Posts tagged ‘new york times’
Pussy Riot – NYC Photo Shoot
I love the randomness of my job. I always get calls out of the blue from my editors to rush out of my apartment with a moment’s notice to photograph just about anything. Just this past week I was summoned to rush down to Soho where I was to connect with a reporter and find the two still-in-hiding members of Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist punk-rock collective based in Moscow.
I keep up in the news, so I was very aware of their collective and the prison sentences some of them are serving for their recent unauthorized provocative guerrilla performance inside a church to protest of the Orthodox Church leader’s support for Putin during his election campaign. After playing only for 40 seconds before security guards stopped them, three ended up being charged with hooliganism and sentenced to prison and two fled Russia to avoid prosecution.
This shoot was different from most for a number of reasons. First, my subjects were anonymous as the group members wear brightly colored balaclavas and use only nicknames during interviews. I was photographing Fara and Shaiba. When asked who was who, one responded, “It doesn’t matter”.
When I arrived, the two small girls were unmasked and very warm to myself and the writer. They were crashing, at least temporarily, at someone’s home prior to the premiere of their HBO documentary at a nearby theater, which they ended up attended unmasked in secret. What an experience to have to sneak into their own premiere.
I was told by one of their handlers that it was imperative that we not photograph their faces because the Russian government was after them. At the beginning of the shoot, they only wanted me to photograph them while masked inside the elevator of the building. Because that seemed very limited, I asked if we could try quickly taking their portrait, masked, at street level, but they didn’t want to risk causing a scene on the street and getting tracked, especially since their documentary premiere was just a few blocks away. There’s a good chance they’d be recognized and cause a scene.
I ended up scouting the stairwell of the building where, at the top, I found a ladder to the roof of the building. I pitched the idea of climbing up to the roof so we could photograph them outside in the golden light. They liked the idea, so we climbed up and made some really cool images.
I really had a fun time with this shoot. The secretive nature of the shoot was exciting and it felt like I was part of something somewhat historical. Good times!
Billionaire Developer Harry Macklowe
Last week I received a call from the NY Times to take a portrait of billionaire developer Harry Macklowe. The story was about the new, mega-tall, ultra-luxury, residential skyscraper he’s building on Park avenue. This property boasts being the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere at 84-stories high. I was actually chatting with one of his marketing folks while on the property who mentioned it will actually be taller than the new 1 World Trade Center in terms of livable space, with the exception of the massive antenna on 1WTC. It’s currently at about 10-stories high, and the penthouse floor is already under contract for $95 million. Wow.
A rendering of 432 Park Avenue, an 84-story tower. (Credit: dbox for CIM Group & Macklowe Properties)
For this particular assignment I was called the night before, which is unusual for the NY Times to give me so much notice. Typically I’ll get an early AM call to run out and cover a story happening within the hour. As with most other assignments, I was able to do a little extra research about Mr. Macklowe and found he’s quite an impressive person. One of the most striking achievements, in my opinion, was when he purchased the General Motors (GM) Building for a record $1.4 billion, then personally pitched to Steve Jobs the concept of the underground, glass-roofed, Fifth Avenue Apple store underneath the building’s plaza, which did it’s part to double the building’s price. Amazing.
Instagram I took of the GM Building reflected against the Apples Store last year.
Anyhow, not knowing how accommodating Harry would be, I was envisioning a quick portrait of him out in front of the property. When I arrived, I was happy to find Mr Macklowe extremely accommodating and eager to take the time to accomplish an unexpected portrait. We even started talking about photography as I found he’s a lover of photography and a big art collector.
We started the shoot out front where I made the images I’d originally envisioned. Then I started discussing my idea of placing Mr Macklowe onto the 2nd story window frame outside the edifice of the building, which was a 10-story shell at the time. From a distance it looked pretty simple, but as we walked deeper into the construction site, we realized the only way to get him into the position was to find a mechanical lift to hoist him up to the second story level from street level.
While we waited for the site boss to roundup the lift, Harry walked around the site to evaluate progress. One thing I found to be really rewarding was to see was the genuine smiles on both Mr Macklowe’s face and the faces of all the workers as they spotted him. Many came up to me asking if it was indeed the man funding the project. When I confirmed, they all wanted to shake hands with him because they were so happy to be working in this tough economy. Harry was extremely kind and shook hands with all who came up to him for a quick word. It’s nice to see someone is creating jobs and likewise to see those workers showing their appreciation. That’s a good thing.
Not only did I get a great variety of solid portraits from Harry, I was also able to do what I love most: document the lives of my subjects. Mr Macklowe won me over that morning, along with a number of construction workers.
NY Times Restaurant Review: Jeepney – Balut – OMG!
