joshua kessler

WIne for Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T12:30:00.010-05:00

Lately I’ve been collaborating with the wonderfully talented food stylist Mariana Velasquez. Mariana wanted to do a shoot related to wine, so I had the idea to shoot the wine not the vessel and it got wonderfully trippy. It is my imagined conversation between Bill Viola and Mark Rothko. Once again my good friend and great musician Erik Carlson of AreaC provided a perfect soundscape.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 MInute Bio: Carl

2011-08-01T15:44:00.005-04:00

Untitled from Joshua Kessler on Vimeo.

I just completed the first in a series of one minute biographies.The concept is to start with a great still image, have it come to life and then tell a story in under a minute. The inspiration came from the famous bet that Hemingway could not write a story in less than six words, and then being Hemingway he did it with aplomb:

" For sale: baby shoes, never used"

One minute in video is the equivalent of six words in print.

AARP Bulletin Zongo and Me

2011-07-13T13:36:00.007-04:00

This is the directors cut of Zongo and Me, that I just completed for the AARP Bulletin. The concept was to adapt portions of the print article and shoot it as a one man play. The inspiration came from John Lithgow performing Newt GIngrich’s press release on the Colbert Report and the classic reading of Green Eggs and Ham by Jessie Jackson on Saturday Night Live. Without the right actor the project would have been sunk from the beginning, so it was pure luck to find Allen Enlow. Allen’s ability to fine tune the voices was amazing and made my job much easier. A typical exchange was, “I need a little less Nicholson and more Cruise!”

A higher quality link can be found on my site: http://joshuakessler.com/clients/AARP/AARP_Zongo.mp4

Charleston

2011-04-12T15:59:00.001-04:00

Normally before visiting a new city I like to learn about it prior to arriving. A few weeks ago I visited Charleston, South Carolina and purposely tried to prepare as little as possible and learn through my camera.Today is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, so it seemed like a perfect day to post my visual findings.

Unnecessary 3D Theater

2011-03-17T14:50:00.013-04:00

A few months ago I got a phone call from my agent Gregg asking what I knew about shooting in 3D, which seemed to be the technology of the moment, to which I replied a little but I’d learn more. Coincidentally a friend who reviews all things technical had just received a brand new Panasonic HDC-SDT750 Camcorder to write about and I was the perfect person to test it. With the clock ticking on a one-week camera loan I got to work. All I had was the limitations of the camera, when it is in 3D mode there is very little manual control and it needs a great deal of light and space, the recollection of a James Cameron quote, “Movies like Jackass 3D cheapen the medium”, which turned out to be a misquote he was actually speaking of the movie Piranha, a name for my epic Unnecessary 3D Theater and the phone number of my niece Pipi, hoping that she would reunite her improv group Hot Coffee to star.

Before the shoot I explained to the cast the limitations of the camera and gave the direction to use the camera flaws and the James Cameron misquote as inspiration. My other niece Rosa contributed some ingenious prop purchasing and with a good amount of beer we were off. In this case the limitations were a plus and I definitely learned a lot about 3D cinema.

To get the full effect you will need a pair of old school red cyan 3D glasses.

Valentines Day

2011-02-13T17:54:00.004-05:00

As my Valentines gift to everyone, I am pleased to announce the launch of the new K-Y personal lubricant site, which I had the honor of photographing.

http://k-y.com/

Jersey Shore Season 3

2011-01-06T15:26:00.013-05:00

One of the great aspects of this stage in my career is to have the opportunity to photograph some subjects more than once, so I was very excited to be chosen by MTV to shoot the publicity photos for Season 3 of The Jersey Shore.

It had been nine months since I last spent the day with The Situation, Snookie, Pauly D, J-Woww, Vinny, Sammie and Ronnie. Even though they are now household names, with all of the security and paparazzi that goes along with it, I can report that they are still normal people who have become a family through an extraordinary shared journey; it was a perfect day of photography with great people.

To see many more images from the shoot click here.

Below is a behind the scenes video from the shoot:

Jersey Shore - MTV Shows

Joshua Kessler iPad App

2010-07-26T15:17:00.009-04:00

Throughout my career I have searched for the perfect portfolio to showcase my work. Today more than ever, with video being incorporated into many assignments a traditional 11x14 print portfolio is not able to fully convey what I do. The iPad with a bespoke app is the perfect blend of the best qualities of a traditional portfolio and a web site. It is able to deliver high-resolution video and images instantly with out the need to buffer, in a tactile interactive package.

So the above text is the official version of my app’s description. To sum up… it is just really cool! If you have an iPad click here to download the app and if not contact my agent Gregg and he can loan you an iPad with the app loaded.

Gregg Lhotsky

Bernstein Andriulli

greggl@ba-reps.com

www.ba-reps.com

Vietnam Redux

2010-07-09T17:39:00.013-04:00

I visited Vietnam three and a half years ago. Vietnam was a very intense place and I used my camera as a way to make sense of it. Shortly after returning, I took the images from the War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City and made a short video. The museum and parts of Vietnam are heavy places and the slideshow reflected that. The images from that video were mainly shot on the first afternoon of the trip and until now I had done nothing with the bulk of the images. Two weeks ago my agent Gregg Lhotsky needed an image to use in a pitch for a job and I thought there might be something appropriate from the Vietnam images. After finding the Image for Gregg I was inspired and a few hours later the rough draft of the above video was finished. This is happy Vietnam, condensing two weeks from the north to the south and everywhere in between into one minute. This video is a perfect bookend to the first. In the end the camera did help me understand Vietnam better.

