The Picture Down The Hall Part Six

One of my closest friends and most frequent artistic collaborators over the years, Lisa-Gabrielle was visiting New York from Texas and agreed to spend a day being photographed for a seris of pictures I was doing in which I recreated the looks of old Hollywood stars. This photo was meant to be a Jean Harlowe photo but the blonde wig we had didn't work. So we styled her own red hair, changed the makeup plot and we got something completely original.

And I love Love LOVED it.

Here, by the way, is Lisa_Gabrielle in colour, in one of my favourite Real Time shots. You see, I did the photos at the wedding for she and her husband. This was in the limo after the ceremony. It's just a snapshot done photojournalism style; but, to me, it has always said all there is to say about their love affair.

My beloved friend, Nancy LaMott, was a part of my life for only a couple of years before she succumbed to cancer. She gave me one of my first gigs in New York and she gave me one of my greatest friendships. She gave me a lot of things; aside from her friendship and the artwork we created together, my favourite thing Nancy gave me was the way she trusted me. She said this thing to me, once, that I have never, ever, forgotten:

"Nobody's ever photographed me the way you do, Stephen."

Sometimes, in moments of self doubt and dispair, I hear her voice and those words, once more.

I will listen for them forever.

When I was living in Texas I knew this flawless beauty. She was one (is one) of my most treasured friends and was, happily, always there to play with me when I had my camera and a roll of film. Her beauty is timeless; so I borrowed a period costume from the Dallas Theater Center (it was made for Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and we did a shoot on the grounds of the chapel at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Many of the photos were wonderful but, at one point, the wind was blowing and blowing and we kept waiting for it to subside. Finally, Ellen gave in to it and struck this pose and art was born.

I consider this photo of Kristen to be (one of, if not the) greatest black and white headshot I ever did.



During my college days, I was continually grabbing costumes from the costume shop and Kelly (and her famous hair) and trying to be(come) some hot fashion style photographer.

This was always one of my favourite pics from those sessions