From the category archives:

The Creative Coalition

Art & Soul Spotlighted on Production Paradise

by Brian Smith on February 16, 2010

in Art & Soul, Blogs, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, Celebrity Portrait Photography, Film, Inspiration, Miami Photographer, Organizations, The Creative Coalition, briansmith.com

Thanks to Production Paradise for Spotlighting the Art & Soul Project. It’s been a great project to be able to work with The Creative Coalition and all the artists to show support for funding the arts and arts education. Thanks of all to all the celebrities including Samuel Jackson, Anne Hathaway, Adrian Grenier, Taraji P. Henson, Dule Hill, Tichina Arnold, Tony Bennett, Alyssa Milano, David Hyde Pierce, Tim Daly, Lynn Whitfield, Harry Belafonte, Richard Belzer, Robert Davi and Tamala Jones….for lending their voices to this great cause and their wonderful faces to my camera!

If you have checked out Production Paradise, take a look…they’re the directory and showcase for the visual media industry.

Tagged as: Adrian Grenier, Alyssa Milano, Anne Hathaway, Art & Soul, Art and Soul, Celebrity Portrait Photography, David Hyde Pierce, Dule Hill, Harry Belafonte, Lynn Whitfield, Richard Belzer, Robert Davi, Sam Jackson, Tamala Jones, Taraji P. Henson, The Creative Coalition, Tichina Arnold, Tim Daly, Tony Bennett

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Art & Soul Sundance Diary

by Brian Smith on January 26, 2010

in Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, Celebrity Portrait Photography, Sony Alpha, Sony Artisans of Imagery, Sony a900, The Creative Coalition, briansmith.com

Heading back from Park City, Utah where we took The Creative Coalition’s ‘Art & Soul’ project to the Sundance Film Festival shooting more celebrity portraits for the arts advocacy project which is the cornerstone of a grassroots campaign to focus national attention on the need to ensure that arts in America thrive and flourish. ‘Art & Soul’ has been used to successfully lobby Congress and the White House for increased funding for the arts and arts education. Thanks to the participation of over 40 celebrities at Sundance we have now photographed 160 celebrities to date as part of one of the greatest projects that I’ve ever been involved with. It’s a great thing for those of us lucky enough to make a living from the arts to have an opportunity to show our support and give back. Here is our story…

DAY 1 – January 22:
We started off our Sundance shoots with Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt and Thomas Ian Nicholas from Please Give. Wonderful air guitar rifts from Thomas who brought his vintage Gibson Sunburst guitar to Sundance. Next the lovely Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza stopped in followed by director Kevin Asch of Holy Rollers, Ryan O’Nan The Dry Land, Jon Prescott from Howl and John Ortiz of Jack Goes Boating, spoke of Al Pacino’s generosity to him as a first film Carlito’s Way.

DAY 2 – January 23:
An amazing start with the lovely Vicky Cristina Barcelona herself Rebecca Hall in town to promote Please Give, Happythankyoumoreplease’s Kate Mara, Tony Hale and Pablo Schreiber, Noureen DeWulf and Jon Prescott from Howl. The day’s highlight was a very pleasant surprise drop-in by Oscar-winner Adrian Brody – thanks to a big assist from John Ortiz who had such a good time with us the day before he sent his friend our way. I’ve always wanted to meet Adrian – not only because I’m a big fan of his work – but because very early in my career I took a workshop with his mother, renowned photographer Sylvia Plachy.

DAY 3 – January 24
Started with Michael Shannon of The Runaways then a a visit from our sponsor Silvercup Studios head Stuart Match Suna, followed by Emma Bell of Frozen, Justin Bartha of Holy Rollers, Ellen Hollman Skateland, Bellamy Young, model Emme, Nathaniel Parker A Perfect Host, 3 Backyards’ Danai Gurira and Kathryn Erbe – one of my favorite actresses for her work in Oz and Law & Order: Criminal Intent and finally High SchooI’s Adhir Kalyan who was marvelous in Youth in Revolt and Nip/Tuck.