The War Museum video: http://vimeo.com/13189788

UJA

2010-07-01T18:37:00.012-04:00

Last week I started working on a project for the UJA, United Jewish Appeal, to restock their photography library. Over the next few months I will be photographing at various organizations that are recipients of UJA funding. I knew that this would be a great project, but after only one shoot it has already exceeded all of my expectations. The first assignment was at a monthly gathering of Holocaust survivors organized by Selfhelp. There are four separate groups that meet once a month, so once a week the staff stages an operation of amazing logistical proportions. Fleets of car services are dispatched to all points in Brooklyn to transport the participants to and from the Flatbush Jewish Center for lunch and a musical program free of charge. For some it is the main event of their month, a way to get out and connect with the only people who can truly understand their pasts, for me it was an amazing treat. I have met Holocaust survivors before, but never so many at one time. My feelings can best be summed up by quote from one of the Selfhelp community workers Joe, “You could write a book about anyone in this room!” He was so right.

Colors

2010-02-04T16:44:00.004-05:00

When I first started incorporating video into my work the simple goal was to bring my still images to life. This video is not only an example of quintessential Josh photography — high color and a blast of fun— but hopefully it will make you laugh.

Jersey Shore

2010-01-06T13:58:00.014-05:00

A lot has been written about the cast of the Jersey Shore in a short time and now I feel compelled to tell all about my experience. The real inside story is that they are all very nice! I enjoyed talking with each of them and could not be happier with the images; it was a great day of photography.

AARP Reluctant Entrepeneurs

2009-12-06T13:58:00.003-05:00

For a while I have been saying that I have morphed from a photographer into a “visual handyman” a hybrid director/photographer. Over the past couple of years I have been adding video to still shoots and shooting stills to accompany my video work, now it has all blended together. This shoot was a milestone because it was a true hybrid, the still shots were just as important as the video and vice versa. This is the future, where the content is cohesive regardless of whether it is still or video.

The Impostors Daughter

2009-10-06T16:00:00.004-04:00

The blending of worlds: I photographed Laurie for the jacket cover of her illustrated novel The Impostors Daughter. A couple of weeks later she called to see if I could make an author video to coincide with the launch of the book. An author video you say, what is that? I had the same reaction. Much like the world of photography, the publishing world is changing as fast as I can type. The author video is now an integral part of a book launch, a virtual book tour. Laurie’s amazing drawings and video are a perfect match. (The video is a big file, it will take a second to load.)

The Cheese State

2009-06-02T10:47:00.005-04:00

As a slightly less coordinated, shorter, 12 year old, complete with toupee inspired hair, my parents accompanied me to Madison Wisconsin to celebrate my sister’s graduation from college. It was great fun; I witnessed my first protest, saw the band of the moment STYX in the hotel lobby, sailed on the lake and ate cheese. I came home with a t-shirt and my sister came home with my awesome brother in-law Dave. 28 years later while touring the country on a job for AARP, I noticed things have not changed much, my sister still loves Dave and Wisconsin still loves cheese. Well maybe STYX is no longer the band of the moment!

Street Painting

2009-06-01T20:08:00.004-04:00

I have lived in New York City for the past 16 years and now more than ever consider it home. Even so, I still roam the city as a tourist and see something new everyday. For a while I have been photographing interesting pieces from my travels, so it was natural to photograph pieces of my backyard. To see more of my travel slideshows visit my main site: www.joshuakessler.com.

The Audi Q5 Weekend

2009-05-26T12:24:00.010-04:00

For some reason or another just when I need to get out of the city, something comes up. In this case it was the Audi Q5 Weekend. I was fortunate enough to tag along with my girlfriend Joanna when she attended the press launch for the new Q5. This was so exciting on many levels; a weekend away with Joanna in a new car, a chance to be surrounded by people talking about cars and oh ya some spa treatments. Did I mention I would be able to take an extended test drive and then talk about cars with the Audi people over drinks? Heaven! This would be the realization of my lifelong fantasy to become a car journalist. The Car aspect of the weekend was fun but the real test drive was of my new Canon 5D MKII. I received it the week before and was dying to try the video capabilities. This camera has been like hearing the Beatles for the first time, a game changer. I have dreamed of being able to shoot video that has the same quality as a still image and this is the beginning. I really enjoyed driving the Q5, but I loved using the 5D. The above video is a document of both test drives, the Q5 and the 5D.

www.joshuakessler.com V3

2009-04-30T12:00:00.003-04:00

I am proud to announce the launch of the redesigned www.joshuakessler.com. In addition to great images, there are now expanded sections for videos and my travels. To learn more about each image just roll your cursor over the image.

To coincide with the launch, I've also made two new portfolios in book form. People You Know, for celebrity images and People You May Know, for real people.

Please check out the new site and if you would like to see a portfolio just let me know.

Japan

2009-03-15T19:00:00.013-04:00

Wow! Japan was everything I thought it would be and nothing at all, it is the future and the past at the same time. This was my first visit and I was visually attracted to the basics; trains, trees, taxis and towers. To see my video homage to the Shinkansen train, click here. Once again I used music hand crafted by my good friend Erik Calrson; otherwise known as area c. To see the trees, taxis and towers click on the link below for the Blurb book I made.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/633786

The State of Yo

2009-02-05T18:58:00.004-05:00

The State of Yo is a video portrait of the great Tom Kuhn. I will let the video speak for Tom, but for me making it was a true joy. The world would be a better place if everyone could spend a day with Tom.