About a week ago I was asked to swing by a new Filipino restaurant in the East Village for the New York Times Dining Section. I love shooting food assignments as I enjoy meeting the chefs, seeing the cool restaurants, and of course the amazing culinary creations they create!
This particular restaurant, Jeepney, was really cool…and like many NYC restaurants, was very tight. I shot my usual interiors, exteriors, and was set up at a table in the back to document various dishes the critic asked me to shoot. They brought out adobo chicken wings, a dish of pancit malabok negra, Bulalo, a short-rib and vegetable soup with a marrow bone riding on top, and finally the balut: a hard-boiled duck egg with a fertilized duck embryo encased inside.
I’ve never seen anything quite like balut, so in order to take proper photos, the owner gave me a demonstration how the hard boiled egg is served and how it’s cracked and eaten. After cracking open the large hard-boiled egg with a fork, she dug within the yellow yolky interior and came out with fertilized duck embryo (I’ll call it a fetus).
At that point she asked if I’d like to try the balut. Ok, sometimes I find it hard to turn down an offer to taste the food at these sort of assignments…but I had no problem respectfully declining this particular offer…
Anyhow, the balut may not be my cup of tea, but I’d definitely come back for one of their other great dishes on the menu! Fun place! 
Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estee Lauder for The NY Times
A few months ago I had an assignment to photograph Fabrizio Freda, the CEO of Estee Lauder, whose offices are located in the General Motors Building, a building which now is most well known for being just behind the Fifth Avenue Apple Store.
The shoot was for the New York Times Business Day article about the company developing a new brand for China.
The assignment was pretty strait-forward in that I was simply tasked to take a portrait of Mr Freda in the lobby which was decorated like the late Estée Lauder home. ie old school wealth.
As with any portrait of a high-profile subject, my time was limited so I arrived early to figure out a handful portrait setups.
Whenever I’m in an office building with a view, I always try to get a nice photo from the window. As I looked north from the 47th floor over Central Park, one building dominated the foreground, the Sherry Netherland Hotel. I even mentioned to the publicist how awesome it would be to have a balcony iin that building. It wasnt 24 hours later that I got a call to photograph a $95 million listing within that very building. Crazy coincidence. 
Boylesque 101 – Probably Not Safe For Work
About a month ago I was on a shoot and received a phone call from my editor pal at the New York Times Styles Desk about an assignment the following day. Given that I was in the middle of another shoot, the call was quick and all I really remembered was the words “burlesque class tomorrow in Williamsburg”. I said, “sure, send me the info.”
The next morning I took a more detailed look at the assignment slip and realized it was a little different than I’d envisioned:
Instructions: The rise of “Boylesque” — that’s burlesque dancing for guys. There’s a class happening this Sunday in Williamsburg. Need scenes from the class, there will be 8 pupils. ***Please creatively frame the photos so that there is no blatant nudity.****
Ohhh…. BOYlesque, not BURlesque! And avoid blatant male nudity? Oh my, what did I get myself into?
I made my way to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and found myself in a large warehouse-style building searching for the dance studio within. I finally found the space, which turned out to be a very small studio with 9 sweaty men sporting only jock straps or thong underwear. Oh yeah, the room was hot, moist, and smelled like sweaty balls.
When I arrived the undressed men were sitting in a row of chairs watching as each student took a turn performing a short routine in which they pretended to give a striptease while taking off imaginary clothes. They were wearing only thongs for this portion. The goal was to get the rest of the group to guess what character they were representing and what sort of imaginary clothes they were taking off.
Afterward, the instructor provided various props and costumes that the students were to use for a striptease routine. Though only three students gave their OK for me to shoot, I still I got quite enough to work with.
I will say, though, the toughest part of this assignments was having to kneel behind the sweaty butt cracks of the seated students in order to frame the photo and hide myself from reflecting in the mirror. I won’t soon forget this assignment…
$95,000,000 Will Get You a Hell of a View!
Looking northwest from the west-facing terrace.
Funny story…last week I had an assignment to photograph the CEO of Estée Lauder from the 47th floor of the General Motors Building. As I do whenever I find myself in an office with a view, I went to the window and took some photos. The view looked northwest and the only building in the foreground was the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. I mentioned to the publicist how amazing it would be to check out the balconies on that building. Well, fast forward 18 hours, I got a call from the real estate editor of the NY Times asking me to take pictures of a co-op that just hit the market at $95 million. Unbelievably, I was assigned to shoot a residence in the very same hotel I’d photographed a day prior from that office window. What are the odds?!
View of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel from the General Motors Building.
I made my way across the park from my apartment on the Upper West Side and down 5th Avenue to the southeast corner of Central Park. The Sherry-Netherland Hotel is located on 59th street directly across from the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, catty-cornered from the infamous Plaza Hotel, and across Fifth Avenue from the southeast corner of Central Park. When I arrived multiple doormen greeted me graciously and showed me to the front desk. I was pointed to the elevators where I had the choice of 3 luxurious lifts with operators smiling at me attentively.
