I Have Had Them All

I wrote this article 10 years ago, it still rings true

IN TEN YEARS OF Commercial photography I have had them all. There’s Art Director Silentius, who sits on a stool and reads old art magazines like he is at a doctor’s office. There is Art Director Interruptus, the one who is always right over your shoulder the whole shoot and telling you how to move your lights and did you know that he was a photographer in New York before he became an assistant art director at Low Budget and Now?

Then there’s Art Director Wait-A-Minutus, who stays silent while you spend an hour setting up a blue background only to pipe in just before going to film that the client really hates anything on blue. And of course, Art Director Baby Sittus, who’s always asking for something, like “can your assistant run over to the store to pick up a gift for my wife?”

In between these Excedrin headaches there are many talented art directors of still photography. These are the art directors who understand their client’s goals, who help you reach further creatively, and who foster an atmosphere of trust and excitement during a shoot.

What are the qualities that separate the I can’t wait until they leave from the I can’t wait for them to return art directors? I believe it comes down to three areas: talent, communication skills, and trust.

TALENT. No matter how nice an art director is, if he or she has an underdeveloped visual sense and/or no power to make creative decisions, you are doomed to a day of frustration and guessing. I remember one very simple shoot which consisted of a couple of large food packages and a few small condiment jars on some sort of attractive background. The sizes of the actual products were quite different from how they were drawn in the layout, so what was on the set didn’t hold together the same way as the layout presented. I wanted to switch two items so that the picture would work visually in reality and the products would have their proper billing. The art director needed several polaroids to comprehend the change I was proposing. He then spent hours on conference calls, faxes and e-mails to get the change approved. By the time he was done I wondered why I had bothered to open my mouth in the first place! If only he could have been talented enough to understand how to make a layout and visualize changes... If only he would have been empowered enough to make these decisions...

When the art director has a strong concept that makes both commercial and visual sense, even the most difficult of shoots can be, yes, joyful. I remember working on a dental equipment catalog several years ago with Jerry Robertson of Reese, Tomases & Ellick.
Jerry is a master at communicating his needs and keeping energy flowing towards a cohesive goal. We had three days to shoot five days worth of images. These were technically difficult still lifes with dental parahernalia hanging from thin wires. There were long rounds of tedious light painting with very specific color gelling, along with highly reflective objects and an exacting layout. Jerry not only made sure that we understood what was needed, he even sang songs with us at 1:00 AM when we needed to keep going. His contagious sense of creative joy and his high
level of professionalism and skill helped keep our positive energy flowing, turning an arduous day into a creative and technical photographic coup. I have had the good fortune of working with many people like Jerry.

COMMUNICATION. Can the art director communicate what he or she needs and what the client’s needs are? Can they describe what they need clearly and without sensory overload? Can they sketch out an idea? Do they share the important information up front or do they parcel it out like the last of a 30 year old single malt scotch? Recently I was on a five-day shoot in Texas photographing hay farmers. I was working with Michele Reinecke, from Dudynck Advertising, an art director whom I met for the first time at the departure gate of the airport. We flew to Texas and spent two days location scouting, interviewing talent, and planning before the day of the shoot. What we found wasn’t always perfect for our needs, but she was able to see the potential in it, and she had the power to make decisions. Her ability to understand her client’s goals and to mold them around the reality we had to deal with made this shoot one of my favorite recent outings, and we produced pictures that made the client smile. Her upbeat
attitude during some long and hard days was inspiring and energizing to the whole project.

TRUST. Is there trust between the art director and the photographer? Does the art director ask the photographer to bid on an orange and then expect an entire grove? Did the photographer oversell his or her talents? Does the client like the photographer and not the art director? If there is no trust between them and the rest of the creative team, it is hard to communicate and even harder to know what the client really needs. So how do you make sure that there is good communication and trust on your shoots? It starts with the pre-shoot communication. These questions in the following four areas should be asked:

PURPOSE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS
What is the purpose of these photographs?
Where and how are they going to be used?
What are the client’s expectations and desires?
What are the art director’s expectations and desires?

BUDGET OF THE SHOOT
What is the proposed budget?
What can be done to save money when your proposed budget is too high?
Does the art director understand the usage rights in the contract?
Does the client understand what they are buying?

LAYOUTS
Is there a tight layout or a loose concept?
Is the layout a starting or an ending point?
How hard was it to sell the end client on the layout?
What are the client’s expectations?
What happens when the photograph matches the layout but looks like yesterday’s leftovers?
What happens if the layout is not achievable?
Is exact color important, or can color be played with to create mood?

TALENT & PROPS
What props will be needed and who is going to buy them?
What is the prop budget and what happens if it is not enough?
What talent is needed, and who will do the casting?

One of the most difficult things for me to get used to when I switched from being a fine art photographer to a professional commercial photographer was working with somebody looking over my shoulder. This was initially very intimidating and caused me to make many mistakes. Fears and youthful arrogance sometimes prevented me from asking enough questions to really understand what my clients were after. It has taken me years to learn to really listen to my client’s words and to learn when to follow closely the road they put me on, when to read between the lines and when not to follow their path and rather do what I believe is best, to follow my vision. I’d like to say a word about expectations and how they affect the shooting schedule. Most clients want to pack as much photography into a day as possible. I am reminded of a recent shoot in Toronto. No one realized just how difficult this shoot would turn out to be. We started with a very ambitious schedule that we worked like dogs to keep,
plus there were major complications in assembling the merchandise to be photographed, among other things. During the shoot the client turned to me and said, “You know Zave, if you see something cool that isn’t on the shot list, go ahead and shoot it”. I had to ignore this remark because I wasn’t even sure we could get the basic requirements of the shot list done.