Aleta

2009-01-15T18:52:00.003-05:00

Last year I boarded 47 airplanes. Many of those flights took me to parts of the country I would not have found on my own and I consider it a gift. I often say that I love making photographs, but more importantly I love that it allows me to meet extraordinary people—Aleta is one of them. Unfortunately, like so many other people, she got caught with unfavorable terms in her mortgage and is going to have to move, but yet is incredibly positive.

Michael Cartellone

2008-12-12T18:04:00.019-05:00

My friend Michael is a painter and a good one. When we met a couple of years ago we immediately bonded over art and our native Ohio. I always thought of Him as my painter friend who grew up back home. As a testament to his passion for painting, I often forgot about his day job and then one night I visited him at work; Michael is the drummer for the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd! Being an extraordinary drummer is where the rock star stereotypes end. A few years ago to fend off the rigors of the road he started taking a small canvas and paint on the road and has settled into a wonderful routine of rocking hard, traveling through the night, painting all day in his hotel room du jour and then starting all over again.

www.michaelcartellone.com

Ted Turner

2008-11-15T13:06:00.007-05:00

The plan was to do two shots, one in a booth at his flagship Ted’s Montana Grill in Atlanta and then a second upstairs in a conference room, which is what became the cover. The idea for the restaurant shot was to photograph him having lunch, with his business partner in the restaurant chain, so I did not need to interact much. Back in the conference room I tried to engage him while I was shooting and got a blank stare. I could not figure out what went wrong, did I say something I should not have, is he just not that nice, do I have spinach in my teeth? The next thing I knew his publicist leaned over and whispered in my ear, “ I forgot to tell you, Ted is a little hard of hearing in one ear!” I immediately started yelling at him and he became one of the most engaging, interesting and nicest people I have photographed.

Maxwell House

2008-10-01T12:28:00.002-04:00

This photograph was taken while I was location scouting, the first of four shots for a Maxwell House coffee campaign. The images have not run yet so I can’t post them. It was a fun job with great people, but at the same time a logistical challenge. Each shot had a minimum of 12 people and they were all characters. I used my special powers and learned everybody’s name, setting the right tone and then everything went extremely well.

Purely from a tourist standpoint, I was in awe of the arch. Photographs cannot convey the size and beauty of it. It is America's Eiffel Tower.

Anderson Cooper

2008-09-15T11:39:00.002-04:00

The Anderson animation is the latest installment of one of my favorite ongoing projects entitled; “I wish I could say that I pre-visualized it in that way.” The images that make up the animation are taken from the last set up of three that I did as part of a cover shoot for USA Weekend. Anderson was very gracious with his time, but we needed to wrap things up and I was trying to shoot fast so we would not draw too much attention on the mean streets of midtown. When I clicked through the images to show Anderson, I realized how they appeared to be animated. Voila!

P.S. If you would like to see some behind the scenes photos from the shoot click here!

Working Longer

2008-08-19T17:54:00.009-04:00

I sat down to write something about this video and then I realized that my friend and client, Michael Wichita, summed it up the best.

“I love it. Its like looking at your images, but they talk back to me. Before I was just talking to them, but now they're sassy and give me lip! I love it. I love it.”

Modern Communications

2008-07-24T12:43:00.009-04:00

Racing out of the city on a Friday morning to attend my cousins wedding, I got this assignment to shoot on the set of the Today show early Monday morning. The wedding was being held in a part of northwestern Connecticut, which may be the last place on the east coast with out cell phone service. Before I got the job, I was looking forward to being off the information grid, but now I found myself in a 21st century anxiety attack. Is it impossible to plan a last minute shoot from the road with out a cell phone, email or text messages? No! The only option was to frantically run around making arrangements before leaving, then hope for the best and drive a little faster than normal. Unfortunately, just as I was on my way, I received the news that Tim Russert had passed away. The whole shoot was potentially going to be cancelled, but just in case I was asked, “would it be possible to get a few props for the job?” Rapidly approaching the no call zone, I mustered a burst of precision dialing and was able to get a hold of my assistant and had him acquire the newly needed props. Convinced that the shoot would be cancelled, I had a great technology free weekend. Upon entering the modern world late Sunday, my phone was awakened with a soundtrack of ring tones signaling that the shoot was on. At first it was worrisome to have a shoot pending and be cut off from the modern world, but it turned out to be a blessing. All of the arrangements were made and all I could do was just relax; Ignorance is bliss.

AARP

2008-07-21T16:44:00.005-04:00

Once again, The AARP Bulletin sent me on an epic four cities in six days cross-country journey. I left New York and flew to Tampa, my third visit for AARP, then on to Wichita, connecting in Dallas, which is ironic because the photo editor who assigned me the job is none other than Michael Wichita, then eastbound to Birmingham, connecting through Dallas, turning westbound again to San Francisco, connecting though Dallas where I got an airport haircut, S.F. was the launching pad for our attack on the last subject in Sacramento, the travel was run on and so is this sentence. The difference with this journey was that I also shot video. When the final edits have been made I will upload the “directors” cut. Watch out Spielberg!

