The last day of reviews was in Texas’s largest city, Houston. Luckily, our hotel seemed close enough to throw a stone at our first meeting. In the morning, we got up, drove across the street, and headed into FKM.
FKM, an advertising, marketing and PR agency, has an impressively long list of clients including Dell, Advanced Auto Parts, Bertolli, VW, ConocoPhillips, jetBlue and the Houston Astros. After switching elevators to reach their top floor offices, we finally made it to the FKM lobby. A cartoon style decor welcomed us, with large white furniture accented by scribbled black outlines.
Our contact came down to meet us and showed us to a conference room. Soon after setting up, a large group of creatives came in and started admiring the work. Many admired Trey Hill’s realism along with Jody Horton’s good enough to eat food photos, as they had been on the lookout for some good food photographers.
The FKMers were especially interested in the Wonderful Machine business model. They were excited to see how we organized our site, allowing them to quickly search photographers by specialty or location, and the fact that if they’re having a hard time finding the right photographer that they can always contact us. It was a very successful meeting, with a lot of good contacts made and a lot of portfolios viewed.
Next, Jess and I took a lunch break and had some delectable Tex-Mex dishes at a Guadalajara Del Centro. After going a little carb crazy, we headed back to the van for our last Texas portfolio meeting at Gensler, the global architecture and design firm.
The Houston office of Gensler has designed some amazing buildings and spaces including Hess Tower, Corpus Christie International Airport, and Valentino Vin Bar. Gensler also recently completed the Houston Ballet Center for Dance, which is now the nation’s largest dance facility. Not only does Gensler design buildings, they are very involved in the graphic design, décor and branding of the projects they work on.
Jess and I met with Gensler designer, Mick, who was happy to look through our architecture and home and garden portfolios. He says they are often hiring high-end architecture photographers.
Mick seemed to like all of the books we brought but gave a few extra compliments to the dramatic imagery of Evan Joseph and the crisp clean style of Casey Dunn and Ryann Ford. He enjoyed the work of Austin photographer Jonathan Jackson, especially his AIA Austin Home Tour booklets . He also liked Jeffrey Totaro and Dana Hoff’s styles.
After a successful meet and greet, we said goodbye, snapped a few photos and headed to the last stop on our itinerary, meeting up with our Houston photographers. We rendezvoused at Coco’s Crepes and Coffee for just that, crepes and coffee. A good group of our Houston photographers showed up and we chatted over exceptionally sweet treats. Rodolfo Benitez and I discussed Venezuela, his home country and where much of my family lives. Jill Hunter kept us laughing with her funny looking crepe and thoughts on Houston weather and Tarick Foteh told us about a music video he’s working on.
Eventually, Jess and I had to leave before we got a parking ticket (those Houston meter maids are on the ball). We said our goodbyes and headed to Hobby Airport. It was hard to say goodbye to the Texas sun, but we were looking forward to getting some rest on the plane. With the trip behind us we were able to reflect on just how successful, productive, and enjoyable it really was.
Look back at the Dallas and Austin portions of our trip.
A group of us at Wonderful Machine decided to lend a hand to a community in need, so over the weekend we volunteered for our local Habitat for Humanity.
From left, top: Ed Cunicelli, Peter Clark, Cassie O'Connell, Asad Haider, Henry Randolph; bottom: Jess Dudley, Paul Stanek, Heather Astorga, Daniel Buschmann.
We spent the day priming the entire interior of a house under construction in North Philadelphia, with the patient supervision of full-time Habitat workers Cassie and Henry. We got covered in latex, and Peter’s back is still sore.
How many WM staffers does it take to paint a wall? (Photos by Bill Cramer/Philadelphia)
Since the spirit of giving is in the air, I thought that this would be a good time to share some of the charitable work that our photographers have been doing.
Ed Cunicelli
Our Philadelphia-based photographer Ed Cunicelli not only joined us on our Saturday painting session, he has been working hard as a volunteer with organizations that support Native American youth. It started when Ed did some work for the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health. His travels to the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation and various towns within the Navajo Indian Reservation were an eye-opening experience. “I hit the history books and asked a lot of questions,” said Ed. “I soon realized that there has been a systemic culture of one letdown after the next. I didn’t want to be a part of that and looked for ways to start doing something.”
That opportunity was Native Vision, a camp for Native American youth. Ed volunteers his time and his photography to Native Vision, and has started to teach the kids there about photography. “Working with Native people has changed my approach to the way I make pictures,” Ed said. “I now take my time and think of what why I’m making certain descions… I now understand the importance of knowing when to put the camera down… and I also never take a picture I don’t give back.”
Ed hopes to someday publish the work he has done with Native American youth.
Kevin Brusie
Many of our photographers work with Flashes of Hope, an organization that provides children with life-threatening illnesses with portraits taken by professional photographers. For example, Steve Williams in the Orlando area, wrote about a recent shoot on his blog, and he told me it was “a really great thing to provide photos of these brave kids to their families. ”
Kevin Brusie, who is based in Boston, was so inspired by the work of Flashes of Hope that he decided to bring it closer to home. He worked with the Cleveland-based organization to bring the project to Maine’s Camp Sunshine—since 2008, he has organized photographs for approximately 190 children and their families.
For Kevin, this work is the “ultimate test” of his ability as an environmental portrait photographer, working to make the children and their families comfortable without knowing their condition. “You come away with an even finer sensitivity to your subjects,” Kevin said. “It makes us all better photographers, and people.”
Lynton Crabb
The third story brings us to Australia, where Lynton Crabb has been working with the organization Alzheimer’s Australia. “Working with the organisation is especially important to me, as my father was a long time sufferer of early onset Alzheimer’s until he passed away 5 years ago,” Lynton explained. “It is special for me to be involved and feel a kinship with other people who have had the same experience.”
Lynton has produced several portraits that have been used for ads, posters, corporate literature and a traveling exhibition. For Lynton, the goal of this photography is “increasing awareness of Alzheimer’s disease in the community, recognizing the [caregivers] and projecting a respectful image of the Alzheimer’s sufferers.” Because of the personal importance of this subject, Lynton says, “I would be proud if the Alzheimer’s images were viewed as one of the defining parts of my body of work in years to come.”
This is just a small sampling of our photographers who do charitable work, and we’re excited to hear about all the others in the future.
Down to the wire on Holiday gift ideas? Natalie Young, one of our Los Angeles photographers, just informed us that you can receive her photo book in time for Xmas if you order by this Sunday (or the 23rd, if you’re in LA). And who wouldn’t want charming black and white dog photographs for the holidays? It’s called Georgia & Sabine, named for this dachsund duo:
Options for the 60-page book include either a soft cover version, or a special limited edition hardcover of 100 presented in a slipcase with an original silver gelatin print, which is signed by the artist.
The book includes an essay by Mindaugas Kavaliauskas, director of the Kaunas Photo Festival, who describes the book thusly: “Georgia and Sabine stands out of thousands, if not millions, of pet photographs because of its simplicity and intimacy.” I certainly find it reminiscent of some of my favorite Elliott Erwitt dog photographs.
Aside from producing books of canine intrigue, this past year Natalie was named one of the Top 50 Photographers in PhotoLucida’s Critical Mass competition, as well as being nominated for the Santa Fe Prize for Photography. She was also in a show with blogger/photographer Amy Stein, both featuring their animal photographs.
Natalie’s commercial work can be found here, and below is a sampling of the “tradtional” side of her work.
So we seem to cover all of the cute bases for the holiday: dogs and babies (and my apologies to those who don’t find them cute)!
