucky. I have worked my b.u.t.t off and will continue to work my b.u.t.t off."
Photography Team
WHAT:Photographer, art director, graphic designer, makeup artist, hair stylist.
DEGREE:None to beauty school, salon apprenticeship, photography school, design school, or liberal arts BA.
TRAITS:Technical, visual, practical, unflappable.
ESSENTIAL ABILITIES:To create images that are technically superior, that somehow bear your own signature style, and that tell a story compelling to your client and to your audience.
ROLE:The photographer is G.o.d; the art director is the ringmaster of disparate elements on a shoot (hair, makeup, clothes), plus motivator, driver, seducer, entertainer. Makeup and hair stylist work together to execute the photography.
WORKs.p.a.cE:Street, light box, home studios, large rented studios, runway or location (anywhere you can imagine).
PATH TO POWER:Apprentice with the best, gradually taking on more responsibility.
MOST COVETED GIGS:Creating images for Vogue, W, British Vogue, Italian Vogue, or campaigns for brands like Calvin Klein, Gucci, Prada, Versace.
MOST COVETED JOBS:Street photographer (newspaper, Web); still-life photographer (highly technical studio-only work); runway photographer (hardscrabble backstage and end-of-runway situations); studio and location photographer. Hair stylists and makeup artists can represent beauty companies, open their own brands or salons.
DOGGIE JOBS:None. As long as there"s a camera and current season clothes, you"re learning.
KEY ALLIANCES:Editors, designers, advertisers, ad agencies, creative directors, photo editors, celebrities, models, makeup artists, and hair stylists.
LANGUAGES:There"s a tradition of French fashion photographers and a more recent influx of talented English ones.
STARTING COMP:You work for free.
POTENTIAL COMP:$ to $$$$.
PERFECT STANDARD.
"If you look in your camera and see something you"ve seen before, don"t click the shutter."-legendary Harper"s Bazaar art director Alexey Brodovitch, advising young photographers.
Photographer
Here was a young American who seemed unspoiled by European mannerisms or culture. I remember he wore sneakers and no tie. I was struck by his directness and a curious unworldliness, a clarity of purpose, and a freedom of decision. What I call Penn"s American instincts made him go for the essentials. -Alex Liberman, longtime Conde Nast creative director, from the introduction to Mr. Penn"s book Pa.s.sage (1991), on first meeting Irving Penn in 1941.
Mr. Penn, they called him. Anyone who"d ever worked with him, that is. Irving Penn was among the greatest of American studio photographers. His signature contribution to fashion came in the form of brilliant, powerful, minimal portraits of the most famous people of the twentieth century, Truman Capote, Jackie Kennedy, and Hollywood greats as well as unfamous fishmongers and cleaning women and indigenous peoples, his works always expressing the same majesty and respect for his subjects. His career as a photographer for American Vogue lasted an unprecedented sixty years. He wore a suit to his Village studio each morning, changing into a smock for work. He used film, one of the few to never consider adapting to the irrepressible drive to digital. When he died in 2009, at the age of ninety-two, a cacophonous hush fell over the fashion establishment: Clocks were stopped; drums were silenced; hooves m.u.f.fled. Well, not exactly, but they should have been, because the fashion world will never be the same.
PHOTOGRAPHERS WHOSE WORK YOU SHOULD KNOW.
Ansel Adams Diane Arbus Henri Cartier-Bresson William Eggleston Lee Friedlander Man Ray Dorothea Lange Lee Miller Lisette Model Edward Steichen Alfred Stieglitz Weegee Edward Weston Garry Winogrand Out of respect for Mr. Penn, my creative director pal, Ruba Abu-Nima, left work early that October day, muttering something about how his website should at least have had the sense to shroud itself in black. The next day, in shock that Mr. Penn"s pa.s.sing had attracted virtually no media attention, legendary hair stylist Garren recalled how Mr. Penn, in taking a much younger Garren"s portrait, had asked that his subject shave his head (all the while tr.i.m.m.i.n.g my own beached-out locks). Laughing now, and essentially hairless, the stylist demurred. No matter, Mr. Penn created a portrait that made Garren look as if he had shaved his head. It hangs in a place of honor in Garren"s Fifth Avenue home. Despite everything, my haircut was perfection.
VISUALIZER AGENCIES.