Spike Lee

2008-05-01T11:49:00.010-04:00

The times they are a changing. More and more my role as a photographer is transforming and this assignment is proof. I was originally hired to photograph Spike Lee, for Nokia’s new website www.nokiaproductions.com, but from the initial conversations the job grew to include a video portion and a collateral ad campaign. In the morning we did a traditional still shoot and in the afternoon we shot the accompanying video. Being involved on different levels really adds a nice synergy to the whole project. I must say it was daunting to direct a director, but Spike made it easy.

The impetus of the above clip was brunch. My good friend, editor and visual renaissance man Brendan Colthurst, of Disposable Television, and I were discussing the editing and matting of the shoot when we decided to do a sample for the client, DDB Tribal, and we got carried away in a wonderful manner. The above clip started off just being a test to get the levels and the green screen matting right, but then we just kept going. This is truly the essence of Spike.

General Odierno

2008-04-23T13:54:00.009-04:00

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of good stories that have come out of the war in Iraq, but this is one of them. I was sent to High Point Regional High School, in Sussex New Jersey, to Photograph Lt. General Ray Odierno with a class of special education students. As their annual philanthropy project, the class had chosen to raise money to buy and send phone cards to soldiers in Iraq. The class’s teacher, Joan Smith, could not find an Army contact to send the cards to and then she remembered that the General’s niece was a teacher at the school. She decided to go straight to the top. In addition to all of his other duties, General Odierno became the point person for the cards to be sent to and made sure that they were distributed. This was the first of many things that impressed me about General Odierno; after thirty months in Iraq he took time away from his leave to attend the shoot, signed every autograph, answered every question, spoke one on one with a student considering a career in the military, posed for every picture and seemed to be ready for the job from hard learned experience and not the view from a desk.

Until recently General Odierno was the commanding general in Iraq under General Petraeus and was awaiting senate confirmation hearings for his next post as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. In an about face, It was announced today, that General Odierno will now be heading back to Iraq to take over command from General Patraeus. Regardless of how you feel about the war, I am happy to report that from my brief experience with General Odierno, we are sending our best officer for the job.

Matt Lauer

2008-03-28T19:51:00.002-04:00

Going in there were a few obstacles to a successful shoot. We were scheduled to photograph on the set of the Today Show immediately following a taping, the shoot was Matt’s last obligation before leaving for a much deserved vacation and because we were shooting on the set of the Today Show we were at the mercy of the stage hand’s union. None of this mattered because Matt is an alumni Ohio University and I had the honor of starting my higher education there also. If you have ever spent any time at O.U. you will understand that there was much fodder for conversation and we hit it off. This is the classic example of just setting the right mood and the pictures will follow.

Oscar Picks

2008-02-25T11:05:00.011-05:00

I could not be happier with the results from last nights Academy Awards. Two of my all time favorite subjects won: Tilda Swinton and Glen Hansard. I was smitten with Tilda the moment I met her. The first time I photographed her, she told me about this great new unknown British band; Coldplay. A year later we stood in line together waiting to get into a Sigur Rós show and then just last month I had the opportunity to photograph her again and we laughed about being early Coldplay adopters. Glen is just a wonderful guy; he let me play his beloved Takamine guitar while John Carney, the director of Once, shared his Peanut M&M’s. Once renews hope that if you have a wonderful story, great performances and a director with a vision you do not need a lot of money to make a special movie. Congratulations to all!

Vegas Vs. The World

2007-10-17T14:43:00.000-04:00

I have now been to Las Vegas three times. My first two visits were almost fifteen years ago and my third last week. In the interim Vegas has become a one-stop shop to see the world. New York, Paris and Venice are there just to name a few. New York without sirens, Paris with wall-to-wall carpet and Venice without trash is just not the same. Soon Rat Pack era Vegas will be so long gone that someone will rebuild the Sands as a Vegas themed casino.

Vote For Me

2007-10-02T13:33:00.001-04:00

Recently, I entered the Alternative Pick, Alt Pick Awards Contest. There are two types of awards for the contest; one juried and one people’s choice. The images I entered are selected from a ten part series I did for AARP. Photographed in ten cities over two weeks, from Alaska to Puerto Rico, fifteen planes, eight rental cars, king crab to chili relleno, countless cups of coffee, amazing people and amazing stories. This was the first assignment where a parka shared space in my backpack with flip flops and produced some of the best photographs of my career.

The voting is open to anyone so vote for me, tell all of your friends to vote for me and coerce your friends and family to do the same.

head to:

http://awards.altpick.com/

Register, log in, go to the "series" section, look for the above image titled: Financial Makeover and vote. In the interest of fairness the entries appear in random order, mine could be first or last.

Thank you in advance and spread the word.

The No Longer Big Easy

2007-09-12T15:52:00.000-04:00

Almost two years ago I was sent on assignment to New Orleans, one month after hurricane Katrina. It was my first trip there and I could not help but thinking what a grand place it must have been and would be again. I thought again would be sooner than two years and honestly it may still be sometime in the future. The French Quarter was shockingly unscathed. It was the first few days that people were allowed back to their homes and a few bars and strip clubs were already open. Two years later the same is true. If you go straight from the airport to your hotel in the French Quarter, you would think that the recovery is complete. Disappointingly, the true pace of the recovery can only be seen when you leave the tourist centers. It is subtle at first, a pile of debris in front of a house, then a FEMA trailer on the lawn, followed by a whole parking lot of trailers and then once you hit the Lower Ninth Ward it’s just empty lots with a sporadic house; total destruction. Unfortunately, that is where I was sent to photograph Gwen Adams, her house had survived the flooding, was salvageable and she had just applied for a building permit, when the second phase of the disaster hit. Without notifying the Adams the city deemed the house uninhabitable and with all but a few exceptions raised the whole neighborhood without notifying anyone. Gwen found out that her house was gone from a neighbor who had come by to cut the grass to keep from being fined by the city. So now Gwen is paying a mortgage, taxes and cutting the grass at a home that is gone.