Lift operator in the luxurious elevators.
Elegant elevator lobby in the residence.
Once on the 18th floor, I opened a door to another world. Each of the three elevators open to a set of private entrances within a hallway of gold fixtures. Take a left and you’re headed to the professionally-equipped kitchen and dining room, or take a right and you’re headed toward a room with a wet bar made of solid mahogany.
Professional grade kitchen.
Dining room and solarium in the background.
Mahogany wet bar.
Though luxurious, the interior wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I’m sure every piece of furniture was an antique, beautifully crafted, and expensive, but a bit out-of-date for my taste. What I was truly taken by were the sweeping views from west-facing terrace of Central Park stretching as far north as the eye could see and, with one sweep of the head, you can see straight down Fifth Avenue to the Empire State Building. There are two identical terraces both spanning the south and west lengths of the building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street (Central Park South).
West terrace panorama. Click to enlarge.
South terrace panorama. Click to enlarge.
Looking south down 5th Avenue with Empire State in the distance.
The listing boasts over 7,000 square feet of interior space and over 2,000 square feet of outdoor space. There is a third smaller, but substantial north-facing terrace located off of the master bedroom suite. The master suite also has his-and-hers private baths and walk-in closets.
Master suite terrace facing north.
Master bedroom
Walk-in closet and vanity.
On top of what I mentioned above, there is a solarium, a hallway of closets leading to the west wing of the apartment with a guest suite with two bedrooms, two baths and a small kitchen, various other bedrooms, offices, bathroom, and two maids quarters on a separate floor.
After my tour I was invited to come back in the early-evening if I wanted to take some photos from the terraces at dusk. You see, I have a rule that I always take up an offer when invited to shoot from a $95 million terrace…it’s just common sense.
So I went back to my office to file the photos to the NY Times as they were promptly closing the section. I relaxed a few hours and scooted back down to my new oasis in the sky.
View of the Plaza Hotel looking west on the south-facing terrace.
I spent about 30 minutes snapping away as the day turned into night and the glow of the city was able to burn into my images. Standing on the south-facing terrace you’re able to look straight down on the Fifth Avenue Apple Store which is actually a massive glass skylight for the underground store. It just so happened to be the day before the new iPhone 5 went on sale, so if you look closely, you’ll see a queue of people waiting overnight to be the first owners.
Great view of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store across the street.
Bergdorf Goodman, left, and Plaza Hotel, right.
View looking west down Central Park South at Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center.
Simply put, the view is what makes this listing so unbelievably amazing, rare, and pricy. Granted, having an entire floor of an old-school luxury hotel isn’t bad…but nothing beats 2,000 square feet of outdoor space and the breathtaking views of this dream home.
I’m just happy I got to live that fantasy world…if ever so briefly.
Covering the Central Park Rape
There are times as a news photographer that I cringe when I get an assignment from an editor…and this was one of them. Let me back up….a few days ago I received an email from my mother linking me to a news report about the awful rape and brutal beating of a 73-year-old birdwatcher in a secluded area in Strawberry Fields in New York. Truly horrible, especially being my neighborhood and the fact that it took place in broad daylight near a very popular tourist attraction, the John Lennon Imagine Memorial.
The next morning I got a call from the NY Times asking me to head into the park to take pictures in the more secluded areas known as The Rambles, which are especially popular among birders and nature photographers….and apparently shady sexual encounters according to the article.
I arrived at the entrance of Strawberry Fields where the rape happened and found police tape marking a wide parameter around the popular tourist destination. I made some pictures of the detectives and crime scene unit working before I walked around the entire parameter in search of photos to illustrate the story.
Now, I’m quite familiar with The Rambles in Central Park as I’m and avid walker/jogger and even got married on the north side of The Lake. Normally I hike the paths with enthusiasm, but as I walked the paths on this day, it was a bit haunting given the events of the previous day.
After making some pictures of folks walking through the most isolated areas, I made my way back to my apartment to transmit the photos.
Soon after filing my pictures from Central Park, my editor gave me a call to see if I could rush up to the Special Victims Unit in East Harlem to take pictures of the rapist who was arrested hours earlier. It’s typical for high profile cases that police departments arrange a “perp walk” in order to show off their arrest to the media.
I arrived on the scene and there were already numerous news crews, both stills and video, network satellite trucks, reporters, and many locals (including school kids) waiting for a glimpse of the rapist. There was a lot of anger building among the locals…and they all yelled at him as he was led from the SVU to the awaiting patrol car. I took some audio of the crowd reacting to the man.
