Celebrities As Photographers
This evening, I was perusing my latest copy of American Photo, and there is a photograph of Keifer Sutherland in the oval office set on his series "24", alongside the other photographers, and the article (read it here) revealed that he is an avid photographer, and so on.
That got me to thinking, and thus, here is a partial list of people who I researched and determined were avid photographers based upon answers they have given to questions in interviews, or other biographical information, but who am I missing?
So, who am I missing?
Dennis Hopper Shari Belafonte Brad Pitt Leonard Nimoy David Bowie Keifer Sutherland Richard Gere Spike Jonze Roddy McDowell Vigo Mortenson Pierce Brosnan Rosie O'Donnel Brendan Fraser Jennifer Aniston Nikki Sixx Tipper Gore Alyssa Milano Aaron Eckhart Seal Jennifer Beals Helena Christensen Lacey Chabert Parvin Dabas Bryan Adams Joel Grey Aston Kutcher Jason Mraz Gary Busey Karl Lagerfeld Cindy Crawford Martha Stewart Drew Carey Diane Keaton David Boreanaz Tabitha Soren Andy Sommers Barry Zito Jamie Lee Curtis
(Your insights, after the Jump)
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42 comments:
Lou Reed.
Barry Bonds. In fact he had the Canon Mark II N before it came out.
Jessica Lange just published her new book "50 Photographs".
Very interesting article - thank you for linking to it.
I like a fair number of the pictures they posted that Keifer took (along with the rest of the crew) and from reading the article it sounds like he has a good foundation in photography.
This quote right here: "With the still image it's the exact opposite. It allows your imagination to examine a moment rather than having it examined for you. As closely related as they are, the still imagery of photography is almost the polar opposite to me of telling a story through moving film."
THAT is not a quote of a "snapshot" photographer...
Jeff Bridges, he had an exhibit at San Diego's MoPA back in 04/05
Who really cares? John, you're too obsessed with celebrity and fame.
Actually, I care, which is why I asked. So, if you want to dismiss my inquiry, feel free, but I look forward to those of you who make additions to this list!
Thanks!
Kenny Rogers
Billy Payne, keyboard wiz from Little Feat
You say you were perusing the latest copy of American Photo but the link goes to popphoto.com......
http://alecsothblog.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/quiz-name-the-photographer/
alec soth has just what you're looking for. unfortunately, the image that his name-the-celebrity-photographer quiz references is no longer linked now that his blog is done. but you can get a good idea of who's who in the comments. maybe a bit of sleuthing could find the contact sheet image?
-phil
Bill Wyman
Anonymous -
Yes, I did say American Photo, and when you follow that link, you see that it's both AmericanPhotoMag.com and PopPhoto.com - as noted in the links at the top left of the page...
-- John
Graham Nash
I used to hate celbrity photographers without even considering thier work. Who likes artists who get access and publicity in a new arena simply because they are famous in another.
Well, while that still bothers me (based, of course, on jealousy!), I had to admit it doesn't mean their work is not really good. In particular, I respect Bryan Adams fashion work. Perhaps because, often his fame is shown in nothing more than his name in the byline, as opposed to JEFF BRIDGES book with a gimic camera
Sammy Davis, Jr.
http://www.amazon.com/Photo-Sammy-Davis-Burt-Boyar/dp/0061146056
Don Imus and Fred Imus published a book called
"TWO GUYS FOUR CORNERS"
Ben Folds
Eric Clapton
Delmar Watson, a child star in the early days of motion pictures. He and several siblings were all child stars and later became professional photographers.
http://www.delmarwatsonphotos.com/
Mikhail Baryshnikov, also professional ballet dancer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/arts/dance/23maca.html
In the world of classical music, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato,
http://yankeediva.blogspot.com
and conductor Eric Melear,
http://melear-o-sphere.blogspot.com
Leonard Nimoy has been seriously into black and white photography for years. (Some photos NSFW, so you can google if interested).
Ann Curry of the Today Show.
Tift Merritt. Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull) is an avid collector of Leicas and other vintage cameras but I'm not sure how much and how seriously he shoots.
Marty Stuart
Sofia Coppola
Rob Morrow, formerly of Northern Exposure, and now Numb3rs, was a bit of a shooter for a while.
Brett Micheals
Sen. Howard Baker
Come on. Years ago, it was widely reported that 10 percent of America's population considered themselves to be avid photographers. Photography is one of the most popular hobbies around. And this was back in the days of expensive film and processing.
Today, every teenager with a cell phone can consider themselves an avid photographer simply because they take so many pictures of each other for their Facebook pages, blog sites, etc.
Many art galleries would be thrilled to present a supposed fine art "show" of similar photos from a celebrity's phone. Just because you're a celebrity doesn't necessarily mean you're a good photographer (although there certainly are some). Neither does being a good photographer necessarily mean one is "celebrity" material.
Who cares?
Is knowing what celebrities take pictures going to help me grow my business?
That's the reason I stopped subscribing to that rag; I got tired of seeing all these celebrities in the issues and not enough "real" photographers being featured between those pages.
Aaron Ruell. Not a huge celebrity but I love his photos. He played the brother in Napoleon Dynamite.
http://www.aruell.com/
On one of the LOST season DVDs, Matthew Fox had a series of Holga photos he took during filming.
Yul Brenner was damn good: http://www.amazon.com/Yul-Brynner-Photographer-Victoria/dp/0810931443
Alan Arbus was Diane Arbus's husband who was the principal of their photo studio -- he taught Diane photography.
I suspect that a lot of photographers would make good actors too.
John Mayer
FYI It's Andy Summers not Sommers. Andy pulled out his camera many times at the end of concerts during the reunion tour to take shots of the crowd. I've got photos of him taking photos from the stage.
Penelope Cruz
Drew Barrymore
LINK
Gregory Hines. I photographed him back in the early 1990's and as I recall he had a medium format setup and knew a ton about lighting and portraiture.
Actual good photographers- you are missing good photographers.
Being silly of course and in all seriousness, there are some decent celeb photogs, but come on, they don't need the publicity.
We do.
Ask 100 people to name a great photographer living today. Most will name Ansel Adams.
I plan to change that. Now all I need is a disaster, a fake baby-saving video, and my portfolio.
John Mayer is a Leica fanatic!
Tim Daly. I have a picture of him with a Nikon DSLR taking a picture of me photographing him during the DNC this summer.
David Lynch is a great photographer...
I know this is a little late, but I found it interesting that Aaron Eckhart (who's on your original list) claimed that he shoots, develops, and prints black and white film in an interview on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
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