I have had other shoots that allow time to play and time to shoot stuff that was not on anybody’s script. For the last two years I have had the pleasure of working with Trevor Feight of Roska Direct. On Trevor’s shoot we always leave time for play. Since he is able to communicate to us the whole strategy behind the campaign we will often spot visual opportunities which will enhance the story. These shots often turn out to be gold. Whenever I can I try not to let my client over-script a shoot so that we have the time and energy to explore the subject visually. Of course this only works well if you have a good understanding of the overall strategy and goals of the ad campaign. Being a guy it can be hard to ask for more direction, for more information. My ego likes to assume that I understand everything from the minute a layout crosses my desk. I am often very wrong. The biggest problems I encounter
occur when I think that I understood the goal of the photo shoot, when I don’t. This usually happens when I assume the layout to be the end point of the shoot and do not press onward to create something special. Or, the exact opposite happens and I use the layout as a jumping off point for my creative vision not knowing how hard it was to sell this exact layout to the client in the first place and the impossibility of any change. When my pre-shoot questions
lead to a firm understanding of what is expected, then I can be better prepared creatively for the shoot. 

What happens on shooting day when things—when ideas—suddenly change? I remember an interesting food shoot. The concept from the ad agency was weak on paper and looked even worse on the set. We spent the better part of a day trying to salvage the layout. At 4:45 PM, the art director had to leave, and the end client, who had been sitting around looking at old Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazines said, “I don’t like this set up at all, can’t we do something
like this?” as he pointed to a gorgeous spread filled with specialty props and antiques from some set stylists attic. We had no plans, no props bought for this type of shot, but we had a lot of frustrated energy lying around the studio to work with. Realizing that he was on to something, we broke the set down and started from scratch. With material my set stylist happened to have brought in for some test shots, extra props from previous shoots lying around the studio, and ingenuity, we created a beautiful and conceptually appropriate shot. Result: happy photographer, and a very happy client. This worked because it was a client who I personally like and respect plus a creative team that listened to each other. There have been times though when the client suddenly pulled an idea out of the sky and we had to say “no”. The resources or the budget to do what was being asked simply weren’t there. Saying “no” to a
client is very hard for me to do, however there are many times when it is the wisest thing to say. When confronted with doing a project half-way and thus producing results that will not be good for the client, I believe it is better to say “no” and protect your reputation as an image creator and theirs.

What are the qualities of a good art director? A good art director is talented, empowered and able to communicate their needs. They are a partner in the creative process. Please help out the good ones by learning to ask the right questions and listen for their answers.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith

www.zavesmith.com

Three New Short Stories

Time to write a new story

My Daddy Always Said

Floating above America with new work in hand. Did I achieve what I hoped to achieve or are the new images more of a promise than a reality? “Stay open”, I often consul others, “Enter into a dialogue with your work. Your pictures will point and tell you which way. Don’t rush them, don’t judge them to soon or to harshly.”

So easy to say, so hard to do, I feel like a preacher with much sin on my hands.

Floating above America after a weekend in the Big Easy. Hot, humid, a lot of hurry up and wait. We had four to five portrait sessions scheduled. We have dreams of a book. We have dreams of the big time, we have dreams of making a difference, and we have dreams of a decent cup of coffee and a cool gin and tonic.

Like most self-funded projects, the type of projects you squeeze into an already crazy life. This project about the love and relationships between African American Fathers and their children has been more talked about than worked on. We have dreams but we also have paying clients.

One of our five fell through before we began; the second canceled ten minutes before we were to meet. But the three that we did hook up with worked out just great, I think.

What is it I want to say? What is it I want to show? Are these three portraits interesting, compelling, visual or even worth viewing? Will my partner, Glenda McKinley English, like them or think that I am just another poser?

New works are like babies; we should not judge them to harshly. We need to sit back, enjoy watching them grow. For our children can teach us even more than we can teach them if we learn to listen well.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

It's Comcastic!

(for the complete collection: Comcast

It’s the building with all the buzz. It is tall, it is green and it is very cool.

Last fall I received a call from an art director who I had lost track of. She had left the agency world, married, divorced, traveled the world and was now working on a project for Comcast. Comcast was just putting the finishing touches on its new world headquarters.

The new Comcast tower is the tallest, newest, greenest and most up to date skyscraper in Philadelphia. She was working on several books and brochures promoting this new tower and wanted me to photograph the building.

“Debbie, while it is great to hear from you I cannot accept this assignment, I have never shot architecture”, I told her.

“I know”, she replied but I really want you to do this project. “

“Have you talked to any architecture photographers?” I asked.

“Yes” she said, “and I still want you to shoot it.”

We went back and forth for a couple of days until she charmed me into saying, “yes”.

The shoot went as most large productions go with its long days, with unexpected hiccups along with unexpected delights. I will never forget hanging out on the rooftop of an adjacent building one wonderful spring evening hoping to photograph the new lighting atop of the Comcast Tower. A technical glitch that day would prevent the lights from coming on for several weeks but we got to enjoy a warm breeze and a cool view. Another time a chance encounter with the chief architect of the buildings interior would gave us a new understanding on the buildings visual treats.

Today as I float above America on a flight from New Orleans back to Philadelphia I realize how enlightening working outside of your normal boundaries can be. I was in New Orleans to start work on a series of portraits that hopefully one day will be a book. And while I was there to capture relationship between fathers and their children I could not help to notice a new found appreciation for the space that my subjects inhabited. It will be interesting to see how the lessons learn while photographing a building will show themselves in my new photographs dealing with one of life’s most intimate relationships.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

It's Comcastic!

Being The President

While the studio’s income is two-thirds commercial assignment and one-third stock a few years ago I became involved in the Stock Artists Alliance (SAA). These involvements lead to me becoming SAA President this January. This highly paid ($0.00 per year) position has given me a unique glimpse of photo politics at its best.

The Stock Artist Alliance (www.stockartistsalliance.com) is an international trade organization whose mission is to be an advocate for photographers who sell stock imagery either directly or via stock libraries. The cool thing is I am now on a first name bases with many of the leaders in the stock industry. The bad thing is my early mornings and evenings are now taken up writing memos and returning emails from this same group. The funny thing is that people now think that I am an “expert”.



You can become an expert by being very knowledgeable about a subject. You can also become an expert by being able to write a good persuasive sentence. Academics are the former, politicians are usually the latter. Business owners are a bit of both but know how to monetize their knowledge. I can write an amusing argument.

The world of advertising and photography are going through huge changes. While during the 1990s and the early part of this decade intellectual property sold for a premium while producers of commodities like steel, corn and oil suffered through a price depression. Suddenly in the last two years this price relationship has flipped and our world has returned to the historically more common situation where ideas are cheap and goods are dear. When consumers are spending $4.00 a gallon for gas, they have less money for books or magazines. Plus, the Internet has made it all too easy not only to share ideas but also to steal them. Trying to understand how photographers can survive and thrive in this world is part of the mission of organizations like SAA.

I believe that for commercial photographers a few very talented people will rise to the top and earn good money. A few more photographers who have learned to produce a high volume of decent images very inexpensively will also earn their keep. The vast majority of photographers who have average talent in both image creation and business systems will find a career in photography to be very difficult way to earn a living. This paradigm currently holds true for most creative endeavors. I have always strived to be the premium producer. My business model has always been to work as high up the pyramid as my talent allows.

The world of a free lance anything can be isolating at times. Becoming active in professional organizations is one way to get yourself out of your bubble. While there are times, when your spouse is sleeping and you are still at your laptop trying to convince a corporate bigwig that changing subsection “C” of the latest contract is good for the world, that volunteer work can feel overwhelming. It is interesting how the word, “commitment” can be so motivating.

So now you know why there are a fewer posts on the blog each month. Its not that I am writing less, I am writing more. It is five in the morning; time to return another email.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Thirty Years Ago

(for a complete collection:  Flashes

Thirty years ago I was a very tough and brave solder in an infrantry brigrade of the Israeli Army. Compared to this mother and child who I had the honor of meeting and photographing this week, I was a coward. From Flashes of Hope, Philadelphia: http://www.flashesofhope.org/

Sincerely,

Zave Smith

www.zavesmith.com

Ranger Finder Magazine

Link to a downloadable PDF in Rangefinder: Rangefinder

Zave Smith: Nurturing a Passion for Photography

By Michelle Perkins

Zave Smith, a commercial photographer based in Philadelphia, PA, has been in the
business for over twenty years—long enough to see a variety of stylistic revolutions,
countless changes in the market, and incredible advances in technology. What has
remained constant, however, is the importance of creativity and personal vision in his
long-term success as a photographer. Without this, says Zave, you’re always chasing the
latest fashion—and always lagging behind. “It’s like playing pin the tail on the donkey,”
he laughs, “but not only are you blindfolded, the donkey is also moving.”

Even on a good day, staying your own course in a world of opinionated clients,
viewers, and peers can be a challenge. For people who make their careers in photography,
the situation is significantly exacerbated by the need to remain fresh and innovative over
the course of several decades. “For those of us who have walked life’s road a bit and built
our professional identity on earlier successes, we have a vested interested in keeping our
reputation,” says Zave. “The crowds yell out to us—sing ‘Satisfaction’ again. How do we
stop each creative answer from being in the same key? Bank accounts, credit cards, kids
in school, and a reputation to keep intact. How do we stop thinking about the soles of our
shoes?” Zave has a few answers.

BE FEARLESS

How do some artists remain as innovative and creative at sixty as they were at twenty?
They do it by not being afraid. “Fear is the emotion that stops us in our tracks,” says
Zave. “Fear freezes the mind and builds walls around the soul. The bumps and scars of a
creative life teach us to be careful, but being careful is the death of creativity.”