Art Department. Represents all categories including photographers (Norma Jean Roy, Max Vadukul, Thomas Schenk), stylists, hair, and makeup. www.art-dept.com Art + Commerce. Top photographers Steven Meisel, Carter Smith, Craig McDean, Ellen Von Unwerth, Solve Sundsbo. Celeb hair stylists like Guido, Orlando Pita, Teddy Charles, Ashley Javier. Makeup like Gucci Westman, Peter Phillips, Diane Kendal. Stylists like Anne Christensen, Bill Mullen, Camilla Nickerson, Brana Wolf. Ill.u.s.trator Mats Gustafson. And creative directors. You can even apply online for an internship. www.artandcommerce.com Art Partner, NYC, Paris. Represents photographers like Enrique Badulescu, Mario Testino, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, David Sims, Mario Sorrenti, and E B ++ and stylists like Lucinda Chambers and Joe McKenna. Internship program. www.artpartner.com Bryan Bantry, www.bryanbantry.com. Represents photographer Patrick Demarchelier; hair stylists Didier Malige and Ric Pipino; stylists Adam Gla.s.sman and Freddie Leiba, and makeup artist Tina Lipman.
Jed Root, www.jedroot.com. Represents photographers Michael Thompson, Alexei Hay, and Sebastian Kim; stylists Elissa Santisi, Joe Zee, and Inge Fonteyne.
Katy Barker Agency, Inc., www.katybarker.com.
ICONIC FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERS.
Richard Avedon Irwin Blumenfeld Louise Dahl-Wolfe Hiro Martin Munkacsi Helmut Newton Irving Penn Melvin Sokolsky Lord Snowden Billy, an a.s.sistant on a set I was on recently, after hearing my Norwegian name, mentioned how Mr. Penn tended to hire Scandinavian a.s.sistants who would eat smoked fish for breakfast, trivia that made sense only after I remembered that Mr. Penn"s wife and muse, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, a Swede, considered by many to have been the world"s first supermodel, must have thrown back a smoked sardine or two first thing in the day.
Smoked fish, smocks, and shrouds. "Blah, blah, blah," you say. "What does this ancient history have to do with me: tomorrow"s Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Raymond Meier?"
Well, everything, if you"re smart. Read Mr. Penn"s obituary. Look at his images. Buy a book of his photographs. By connecting yourself to the quite short history of fashion photography that Mr. Penn embodies better than anyone, you a.s.sure yourself, a young fashion photographer hopeful, a brighter path since it will be enriched with the precise, clean American vision of one of its greatest. Then go shoot your neighborhood skateboard dudes. I promise you they"ll look cooler and your image will be more powerful for your time with Mr. Penn.
TIMELINES.
Think about it. Fashion was born the first time cavemen put pelt to body. Trust me on this, it"s true. Writing was born the first time cavemen put symbol to cave wall-albeit fashion writing came a few years later. By contrast, fashion photography was born in the 1920s with the emergence of Conde Nast-the man, his publications, and two amazing photographers who helped define the field of fashion photography: Alfred Stieglitz (husband of artist Georgia O"Keeffe) and Edward Steichen. If you think about it, Stieglitz and Steichen broke through only ninety years ago. So, studying the entire history of fashion photography shouldn"t take that long.
PROFILE.
DENNIS GOLONKAFashion Photographer His fashion photography career wasn"t handed to him on a silver platter. After college in Maryland, Dennis Golonka moved to New York City and put himself through photography cla.s.ses at the School of Visual Arts. He then slogged for years as an a.s.sistant to other photographers before signing on in the art department of a well-known fashion magazine. There, Dennis was able to study up close the work of iconic fashion photographers like Richard Avedon, Hiro, and Louis Dahl-Wolfe.
From his perch in the art department, Dennis was often the first to see photos by contemporary greats like Patrick Demarchelier, Raymond Meier, David Sims, Mario Testino, and Craig McDean, and he watched as their images were edited, ma.s.saged, and captioned before finally going to press. During this time, Dennis also built his contacts with editors and managed to get some of his own pictures published in the magazine so that when the moment arrived, years later, to go out on his own, Dennis Golonka was ready to make the leap. Of course it helps that Dennis has an easy smile and a big warm personality, is extremely polite, and puts people at ease in front of his camera. It also helps that Dennis continues to adapt his technique to survive and grow in the tricky fashion landscape. A lot more useful than some stupid silver platter.
