I’ve been teaching a workshop on Portrait Photography at Newspace Center for Photography. Below are two portraits of my students done during a class demonstration showing tools and my image making process used in an environmental portrait assignment.

For Inc. Magazine. Below are a couple of outtakes.

Sunday April 25 The New York Times Magazine published an assignment I recently shot for their Q&A page, a portrait of Craig Robinson, head coach of men’s basketball at Oregon State University and perhaps more famous as the brother to First Lady, Michele Obama.

This is the most recent of many of these shoots I’ve done for the Magazine’s long running feature and I always enjoy them. For one the people are always fascinating, intelligent and sometimes controversial, which makes for an interesting sitting.

But I also enjoy the simplicity of isolating a subject on white. Of course this is the technique that Avedon made famous. He said “It isolates people from their environment. They become in a sense . . .symbolic of themselves.” For most of my work incorporating the subject’s environment or location is often as important as the subject themselves, but when shooting on white it becomes totally about the sitter.

I also like the challenge of creating a studio on location and I’ve done these shoots in parking lots, basements, hallways, hotel rooms and more weird places than I can remember.

Here’s a few more samples of my past New York Times Magazine, Q&A shoots.

Architect Brad Cloepfil

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire

(Former) Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin

Author Chuck Palahniuk

I’m pleased to join the ranks with 52 Selects, a new online gallery showcasing the work of photojournalists and offering prints for sale. My current offerings include the image above, an interior of the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale Mississippi made on assignment shooting an editorial travel story on the Blues Highway for the New York Times Magazine a while back.

The Riverside is a legendary location having hosted many blues legends, such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk and Ike Turner. The hotel was originally a hospital serving Clarksdale’s African American population where after being severely injured in car crash and refused treatment at an all white hospital, Bessie Smith died in the room shown in the picture above. While there I also made this portrait of current owner and operator Frank “Rat” Ratliff, below.

Illustration by Aubrey McClaran

I’ve been tinkering with my website, perhaps you’ve noticed. The biggest change is the new edits, produced in collaboration with Mike Davis. Mike, who has been editing photography, as well as making his own images for over twenty years at places like National Geographic and The White House (yes that White House), brought his talent and critical eye / mind to bear on some 700 images I sent him.
One of the most difficult jobs a photographer faces is editing their own work. I’ve always felt I was reasonably good at it or at least I knew what I liked. Lately I’ve struggled selecting a body of work that showcases the full range of my work without being scattered, disjointed or diluted. Mike however, waded through a mountain of images and put together the tightest edit I’ve shown in years, featuring images as new as six months and as old as 30 years. There are two featured collections of images, the first showcasing photographs of people / portraits and a second grouping of landscape / places.
I can’t sing Mike’s praises enough, he truly got what I’m all about. Have a look and let me know what you think.

I was interviewed by Maria Piscopo for her Business Column in Shutterbug along with BigshotStock colleagues, Brian Smale, Shawn Henry and Brian Smith about business trends in editorial photography.

This guy has made a mint selling stuff for old houses.

Fun story about books burritos and a son’s love.

Portland is not known for it’s celebrities but seems to have become home to a number of bands and musicians. Over the past year I’ve shot The Shins