CONTROL YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Controlling your mind can be difficult, especially when it comes to conquering those
knee-jerk fear reactions. Controlling your environment, says Zave, is actually much
easier. “Nothing influences me like the people who surround me,” he says. “Positive,
energized, and giving people fill my inner circle. Whiners, braggers, and the selfish are
kept at bay. On the set, I want to free my mind to focus on what is in front of my camera
and not worry about what is happening behind it. One in a while, during a shoot I look
around and the number of people behind me startles me. I have forgotten that they are
there. I can do this because I know that they are paying attention to their areas of
responsibility, freeing me to concentrate on mine.”
Zave has also learned to streamline his studio environment so that areas not
directly involved in picture making take up less of his time. This helps him avoid
spending undue amounts of time on minutiae.

DO THE WORK

Potentially creative moments arise all the time, not just during sessions—but if you’re
holding the television remote instead of your camera, chances are you’ll miss them.
“One of the pleasures of being a photographer is that our creative life is not client
dependent,” says Zave. “For example, my shooting schedule does not vary that greatly
between the times when the studio is busy with clients and those times in between. I am
constantly shooting and exploring my visual world.”

FIND A FRESH DIRECTION

“I am a big believer in the power of the trashcan,” says Zave. “Even good ideas, if they
are not working toward my current goals, need to be put aside.” If something is not
working, Zave suggests getting up and walking away from the problem at hand. This can
free you to seek out the answers by using a different approach, getting past the one that
has you stuck. “The pressure to make the day’s numbers can give a lot of energy to a set,
but I believe that this numbers game can lead to making pictures that show instead of say
something,” he says. “Chasing numbers forces us to see with our head instead of our
eyes.”

FOCUS ON EMOTIONS

“For me, inspiration can come from a model. I will meet someone at a casting and find
their look, and more importantly their personality, captivating,” says Zave. “I will then
develop shooting scripts around what intrigues me about them. The script ideas often
come from my day-to-day life. I then set the scene and let the talent act it out. It is during
this acting that I seem to catch the spark of life.”
Zave has another handy tip for catching this spark: he has his subjects “play the
scene” from several different points of view. “If I am after a romantic couple, I will also
have the couple act as if they are angry, mad, contemplative, or bored. By swinging back
and forth through different emotions, they will often reach a truer sense of their feelings.
Most of our emotions have many shades, many sides—they are complicated. Powerful
photography has that sense of the complicated nature of our emotional lives.”

WORK IS SLOW? TIME TO GROW.

It’s the nature of the photography business: there are busy times and slow times. While
the busy times provide a clear sense purpose, the slow times can be breeding grounds for
self doubt—a real creativity crusher. “These are the times when you recall the parental
voices echoing something about going to medical school like your cousin,” says Zave.
What’s important to remember, he notes, is that we get to choose which games we
will play. “Instead of listening to all those dark tapes in the back of your mind, ask ‘What
if?’” he says. “What if I called on a company I never talked to before? What if I offered
different services to my present client base?”
Zave pursues other creativity-affirming options, as well. “One of my favorite
activities is to take elements from a recent assignment and re-explore them to see what
other visual possibilities might be there,” he says.
“I have found that each of my slow periods has forced me to re-examine what I do
and how I do it,” he adds. “Each slow period has enabled me to grow and reach to the
next level of my career. Sounds strange, but I would not be as successful as I am if I had
always been busy. These times of unrestricted, undefined exploration are sometimes just
the thing we need to recharge our creative juices.”

FIND YOUR PASSION

Photographers often strive to be “perfect,” but Zave says that finding your passion is
much more important than complex lighting or flawless posing. “It wasn’t until I gave
myself permission to let my personal passions enter my professional work that my career
truly blossomed,” he says. On a shoot, Zave notes that it’s easy to get so focused on what
the client is saying that you lose sight of why you were hired in the first place: for what
your visual sense can bring to the expression of their concept. “My most successful
shoots,” he says, “are those where I listen to myself as much as to the client. A true
collaboration.”

To see more of Zave Smith’s images, and to check out his blog (which is full of
inspiring reflections on photography), visit www.zavesmith.com.

Michelle Perkins is a professional writer, photographer, and digital-imaging specialist. She
has written for PC Photo and is the author of numerous books, including Professional
Portrait Lighting: Techniques and Images from Master Photographers (Amherst Media, 2006)
and Professional Portrait Posing: Techniques and Images from Master Photographers (Amherst
Media, 2007).

On The Corner of Lafayette, State of Louisiana....

(to see a complete collection:  African American Trail

Two weeks ago, on a rainy and cold December day in Philadelphia, I received a call from Glenda McKinley English of GMC Advertising, asking if I could come to Louisiana for a six-day photo shoot the next week. Since several large productions that we were involved with were entering their holiday break period, my schedule was open and the warm weather and adventure beckoned me.

This assignment was outside of my usual lifestyle productions. With only the help of a wonderful account executive named Randy Reves and two bags of camera gear I set out to create a collection of images for the Louisiana Department of Tourism. Because of the tight schedule I only had one hour in each location to create a story. One hour to discover the visual poem that would describe each locations reason for being. One hour to create a photograph that would beckon somebody off their comfortable sofa and motivate them to drive across Louisiana to discover their past. One hour to create a photograph that in a millisecond captures a viewer’s imagination and calls to them, to take a longer look.

