Danny Clinch

Danny Clinch, NYC. 2004 (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

A big congratulations to photographer Danny Clinch for the recent feature in Communication Arts magazine. It's long overdue. While wandering through a bookstore in 2000 I stumbled across his first book Discovery Inn and was instantly inspired and motivated. Danny's second book, When the Iron Bird Flies, got me into the art of the impromptu portrait. And it's still one of my favorite genres. WTIBF is a wonderful compendium of some of the best casual portraits of contemporary musicians to date. Really, really great stuff.

So when I opened the new issue of CA last night and saw his name alongside the gorgeous full-page portrait of Ben Harper, a wide smile wiped across my face and I murmured "F--- YEAH."

I met Danny in person at his studio in New York back in '04. We split a six-pack of Corona and shot the shit about bands, photography and New Jersey. I asked if I could take portrait of him. He agreed and told me he always wanted a photo of himself next to all his print boxes. (See above.)

Congrats Danny.

Twitterpated

Click image to be magically transported to my Twitter page. © William Anthony

Yup. William Anthony Photography, Inc. is now on Twitter. A "Feed" if you will. I will feed you with Tweets. Then I can say I "Tweeted" you and I can begin "Retweeting." Or you can say, "Hey, I got Twittered by wm_a!" Or is it "Tweeted"?

I will now butcher centuries of human language by condensing my most complex thoughts and musings into 140 characters or less. (Note: That last sentence was 126 characters.)

Truth be told, I was convinced (converted actually) by this short 8 minute TED talk I watched as a podcast on my flight to NYC:

SoSweet

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

I am proud to announce my Production Manager (and fiancé), Pamela, has finally launched her custom designer pillow company, SoSweet. For now, she's just got a blog. But the formal web site and international fame and fortune is forthcoming.

Personally, I think her success is nearly assured as she has her own, in-house photographer...

UPDATE: She now has a blog! http://sosweetblog.wordpress.com

Merry Christmas

Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

about:face submission highlights

Submissions are starting to come in from the promo mailer. The above came from You Kyung Jung in Astoria, NY. Apparently, it reads, "You liar! It's a squirrel!" Okaaaaayyy...

Next, Hollywood producer Dana Brunetti used all the images to make a statement about his industry.



And somehow I just knew dogs and cats would get involved.





Thanks to Amanda Buchan in Seattle (cat) and Lisa Wood in Portland, OR for the dog... er... hydrant.

See more submissions or request a promo for yourself here.

On the Road - NYC (Part 2)

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

While in NYC, I finally made my way down to the temporary WTC Memorial at Ground Zero.

So sad on so many levels.


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

On the Road - NYC (Part 1)

Home of Liz Lemon. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Just returned from a week-long trip to New York City to show the portfolio around town and tour a few studios. The following are a few frames of personal shots from around the city.

Christmas in NYC, especially with snow, is amazing. I look forward to returning.


Chelsea Market. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


The Standard Hotel from The Skyline. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Lone chair near The Skyline. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Prius with snow and sneakers. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Brooklyn. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Architect Magazine - December '09

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

As mentioned before, I photographed architect Michael Lehrer for Architect Magazine for the December 2009 "Best Practices" section.

More here.

about:face promo mailer launch

Coming soon to a mailbox near you. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

After months of planning and production, we're finally launching the about:face project.

This is my newest promo mailer. Only with a twist.

A while back I photographed clown Peter Pitofsky in the studio. Not your typical clown, he rarely wears face paint but instead contorts his face and body to comedic extremes. (Think Curly from the Three Stooges on a bottle of 5-Hour Energy drink.) I asked Peter to make as many faces as he could and from the resulting 300+ frames, I narrowed it down to the 12 on the mailer.

Above Peter's head is a blank thought or speech "bubble." Each page is perforated and tears into individual 4x6 cards. Instructions direct recipients to write in their own comment, creatively use the card somewhere (the office, local bar, etc) then take a photo of it in use and upload it to an online gallery.


Online gallery of submissions. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

The idea here is shared creativity and community. I want people to have as much fun using/seeing these as I had photographing them. I can't wait to see what this leads to.

I'll also highlight particularly creative ones here on the blog.

For now, the upload page and gallery are only accessible from the landing page: wmanthony.com/aboutface

If you'd like to participate, send me a request by clicking here.

Credits
Concept: William Anthony
Production Manager: Pamela Sunnarborg
Talent: Peter Pitofsky
Database programming: Carl Collins
Production Art: Julie Wessel
Printing: Clear Image Printing

Out of the Blue - Len Anderson

Then Maj. Len "Loni" Anderson, 2003 (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

In 2003, while volunteering as a photographer for The Museum of Flight in Seattle, I got the opportunity to photograph the Blue Angels as they performed out of Boeing Field for Seafair. As it happened, the one aircraft directly in front of my vantage point, and at the end of my 600mm lens, was the #6 aircraft piloted by Len "Loni" Anderson. The photo above was my favorite by far for its crisp militaryness. (I made word that up.) After the show, I mailed a print to the Blue's HQ in Pensacola and received a really nice message on Blue Angels letterhead and a voicemail from Len thanking me for the photograph.

Fast forward six years to just last month.

While perusing the Twitter feed of my friend, producer Dana Brunetti, I noticed he was followed by a "Lead_Solo." That's airplane geekspeak for one of the solo pilots from the Blue Angels. I clicked and there was Len. Only now he's in the Reserves and in L.A. returning to his theater roots to work on an emerging career as an actor and screenwriter. We reconnected and decided to work on a project together. I had an idea.


Lt. Col. Len Anderson, USMCR (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

I was so intrigued by his story I thought it would be a good one to tell through my camera: Former Blue Angel making a career in Tinsel Town. I figured the title Out of the Blue was a good working title. Not only for the obvious story of Len's transition from Blue Angel to civilian, but also how the whole thing came to me out of nowhere.


Security Guard Len (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

After becoming friends on Facebook, I noticed Len had a bunch of self-snaps in the many different costumes he wears while playing parts in Hollywood productions. I thought it might be cool to do it as a more formal portrait series. These photos were shot as a proof of concept. And I like the results.


Detective Len (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

I like the idea of Len being static, stoic—letting the costuming speak for itself. Hopefully in the future I'll get to photograph him in many other roles.


Improv Len (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

You can learn more about Len and all his adventures though any one of his many online resources. He's got a Twitter feed, a Youtube Channel, Facebook Fan Page and probably more that I am not even aware of.

Stay tuned for more.

Ma vie en rose

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Your life in pink
It goes deeper than you think
It goes deeper than I go
Deeper than you know

An F for freak
And D for dog
Lost in the fog ?
Your life in pink

You know it's never gonna stop
You know it's never gonna end
Your life in pink

Yeah, I'm like a disco ball
Crashing down your head
But somehow I don't fall

To your life you got to sink
To your heart you got to drink
Your life in pink

It's always high and not low
It's always bright and not dull
Your life in pink

Yeah, I'll never let you go
It goes deeper than you know

PDN Photo of the Day

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

My image of the Cirque du Soleil tent in Santa Monica was chosen by the editors of Photo District News (PDN) for their Photo of the Day feature.

The image below was another frame taken that evening, but on Ilford 400 black and white film.


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony