Stockland Martel » Conan O’Brien

Art Streiber shoots Conan’s New York campaign

Kristina Feliciano — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:53:47 +0000

Conan O’Brien has returned to New York to tape a week’s worth of Conan episodes in the city where he got his late-night start, and TBS is heralding the event with a witty campaign shot by Art Streiber. “The ad campaign was focused on accomplishing two things,” Art explains. “Create a series of ads for Conan’s week in New York, and have updated imagery of Conan WITHOUT the beard.”

Art shot at Siren’s Orange studio in Hollywood, working side by side with Michael Kochman from Turner Image Management. Nick Tortorici was responsible for the sets and props. “We did 10 different setups on three different sets, and Conan was a trooper throughout,” Art recalls, “even though he was a little bit under the weather.”

Photo by Art Streiber for TBS.

To see a previous collaboration between Art and Coco, go here or—for a behind-the-scenes video—here.

Communication Arts releases its 2011 Photography Annual

Kristina Feliciano — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:17 +0000

The competition was intense for Communication Arts‘ 2011 Photography Annual, with more than 5,000 entries vying for the approbation of the five-member jury. Among the 166 winners were three of our photographers: Nadav Kander, Art Streiber, and Liz Von Hoene, whose winning images are posted below. (Full gallery here.) We congratulate them and all of the photogs included in this important volume.

From the series "Yangtze: The Long River." Photo by Nadav Kander.

Conan O'Brien. Photo by Art Streiber.

Justin Bieber. Photo by Art Streiber.

Photo by Liz Von Hoene for Rebecca Moses.

• Video: Art Streiber and Conan O’Brien (and the owl!)

• New work: Liz Von Hoene’s playful Rebecca Moses campaign flirts with shadows

• Video interview: Nadav Kander on his series “Yangtze: The Long River”

Star power: 14 great celebrity portraits

Kristina Feliciano — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:01:05 +0000

Bill, Maureen, and the rest of the team at Stockland Martel hosted our annual Hollywood East Cocktail Party a couple of weeks ago, as a way to personally thank our clients in the entertainment industry here on the East Coast. The event, which was attended by photo editors, art buyers, and creatives, was held in the Gallery @ Stockland Martel, whose walls were filled with celebrity portraits by our photographers. Here’s a look at 14 star-powered images from the show.

Brad Pitt. Photo by Kwaku Alston.

Conan O'Brien. Photo by Matthias Clamer.

Susan Lucci. Photo by David Drebin.

Louis C.K. Photo by Jim Fiscus.

Eva Longoria. Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

Cheryl Cole. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Carolyn Murphy. Photo by Steven Lippman.

Justin Bieber. Photo by Jeff Lipsky.

Kate Moss. Photo by Roxanne Lowit.

Rutger Hauer. Photo by John Midgley.

Joaquin Phoenix. Photo by Michael Muller.

Joe Manganiello. Photo by Nino Munoz.

Nicki Minaj. Photo by Matthew Rolston.

Jennifer Lopez. Photo by Art Streiber.

Spotlight: Matthias Clamer

Kristina Feliciano — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:04:47 +0000

Matthias Clamer.

Matthias Clamer likes quirkiness and humor, but he also likes stealth. “For me, humor in pictures works when you use it in small doses—hints, not obvious jokes,” he explains. “Just one element, not multiples. And subtle enough that some people don’t even see it. It needs to be discovered and ambiguous.”

In his personal work, these preferences play out in his choice of subjects: redheads, low-rider cars and their owners, celebrity look-alikes, and plane spotters at Heathrow Airport in London, to name a handful of recent examples. In his work as a highly sought-after entertainment photographer and celebrity portraitist, his subjects and an overall context are provided to him, but he always finds a way to add a dash of the unexpected. And he goes about this the old-fashioned way.

“I research my subject as much as I can. I look for personal traits and tastes and try to link the context of the story with the subject,” he says. “I like to earn my subjects’ and clients’ respect by being very well prepared with a plan for the shoot that I present ahead of time. I brief my subjects, but then give them space to ease into a shoot, trying not to bombard them with directions and turn them into a still-life object.”

Being sensitive to what his subjects are feeling is one of the reasons Matthias has been so successful at shooting successful people. “I am calm even on the craziest shoot schedules,” he notes. But he does not hesitate to challenge both the celebrities he photographs and the viewing audience who assume they know these people intimately. “Working around someone’s public image,” says Matthias, “is the fun part of what I do.”

Here’s a look at Matthias’ work. To see more, visit stocklandmartel.com/talent/matthias-clamer/photography.

Betty White. Photo by Matthias Clamer for Parade magazine.

Photo by Matthias Clamer, from a campaign for the CBS series "The Big Bang Theory."

Photos by Matthias Clamer, from a campaign for the FOX series "Glee." Click to enlarge.

Conan O'Brien. Photos by Matthias Clamer. Click to enlarge.

Daniel Radcliffe. Photo by Matthias Clamer for the Broadway show "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

Tina Fey and Steve Carell. Photo by Matthias Clamer for Parade magazine.

Cee Lo Green. Photo by Matthias Clamer.

Photo by Matthias Clamer, from a campaign for the A&E series "The Hasselhoffs."

Photo by Matthias Clamer, from a campaign for Glad.

Photo by Matthias Clamer, from his series "Redheads."

"House" star Hugh Laurie. Photo by Matthias Clamer.

Photos by Matthias Clamer, from his series "Beauties." Click to enlarge.

Photos by Matthias Clamer, from a campaign for the Game Show Network. Click to enlarge.