When we arrived at each location the first question I had to ask was what was the significance of this place, why was it on the tour? Next I would have to find a visual way to answer that question. I would explore each location from as many angles as possible in order to find the poetry inside its story. Most of these sites were in buildings that were never designed to be museums. Several sites were in small homes, one was in an auditorium, and another museum was retrofitted into a bank building. These buildings presented a challenge to the curators and to me since they were not designed for visual presentations. The name of the game for me became distillation.

One such fine place was in Donalsville, Louisiana. Here there is a small home that a several retired African American Women have turned into a museum that celebrates their community’s heritage from Africa, to slavery, from reconstruction, to segregation, and on to the civil rights movement. This gem was one of 32 Heritage sites spread over 1,400 miles that we photographed during this photo safari marathon week.

Louisiana is a very flat with lots of water in the southern half. The terrain does not vary that much from mile to mile along the interstates or even along the two lane blacktops that link small town to rural hamlet. I spent a great deal of time trying to find views of 200-year-old buildings without showing the 21’s century paraphernalia that engulfs these historic structures. I have often felt that you could travel to all fifty states and take the same photograph; it would be of the strip mall along the highway. While Louisiana offered its share of 21-century visual blandness it also offered many sites that were unique, historic and beautiful.

After 5 days of driving and carrying equipment around, I woke up with a splitting headache in the middle of the night in New Orleans. I had left my Advil in Randy’s car so I ventured out along Bourbon Street searching for an open store. The street was still buzzing with its middle of the night partiers, drunks, crazies and middle age voyeurs when I saw the guy with the sign that advertised “BIG ASSED BEERS!” next to the guy with the “Cross” and the promise of holy salvation. I knew then that all would be well with this world.

Louisiana is a poor state and since hurricane Katrina many of the sites we visited are struggling with the issue of financing their preservation and restoration. Yet even without finical resources the people who run these historic sites are doing an amazing job of preservation and education. Their dedication was truly the most inspiring aspect of this journey.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Better Living Through Chemistry

Once in a while a project becomes much larger, much more interesting and more difficult than you imagined when the layouts first come across your desk. Recently we had such a project for a chemical company. The creative brief sounded simple. Three pictures. The first one would be of two kids sitting in front of a pool putting sunscreen on each other. The second image was a picture of a father and son playing with a toy car. The third photograph would be of a family of four watching a home movie in their backyard. There was nothing here that we had not done many times before.

Once again the devil was in the details. The pool house had to be a very upscale home, architecturally interesting, with a pool, a privacy fence, nice landscaping and non-while vinyl siding. The father and son and the family watching the movie turned out to be both period pieces, the first one had to look like it was shot in the 1960s’ and the second one like it came out of the 1950s’.

Once in a while a project becomes much larger, much more interesting and more difficult than you imagined when the layouts first come across your desk. Recently we had such a project. The creative brief sounded simple. Three pictures. The first one would be of two kids sitting in front of a pool putting sunscreen on each other. The second image was a picture of a father and son playing with a toy car. The third photograph would be of a family of four watching a home movie in their backyard. There was nothing here that we had not done many times before.

Once again the devil was in the details. The pool house had to be a very upscale home, architecturally interesting, with a pool, a privacy fence, nice landscaping and non-while vinyl siding. The father and son and the family watching the movie turned out to be both period pieces, the first one had to look like it was shot in the 1960s’ and the second one like it came out of the 1950s’.

Once again changes that the client made after production began added some more challenges. For example, after the three shots were cast, the demographics of the models changed and the whole project had to be re-cast. Many questions arose like do we style the father and son has if it was the early or late 1960s’? How upscale were these families?

With styling issues, the details matter. I believe that even when an object is out of focus and in the background it has to be authentic or the shot looses something. My producer stylist, Deborah Holljes, had to scour the whole country in order to fine the clothing that we need.

Luckily I work with an amazing crew and in spite of all these issues plus that added pleasure of working with little kids on shots that need very specific angles and gestures that shoot came off very smoothly.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

I Just Got Good

Today I finished printing a new portfolio. Looking over this new body of work a smile came over my face and for just a moment, I thought to myself, “I just got good”.

I feel this way a couple of days each year. Until the plight of dissatisfaction returns forcing me to create new images with the false prayer that my next picture will lead me to visual nirvana.

My best works are pictures that teach me. This learning does not happen when the shutter is clicked. It happens later, after living with the image awhile, after letting the print take on its own life outside of my experience of creating it. When I am allowed the pleasure and pain of looking at the new work with a fresh eye and an honest heart.

I update my book around three times a year. I start by compiling a folder called, “possibilities”. I then ask myself some very hard questions. Which of my older children to I still love? Which of my babies are “book-worthy”? How do all these images relate to each other? And the hardest question of all, what do I stand for as a photographer?

I lay all the possible images on large tables and then I start to play. Every re-edit is gut retching. Each time when I start compiling recent work to be considered for the new edit I wonder where the good pictures went. It can take me up to three weeks of re-editing and re-arranging until I start to feel that this body of work is coming together. Once the edit pleases me, I have to ask, what will others see and understand from this new story?

