Every so often I come across images that aren't really what I was looking for, and don't fit the assignment, but I have to shoot it anyway. 

Thomas Demand works with photography in his art, but specifically stated that he doesn't consider himself a photographer.  Demand is fairly critical of many of the conventions of photography.

He spent the better part of an afternoon meeting with the photo seniors and discussing their work.  He didn't hide his opinions, or beliefs about photography, and offered candid advice that would push the students farther with their work. 

It can be nerve racking enough photographing other photographers, but I think it's even worse when that photographer is a former teacher. 

I started with two ideas for the portraits that would relate to Susan's involvement in Photography.  The first idea was to shoot her in a studio environment, and to include the strobes and seamless as part of the setting for the portrait.

The second setup was to use a 4x5 Crown Graphic to shoot a tight shot of her face with a very shallow depth of field.  I set up against a white stucco wall with a large window to the left of the camera.  The image on the bottom shows me focusing the 4x5 camera.

Susan Sterner

Behind the scenes image by Jacqulyn Maisonneuve

This portrait is of Kerry McAleer-Keeler, the woman who is in charge of the Corcoran's Art and the Book Master's program.  We shot the image in the Corcoran's letterpress studio in their Georgetown campus.  The studio is filled with racks of type setting pieces as well as presses to use them on.  All of the equipment in the room made for a nice backdrop, but makes it fairly cramped to set up lighting and shoot in. 

Chair of the Corcoran Bookarts department Kerry McAleer-Keeler

I set up two locations in the room to get different styles of portraits.  The picture below shows the setup used for the image above.  The setup was fairly simple, consisting of a bowens monolight in a medium softbox above the camera and a reflector underneath. I tried to maximize the space I had to work with, and ended up setting up some of my equipment over top the presses. 

Behind the scenes image by Jacqulyn Maisonneuve

Near whiteout conditions on Wisconsin Ave in Washington DC

Woman walking near the Washington National Cathedral in Northwest Washington DCPedestrian on Wisconsin Ave in Washington DC

Before graduation, every senior at the Corcoran College of Art + Design has to complete a thesis project.  Photojournalism students spend the first half of their senior year researching and producing a photo story on a topic of interest to them.  Jackie started the semester with the idea of documenting sustainable living in Washington, DC.  Early in the process Jackie met Sidra, John, and their daughter Martin-Lane, they are a local family who run a restaurant out of there home.  The family and their restaurant are centered around healthy living and sustainable practices.  From July through December, Jackie  photographed Sidra, John, and Martin-Lane regularly to document their way of life. The final images offer a  view of a family living in an socially and agriculturally sustainable manner. 

If you can't make it on Thursday, her work will be hanging in Gallery 31 of the Corcoran Gallery from Monday February 1st through Sunday February 7th, 2010. 

Below are a few shots I took of Jackie during the final stages of her project.

Leaving the final shoot

Working on the edit and layout.Printing the invitations for her opening reception.

Picking up the the 12 final images that were float mounted by Joe Heintze

For the past few years, a close friend of mine, Mike D'Orazio has been running a custom guitar shop building and repairing guitars and basses.  I've photographed some of his custom guitars in the past, and been really impressed with what he's produced. 

Below is a video of Mike carving the neck of a bass guitar he's currently working on.  This version is still rough around the edges, but I wanted to get it out there to show the progess I'll be making on it over the next few months. 

After the lecture, he met with a smaller group of Corcoran design students to answer questions.   His answers were candid and held the type of advice that is actually helpfull to people learning his craft. 

Stefan Sagmeister speaking to Corcoran design students.

Stefan Sagmeister speaking about his work at The Corcoran.

Stefan Sagmeister shaking hands with Corcoran Alumnus Kevin Robinson.

The below is a scan of negatives from Joel and Chelsie's wedding.  Normally I only shoot digitally at weddings with a few sheets of 4x5 film thown in.  At this wedding I shot a few rolls of 35mm to go along with the rest of what I shot. 

Contact sheet from Joel and Chelsie's Wedding

 The image below is one I shot while setting up. It's of my friend, a fellow photographer, Harry Chun who was helping me carry gear and set up. 

Portrait of Harry Chun

There have been a few things pushing me back towards film. The film camera's I've been using are the completly manual. The act of manually focusing and advancing the film slows me down just a bit and makes me think about each frame for a little bit longer than I normally would.  It also keeps me on my toes by giving me a few more things to think about. I'm not sure how much longer film will be easy to buy.  It isn't yet at the point where It's hard to find the film I'm looking for, but in five years, it could be very hard (or very expensive).  Black and white film in fully manual cameras is what originally got me interested in photography, I might as well shoot it while I still can. 

The image below is a scan of two images I shot before leaving the Air and Space museum in Dulles a few weekends ago. 

Diptych of a plane leaving Dulles Airport

This is a portrait of Jackie taken in open shade against a white seamless.

Jacqulyn Maisonneuve

The image below is one of those random shots. 

Seats in the auditorium of the Department of the Interior