DAY 4 – January 25:
Our day began rapid fire with Sam Jackson, Jimmy Smits and Josh Radnor and ended with ended with Adrian Grenier. Along the way we ran into lovely Kerry Washington who lobbied Capitol Hill for increased funding for the Arts with me last May. Next was Rikki Lake, High School Musical’s KayCee Stroh, Haley Ramm, of Skateland. After that, we entertained director Joel Schumacher with stories about burlesque legends Tempest Storm and Satan’s Angel. Still laughing from a wonderful laugh-filled shoot of Laura Silverman. High School’s Nadine Crocker showed up leather-clad and looking like the perfect addition to the cast of Sons of Anarchy. Chris Ashworth of The Wire who showed up with Russian bombshell Natalie Gal, Frozen director Adam Green and Drones Amber Benson, Adam Busch, Samm Levine and Tangi Miller. Before dinner at the The Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Initiative Awards we added Melissa Leo of Welcome to the Rileys, Treat Williams of Howl, Malin Akerman of Happythankyoumoreplease, snapped ‘Art & Soul’ participant Jason Ritter again, Christopher McDonald and Entourage’s own ‘Vinne Chase’ Adrian Grenier picking up his award for Teenage Paparazzo. Then chatted up Creative Coalition President and friend Tim Daly and had dinner with Twitter co-creator Dom Sagolla showing off the next BIG thing, the Square, and yes..I tweeted about it…

CREDITS:
As always, my BIGGEST THANKS goes to my lovely wife Fazia who makes sure everyone always looks great! Returning the thanks to The Creative Coalition executive director Robin Bronk for the kind words at The Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Initiative Awards and to Barbara Horvath, Briana Mulherin, Liviya Kraemer, Dennis St. Rose and Gabrielle Young of TCC and assistance from BYU student Bethany Davis. David Manning of A-List Communications and his staff for put together a great lounge at Sky Lodge. Special thanks to Stuart Match Suna, head of Silvercup Studios for their sponsorship of our shoot and to Sony Artisans of Imagery director Kayla Lindquist for dropping this wonderful project on me and for finding a way to get me to Utah.

EQUIPMENT:
Sony a900 Cameras
Sony Zeiss 24-70/2.8 Zoom
Sony Zeiss 85/1.4
Sony 100/2.8 Macro
Sony Zeiss 135/1.8
Profoto Acute 2 – 2400 Packs
Profoto Acute 2 Heads

Generous support provided by:

Tagged as: 3 Backyards, A Perfect Host, A-List Communications, Adam Busch, Adam Green, Adhir Kalyan, Adrian Brody, Adrian Grenier, Amanda Peet, Amber Benson, Art & Soul, Art and Soul, Barbara Horvath, Bellamy Young, Brian Smith, Briana Mulherin, briansmith.com, Celebrity Photographer, Celebrity Portrait Photography, Christopher McDonald, Danai Gurira, David Manning, Dayana Mendoza, director, Dom Sagolla, Drones, Ellen Hollman, Emma Bell, Emme, Entourage, Frozen, Haley Ramm, Happythankyoumoreplease, High School, High School Musical, Holy Rollers, Howl, Jack Goes Boating, Jason Ritter, Jimmy Smits, Joel Schumacher, John Ortiz, Jon Prescott, Josh Radnor, Justin Bartha, Kate Mara, Kathryn Erbe, KayCee Stro, Kayla Lindquist, Kerry Washington, Laura Silverman, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Malin Akerman, Melissa Leo, Michael Shannon, Miss Universe, model, Nadine Crocker, Nathaniel Parker, Noureen DeWulf, Oliver Platt, Oscar-winner, Oz, Pablo Schreiber, Photographer Brian Smith, Please Give, Rebecca Hall, Rikki Lake, Robin Bronk, Ryan O’Nan, Sam Jackson, Samm Levine, Silvercup Studios, Skateland, Sony Artisans of Imagery, Spotlight Initiative Awards, Stuart Match Suna, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, Tangi Miller, Teenage Paparazzo, The Creative Coalition, The Dry Land, The Runaways, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tim Daly, Tony Hale, Treat Williams, Twitter, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Welcome to the Rileys, Youth in Revolt

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Art & Soul Goes to Sundance

by Brian Smith on January 18, 2010

in Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, Celebrity Portrait Photography, The Creative Coalition, briansmith.com

I’m headed to Park City, Utah to the Sundance Film Festival from January 22-25th to shoot more celebrity portraits for The Creative Coalition’s ‘Art & Soul’ project. The arts advocacy project is the cornerstone of a grassroots campaign to focus national attention on the need to ensure that arts in America thrive and flourish. It has been used to successfully lobby Congress and the White House for increased funding for the arts and arts education. Over 120 celebrities have been photographed to date. This has been one of the greatest projects that I’ve ever been involved with. It’s a great thing for those of us lucky enough to make a living from the arts to have an opportunity to show our support and give back.

Best of all, I get to hang out with my friends from The Creative Coalition, Robin Bronk, Barbara Horvath, Briana Mulherin and co-presidents Tim Daly and Dana Delany. The Creative Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance.

11:00am – 4:00pm Daily: Friday, January 22, 2010 – Monday, January 25, 2010
Art & Soul Center: The Sky Lodge Penthouse, 201 Heber Avenue, Park City, Utah

Generous support provided by:

Tagged as: Art & Soul, arts, Arts Education, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photographer, Celebrity Photography, Celebrity Portrait Photography, Dana Delany, Film, Robin Bronk, Sundance Film Festival, The Creative Coalition, Tim Daly

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You Can Run, But You Can’t Hyde

by Brian Smith on December 26, 2009

in Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, The Creative Coalition, briansmith.com

David Hyde Pierce reminds me of a modern day Buster Keaton. He can do more than a raised eyebrow than most physical comedians can do with their entire body. A group of David Hyde Pierce fans tracked me down so I promised to tell a the story behind the the time I shot of David. I photographed David in Beverly Hills during Oscar Week for The Creative Coalition’s book ‘Art & Soul’ which paired portraits of celebrities with their hand-written testimonials about the importance of the arts. The book was taken to the White House and Congress in May 2009 to successfully lobby for increased funding for the arts and arts education.

David Hyde Pierce

Tagged as: Art & Soul, Buster Keaton, David Hyde Pierce, The Creative Coalition

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Best of ASMP 2009

by Brian Smith on October 31, 2009

in ASMP, Art & Soul, Awards, Celebrity Photography, Press, The Creative Coalition

BIG THANKS to the Best of ASMP 2009 for this sweet profile of my ‘Art & Soul’ project. Great interview by PDN’s Jill Waterman with the background how the project came together and how The Creative Coalition has been able to use the project to successfully lobby for increased funding of the arts and arts education.

Tagged as: Art & Soul, Arts Funding, ASMP, Best of ASMP, PDN, The Creative Coalition

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APA|NY – Image Makers Lecture Series
August 12th at the Soho Apple Store

by Brian Smith on August 5, 2009

in APA, Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, Editorial Photography, Education, Miami Photographer, Seminars & Speaking, Sony Alpha, Sony Artisans of Imagery, Sony a900, The Creative Coalition

APA|NY Image Makers Lecture Series
Featuring: Brian Smith: Advocacy for the Arts
Wednesday, August 12, 6:30-8 p.m.
Admission: Free (seating is limited)
SoHo Apple Theater, 103 Prince St at Mercer

Actress Anne Hathaway

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith will speak about his latest project, ‘Art & Soul’ for The Creative Coalition. The project features Smith’s portraits of celebrities along with personal messages from each artist on how exposure to the arts inspired them and positively impacted their lives.

Over 100 celebrities including Anne Hathaway, Ellen Burstyn, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, James Denton, Jamie Kennedy, Alyssa Milano and Taye Diggs have been photographed for ‘Art & Soul’ with the goal of producing a coffee table book aimed at raising the public awareness of the importance and impact of the arts by allowing creative artists to use their celebrity to shine a spotlight on the importance of the arts and arts education.

In May of this year, Tim Daly, Dana Delany, Alfre Woodard, Kerry Washington and Barry Levinson of The Creative Coalition presented the Art & Soul to The White House and Congress as part of their successful effort to lobby for increased funding for the arts and arts education. Smith will discuss the story behind the commission, his approach to the shoot and the significance of being able to use his photographs for arts advocacy.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

SONY

Tagged as: Apple, Apple/APA, Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, Miami Photographer, Speaking, The Creative Coalition

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Is it Time for another WPA?

by Brian Smith on May 18, 2009

in Art & Soul, Books, Inspiration, Organizations, The Creative Coalition

Maybe it’s time for a new WPA…

The last time America was mired in an economic crisis like the one we face today, the Works Progress Administration was created to put America back to work. The Works Progress Administration brought us The Federal Arts Project (FAP) maintained more than 100 community art centers which produced 2,566 murals, 17,744 sculptures, 108,099 paintings and 240,000 prints from 1936 to 1943 creating a new awareness of and appreciation for American art.