After playing with the work prints, it is time to start the real job of printing. I find printing to be boring and exhilarating at the same time. Boring because each print takes five minutes, five minutes times 140 printings is a lot of waiting. Exhilarating because when I get it right, the prints can be breathtaking.

After the printing, the trimming and the binding I get to sit back, go through this new assemblage and hopeful at the end of the process I will say, “I just got good”

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Cool Campaign

Once in a while we get to work on a campaign that is just so cool, so different, you just got to share it. This campaign shot for Holton Teitelman And Gury is just such a campaign.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Twenty Kids, One Photography

We are used to pulling rabbits out of hats, it is what we do. But when on a Wednesday evening I received a call asking if we could put together a shoot in Harrisburg, PA by Tuesday, twenty photographs of kids, over two days in two unknown locations, plus a formal portrait of a dignitary, I thought to myself, “this is nuts”.

We did not have a script and only the vaguest notion of what we were supposed to photograph. In order to save money we had to use the children of department that hired us. The art director responsible for this project was away on vacation until Sunday night. We did not have locations. We did not have time to do a live casting for the supplementary models we would need to fill in where we were demographically lacking in “real” children. Harrisburg, while a lovely town does not have the normal support services that we are used to and besides, I and my producer had never been there before.

Right away, my producer, Deborah Holljes, got on the phone and rounded up our needed crew. After a late Thursday afternoon conference call with 15 people who I never meet, Deborah and I started to put together a battle plan. On Friday I drove to Harrisburg to scout locations and get a feel for what we might or might not be able to achieve on such a short notice. Deborah meanwhile started putting together a cast, lists of props, wardrobe, and needed logistical supplies like lunch for 30 people in a park that we had not picked out yet.

Somehow, by Tuesday, all the people, models, supplies and gusto were gathered together and the shooting began. Twenty kids, a park, and one photographer, it was a hell of a ride.

I hope you enjoy these images as much as we enjoyed creating them.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

One Sunday Morning

(to see the compete collection:  One Sunday Morning

It was a warm summertime Sunday morning. I found myself in the pews of the First African Baptist Church. This church was founded in Philadelphia, during the year 1809 with its present building dating from 1906. I was there to photograph the service for an exhibition that was going to open in just seven days at the African American Museum of Philadelphia. This was not a lot of lead-time.

Though I had seen many depictions of Black Baptist services in film and on TV. This was my first live experience of an evangelical nature. I was excited to be there. Most of my work is advertising with a few feature editorial projects mixed in. Most of the time I am working with models and a crew, most of the time I am working from a layout and a script. This particular Sunday it was my camera, a couple of lenses and a desire to capture the essence of an unfamiliar service without getting in the way.

Being open to opportunities for creativity has been one of the strategies that has kept my eye fresh and has helped me grow as a photographer. Not all opportunities come from advertising work. Occasionally visual opportunities arise from an unexpected phone call from someone with no real budget. It may be a passion for a project that is infectious or a cause that is just that will convince me to take on the work. Often these unusual projects force me to work a bit differently than my normal routine, often these projects also force me to think and to see differently. Often, this new way of working will add to my repertoire of creative skill. This project was no different.

I hope you enjoy these new images.


Sincerely,

Zave Smith

www.zavesmith.com



A sincere thanks to Craig Johnson of Talisman Interactive for inviting me to participate in this project and to Reverend Griffith and the Congregation of The First African Baptist Church for welcoming me into their Sunday Morning Service.

Just Before I Discovered Girls

Just before I discovered Girls, I was really into shortwave radio. What made shortwave fun was listening to radio stations from countries that you did not even know where countries, like Radio Windward Island. True shortwave people kept a world map and put marking pins into countries that they manage to listen to. Shortwave nerds would even send the radio station a reception report so the station would send you a thank you postcard. Lots of postcards from obscure countries meant lots of bragging rights.

Today I am getting a similar kick out of Google Analytics. This web tracking tool tells you how many visitors your website receives and where your viewers are from. Google Analytics even has a world map with markings on it that like my shortwave days of old which shows you how many people from each city and country recently visited you site.

I find this information very cool and very useless though I do wonder sometimes why suddenly 30 people in Singapore decided to spend some time looking at my work. Now if I could only figure out a way to charge these viewers…

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

The Girl Across The Street

My studio is located in an industrial area in Philadelphia. Across the street an Asian man owns several food related businesses. This hard working man who barely speaks English also has his family living above the warehouses that he owns. Often times what I believe are is wife, mother and daughter can be found sitting on boxes and enjoying the views though nobody would call the views on Buttonwood Street pretty.

Yesterday I took a photograph of the little girl and gave this image as a print to the family.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

I Am Not A Doctor

I am not a doctor like my brother, nor a teacher like my spouse. I have saved no one from hell nor created a web 2.0 business. I am just a photographer. I’m not even a hell bent to save the world photojournalist. For I am just an ad guy. I create images that help sell products. Or, as one of my favorite creative directors once said, “We create landfill”.

Luckily, the pictures I create do have a certain power. Somewhere between my studio and the city dump, millions of people see my work. For a brief moment while filliping pages and dismissing come-ons for things they don’t really need, my pictures reach out catch their eye and make them smile. For the power of my images is their ability to tell the universal story of our pleasures and our pains. It is this power of affirmation that helps us all feel human again.

