# 6451-59 / photography for commerce ~ didn't feel much like work

Ithaca Gun - (embiggenable)

Pittsburgh Symphony ~ hand colored photos (embiggenable)

Duquense Club coffee table cookbook ~ (embiggenable)

Duquesne Light Ad ~ (embiggenable)

1 of 7: KODAK America’s Story Teller ~ (embiggenable)

Hospital Sports Medicine / Rehab Ad ~ (embiggenable)

Magazine Restaurant review ~ (embiggenable)

death in the ER ~ from A Day In The Life Of An Urban Hospital coffee table book ~ (embiggenable)

self promotion pieces ~ (embiggenable)

FOR 30 YEARS I WAS ENGAGED IN PHOTOGRAPHY FOR COMMERCE. I.E. making pictures for advertising, marketing, corporate communications (annual reports, et al), editorial (consumer / business magazines) clients. My areas of practice included still life, food, people / fashion, editorial and photo journalism. I had different portfolios for my different areas of expertise. Clients included KODAK, XEROX, Bausch&Lomb / Ray Ban, Corning, amongst many others, including a 1-time shoot for Playboy Magazine.

My studio was equipped with; multi-bodies / 8 lens Nikon system, multi-bodies / 3 lens Bronica ETRs system, multiple view cameras - 2 8x10 / 3 4x5 + assortment of lenses, and a number of specialty cameras - Polaroid, rotating lens panoramic cameras (2) and the like. Lighting was multiple high-output studio strobe banks and heads soft boxes (up to 8x8ft). There was a full kitchen and 2 darkrooms -1 for bw / color film processing, 1 for bw / color printing.

During those 30 years-c.1970-2000-most of my personal picture making was “limited” to the making of thousands of Polaroid family snapshots. The only exception being a few years-c.1980-83-when I was fiddling around with an 8x10 Deardorff making urban landscape pictures. Although, during that same time I did manage to make a few pictures during trips to the Adirondacks which were multiple year award winners in The Carnegie International Natural World Photographic Competition.

Upon my move to the Adirondacks in 2000, I exited the full-time commercial photo world for that of being a full-time Creative Director at an ad agency. That gig was similar to my commercial photography career in that there were lots of creative challenges to be had. That written, while I missed the photo making challenges, I did not miss the challenges of running a small business.

FYI, all of the pictures in this entry were made on film. No digital capture was involved. That includes the leapers in the Sports Medicine picture-an in-camera single frame capture. Death in the ER pictures were made with a rotating-lens Widelux camera. The self promotion pieces were made with Photoshop but the photo pieces were made on film.

work for hire ~ diversity

fashion shoot ~ Italian Designer clothing

journalism / death in the ER ~ from hardbound photo book, A Day in the Life of an Urban Hospital

hand-colored still life ~ Pittsburgh Symphony brochure

photo illustration ~ magazine article on modern art

still life / food shoot ~ hard-bound cookbook

still life / product shoot ~ Italian Designer fashion accessories

I'm rooting around in boxes of my ancient-history commercial work selecting pictures as candidates for the bio section in my work-in-progress photography book. The idea is to represent the wide range of divergent genres and styles which defined my commercial advertising / marketing life in photography.

Represented in this group of selections is (top to bottom); fashion, journalism, still life (hand-colored), photo illustration, still life -product and food. On many ocassions, I was advised by art directors and graphic designers to become a specialist in one genre / style. Most often that advice was specifically regarding my food photography.

However, I couldn't imagine that I would enjoy limiting my work to just one specific type of picture making. I really enjoyed the diversity and the diverse challenges which came with it. Needless to write, the challenges presented by fashion work as opposed those presented for picturing the near frentic activity and eventual death in an emergency room are quite different.

The cameras used to make the pictures presented here range from 35mm format camera, 2 1/4 format camera, rotating lens panoramic camera, to various view camera formats (4x5 - 8x10). Each of those formats also present their own unique technique / technical considerations.

As I continue unearth more selections I will present them for you, the viewing audience, to enjoy. Any questions?