For the September edition of portfolio meetings, it was back to Manhattan! Sean, Stacy, and I had an early morning departure, and after a very quick drive across New Jersey, we were through the tunnel and ready to meet with the women at Fitness Magazine. We forgot that the office was a mere three blocks from the UN headquarters/meetings. Needless to say, traffic was a touch crazy as most of the roads were blocked off unless you had a diplomat’s license plate. If you live in NYC, you should really look into one of those things — so helpful!
Sean and Stacey loving the rain
A quick dash through the rain landed us in the Fitness offices right on time, where we met with Associate Photo Editor Karina Dearwood, Photo Assistant Amanda Gorence and Managing Photo Editor Toby Kaufmann. It made perfect sense that a handful of the staffers were looking through racks and racks of running shorts and piles of sneakers when we arrived. They were very interested to hear about our stock request services while they paged through various sports/fitness and conceptual portfolios. Toby recognized a few photographers’ names from previous events and portfolio reviews, and they enjoyed looking through Rod McLean‘s book and Michael Haug and Vance Jacobs‘ iPad portfolios.
Left to Right: Amanda, Sean, Stacy, Toby, and Karina in the Fitness conference room
With a short break between meetings, we had time for a quick caffeine stop — coffee for Sean and the greatest tea in the world for Stacy.
After that, it was a few blocks down to the painting-lined walls at Reader’s Digest. Photo Director Rebecca Simpson-Steele and Photo Editor Deb Wenof took some time out of their day to sit down with us, and we got the low-down on some of the recent projects they had been working on. They were looking for books with portraiture and still life, and we displayed enough to overwhelm the conference room table. They were excited to hear about our stock requests and especially enjoyed Monica Stevenson and Claire Benoist‘s books.
Deb, Rebecca, Sean, and I with my favorite painting at the RD offices.
Then it was time to pack up and head across town to McGarryBowen! We were fortunate enough to be able to meet with almost the entire Art Production department. They have worked with Wonderful Machine before and several of our photographers in the past but were excited to see physical books and some new names. As per usual with our day, Senior Art Producer Jamie Appelbaum and her crew were intrigued by our stock request options. They were a lively crowd and looked through more books than we had originally planned; I had a good time figuring out which books they would enjoy. All were devoured, and Jayms Ramirez, Joe McNally, and Stephen DeVries were especially appreciated.
Since we had a few minutes to wander around the Chelsea neighborhood, we thought it would be appropriate to stop at a few art galleries and feed our cultural neurons. Paul Graham‘s “Does Yellow Run Forever?” at Pace Gallery is worth a visit!
Finally, it was time to head over to Gallow Green‘s rooftop garden bar for happy hour with a few photographers. Suzanne Kantak stopped by for a few minutes before an appointment and told us about the projects she was working on. And in quick succession, Raymond Patrick, Stephanie Diani, and Benjamin Norman showed up. We got to experience a beautiful sunset from our seats and enjoy some fried green tomatoes, a few drinks, and many, many laughs. Finally, it was time to grab some pizza and head back toward Philly. A long day, but a quite successful trip in my book.
Left to Right: Sean, Stacy, Stephanie, and Ray at Gallow Green.
Until next time, thanks for the adventure, NYC!
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