If the beauty of my photographs can create so many smiles in people across the globe I am doing something very worthwhile.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

God Must Be A Crazy Artist!

When I was a child I used to think that God was a super parent, a supreme judge of the Supreme Court. I have concluded that God is just a crazy artist.

Why else would this world be so beautiful? Why else would the clouds be so wonderfully every changing? Only an artist, a sprite driven to be constantly creating would have made the eyes of a fly so full of color and form.

Who else but an artist would create a creation the keeps on recreating itself? Who else but an artist would have created something so wonderfully inefficient like the song of a bird? Or created something as peaceful as a lake, as restful as a sunset and has warm as a hug?

Like God, we earn earn our keep through creativity, have to be open and permit the crazy artist who is inside us all to come out and play.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Working With Talent

I am often asked how I get such seemingly natural looking performances out of my talent. I believe this look of authenticity comes from paying close attention to three important areas.

Casting: We spend a lot of time on casting. Our goal while casting is not only looking for the most appealing face but also for the most believable one. We start by making sure we understand the “character” that we are after. We want to know the back story, and through a thorough understanding of the creative brief, we want to make sure we understand the emotional note the talent will have to portray. Often times our talent appears with others in the shot and we also need to make sure that the potential talent works well with others.

During the castings we don’t just line up the talent and have an assistant shoot headshots. We tell each potential model the back-story; we tell them what exactly we are after. We try to give them props and light them the way the photo shoot might be lit to see how they emote and will look during the real shoot. If the shoot calls for interaction between talents, we will often pair them up to see how well they will play with others. The goal here is to make sure that the talent not only looks good and has visual appeal but that they can also follow directions and emote. In short, will they look and play the part?

External Direction: External direction is telling talent where to stand, what they should be doing or what they should be looking like. Smile, sit, and move your right arm are examples of external direction. External directions are fairly easy to give but giving to many commands can confuse a model and make a model feel insincere which leads to forced expressions. I use external directions to get a model into place.

Internal Direction: Internal direction is a bit subtler. This is where I use dialogue to try to coax the talent into the mood I am looking for and therefore into the right emotion for the shot. It is by this method of internal direction, which the model buys into his or her role and the sense of authenticity of the character comes through.

Internal directions often begin before the model is on set. I try to create an atmosphere on set that is supportive and conducive to performance. A while ago I heard a wonderful interview with Alan Alda on National Public Radio. He was talking about how when they first started filming “Mash” the actors instead of hanging each alone in his or her only trailer, hung out together around a fire barrel. He believes that it was around this campfire that the cast bonded and learned to trust each other. He believes that it was this trust that allowed the cast to achieve the level of performance that helped make “Mash” the hit it was.

I also try to hang out a while with my talent before the shooting begins. Whether it is during set changes or during make up I can often be found talking with and getting to know my models, It is during this time, when I can observe them up close that I can really see the raw material that I will be working with and in turn this allows them to get to know and to trust me. This is also the time when I can discuss the shoot without the pressure of being on set and in front of a lot of people. This is where the model can feel free to ask any questions about what is expected without feeling silly or shy.

Helping a model bring a concept or character to life is what I live for. Through creating the right atmosphere on set, giving easy to understand external directions and by helping the talent breath into their roles, we can achieve images that are not only visual stunning but believable also.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Rebirth

It’s the nature of this business - periods of insane work schedules and periods of insane quiet. The busy periods are easy to handle: you’re facing into the wind but with a clear sense of purpose pushing you forward with focus. You know what you’re about and you’re working towards a goal. It’s those quiet periods that can drive you mad… When the phone stops ringing and the calendar looks like a desert, your mind has room to play games with your soul. Self-doubt rears its ignoble head and that rotten refrain “what will I do with the rest of my life” rolls through your brain. Welcome to the head-trips of the nervous and the restless. These are the times when you recall the parental voices echoing something about going to medical school like your cousin… Remember though, one of the nice things about being human is our ability to choose which games we will play. When the studio business cycle reaches that calm spot between the waves, instead of listening to those dark tapes in the back of your head - ask “What if”?

What is “What If”?

When my current client base is hibernating I like to look around and see where else in the jungle the signs of life are stirring. What if I considered the possibility that other clients or business sectors might need what I have to offer? What if called on a company I’ve never talked to before? What if I offered different services to my present client base?

What if can also mean trying to create something in a way that I never had before. One of my favorite activities is to take elements of a recent assignment and re-explore them to see what other visual possibilities might be there. I have found that each one of my slow periods has forced me to re-examine what I do and how I do it. Each slow period has enabled me to grow and reach to the next level of my career. Sounds strange, but I would not be as successful as I am if I had always been busy. Slow times can be scary, but they can also be wonderful periods of exploration. These explorations can be on the business side, on the creative side, or better yet, both sides in this crazy business. These times of unrestricted, undefined exploration are sometimes just the thing we need to recharge our creative juices and allow us to reach our next star. We invite you to take a moment and check out our website and see what new work the summer’s calm has allowed us to create.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com

Between Two Worlds

I LIVE ON A FENCE BETWEEN TWO VERY DIFFERENT WORLDS. On my right side exists a world of noise, speed, bright lights, money and seduction. On my left side, a world that is like a small pond enclosed by rocks, where small stones of ideas send ripples into motion.

