“There’s a lot of correspondence and communication between two human beings that goes on without one’s mouth moving,” he says in explaining his process. “And that’s in body language and just in brainwaves. I think we do really connect. And it’s often quite a heightened moment for the sitter because they have someone quite near them with a camera pointing at them. And I think in those heightened moments, you communicate even better. And I think something like that goes on, and I really trust it. That’s what I trust. And I think that’s the moment that a picture becomes a portrait.”

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The interview is part of the National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 Olympics-themed project, for which the gallery commissioned Nadav to shoot a series of portraits of Britain’s rising athletes. The first is of Jodie Williams. Here’s a screenshot of that photo as seen at the BBC‘s website, which is featuring all of the portraits in the Olympics project:

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Click to view Nadav Kander's portrait of Jodie Williams, part of the National Portrait Gallery's Olympics-themed commissions, at the BBC's website.

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To read more about Jodie and to see behind-the-scenes photos of the shoot, click here or on the image below.

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Click to view Anne Braybon's photos of Nadav's portrait session with Jodie Williams.

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Photo by Kwaku Alston, from his series "Volkslivin." Click image to see more.

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In a new column for Agency Access‘ The Lab, creative consultant Louisa Curtis of Chatterbox Enterprises talks about the importance of personal work to a photographer’s growth, success, and happiness. “I think it’s a shame that photographers have separated what they love from what they do for a living,” she writes. “I met a photographer once who was so busy ‘working’ he had not shot anything for himself in years, literally years! That was very sad to me.”

She goes on to spotlight a number of photographers who avidly shoot for themselves: Chris Buck, Chris Crisman, Landon Nordeman, and Kwaku Alston. “Kwaku is known for beautiful celebrity portraiture, but he is also a social documentarian,” Louisa notes, “and it was important to him to hit the streets and document something that was close to home – literally. In his case, that was Venice Beach, California. Kwaku really wanted to show something from his ongoing personal project ‘Venice,’ and I loved it so much, I used a second image in my article – a red Volkswagen van…who doesn’t love a VW van, right?”

For the full version of her column, go here. And to see some of the many personal projects by Stockland Martel‘s photographers, go here.

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From the fashion story "Memory." Photo by John Midgley.

Can you talk to us a little about the concept behind the fashion editorial ‘Memory’?
‘Memory’ is a series that was born out of this idea that the person you see as you mother now was this young attractive woman when you were a child, but in your memory this person doesn’t age. They just exist. You don’t question how they look. In fact all your emotional memories of your mother have no physical person attached. I just found that interesting. I guess it’s pretty fundamental to me and goes back to the Louvre in an abstract way. My parents separated when I was 6 and we had just moved to Paris. So a lot was going on emotionally and paintings were thrown in the mix…. So the series is about my mother and renaissance paintings.

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Johnny Depp. Photo by John Midgley.

Famke Janssen. Photo by John Midgley.

Valentino. Photo by John Midgley.

Michael Douglas. Photo by John Midgley.

You’ve photographed some pretty legendary people, which ones have you really enjoyed and who would you like to get in front of the camera?
I have enjoyed almost all of them. Johnny Depp was so kind, warm and funny yet extremely professional. He had this magnetic charisma… You immediately understood why he was a star actor. Oliver sacks was the most fascinating and love-able oddball. I would like to have president Obama and the Cohen brothers in front of my camera. Possibly at the same time!

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From a 2011 campaign for CyberSentinel, created by AMV BBDO in London and photographed by John MIdgley.

You made some quite powerful images for the ‘cyber centinel’ what was it like working on that shoot?
That was a lot of fun but I was a little worried about the consequences of the imagery. Of the images being taken out of context. The children were my own children and a very good friends daughter. The porn couple were a real couple that I have worked with on other nude projects and are so cool with their nudity and sexuality. They have a lot of fun with it. I was kind of envious of them but at the same time doubtful I could ever be that free. I’m pretty uptight about my own nudity.