As he was led out, he immediately looked like one scary dude. He quickly glared at the news media waiting to take is pictures and spit in our direction before being promptly placed in the car. Locals cursed and jeered at him as he was driven off…
Such is a day in the life of a NYC photographer…
Bad, Icky, Nasty, Creepy Elmo. Parents Beware!
Every so often I’ll get a call from an editor asking me to shoot an assignment that just makes me laugh. Tuesday was one of those days. Fresh off a plane from a two-week shoot in Hawaii, a metro editor at the NY Times rang me asking me to hop into Central Park (always my favorite assignment location) to photograph a “Bad Elmo”. Since I was off the grid from a full day of travel, I hadn’t heard about the recent news of a hate-spewing Elmo who was yelling at people the day prior. I’m talking about the silly people who dress up like characters and pose with tourists for money. Think Times Square or Hollywood Boulevard in LA.
Since I live right on Central Park West, I often get called for last minute assignments in the park, like this one. Apparently the reporter was doing some investigating and found the Bad Elmo in the same spot he was the day prior, posting with tourists and collecting $1 and $5 bills for his talent. Turns out these guys can make a pretty decent living doing this. He said his suit cost $300 off the internet and he can make around $200/day.
As he continued to speak with the reporter the story turned more and more disturbing and I was shocked to hear him be so candid, explaining that he was just let out of a psychiatric ward at the local hospital where he’d been held since the altercation that put him there a day earlier. He went on to give the reporter his background which involved both running and being an actor in a PORNOGRAPHY website based out of Cambodia he created called “Rape Camp”. That’s right parents, the Elmo that is on his knees embracing your children ran and acted in a website called Rape Camp.
So anyway…I just found it amazing how this creepy dude who was candidly talking about his disturbing past to a reporter was continually interrupted by parents so that he could be paid to hold their innocent little children. Hopefully the NY Times article gives you pause next time you see a random person waltzing down the street cloaked in a furry costume.
Parents Beware!
More Photos of Bad Elmo can be found in my archives.
Bruce Springsteen Rocks The Apollo
I’ve shot a lot of concerts in my days as a news photographer….especially in 2010 when I shot 85 Justin Bieber shows (yeah, seriously) when I was touring with the kid making his book. But rarely do I shoot a single concert that makes all my (older) family members envious. Last night I shot Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Apollo Theater in Harlem for the New York Times as part of a VIP concert for Serius Satellite subscribers who were celebrating their 10 year anniversary.
I was tasked with not just shooting the show itself, but also to try and get a sense of who was attending this VIP show being held in one of the smallest venues Springsteen has played. I arrived around 6:30 to the Apollo and there was already lines of folks waiting to get in, as well as many people just loitering around in hopes of snagging a loose ticket.
I don’t come to Harlem all that often, but I think it might be safe to say that there were more white folks in their 60s than this venue sees in a month…not to stereotype a Springsteen fan…
Some of the more famous VIPs that I saw there included Michael J Fox, Tommy Hilfiger, Brian Williams, Coach Tom Coughlin, Harry Belafonte, Ben Stiller, Elvis Costello, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and a host of others who I didn’t personally know.
The set list was long and consisted of early hits and tunes from his newest album. It was my first time seeing The Boss in concert and I must say I was impressed an old white guy could rock a stage like he did.
On top of simply being a fun night at work, I got to see an old pal from the Bieber tour, Adam Courtney, who was my busmate for 6 months while I toured with Justin Bieber, and is now touring with Springsteen. Good seeing you bro.
Fun times!
Darren Criss Portrait Shoot for The New York Times
Last week I got a call from the New York Times asking me to photograph Darren Criss, the breakout star of the Fox high school musical series “Glee”, to accompany a story about his upcoming Broadway debut in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
One of the things I love about my job is the unexpected assignments I receive usually on a moment’s notice. This time my editor called around 5PM to schedule a shoot later in the evening on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at an old-school diner near Darren’s apartment. It happened to be very cold that night, so I opted to take a few pictures inside the diner so we could first warm up a bit.
I met the reporter, Patrick Healey, and soon after Darren arrived joyful with a big grin. It’s always nice to work with someone who is very upbeat and talkative. Darren, Patrick, and I had a hot tea to warm up and chatted a bit before I started shooting.
When I have celebrity shoots, I always try to arrive a bit in advance to scout the area for nice portrait locations because often I have little time with those subjects. I’m always looking for quality light sources, as I prefer to take naturally lit portraits as often as possible. I love documentary photography and I suppose shooting natural light is my way of merging the two genres of photography.
After capturing a few portraits of him enjoying a ice cream sundae at the bar in the diner, we walked outside and up the block to a bank of pay phones I’d scouted earlier. I liked the nostalgia of a pay phone, but what really drew me was the light from the adjacent Apple Store spilling directly into the booths.
I hope I cross paths Darren again in the future…until then, break a leg on Broadway!