Wendy

2007-08-31T13:34:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up my first photographic role models were my brother Rebel (it’s his nickname) and my cousin Wendy. Reb (the nickname of his nickname) and Wendy are 14 years older than I am. When I was six they were in film school and photo school respectively. They would come home from college with their latest projects and I was enamored; Reb made an incredible short film with tennis balls and Tang and Wendy used an early color Xerox machine to make images of flowers that she combined into a tapestry. Even then I would run around saying that I wanted to be a photographer and follow it up with the statement that I would not shoot weddings or bar mitzvahs, So it was a treat to come full circle and photograph Wendy. I would not be writing this if it were not for both of them.

In addition Wendy has the greatest collection af salt and pepper shakers I have ever seen!

Apples In China

2007-08-27T11:41:00.000-04:00

Normally, when one of my images is used without permission, it is a headache. In this case, I was elated. This is my first Chinese magazine cover! Even better news was that the cover shot contributed to the Apples In Stereo being invited to perform at the Modern Sky Festival, with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, in Beijing this October.

JJL

2007-08-10T10:41:00.000-04:00

It was fourteen years ago when I first “met” Jennifer Jason Leigh. I say, “met” in quotation marks, because at the time we met I was a lowly, all black wearing, photo assistant. Even though I was strongly discouraged from entering into discourse with the subjects, I got the impression that Jennifer was a really nice person and an incredible actress. Fast forward to the present. I now have confirmation that Jennifer is very nice and a joy to photograph. I’ve never liked to work with models because they, model. True actors are such a treat to photograph, because they have such control over their bodies and emotions.

Roy S. Johnson

2007-07-27T16:41:00.000-04:00

As with Doctors, lawyers and countless other professionals; photographers specialize. Over the course of my career I have been asked many times to photograph headshots, weddings or bar mitzvahs. I always politely say no and explain that I am portrait photographer. Truth is, I have photographed both headshots, two weddings and thankfully no bar mitzvahs. The reason not to photograph headshots, weddings or bar mitzvahs is that they may be the hardest assignments in photography. Dealing with the family dynamics of a wedding or an actor who does not understand that the camera can only lie so much is not an easy job. The main criterion for accepting a job is, if I want to do it and in this case I did. Roy recently became the editor in chief of Men’s Fitness Magazine and needed a set of photographs to be used for his monthly editors column. Monica Bradley called me, the photo editor of Men’s Fitness who is an old friend and client, so of course I said yes. My hunch was right about Roy, he was a very interesting guy that made for a great afternoon.

Atlanta

2007-07-16T09:54:00.000-04:00

I just returned from photographing Sara Blakely, inventor of Spanx, for the inaugural cover of Start Up magazine, a spin off of Inc. What are Spanx you ask? More than likely if you asked that you are a dude. Spanx are the equivalent of the modern girdle. I come from a family of inventors and someone who can build a better mousetrap always impresses me.

Modern Anachronism

2007-07-09T09:46:00.000-04:00

I took this photo in the Pittsburgh Airport after visiting my Mother in Ohio. The Pittsburgh airport was designed in the late 1980’s and finished in 1992. Obviously, they did not anticipate the popularity of the cellular phone.

Quasi July Fourth

2007-06-30T09:37:00.000-04:00

So it was a few days before, the meal was not quite hamburgers and hotdogs, but it was outside and there was beer. I had only had Maryland Crab once before and this time the experience was much the same. As much as it is about the crabs, it is about having a communal meal with your friends and enjoying the summer.

Inc. Magazine July Cover

2007-06-28T13:00:00.000-04:00

I have now shot over 25 magazine covers and it is still very exciting to hold the finished copy for the first time. There is just something special about seeing your photograph under the masthead, at the newsstand or better yet when a stranger is reading a copy. My mom has even been known to carry a copy with her to show her friends.

Figure Ground

2007-06-15T23:44:00.000-04:00

I always say that my education was divided into three parts, a B.F.A. in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology, assisting for Annie Leibovitz and the year I took off from school to play in a band. What I learned during each of these periods played an equally important role in helping me to be photographer. Some background: two years ago on the morning of my wedding, the members of my old band Figure Ground assembled in a New York City practice space to play together for the first time in fifteen years. Guitarist Eric Carlson’s wife, Erica having not seen us play before, became convinced that a reunion show was in order. We were not as convinced until about six months ago, when it came to our attention that a seventeen year old video of Figure Ground, sound checking in Columbus Ohio, appeared on YouTube. Unbeknownst to us, it appears from the comments that we were big in Norway all along. So after seventeen years I am once again in a band and ready to continue my education.

Figure Ground will be playing at the Cedars Lounge in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday, September 1st and we hope to tour Norway in the future.

Richard J. Harrington

2007-05-29T15:27:00.000-04:00

When I Photographed Richard J. Harrington, CEO of the Thomson Corporation, you would never know that he had just completed one of the biggest deals of his career; the purchase of Reuters. Dick, as he is known, was such a nice guy and the conversation flowed so well, that I never even had to bring up the fact that I grew up on Harrington Ave.

