Stockland Martel » pet circus

International Photography Awards winners announced

Kristina Feliciano — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:53:10 +0000

.The jurors of the 2011 International Photography Awards have named their selections for subcategory and category winners, and we’re ecstatic that Kwaku Alston, Matthias Clamer, Nadav Kander, and John Offenbach are among their favorites. Our congratulations to them and to their fellow winners. Well done!

“Category winners,” the IPA’s site explains, “will move on as finalists competing for the Photographer of the Year (professional) and the Discovery of the Year (emerging) titles, as well as that of Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year.” Those winners will be announced at the Lucie Awards on October 24 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Till then, here’s a look at the winning entries from our photographers. For the full winners’ gallery, go here.

Entry Title: " Volkslivin." Name: Kwaku Alston, United States. Category: Professional, Other_S, 2nd place.

Entry Title: "Rufus Wainright." Name: Matthias Clamer, United States. Category: Professional, Personality, 3rd place.

Entry Title: "Pet Circus." Name: Matthias Clamer, United States. Category: Professional, Portrait_P, 3rd place.

Entry Title: "Yangtze - The Long River." Name: Nadav Kander, United Kingdom. Category: Professional, Fine Art, 1st place.

Entry Title: "Jean Rochefort." Name: Nadav Kander, United Kingdom. Category: Professional, Personality, 1st place.

Entry Title: “Werner Herzog III.”  Name: Nadav Kander, United Kingdom.  Category: Professional, Personality, 2nd place.

Entry Title: " London Eye Pod 2" Name: John Offenbach, Category: Professional, Other_ARC, 3rd place.

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.

Personal work: Matthias Clamer and the pet circus

Kristina Feliciano — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:56:40 +0000

Gregori and his fellow performers. Photo by Matthias Clamer.

“I came across this show in Vegas,” Matthias writes at his blog, “and asked if they were interested in doing a shoot. Gregori, the creator of the show who trains the animals and performs, comes from a family of circus performers in Russia. He adopts cats and dogs from shelters. He has two adjacent houses, one for his family and one for his animals. Every day they get loaded up on a van and make the trip to the strip for the show.”

Only in Vegas, kids. Only in Vegas.

To see more photos, click on “Pet Circus.”