Not only did the WPA put artists and Artisans back to work, it left lasting symbols of civic pride.

During The Creative Coalition’s May 2009 visit to Capitol Hill, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) mentioned the Timberline Lodge was built as part of the WPA and is an enduring source of pride in the community. A WPA mural by Grant Wood graced the wall of the college library of the small town where I grew up.

The Works Progress Administration was also responsible of the Farm Service Administration which resulted in some of the best photographs of the 20th century from the FSA photographers Dorthea Lange, Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, Marion Post Wolcott, Carl Mydans and Gordon Parks.

"Migrant Mother" by Dorthea Lange/FSA - Nipomo, California 1936

American Gothic 2008: Foreclosure of America

“Foreclosure of the American Dream” Merced, California 2008

The Creative Coalition Executive Director Robin Bronk writes in the foreword of Art & Soul:

“When faced with a collapsing economy, President Franklin Roosevelt tried to put Americans in all lines of work back on the job. Instead of singling out artists as somehow frivolous and unimportant to our nation’s economy, he instituted a host of programs designed to put federal funds into the arts, employing America’s creative talent and leaving a cultural legacy that endures still today.

“The highpoint of this commitment was the Works Progress Administration’s Federal One program, which put thousands of Americans to work in the arts. The government program was a lifeline for Jackson Pollock, Burt Lancaster, Sidney Lumet, Ralph Ellison, Studs Terkel, John Cheever, Saul Bellow, and thousands of other artists across the country.

“These programs created much-needed jobs in the immediate term, but they did much more. They fostered great talents that otherwise may have been lost. The work of the many great artists supported by the government in the 1930s still benefits us today. Their contributions to our culture endure, and their successful careers resulted in employment for many others in the years that followed.

“We cannot forget this lesson of our not-so-distant history. Faced with an economic downturn of staggering proportions, some attack any help for the arts as waste, ignoring the millions of Americans who earn their livings and support their families through their artistic endeavors and arts-related enterprises.”

Tagged as: Art, Art & Soul, Art and Soul, Arthur Rothstein, Berenice Abbott, Carl Mydans, Dorthea Lange, Gordon Parks, Jeff Merkley, Marion Post Wolcott, Oregon, Photography, Robin Bronk, Senator, The Creative Coalition, Walker Evans, Works Progess Administration, WPA

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Matthew Modine Walks in Your Shoes

by Brian Smith on May 11, 2009

in Art & Soul, Celebrity Photography, Film, Inspiration, Magazine Photography, The Creative Coalition

I ran into Matthew Modine at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Barry Levinson’s documentary PoliWood. After the screening, Matthew took the stage with several of his follow actors and director Barry Levinson to speak about the film. I loved Matthews’ response to a question about why Hollywood was…so…liberal.

I loved Matthew’s response. As he sees it, actors spend most of their lives preparing for a role – slipping in and out of different characters in all walks of life. When you’re constantly walking in the shoes of another person, you can’t help but have empathy for your fellow man.

Matthew’s words rang true. In fact the words he spoke hit very close to home. As a magazine photographer, I’m constantly dropping into the lives of the people I photograph. I’d have to say that the best part of my job is that one day it could be a conservative billionaire, the next day a rapper. This has given me an opportunity to meet people from every sector of society – even if it’s a just a brief glimpse. I’ve witnessed the best and the worst of humanity and come to realize that on my worst days, I’m luckier than most.

One thing that I learned the first time I met Matthew is that he’s quite a good photographer himself. Matthew showed up on the set of Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 Vietnam War masterpiece Full Metal Jacket, in which he starred as Private Joker, armed with his weapon, his gun and his Rollei. You can read Matthew’s behind-the-scenes account of the making of the motion picture and see his photographs in his book Full Metal Jacket Diary. It’s a wonderfully revealing look inside the movie making process. If you’ve ever been curious about how movies are made, or what it was like to work with Stanley Kubrick, Matthew’s book lifts the curtains and takes you inside.

