Waking up at 4:30 am isn’t so bad when there’s an action packed day to look forward to. This was the case for Paul and I as we geared up for another fantastic portfolio trip to New York City. After our festive Wonderful Machine holiday party the night before, we loaded up the car with cases of books and promos and began our journey up the turnpike.
Despite the traffic, we arrived exactly on schedule to our first meeting at Arnold Worldwide, located just around the corner from Union Square. While Arnold’s headquarters are located in Boston, their New York office is just as full of talented creatives producing work for clients such as Jack Daniels, Hershey’s, Titleist, Volvo, Carnival Cruise Lines and many others. After a quick ride up their freight elevator, we found ourselves in front of a giant conference table, waiting for us to paint with books.
We spread out about 20 portfolios covering a wide range of genres, including terrific fitness and lifestyle imagery by Mike Tittel, adorable dog photography by Winnie Au, and fantastic still life images by 8183 Studio to name a few. The talented folks at 8183 even supplied custom leave behinds for our Arnold meeting which were definitely a hit. We also included a handful of iPads showcasing video work by Bruton Stroube Studios and Jeffrey Lamont Brown.
8183’s Arnold leave behinds.
Coffee flowed and pastries disappeared as we discussed the work of our talented photographers. As with many of our recent meetings, motion and video work was the hot topic. Specifically, we discussed Arnold’s recent need for photographers to capture still images alongside large video broadcast productions. While these shoots may not require as much art direction on the photographer’s side, they’re often asked to supply unlimited worldwide rights to their images in perpetuity. We had a great conversation on what’s expected from a photographer in situations like these, and how working alongside a broadcast production can be a great learning experience for photographers shooting motion.
After our meeting came to an end, we hustled over to our next meeting at Discover Magazine. I was excited for this meeting as I knew it would be an opportunity to showcase our industrial, science and tech geared photographers. As an eager learner of all things science (any other NPR Science Friday listener’s out there?) it was a pleasure to hear about their recent projects, including a great piece by Chicago-based Saverio Truglia on subatomic particle colliders. As I confidently pretended to understand how subatomic particle colliders actually work, we spread books out on their conference table and the photo team came by to view the work.
Discover‘s photo editor, Randi Slatken, informed us that they put out a “Brain Issue” twice a year, and are constantly seeking stories and imagery relating to the brain in any way. Paul and I instantly pulled up the work of Adam Voorhees and Joseph Escamilla, each with strong portfolios (including images of brains/heads) that would be right up their alley. We also presented a great series of beekeeping images by Matthew Rakola, industrial photography by Michelle McCarron, and a great presentation of portraiture by Cody Pickens and Vincent Ricardel (whose portfolio Paul helped curate over the past few weeks).
Saverio Truglia’s recent Discover Magazine tear.
An hour later, we headed to our final meeting of the day at Reader’s Digest. Reader’s Digest has deep roots in covering a wide range of topics with a family-centric focus on health and wellness, finance, food, family and travel. Prior to our meeting, I discussed with photo editor Emilie Harjes their desire to see “slice of life” photographers, especially those in hard to reach locations. The spread of portfolios included work by Boise-based Glenn Oakley, Madison-based David Nevala, Santa Fe-based Julien McRoberts, and Birmingham-based Rob Culpepper. With great iPad and online editions of the magazine, Reader’s Digest is always looking for photographers that can capture motion, so we discussed the capabilities of our multi-talented photographers/videographers.
After our meeting wrapped up, Paul and I strolled around the corner to Connolley’s Pub for our much-anticipated photographer happy hour. It’s always great to meet our photographers and put faces to names. This round of drinks was attended by Claire Benoist, Chris Sembrot, John Kuczala, David Arky, Winnie Au and Matt Dutile. We had a wonderful time chatting with our photographers about their recent projects and upcoming holiday plans.
From left: Winnie Au, Craig, Chris Sembrot, Claire Benoist
With another series of fantastic meetings under our belt, it was time to make the drive back to WM headquarters in Philly and call it a day. With a solid face plant into my pillow, I obtained some much-needed sleep after our productive and successful day in New York.
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