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Read the full NOMIO interview, “John Midgley and His Photographic World,” here. And to see more of John’s work, go here.

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Click to access interview.

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What are you working on at the moment?
I have been working with the New York Times on a portfolio, which will be out in early March I think. I’m also getting ready for a show of my life-sized nudes – a series of nudes of men and women which try to ignore the common perceptions of beauty.

What projects do you like to be involved in?
I would say I do so many different genres of work. There are lots of different types of advertising I would like to do. I would love to do things that involve collaboration with the possibility of a great outcome – collaboration with both agency and client.

Who do you admire most in your industry?
I admire great art directors and writers who with so much heart and positivity go after their ideas and in trying to get them through are so often being thwarted. I admire the persistence and hoops they have to jump through.

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Nadav Kander (right) at the Aral Sea. Photo by Felicity McCabe.

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There needs to be less fearfulness from clients and more trust in good creators doing good work. There is less of a need for the lowest common denominator to understand every ad and be part of every ad. Advertising in magazines would altogether be of a far higher standard if creatives were just trusted more.

What was the last song you listened to?
It was “Sugar on the [sic] Tongue” by Talking Heads.

Read the full interview here.

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Roxanne will be celebrating in high style (of course) with an invitation-only party at the exclusive Parlor club in New York City. As style.com reports, Parlor has mounted an installation of 26 of Roxanne’s iconic photographs from the heyday of Studio 54, as well as from her critically acclaimed book Backstage Dior.

In honor of her birthday, New York magazine’s The Cut blog is featuring a slideshow of Roxanne’s work. Click here or on the image below to view it.

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UPDATE: The Bill Farrell Agency has posted lots of terrific photos from Roxanne’s party, whose guest list included Mick Rock, Catherine Malandrino, Amanda Lepore, Kenny Kenny, Princess Alexandra of Greece, and Giovanna Mastroianni…

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Click to view images at the Bill Farrell Agency website.

Roxanne Lowit, age 27. Courtesy of Roxanne Lowit Photo Blog/roxannelowit.tumblr.com.

Click to read an interview with Roxanne at Fashion Etc.

Click to view a slideshow of party photos at Vogue Italia's website.

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I asked Keiko Hindley, Jason’s studio manager, if Jason could tell us a bit about the photo, which is one of three images selected for Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best Photographers 2012/2013 (more on that soon). Here’s what Jason said, along with a larger version of the photo:

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This photo by Jason "Giblin" Hindley, shot at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Asutralia, is one of three images by Jason selected for the new edition of Lürzer's Archive's 200 Best Ad Photographers.

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“I took this photo in Sydney’s Bondi Beach. I’d seen the sea pool whilst walking around the area and had made a mental note of going back to photograph it, as it looked so amazing. (I was visiting Sydney for a friend’s wedding, and we were staying at this beautiful house right around the corner from Bondi Beach). I’d never seen a sea pool before and thought it was a brilliant idea. When I went back to the pool one morning a few days later to photograph it, there was just one guy swimming in it. The waves were crashing hard against the pool, creating all the whiteness with the sea foam and the light turquoise of the pool amongst the darker green of the sea, with this one swimmer in it. It made a great image.”

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The poster for "About Face."

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Timothy Greenfield-Sanders‘ latest documentary, About Face, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last week, and the rosy reviews have started pouring in. A few excerpts:

Variety: Besides its bevy of gravity-defying beauties, “About Face” provides a window into the very insecurities to which models are supposed to be immune: They were supposed to act, walk and pose as though they’re the most glorious things ever born, and to try and believe it. But judging by the very likable subjects of Greenfield-Sanders’ film, they’re beset by the same uncertainties as the rest of us mortals. Read more: “About Face: The Supermodels, Then and Now”

The Hollywood Reporter: …Greenfield-Sanders, a portrait photographer and filmmaker who directed The Black List for HBO, clearly adores his subjects, whose careers spanned the 1940s through the ‘80s. They reveal a self-esteem that in many cases seems to have eluded them in their famous heydays. And they also present hard evidence against society’s decree that post-50 is not a sexually viable age for women, to paraphrase one of these runway survivors.