BACKGROUND.
A Maryland native, Dennis is a lanky, winsome guy who graduated with a BA from Towson University (part of the University of Maryland system), then spent two years studying photography at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York City. Dennis is not a famous son and has not dated supermodels. He"s a talented, pa.s.sionate guy who"s made it through hard work and never giving up.
STUPIDLY THOUGHT AFTER EARNING SVA DEGREE.
"Now I can work as a photographer."
a.s.sISTING, a.s.sISTING, a.s.sISTING.
That was the beginning of Dennis" a.s.sisting phase. "I sent out tons of resumes and got a call from a still-life photographer and soon became his full-time second a.s.sistant. Still-life photography was not for me. Next I a.s.sisted Rebecca Blake, a fashion and beauty photographer. I was her third a.s.sistant. I was Windexing windows, cleaning bathrooms, and playing gofer. I was learning more about cleaning for a germaphobe than how to be a great photographer."
KNOW YOUR CAMERAS.
"I sat at the interview with Steven Meisel"s first a.s.sistant. By the end of the interview, I thought I had the job. Just as I was leaving, he said, "Oh yeah, one last question: You know the Pentax 6-by-7, don"t you?" I told the truth-that I didn"t know it but could easily rent this camera and learn it. I didn"t get the job."
BUS OMEN.
"I was at the gym one day, when it dawned on me I wasn"t getting enough out of a.s.sisting photographers anymore, ... but I was still unable to make a living as a photographer in my own right. I had the idea to go work for a fashion magazine. I rushed home to make a list of publications that may be hiring in the art department. Then I looked up and saw a bus pa.s.s on the street that had on its side the relaunch cover of the new Bazaar, "enter the era of elegance" with Linda Evangelista on the cover. It was like a message to me."
KISMET.
"I cold-called the art department, and the girl who answered said I"d need to get my resume in that day to be considered for the a.s.sistant job in the art department."
"I"LL CLEAN TOILETS"
"I sat in the interview with art director Ann Kwong, and I said, "I am a hard worker. I will do anything you need me to do. If you need me to clean the toilets, I will clean the toilets." And I got the job, despite the fact that they were thinking to hire a girl."
SEVEN YEARS LATER.
Still in his role at the art department at Bazaar, Dennis had been shooting pictures for the magazine from the beginning and was gradually allowed to do freelance photography for other publications as well. "And I never had to clean a toilet."
WHY LIZ TILBERIS" BAZAAR WAS GREAT FOR FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY "Most established fashion publications have their contract photographers. Vogue has Steven Meisel and Patrick Demarchelier. Bazaar today has Peter Lindbergh. But at Liz"s Bazaar, we gave great young photographers a chance. We used people like David Sims, Carter Smith, Craig McDean, and Mario Sorrenti before anyone else gave them a shot. That was the exception. Today there are fewer major publications willing to give an unknown a chance."
TIME TO GO FOR IT.
When a new editor in chief moved in, Dennis decided it was his time to do the photography thing full on.
NOW HIRING a.s.sISTANTS.
"For many freelance fashion photography jobs, it used to be that you could hire two or three a.s.sistants in addition to your tech. A tech is the person who deals with the digital portion of the shoot. A good tech can help take a good picture and make it gorgeous. In a slow economy it"s more likely to be just one a.s.sistant and your tech. I have a regular group of a.s.sistants I work with and, occasionally, will rotate someone new in."
NEXT BIG THING.
"Videography will be the wave of the future. Fashion photographers who also tap in to this new medium will have interesting careers going forward."
CHASING TASTES?.
Despite trends in fashion photography, Dennis advises, "Just do your thing, and eventually it will hit. Luckily for me, I like an upbeat picture, and that"s where things are now. These things come in waves. People who shoot dark images are probably not working as much at the moment, but that could all change tomorrow. It"s the nature of the business."
SHOWING UP ON THE SET.
A guy most happy in jeans and a T-shirt, even Dennis admits: "It"s fashion photography, so take pride in the way you look."
FAVORITE IMAGE YOU"VE EVER SHOT "Last year I did a fashion story for British Marie Claire. We photographed the story at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England. In one of the gardens stood a sculpture almost twenty-one feet tall called The WEEE Man. It is a huge robotic creature made of sc.r.a.p electrical and electronic equipment. It represents the average quant.i.ty of consumer goods every single one of us throws away over a lifetime. I photographed our model on a ladder shining against the metal of the sculpture."
PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO INSPIRE DENNIS.
"Way too many people to list, but a few of my favorites are Steven Meisel, Tim Walker, Jock Sturges, Lars Tunbjork, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, and David Sims."
Makeup Artist
These days, no matter where you live, there is a way to become a working makeup artist. Perhaps the easiest start is to get a job behind the counter of one of the many makeup artists" lines of products, like MAC, Bobbi Brown, Francois Nars, or Laura Mercier at major department stores all across the country or, possibly, at some of these companies" stand-alone stores. Once hired as a counter salesperson or "makeup artist," you will be trained in some basic techniques of makeup application. Then, as you work, you will begin to see if you like the process of interacting with a woman and the intimacy of putting makeup on someone"s face. You could supplement your store work by offering friends and friends-of-friends free makeup application for special occasions, gradually switching to a fee system if people like what they see and your services catch on. Or you could link up with a popular hair salon, setting up your own chair to do quick or complete makeup application for clients already in the salon. You could ask to see the list of clients with appointments and call individual women ahead to see whether they"d like to schedule makeup with you after their blowouts.
Whomever you get your hands on, be sure to take a digital "before" and "after" photo, which you can use in your portfolio.
Bridal makeup is specialty you can do anywhere. Probably the best way to start is to find the biggest bridal makeup artist in your area and offer to a.s.sist that person for free. Once you gain confidence, you can offer to do makeup for the bridal party of a friend, friend-of-friend, or relative. Again, take your own before and after pictures so that you can put them in your book. If you like this work and if it is fun for you, you might want to print up cards and then make an effort to meet bridal consultants in your region as well as leaving cards at bridal shops and catering halls. Another route would be to team up with a hairdresser who does a fair number of weddings. But, even though being a wedding makeup artist is a way of working in the realm of fashion, is it really being in fashion?
PROFILE.
BOBBI BROWNMakeup Artist, Naturalist, Empowerer, Founder (1991) Bobbi Brown Cosmetics You were the kid who had his or her hands in makeup as long as you can remember and have never tired of putting makeup on your sister and her friends. You can"t get enough of it. You"ve read Kevyn Aucoin"s book and every last one of Bobbi Brown"s books. You even know who Wade Bandy was and that d.i.c.k Page and Pat McGrath are both British. Maybe you keep sc.r.a.pbooks of personalities so that you can a.n.a.lyze different makeup looks in different situations. You know that your first love is makeup but that working behind the MAC counter or doing a bride a month won"t cut it for you. That means you are going to have to find a way to live in New York City or Los Angeles, and even then getting started as a studio makeup artist for fashion photography and fashion runway is not easy.
You have to have major persistence. "If a door closes to you, you have to go through the window," advises makeup artist Bobbi Brown, who founded her own beauty company some 20 years ago, which now sells her cosmetics in 55 countries globally. It is also cutthroat, since there are many times more people looking to enter the business than the business can support.
Studio photography is a business based on relationships. When a photographer finds a makeup artist (or two or three) he or she likes to work with and from whom he or she creates great images, there is no incentive for that photographer to try new people.
It is so tough that it defies logic. a.s.suming you don"t know anyone, but to get a job as a makeup artist you need to show pictures of your work as a makeup artist, where are these images to come from? Bobbi suggests starting the way she did, by visiting modeling agencies and offering to do test shoots for free with new models. "They liked me enough that they"d send me on test shoots," says Bobbi. "It"s about showing up there and being nice."
Go online and find the names of big photo agencies in these cities and get in touch with them, as well. While Bobbi was pounding the pavement, she sometimes waited tables because the hours could be flexible enough to accommodate a long day in a photo studio. Working at a store or for a company like Bobbi Brown Cosmetics gives great experience but not the flexibility you"d need to pursue a studio career at the same time.
"Everything is about your work," says Bobbi. "You have to show your work. Your job is to get pictures," Bobbi explains. "You"re doing it for free to get the pictures for your book. And, probably, after the shoot, you"ll have to chase after the photographer to get the picture. Though it"s slightly easier today because everything is digital. And don"t spend tons of money on printing them.
"After I graduated from college, my father agreed to pay my rent for a year so that I would have the freedom to make this thing work," says Bobbi. "That was an amazing gift.