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Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
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Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
We asked Kareem Black about the shoot on Twitter.
@photoeditor: Did u do the blue tape in post or was that on the set?
@kareemblack: The blue tape in the images in the story existed, We sketched out all the shots before hand and knew where print was going to be placed on each page and photographed each layout accordingly @ComplexMag referred to this as an “interactive”
That was my next question: did you follow tight comps since the type and images worked so well together.
Yes, everything was laboriously sketched out before hand and we knew where everything was supposed to end up on each page. #fun
it looked great. How about the cover, same deal there?
everything else on the cover “with @azizansari ” etc all were painted on the wall of the studio.
For the inside shot of him in the air, can he jump that high or did you have a trampoline?
Surprisingly @azizansari is actually that athletic. No trampoline or ambulance was needed. well the jumping was actually @azizansari ‘s Idea so he was really into it. We got maybe 30 good leaps out of him! it was fun! The jumping was a total ad lib on Aziz’s part and it totally worked for concept and layout!!
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Heidi: How did the idea to interpret the dreams come about? did it come from the magazine?
Perou: David Curcurito (creative director at Esquire) suggested to me that I might discuss my ideas for the shoot with Ryan, as Ryan also had some ideas for the shoot.
Where you given the story first and then did you and Ryan talked?
Sometimes I’m asked to email over some rough sketches or discuss with someone’s PR what I have in mind, but it’s unusual for me to have a two way conversation with someone before I photograph them for a magazine. There was more pre-production discussion before this shoot than any other I’ve done but that was great because I think all the best portraits of people are collaborations. I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to describe eloquently enough what I wanted to do, as I’m better with pictures than words. I called Ryan on his cell. he was in LA and I was in London.
I said ‘I hear you’ve got some ideas.’ ‘I’ve got one idea’ , he said, ‘…I keep having this recurring dream where everyone around me is a skeleton’
How would you describe Ryan’s dreams?
Ryan’s dream wasn’t too complicated, but Ryan’s own interpretation of his dream as a direction for the photos was quite complex and developed as we were discussing it. I was keen not to do something with real skeletons because as an icon (most) people can’t take them seriously. So we moved on from Ryan surrounded by real skeletons in various scenarios to Ryan with a woman representing the skeletons of his dreams: something like a Styx from greek mythology coming out of the shadows. I think part of what works in this is that me and Ryan had very different approaches to the shoot: he was very keen on doing a complete story with a beginning, middle and end: fully researched and scripted in advance. I knew we had to do a clean cover and then had 4 or 5 images inside the magazine, at most and Esquire aren’t really into full-on, photo-illustrations with tons of post-production. I wanted to do some iconic pictures of a movie star based loosely around an idea he had. I personally think the best ideas are often the simplest. I remember saying to Ryan, think of me like an improvise director: I’ll get the cast together and the location and we’ll freestyle around our idea: that’s how I work. If we try and script everything exactly, we’ll lose out on some magic and any spontaneous moments that happen.
Which is your favorite image?
My favorite picture from the shoot is the closer shot of Ryan nuzzling into Veronica’s neck. As well as shooting the stills for the cover feature of the magazine, I also shoot video for the moving covers on the ipad edition of Esquire. The idea for two Ryan’s on the ipad cover was all his and I think it works really well: a really simple, effective idea.
What was the most interesting thing that happened on the shoot?
It was a hard day at the office. Mainly because everything had to be discussed in so much detail before each shot, before the shoot and during the shoot: the motivation had to be right: it had to make sense. My day was made much easier by the lovely Veronica throwing cheeky winks my way. I thought it was amusing that Veronica wasn’t really into the last shot of the day when she had to repeatedly kiss Ryan.
What kind of direction where you giving to the subjects on set?
Veronica, the model was Brazilian and I had been under the impression that she didn’t speak much English. I was being my usual flirtatious with the ladies self, maybe more so than usual. It wasn’t till the end of the shoot that I realized she been understanding more than I’d assumed.
How long did that set take to build and where in NY did you shoot?
we shot on location in warehouse studio called ‘the 1896’ there was no real set building as such: just a bit of proppage.
Who did the body painting? and how long did that take?
Genius Will Lemon did the body painting. I have a vague recollection that it took him and his two assistants about 8hrs. Veronica stood the whole time: she was great.
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Heidi: Did the confection come with the cricket?
Hans: No, we ordered the treat and then the food stylist got the crickets.
Where did she get the crickets?
From a pet, store, they were frozen. It’s a very expensive source of protein, about $500 per pound.
Did you eat the treat?
No, no one on set ate the crickets, who knows what the crickets ate, so we were not tempted.
There was a model on set, was that part of the requirement when she was cast, her willingness to eat a bug?
Yes, she had to be willing to bite into it, but not eat it.
I loved the tartas section on your site. How did that body of work come about?
A pastry chef friend of mine in Barcelona was celebrating the 100th year anniversary of his bakery and he asked me what he should do to celebrate.
I said, “Explode your tarts”
His father knew a pyrotechnician so we shot with a high speed movie camera that captured about 300 frames per second.
How much film did you have to edit?
23,000 total frames for 15 tarts.
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Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
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Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
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Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.
Heidi: Are you shooting a lot of travel now?
George: I don’t often shoot travel assignments, the last time I was in Jerusalem was during the beginning of the 2nd intifada, when the City was very tense with a lot of clashes. So it was great to see the city relaxed, with all the tourist returning and Arabs and Jews moving in each others areas without fear.
I know this was shot during Purim, how much of a gathering collected to listen and watch? Where the streets bustling and were people responsive to you taking photos?
I had arrived in Jerusalem around 4 in the morning and was staying in East Jerusalem, the Arabic side. I got up around noon and decide to walk around the City to get a feel of the place, I had no idea it was Purim until I started to notice a few people dressed up. I headed towards the city center in West Jerusalem, which was full of people dressed up and generally partying and having fun. Shooting was easy, as is usually the case when people are celebrating.
Where were you to take this opening image?
I knew fairly early on that an image of the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock would be perfect as both are unmistakably symbols of Jerusalem and illustrated the main theme of the feature, Jerusalem stone through the ages. I walk around trying to get onto as many rooftops as possible to find the right angle and light, in the end I took this image from a spot that is accessible and popular with tourists. The photograph was taken at the beginning of the Sabbath on the Friday evening, just as the sun is starting to set and the floodlights are switched on. During the Sabbath, photography is not permitted by the western wall, so it was a perfect time to step back and make a landscape. I managed to get to this vantage point just before the tourists, by the time I left there were rows of people waiting to get to a glimpse of this view.
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