I LIKE LIVING ON THIS FENCE. The world on my right side gives me a headache when I spend too much time there. The world on the left needs the energy from the right else the waters become too smooth to be of any interest to me.

Staying balanced on my fence between these two worlds would not that hard except that the worlds don’t always stay on my left and my right. Most of the time, they are spinning around with such speed that I can’t always tell where they are.

While on set this balancing act becomes very interesting and necessary. In the world on the right, where my clients live, there are long lists of things that are needed from me. These lists of dreams, ideas, and inspirations are sometimes very clear, sometimes they make no sense, and often they are in conflict with each other. At times like this it becomes important to find the world on my left and take a moment to take nourishment there. This nourishment is what gives me the ideas and the fortitude to solve the problems in the world on my right. These two worlds, so different, feed each other.

I have been shooting a lot of stock photography this winter both for my stock agencies and for private, company held, stock libraries. Shooting stock can become a numbers game. There is a lot of pressure to work faster and to count a day’s success in terms of the number of shots finished. While the pressure to make the days numbers can give a lot of energy to a set I believe that this numbers game can lead to making pictures that show instead of say something. Chasing numbers forces us to see with our head instead of with our eyes.

People forget facts, and anyway, they’ve seen it all before. Facts are transient, but a good story can last forever. Do you remember how many times you went sledding as a kid? Probably not. But I bet you remember the thrill of the ride, the smell of the snow, the cold and wet whiteness turning your face red, and the triumph in braving winter’s wind. Great pictures tell stories and a story’s authenticity resides in the beauty of the details. A great picture cries out to us to enter its world and become intoxicated.

I have received many thank you notes and comments about these newsletters. I truly appreciate them. We love hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith

www.zavesmith.com

2/2007

Winter

Winter is the season of long shadows and short shooting days. It is when the earth is brown with patches of dark green and the sky can be so cold and blue. Nature becomes transparent in winter; you can see a long way through the barren hillsides. Winter with its sharp angles and lines that reach to the sky is a time for taking stock of what was and dreaming of what is ahead.

So what am I dreaming about this winter? I am dreaming that around the world, cooler heads will preside and we can get back to the task of creating for and selling to each other instead of fearing one another. I am dreaming of a time when the headline on the evening news will be about an opening at the art museum. I am dreaming of a time when it will take months and months to buy a gun and only an hour to renew a passport. I am dreaming of a time when we greet each other by saying, “How can I help you.” But my biggest dream for 2005 is to continue creating images that make people smile, laugh or just connect with their inner humanity.

This fall was a busy time at the studio. We just finished creating a private stock library for Vanguard. We also shot a series of environmental portraits for Town Motors and a packaging project for Pfizer. Did you receive our mailed poster? If not, and if you would like one, just let me know.

Thank you all for a great year, let us all keep dreaming.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith

1/07

www.zavesmith.com

Jazz Band

Recently I have become a groupie of my son’s jazz band. I have watched these very young musicians go from performance to performance. Sometimes they create musical magic and some evenings I want to cover my ears.

We tend to think that photography is a visual art. We end up with an object that we look at. This final object is fixed. Once there, it does not change. But photo shoots I believe are much more akin to performance art than visual art. We gather a group of creative people; they work together and hopefully produce some magic.

The difference between my son’s young quintet and my work is that on my shoots we must always produce magic. There is no room in advertising photography for “off” days, mediocre performance or uninspired playing. So how do we guarantee that all days are great days? I believe it comes down to planning, flexibility and ambition.

Planning starts with a through understanding of the project. I find it helps not only to see the layouts but also to hear the strategy behind the layouts. That way if changes need to be made on the set, I can always compare the visuals with the strategy to make sure we are doing the right thing. By planning I am referring to casting, propping, location scouting and all the astetic considerations that can make a shoot wonderful. Good planning means that the logistics of a shoot are as well thought out as the concepts.

Flexibility is important because even with the best planning, problems and opportunities may arise. Problems are everywhere and can usually be overcome. Opportunities are rarer but offer the greatest rewards. Often time, on shoots, an art director or photographer discovers something that is different than the layout but actually tells a much better story. The issue becomes, does the creative team have the time, the resources and the power to follow this new visual idea? If flexibility is part of the planning and you know the strategy behind the layout, that answer can often be yes.

Watching my son’s band rehearsals, their blind ambition and determination to get better, reminds me of my student days, days when I would spend hours staring at my work, trying to understand it and how to make it better. When one acquires a certain level of mastery it is easy to forget about the power of determination and ambition. Visual success often comes so easily and the pressures of time and budget can seem to force a shoot to keep moving on to the next scene. If making that truly magic photograph is the goal, ambition and determination are needed to make sure that every detail of the plan is complete. Ambition and determination also help to recognize and seize that opportunity to truly make magic. The successful photograph depends on planning, flexibility and ambition.

This spring has been a very busy one for us. We have recently completed projects for Proctor and Gamble, PNC, and Shire. 

Sincerely,

Zave Smith

4/07

www.zavesmith.com