Photo by Matthias Clamer, from his series on a pet circus.

New work: Matthias Clamer shoots Conan O’Brien having a lightbulb moment

Kristina Feliciano — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:53:26 +0000

Fast Company‘s list of “The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2011″ includes none other than lanky late-night host Conan O’Brien. Chuck Salter is the writer who takes readers through the making of an episode of Conan. (At one point, O’Brien explains to Salter: “The thing I keep telling everyone is ‘The only way we can screw this up is to not be bold enough.’”) And Matthias Clamer is the photographer commissioned to illustrate the story…

Conan O'Brien. Photo by Matthias Clamer for Fast Company.

Gallery: People’s Choice Awards winners

Kristina Feliciano — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:54:45 +0000

The Coen Brothers’ True Grit may be generating serious Oscar buzz, but if you ask moviegoers, it’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse that reigns supreme. At last night’s People’s Choice Awards, the vampire flick won the Favorite Movie statue, and its star Kristen Stewart was named Favorite Movie Actress. The fans have spoken. And apparently they’re all 13 years old.

Kidding. Here’s a look at some of last night’s other PCA winners:

Favorite Movie Star Under 25: Zac Efron

Zac Efron. Photos by Matthew Rolston.

Favorite Action Movie: Iron Man 2

Photo by Michael Muller.

Favorite New TV Drama: Hawaii Five-0

Photos by Art Streiber.

Favorite TV Comedy: Glee

Photo by Matthias Clamer.

Favorite TV Comedy Actor: Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris. Photo by Art Streiber.

Favorite TV Comedy Actress: Jane Lynch

Photo by Jeff Lipsky.

Favorite Country Artist: Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift. Photos by Matthew Rolston.

Favorite TV Obsession: Dexter

Photo by Jim Fiscus.

Favorite Talk Show Host: Conan O’Brien

Photo by Art Streiber.

For the complete list of People’s Choice Awards winners and nominees, click here.

Video: Art Streiber and Conan O’Brien (and the owl!)

Kristina Feliciano — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:03:22 +0000

Go behind the scenes with Art and Conan as they shoot print ads for Conan’s new talk show. Watch as the leggy host poses with an oversize comb, the better to emphasize his sizable pouf of hair. Marvel at his willingness to stand tall as multiple oscillating fans are trained at him full blast. Giggle as he shares the frame with a barn owl—that looked at the camera only once. (Art got the shot. Click here to read his account of making that portrait.) It’s all in the video below…

Related: “Behind the Scenes Video: Conan’s First TBS Photoshoot!” (courtesy TeamCoco)

Art Streiber on “Hung,” “Hawaii Five-0,” and Conan’s owl portrait

Kristina Feliciano — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:01:34 +0000

A bunch of new entertainment campaigns shot by Art have recently made their debut on bus shelters, in magazines, and everywhere that the studios tout major TV shows and movies (which is pretty much everywhere). Among them are the posters for the HBO series Hung, which stars Thomas Jane as a high school coach who turns to prostitution to, um, make ends meet; posters for CBS’s Hawaii-Five-0 remake, which premieres September 20; and ads for Conan O’Brien, who is promoting his talk show’s move to TBS (starting in November).

I asked Art to tell me a bit about each shoot. Here’s what he said…

“We tried a number of different options with the model’s hands—such as on his chest, flanking his head and neck…”

Photo by Art Streiber for HBO.

“Working with Thomas Jane is incredibly easy,” says Art. “He is amenable and motivated to make sure that I get what I’m looking for and that the client, in this case HBO, is getting what they’re looking for. We did eight setups with Tom in a little bit under four hours.

The final key art came from the very first setup we did: A model straddles Tom as he looks at the camera with a look that reads, ‘Somebody’s got to do it.’ We tried a number of different options with the model’s hands—such as on his chest, flanking his head and neck—before we landed on the her pinning his shoulders.

We were attempting to find the very delicate balance between alluding to his character’s ‘other job’ and creating an image that went too far beyond PG-17.”

The owl lost control of his gastrointestinal tract down the back of Conan’s jacket…

Photo by Art Streiber for TBS.

“Conan came to play, as well. At the beginning of the day, he told all of us that he was ‘putty in our hands’ and was interested in doing everything that the network had in mind. We accomplished 27 looks on six sets over the course of the day, and Conan had 11 wardrobe changes.

We photographed Conan with the owl on his shoulder on two different sets. While I directed Conan, owl trainer Mike Miliotti attempted to keep “Twilight’s” eyes looking in my general direction. And just as he had done with the stand-in the day before, Twilight did lose control of his gastrointestinal tract down the back of Conan’s jacket.”

.“We were able to capture the spraying water all in camera…”

Portraits by Art Streiber for CBS.

“Working on this campaign was a blast! My set designer, Nick Tortorici, and I created the ‘crashing wave’ effect in the parking lot of Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood and were able to capture the spraying water all in camera.

Nick built an extremely shallow 12×12-foot wading pool, and at one end he placed a fiberglass boulder behind a steel, 4-foot triangular column. A high-pressure hose from a 4,000-gallon water truck pumped warm water against the back of the boulder and the column, sending water spraying in every direction around our subjects.”

A couple of behind-the-scenes shots….

“The camera and I were about 12 feet away from the talent behind a 4×8-foot plexi ‘wall,’ in order to keep us dry, and the computer and digital tech were hidden away in the back of a 3-ton grip truck parked in the corner of the parking lot. Fortunately, it was a very hot afternoon in West Hollywood…”

Thanks, Art!