Stockland Martel

I often do behind-the-scenes stories about photo shoots, but this time I thought it’d be interesting to get the backstory on a magazine article—specifically, the story behind Anne Telford’s feature on Lauren Greenfield in Communication Arts’ May/June issue, which happens to be the Illustration Annual. The feature is titled “Lauren Greenfield: Capturing the Zeitgeist.” (Get your copy here.) Curious to know about how the piece came together and Anne’s experiences interviewing Lauren, I sent her some questions…

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Stockland Martel Blog: What was the impetus for your interview with Lauren?
Anne Telford: She had long been on the list of photographers the magazine was interested in featuring. A number of elements are considered when formulating the editorial for an issue of CA, including a subject’s specialty, location, gender, etc., in relation to the other profile subjects and who/what has recently been covered. And Lauren’s work proved a great fit for the May/June issue.

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SMB: Had you interviewed her before?
AT: I had long admired Lauren’s work but had not had the opportunity to meet her before our interview in mid-January. I am a big fan of her books Fast Forward: Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood and Girl Culture.

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SMB: What were you most keen to ask her about for this piece?
AT: I wanted to know what drew her to a particular topic. The answer, of course, is too complex to relate here, but suffice to say that like many artists, she draws from experiences in her own life, and obviously growing up in Hollywood can have a big impact on a person. I think for Lauren, it’s made her aware of what is of real value and meaning, and she has focused her work on issues that are not the least bit trivial or superficial. She turns a mirror to culture, whose shiny surface sometimes reflects back the inherent ugliness in our celebrity-obsessed culture.

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SMB: Lauren is one of those photographers who people think they know, or know all about, because she’s been written about a lot and lectures often. What did you learn about her and her work in this piece that surprised you?
AT: She seems to be completely fearless. Lauren is a petite woman. She has photographed gang-bangers and some really tough, scary people in L.A. She has great character, and you can see that she does not put up filters—she photographs the grit and the scars as well as the glossy veneer. When I asked her how much location work she did, she said, “Everything is on location.” If Lauren had a TV, show the tagline might read: Real journalistic stories, real people, real places, all the time!

Perhaps people respond so openly to Lauren, whether she has a camera in front of her face or not, because of her steady gaze and her demeanor. She is a take-charge person, one who instills confidence. For all her accolades and achievements, she is very gracious and down to earth. She is a polished, professional person, but very warm and genuine. And she has the most striking blue eyes, like Steve McCurry’s famous picture of the Afghan girl on National Geographic’s cover.

From a very early age, Lauren was exposed to different cultures and experiences, and they resonated with her in a serious fashion. Her interests turn into photography books and documentary films, after all!

I have interviewed many extraordinary photographers over the last 20 years. Lauren is one of the most admirable people I’ve met in this industry, and given the egocentric nature of the field, she is surprisingly low key. She truly has a vision, she understands her drive, and she simply goes about the work, juggling family, travel, research, and shooting. She seems to have a real sense of balance about career and family.
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SMB: Magazine writers often find themselves having to make tough choices about what to include in a story; there’s almost never enough space to say everything they want. Are there any interesting tidbits that you weren’t able to fit in your story?
AT: The opening spread shows both longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour and a model falling on the runway. Lauren’s sister told her that the woman in the photograph reminded her of a racehorse breaking its leg, and indeed, it does draw unsettling parallels.

A lot of her work revolves around women and self-image. We spoke at more depth about the downside of the continuum of eating disorders, including cutting and promiscuity. The downside for me, as a writer, was knowing going into our interview that I had roughly 1,400 words in which to describe this woman and her career, which in turn meant that I had to focus on achievements and placing her within the pantheon of contemporary photographers, leaving precious little space for analysis or comparison. It’s a challenge because you know you will have to leave out so much.

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I felt honored to be let into Lauren’s life for a few hours and to watch her at work, and to select images and consult with her team and her husband, Frank Evers, who is also her manager. Sitting at their dining table over lunch, which she ordered from a nearby deli in Venice, I looked up from my salad and contemplated some of my favorite Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander photographs, which she has hanging in her home. It made me feel lucky. I wandered out into the sunny Southern California day to explore the canals of Venice (wondering which house had belonged to Dennis Hopper), before hitting the San Diego Freeway to head home.

Spending time with Lauren Greenfield definitely makes you want to up your game!

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SMB: Thank you, Anne!

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Anne’s bio:

After 14 years as the founding managing editor of Communication Arts, Anne Telford moved to the position of editor-at-large when she relocated to her hometown, La Jolla, California. An avid traveler, she expanded CA’s international coverage and developed the magazine’s Fresh section. Anne is a board member of Watershed Media, an organization that produces action-oriented, visually dynamic communication projects to influence the transition to a green society, and produces the online illustration newsletter illustrationvoice.com for Serbin Communications, one of her freelance clients. She is also a published poet and photographer, with credits ranging from Émigré, Blur, and Step Inside Design magazines to the Portland Oregonian, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Allworth Press, and Chronicle Books, among others.

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