In addition to the candid interviews, shot with Greenfield-Sanders’ customary elegance, the film digs up to-die-for archive material from designer shows and fashion shoots, some going back to the dawn of advertising. Read more: “Isabella Rossellini, Jerry Hall, Marisa Berenson, Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs are among the celebrated models who reflect on their careers and on getting older in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ captivating group portrait.”

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Click to watch Krista Smith of Vanity Fair discuss "About Face" with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

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About Face, as I’ve mentioned here before, derived from an assignment Timothy shot for Vanity Fair, which in turn inspired him to shoot a series of portraits (titled “Supermodels of the 70s and 80s”) that were exhibited at the Steven Kasher Gallery last year.

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A screenshot of Timothy's page at the Steven Kasher Gallery website. Click to see more.

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“I have always been interested in how we deal with aging in our hopelessly ‘youth oriented’ society,” Timothy explained in the exhibition’s press release. “These women, now in their fifties, were once the reigning queens of American beauty. As ultimate icons of world-wide marketing, I knew their stories would be extraordinary and I wanted to hear what they had to say. For the portraits, I used my 8×10 Deardorff and also filmed a documentary of interviews and mise-en-scene.” Read more: “Supermodels of the 70s and 80s” exhibition press release

More About Face reviews and press:

Vogue.com: http://www.vogue.com/parties/sundance-opening-weekend-parties/

Women’s Wear Daily: http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/catwalk-chronicles-5414237

Elle.com: http://fashion.elle.com/culture/2012/01/23/sundance-happenings/

HuffingtonPost.com: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-fine/live-from-sundance-film-f_b_1227669.html

YouTube Studio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-C7lC0Lgdo

Getty Images: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=137218155&EditorialProduct= Entertainment

ElleUK.com: http://www.elleuk.com/star-style/news/models-talk-aging-and-the-industry

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Click to view video of the Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony. Lauren Greenfield is presented with the U.S. Directing Award for Documentary at about the 1:29 mark.

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Congratulations to Lauren Greenfield, who at the Sundance Film Festival last night was presented with the U.S. Directing Award for Documentary for her film The Queen of Versailles. “I want to especially thank Jackie Segal and her family for bravely sticking with the story when it changed in unexpected ways,” Lauren said in her acceptance speech. She also thanked the team at the Sundance Documentary Program, “who saw a social-issue film where others saw a reality show.”

The film’s synopsis:

With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles follows billionaires Jackie and David’s rags-to-riches story to uncover the innate virtues and flaws of the American dream. We open on the triumphant construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. Since a booming time-share business built on the real-estate bubble is financing it, the economic crisis brings progress to a halt and seals the fate of its owners. We witness the impact of this turn of fortune over the next two years in a riveting film fraught with delusion, denial, and self-effacing humor. (Read more: “Queen of Versailles—Online Film Guide, Sundance Institute.”)

As we noted last week, Magnolia Pictures purchased The Queen of Versailles, and The Hollywood Reporter indicates the film will be released in theaters this summer. “The Queen of Versailles brilliantly encapsulates the salient issues of the American economic downturn, while also being one of the jaw-droppingly entertaining films I’ve seen in a very long time,” Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said in a statement quoted by THR. “Lauren Greenfield is an exceptionally talented filmmaker with a wonderfully humanistic touch, and she has found a truly magnetic, charismatic star in Jackie Siegel.” (Read more: “Sundance 2012: Magnolia Buys ‘Queen Of Versailles’ Documentary.”)

Here are some more stills of Lauren accepting her award, as well as one of Frank Evers—her husband and one of the film’s producers, proudly watching from the audience, his eyes filled with tears…

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Lauren Greenfield making her way to the podium to accept her award.

Lauren's husband, Frank Evers—who is also a producer of "The Queen of Versailles"—watches from the audience.

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