I shot this photo of Matthew a few years ago as he was preparing for a role in Arthur Miller’s final play Finishing the Picture which Miller wrote as a thinly-veiled autobiographical examination of the time Miller and his then-wife Marilyn Monroe spent shooting The Misfits. For this shoot, we went old-school, shooting with a 1950s Graflex Super D camera and Polaroid positive/negative film.

Matthew Modine

We shot this while Matthew was filming Transporter 2 across the street from me. Matthew and Amber Valletta were my movie “neighbors” in the film. If you watch closely, you can catch a glimpse of our house in the background of the driveway kidnapping scene…

Tagged as: Amber Valletta, Art & Soul, Barry Levinson, Film, Full Metal Jacket, Full Metal Jacket Diary, Matthew Modine, PoliWood, Premiere, Stanley Kubrick, The Creative Coalition, Transporter 2, Tribeca Film Festival

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American PHOTO features Haven House Celebrity Shoot in May/June 2009 issue

by Brian Smith on April 27, 2009

in Art & Soul, Books, Celebrity Photography, Editorial Photography, Magazine Photography, Organizations, Press, Sony a900, The Creative Coalition

My thanks to American PHOTO magazine’s Editor-in-Chief David Schonauer for the great feature about our Haven House celebrity shoot in their current May/June 2009 issue. American PHOTO’s publisher Jeffrey Roberts was a key organizer of the project – my thanks to him for his support.

It just goes to show that life sometimes takes your full circle, since in my younger days as one of American PHOTO’s “New Faces”.

Brian Smith in American PHOTO magazine May/June 2009

Tagged as: American PHOTO, Brian Smith, Celebrity Photography, Haven House, Miami Photographer, Oscar Week, The Creative Coalition

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Cupcakes from Anne Hathaway

by Brian Smith on March 18, 2009

in Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Editorial Photography, Sony Artisans of Imagery, Sony a900, The Creative Coalition, briansmith.com

We’re in New York, shooting more celebrities for The Creative Coalition’s book “Art & Soul” which will be distributed to President Obama and Congress this May. Assignments this good are really rare. Even though I’ve been l blessed with more than my share of unbelievable assignments in my career, shooting portraits of so many Oscar winners, Tony winners, Grammy winners and Emmy winners was about as cool gig as I can imagine.

Photographing Anne Hathaway is the sort of experience that can hardly be topped, except of course when Anne showed up at our shoot with a box of her favorite cupcakes for our crew. Thanks Annie for being even sweeter than I’d imagined. Thanks also to Anne’s hair stylist Ted Gibson. Not only is Ted one of the top stylists in the country, but he knows how to work a wind machine…

Actress Anne Hathaway and photographer Brian Smith

After that we headed uptown to Tony Bennett’s Central Park apartment where we talked about what the arts has meant to him, both as a singer and as an artist. Tony credits Frank Sinatra for giving his career a big break. As a way of giving back Tony founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in his hometown of Astoria, Queens.

Singer Tony Bennett

In the end we shot over 9,000 images and 350 gigs of RAW data without a single slowdown or problem. During the shoots, the artists in this book and I rarely spoke of fame, fortune or fabulous performances. We spoke about their childhoods and what led them to where they are today. Regardless of whether they grew up in small towns and large cities, rich or poor, their lives were all shaped and influenced by the arts and the artists who influenced their careers.

My thanks go out to Ted Okada, Steve Sommers, Phil Lubell, Kristen Elder and Mark Weir of Sony for their support of this project, Kayla Lindquist, director of Sony Artisan’s of Imagery program, Jeffrey Roberts of American PHOTO, Al Silvestri, Alissa Reynolds and Anna Martin of Hachette Filipacchi Media, Eileen Gittins of Blurb, and special thanks to Robin Bronk and Barbara Horvath of The Creative Coalition.

EQUIPMENT:
Sony a900 Cameras
Sony Zeiss 24-70/2.8 Zoom
Sony Zeiss 85/1.4
Sony Zeiss 16-35/2.8 Zoom
Profoto 7A 2400 Packs
Profoto 7 Heads