Brand Upon the Brain

2007-05-18T14:33:00.000-04:00

When I photographed Crispin Glover at the Sundance Film Festival this year, I met Margot Gerber, Margot was the publicist for Crispin’s film Fine Everything is Fine. Margot is now doing publicity for the new Guy Madden film, Brand Upon the Brain. The film is a beautiful, modern, silent movie with a score by Jason Staczek, narration by Isabella Rossellini and elaborate sound effects. To celebrate the theatrical release there was a series of performances, in several cities, with a live orchestra, narrator and foley artists. If you are having a hard time picturing all of this that is where I come in. Margot wanted to get some pictures of the performance showing all of the elements, mainly the foley artists, to convey what a special event it was. For two and a half performances, I sat in my perch and captured the event, completely mesmerized by the foley artists, they stole the show.

Chicago Baby

2007-05-04T22:44:00.000-04:00

Last week I went on a whirlwind journey to Chicago to photograph Gordon Segal, CEO of Crate and Barrel, with Guari Nanda, inventor of the Clocky, for an Inc. Magazine cover try. When I say whirlwind I mean whirlwind. The idea was to fly in Thursday night, shoot in the morning and make it back to New York at a reasonable time. In theory it was a great plan. My original flight from LaGuardia was cancelled, with a thoughtful automated message informing me that it would be impossible to get to Chicago until mid-day Friday, just in time to miss the entire shoot. With some fast thinking and even faster phone dialing from Assistant Photo Editor extraordinaire, Kate Spear, I was booked on another flight from Kennedy airport on another airline. Once at the airport we met up with photo editor and partner in crime, Travis Ruse, whose flight had been delayed for four hours. When Travis finally attempted to board his plane he was informed that he had been bumped and was now on our flight, which was also delayed. Add in almost two hours on the ground and then a bonus wait upon arriving in Chicago due to no available arrival gates; it was a full day of travel. This was only the way there. The return flight was best summed up by the reoccurring phase I kept overhearing “Well it’s Friday night at O’Hare.” As for the rest of the trip I was still was able to have a delicious slice of famous Lou Malnati’s deep-dish pizza, courtesy of the also delicious Crate and Barrel cafeteria. What about the photographs you say? Well ever since I bought a book of Carlo Mollino’s Polaroids I have wanted to use bamboo as a backdrop. Thank you Carlo.

The Joy of Drinking

2007-04-25T16:15:00.000-04:00

As I often say, the best part of being a photographer is the people you meet, this could not be truer than in the case of Barbara Holland. I am truly richer having met her. Barbara seemed like an old friend the minute I met her. After we were done shooting we went for lunch and martinis, it was a perfect day. Shortly after the image was published in AARP The Magazine, Barbara contacted me about using the image for the jacket of her new book. I was flattered.

Auto Show

2007-04-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

I know next to nothing about professional sports and have often joked that the only reason they do not take away my “guy license” is that I love all things with wheels. As a child I would drive around with my mother and name all of the cars by make and model. As an adult the Speed Channel completes me. Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to the New York Auto Show and this year I took my camera. My favorite client is currently working on an Infiniti campaign and used a slideshow of my travels in Taiwan to pitch an Idea, so I decided to see if I could make a slideshow using details from the Infiniti model line as a sort of spec spot. I had never made a slideshow on command and also thought it would be good way to show how my slideshows could be used in conjunction with a product. I have no doubt that the people staffing the Infiniti booth thought that I was up to some sort of corporate espionage. The other first for me is the music choice. I had a hard time finding an appropriate soundtrack and then remembered a little piece I did fooling around with Garage Band, so this is my first all Josh production.

Cross Your Fingers

2007-03-29T12:16:00.000-04:00

I learned yesterday, that my image of Lordes and Esteban was chosen as a finalist in the American Photography 23 competition. The winners will be announced in April, so please send out good vibes.

Bomb and Cradle

2007-03-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

This is the result of me falling into a creative black hole of time. In this case, it all started with my two very good friends Michael Loncar and Erik Carlson. Loncar is an amazing poet, teacher, musician, filmmaker and man about town. Erik Carlson is an amazing musician, architect, photographer and all around artistic handyman. Loncar is currently living and teaching in Taiwan. A year and a half ago Erik and I made our way there, on what I refer to as “Sideways, without the premarital affair and wine.” Our trip to Taiwan was amazing in so many ways, but I will always remember it as a photographic safari. Fast forward to last week. Erik asked Mike and I if we had any video footage from the journey to donate to the making of a video for his song Trick With A Knife. Loncar rose to the challenge and locked himself in his apartment for a weekend and made a great video. When I watched the video, I realized that the last two and a half minutes of the song would be a perfect soundtrack for images I had recently taken at The War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. I watched Mike’s video in the morning and then proceeded to have a productive day of photographic office work. Mid afternoon, as a reward to myself for hard paper pushing work, I decided to just “start working on the slideshow.” Five hours later the rough draft was completed.

Dr.Robert

2007-03-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

Often in my creative process, one thing leads to another. This little animation grew out of another “great idea” that went horribly wrong. When I was thinking of different scenarios for the Apples In Stereo photo shoot, I had remembered hearing that Robert Schneider, the lead singer, likes to do calculus for fun. I decided to photograph Robert working on one of his equations on Plexiglas to give the impression that I was shooting through the blackboard. As individual shots they just do not look great, but when i clicked through them quickly in the browser they came alive. The music is a little teaser track on the Apples new record, New Magnetic Wonder. The band liked the final result so much that they included it in the enhanced features of the CD.

