THE 10 BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS
Capture: Billie, Tupac, Zoe, Rihanna, Gaga+
The exercise in looking at the most incredible photographs of music and acting talent on earth by the 10 best photographers today left us all speechless. The photographs are each so brilliant in their own style, that unique moment captured between the subject and the photographer.
You can feel an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust between the extremely talented subjects and the extremely talented photographer. Among those who were given the gift of being acute visual masters are Annie Leibovitz, Ryan McGinley, Ellen von Unwerth, Steven Meisel, David LaChapelle, Steven Klein, Kai Z Feng, Russell James, Mert & Marcus and Vincent Peters. We chose images we felt were magical, provocative and representative of their style of work and allowed some departures too. The talent or the subject of the photograph we selected was based on the image itself as we sorted through hundreds of photographs. We chose Lady Gaga, Rihanna (twice – both images were so superb), Billie Eilish, Tupac, Charlize Theron, Troye Sivan, Zoe Kravitz, Jennifer Lawrence, Kendrick Lamar and Keira Knightley.
Our selection rules were simple. We picked the top photographers working today and the images they took of top talent working in acting or music. We did, of course, throw out all the photographers accused as sexual predators from the process. We ended up with a color and black and white mix that is a stunning visual assault on our senses from beginning to end. When we say the best, we also include the stylist, the production director and his team who are building, painting, propping, lighting, hair and make-up and so much more. On these shoots you have to imagine sometimes 20 or more people standing on their feet for a very long day selecting and trying on looks on the talent and sewing, steaming the clothes, manicures, haircuts and hair styling, tons of makeup (especially if your subject did not go to bed last night and showed up for the call directly from the afterhours club), the magazine or brand art director, music blasting all day which is either the talent’s choice or the photographer’s preference (imagine listening to AC/DC all day), catered food and drinks and a team who is filming the shoot. At the helm is the photographer who has had multiple meetings with the creative team, had meetings with whoever hired him or her and they gave their direction or input, and meetings with and the talent or their representatives. The photographer works out the assignment then with his team of assistants. Then there are tons of corrections with lighting, background and styling the clothes, hair and makeup, adjusting the pose and moving to another set up. In the end, it is the photographer’s finger on the trigger and the subject’s connection to the photographer and the communication between them that must click. It is as if everyone disappears for that one split second when the magic happens. Here are some of our very favorites:
