author portraits
Writer and jazz musician, Dominic Green, was one of the most delightful people I've had the good fortune to photograph – a mix of self-deprecating good humor, wickedly keen intelligence (he studied English Literature at St. John's College, Oxford), and a fount of wonderful anecdotes about his theater-bred family and colorful musician friends.
Read MoreI recently had the good fortune to photograph brilliant Jackie VanderBrug, co-author of Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth, Returns, and Impact.
Portrait of Jackie VanderBrug, author of Gender Lens Investing
The subject of her book is fascinating: women today are an enormous force in the global economy—as successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives and family breadwinners. Yet gender-based violence, the absence of women's legal rights and the persistent wage gap stubbornly remain. This paradox creates an unprecedented and underexplored opportunity for investors. This is the first book of its kind to examine, in depth the advantages of integrating gender into investment analysis. While other books speak to growing numbers and influence of women, Gender Lens Investing moves from economic trends to financial strategy.
Jackie was looking for a portrait that conveyed her extensive knowledge base of her area, and conveyed a strong, smart presence. We worked with different backgrounds, lighting, and expression to nail the image she was looking for in her new book.
Jackie VanderBrug, author of Gender Lens Investing
In my last blog post, I mentioned the lovely, hilarious, and wickedly-grinned Kelly J. Ford, who won a portrait sitting with me at GrubStreet's Muse in the Marketplace conference.
Read MoreDespite the breezy tone of my title, I have to say that new author, Neil Hayward, is one of the most charming gentlemen I've met! He recently contacted me as his new book - "Lost Among the Birds: Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year" - was coming out in May, and his editor sent him my way to create the imagery for his book jacket and his promotional material.
Neil Hayward, author, Arlington, MA
Hayward, a rather educated Oxford/Cambridge-educated scientist and consultant, decided to take a year off and attempt what’s known as a “big year” — seeing as many different kinds of birds as possible, traversing the continent to do so. He managed 749 which made him the North American bird spotting champion. And prompted him to write a book, as well.
When he came my way, what could I do but take him outside? We had a lovely day in terms of clarity, though it was brutally cold, which Neil took like a trouper, eventually becoming rather blue in the process, but certainly game to try new landscapes outside.
We also shot in the studio, playing with strobes and ambient light, to get some beautiful headshots. Though as much as I love my studio, I have to say that the field trip outdoors felt necessary and true in order to capture the spirit of Neil's big year.
Neil Hayward, author, Arlington, MA
[embed]https://vimeo.com/110148643[/embed] This short film by John Neely documents the opening of the Boston Authors Project, a permanent photographic exhibition of author portraits at GrubStreet by portrait photographer Sharona Jacobs, which took place on September 12, 2014, and includes interviews of the authors who were photographed for the project. Each black and white image, some measuring up to 40", includes snippets of each author's work, as well as the photographer's observations of each shoot.
Featuring photographs of and writing by: Steve Almond Rita Zoey Chin Nicole Terez Dutton Regie Gibson Anthony James Pablo Medina Rishi Reddi Jane Roper Mako Yoshikawa
Of the project, Sharona says: "Writers are the perfect muse; they have a rich inner world, excel at communicating, and have interesting and varied life experiences to draw upon. The Boston Authors Project developed organically with GrubStreet; I had been photographing writers as a personal project for several months when I noticed, again and again, that a creative writer I was photographing was involved with GrubStreet as a teacher or student. Collaborating with such a great hub of fantastic writers has been a portrait photographer's dream come true."
Printing by: Bob Korn Imaging http://bobkornimaging.com
Film by: John Neely, documentary filmmaker http://neely.tv