I have wanted to include this in the blog for some time, but I just realized how to post video. If you would like to see more slideshows of my travels please visit www.joshuakessler.com and click on the bottom half of the orange square labeled slideshows.

www.joshuakessler.com update

2007-02-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

Much of the last week was spent updating my website. It is such a tedious, but greatly rewarding task. New additions include: Mandy Moore, Antonio Banderas, Jared Leto, Tara Reid, Crispin Glover, Bob Balaban, Judith Light, Paul Dano, Jake Paltrow, Queen Latifah, Glen Hansard, Riley Smith, Justin Theroux and Scott Speedman. Take a look.

Houston and San Francisco

2007-02-08T11:50:00.000-05:00

This week was all about contrasts. Once again AARP sent me on another great adventure from Houston to San Francisco, straight from recovering from the Sundance marathon. The great thing about being a freelance photographer is that even back-to-back assignments can be completely different. You never know where the next job will lead you. In this case I went from celebrities worrying about where to get gift bags, to people we all know worrying about not being able to get health insurance. There are always some constants in what I do, but no two photo shoots have ever been the same. I am so lucky to rarely be bored.

San Francisco was the true bonus of this trip. This was my fourth brief visit and it never ceases to amaze me. The minute we were done with the shoot I turned into an instant tourist. Luckily for me Danelle, my trusty sidekick, had lived in San Francisco before and became my tour guide. The evidence of my tourist alter ego can be seen above. O.K. I was also a little bit of a tourist in Houston; I love BBQ!

Sundance 2007

2007-01-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

One of the best parts of a photo shoot is the minute after the client/subject leaves. For a brief moment there is an incredible sense of satisfaction, a personal victory lap. I am now in the midst of a three-day victory lap. The Sundance Film Festival is the photographic equivalent of a marathon. There is no time for celebration, because the minute you finish shooting someone, you have to run to your next appointment, deal with a publicist, reschedule someone, find parking, find a new location, to replace the one you have just gotten thrown out of, think of an idea, convince someone not to cancel, upload files, eat one meal a day and sleep a few hours. Yes, it is exhausting but I am not sure it could be more fun.

After three years off, this was my fourth trip to Sundance. In that short time away, the festival has really changed. There are more filmmakers and actors that are known rather than unknown. Everything is more concentrated geographically and in terms of schedule, Main St. in Park City is now the epicenter instead of somewhere to buy a souvenir t-shirt. The opening weekend is the main time to be seen and party, then things start to dissipate towards the conclusion at the awards ceremony.

This year I was working for my stock agency Retna and Total Film Magazine in the UK. We really were the underdogs going into the festival and I could not be happier with the results. I had planned on blogging everyday from the festival, but that was just plain naïve. I am in the process of compiling a gallery of everything we shot, but until then, enjoy Jared Leto and Mandy Moore. Words cannot describe the vibe that Park City takes on during the festival. I am fortunate to have been able to experience the craziness, delight, disappointment, challenge, triumph and exhaustion. If you ever get the chance to go, take it and see the movies and madness in the mountains firsthand. It is the only way to describe it.

Vietnam

2007-01-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the gap in posting, but my wife Beth got access to my frequent flier miles, abducted me and took me wandering Vietnam from north to south. Referring to Vietnam in terms of north and south is not a current way to look at it. The main thing I took away from my visit, was that it is now a country divided between new and old. Even if I return I am not sure it will be possible to see the same country again. Vietnam appears to change on a daily basis, more scooters, more cell phones, more factories, more homes and the W.T.O. From speaking to expats that have been living there, Vietnam is a completely different place than it was even five years ago. Seeing all of the construction, wedding stores and hipsters, I can only imagine what it will be like in even five weeks.

Just saying Vietnam conjures up all sorts of things in all sorts of people. I am not sure what I think, on the tale end of major jet lag, but I know that the country I visited will be with me for some time.

L.A. and Such

2006-12-15T19:53:00.000-05:00

At Thanksgiving dinner, one of my aunts in Ohio asked me, “what do you do when you are not working?” this may be the greatest misconception of photography and freelance work in general. I never thought I would say this but taking the picture is the easy part of being a photographer. When I am looking through a camera I know what to do, what path to take, what to say. The hard part is getting to the point where you are looking through the camera. So what does this have to do with Los Angeles you say? Well, last week I was in L.A. working, but not taking pictures. From the very start of my career I have always tried to hit the bricks and show my portfolio. When you sit in a room across from someone looking at your work, you can really gage if you are going in the right direction.

The above picture was taken while landing at JFK.

A Story of a Thanksgiving Long Ago

2006-11-26T22:58:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, but for the past 14 years it has been the anniversary of my move to New York.
Fourteen years ago I hitched a ride with my good friend Erik Carlson and moved in the middle of the night, with one suitcase, for good.

The summer before that Thanksgiving, I interned in the city for Annie Liebovitz and Josef Astor. Luckily, I was able to sublet my apartment while I finished up my last quarter at R.I.T. All I had was the apartment, my suitcase, a brand new B.F.A. and the hope that I could get a job with Annie. When I talk about that time, I always say that ignorance is bliss and in my case it was true. Everything fell into place, Annie hired me and I started my career in photography a week later; I had no idea!

