I was shameless. I used to use the models as bait. For example, I was doing a book on dogs and their celebrity owners. I would send the girls over to talk to the talent to try to get them to do the photo. The models knew how to talk to the people more than I could. The times I did try, the celebrity told me to piss off. One time I was doing a portrait of a famous surfer. I sent the girl over to ask him to do the portrait and he said sure. If I went over, he would have told me to piss off. I guess she knew how to sell stuff.
It’s funny, you know, it makes me realize what we used to do. I never really thought about it. The client would give us an ugly dress and say “Here. Here’s an ungly dress. Take a nice photo of it and sell lots of them.” We would get a good model, good hair and make up, great location. The pictures were nice. I guess when you look at the photo, you think, “I could be like her in that nice location. That dress looks nice.” Then they get the dress in the mail and all their visions and fantasies are shattered. I guess we were magicians in a way.
One time (before 9/11) I sent the model over to ask the captain of an aircraft carrier If we could shoot on the deck with a bunch of sailors. He said, “Yeah, no problem.” He even gave us his cabin to do hair and makeup. It was a fun shoot. You could do stuff like that before 9/11.
I was more of a spontaneous photographer. I would see a situation and try to use it instead of setting up shots. You know, adapt to situations. If it worked, great. If it didn’t work, move on. I guess that’s where I am now. I have many other stories like the ones above. Anyway, this is B. Nice signing off. Don’t forget to check out my other blog where I talk about the present. Love, B. Nice