Fast forward one year to the next Thanksgiving: I went from green college graduate to battle hardened photo assistant. We had just wrapped shooting Siegfried and Roy and the white tigers for the marquee of the Mirage in Las Vegas. For various reasons the shoot lasted for 23 hours, causing me to miss my flight home to Ohio the day before. I had an awful cold; I was propped up on cold medicine and coffee while I wandered through the casino at 5:30 a.m. looking for food before leaving for the airport. When I got to the airport I found out that I had been upgraded to first class. On the plane it was just a lonely looking businessman and me. The stewardess knew I was sick and just kept bringing me bloody marys. This was the backdrop for one of the most surreal days of my life. As I walked into my parent’s house it hit me how far I had come in one year.

My first year in New York was all about work and more importantly learning. I went from the White House to P.L.O. headquarters in Tunis and everywhere in between. There are way too many stories from this time in my life to recount here, but if you buy me a beer I would be glad to share them at a future date.

I have much to be thankful for both in life and photographically and
Thanksgiving has been a great time to reflect on both.

Elijah Wood

2006-11-17T20:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I photographed Elijah Wood and it was such a treat. It was one of those days that reinforces the stereotype of what it is like to be a celebrity photographer, that we hang out with cool people and do cool things. We only needed to do two simple shots so we shot at my place. It was if Elijah came by to hang out drink some coffee, talk about music and oh yeah, we shot some pictures. Usually before I photograph someone, I search for information about his or her interests to find common ground to have a discussion. With Elijah, it was so easy because we have so many common interests from music to cameras. We discussed everything from the Stone Roses first album being one of the greatest records of all time, coffee brewing tips, London and the eccentric greatness of a Widelux camera.

The icing on the cake was that Elijah went straight from the shoot to appear on the Conan O’Brien show and his publicist got us tickets. What a great day!

The Big Reveal

2006-11-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I reenacted my role as guest photographer on TLC's Cover Shot. The final element of the episode, is revealing the photograph on a billboard in Times Square.

I could not be happier with how the final image came out. I believe that a photo shoot is a group effort and this was an extreme example. Everyone involved in the shoot went above and beyond. Eebie Zobitz, truly went from “super mom to supermodel”, Peter Butler did amazing hair, Charlie Green did flawless makeup, Kevin Lennox knew exactly how to mold Eebie into that bathing suit, Ché Graham did photoshop magic giving the image a Technicolor feel and Frederique did a great job guiding the whole ship. This was the first time I have had an image on a billboard and I think I was more excited than Eebie.

The billboard is located @51st street and Broadway and will be up until November 13th. If you should find yourself in the neighborhood definitely stop by.

The Never Ending Photo Shoot

2006-11-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my longtime friend Dan Efram, of Tractor Beam Management, and I added yet another adventure to our already illustrious collection. Dan manages The Apples In Stereo and I was chosen to photograph publicity photos to coincide with their upcoming February release "New Magnetic Wonder" on Simian/ Yep Roc Records. The release is the first on Elijah Wood’s new label Simian. Yes, Elijah’s eyes are really that blue and more importantly, in this case, he really knows his stuff when it comes to music; he is a true fan.

Dan and the bands publicist, Allison Elbl, knew that in the coming months gathering all of the members for photo shoots for the various magazines interested in the new release would be tough. In addition to a touring schedule, the different members of the Apples live in three different cities. So with that in mind, Dan approached the photo shoot with a take no prisoners’ attitude. As if Dan was a survivalist stockpiling beef jerky, we barreled through nine different setups in a fourteen-hour day. I think it was no coincidence that the New York City Marathon is also this week.

I’m a photographer and I play one on TV.

2006-10-27T13:18:00.000-04:00

On Monday and Tuesday my career went in an unexpected direction. For those two days I was the guest photographer on The Learning Channel's new series Cover Shot; hosted by Frederique van der Wal. In the course of my career I have shot over 20 magazine covers, but never one for TV. Unfortunately the shows co-host and photographer, Richard Dean, had to miss an episode due to a family emergency and I got the call. After I got over the initial shock, I was quite excited. I still have to shoot the final segment and will have more information on when the episode will air in the coming days.

www.tlc.com/covershot

Edward Hopper

2006-08-28T20:40:00.000-04:00

Even though I am no longer in grade school, I still believe strongly in the idea of the field trip. The other day I embarked on one of my adult field trips, to the Whitney Museum of American Art, to see the current exhibition celebrating the Museum’s 75 anniversary. The Museum has a large collection of paintings by Edward Hopper and dedicated an entire floor of the show to his work. Edward Hopper was one of the first artists that I remember being influenced by. For many photographers Hopper’s treatment of the subject was the influence, but for me the vibrant color pallet is what has always fascinated me. Seeing some of these paintings sometimes feels like seeing an old friend.

Welcome!

2006-08-18T14:55:00.000-04:00

This is the inaugural installment of my blog. All of this came about when, Mike Hartley of Bigflannel fame, and I embarked on a redesign of my website.

www.joshuakessler.com

For fans of the old site, it can be found at:

http://www.joshuakessler.com/opener.html

The idea was to have an evolutionary design, while modernizing and expanding the site's capabilities. Mike did a great job. As part of the expansion there are now RSS feeds that accompany the story with each photograph. Clicking on the, “bits and bobs” button while viewing an individual image will access the stories. With this addition it made sense to also add a blog. So here we are. Enjoy!