Matthew Modine

ART & SOUL AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

by Brian Smith on October 6, 2011

in Books

After two years and over 25,000 photographs, my first book, ‘Art & Soul: Stars Unite to Celebrate and Support the Arts’ is NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. Just in time for National Arts Month, ART & SOUL is a wonderful way to support the arts. A generous portion of the proceeds from the book will go to advocate funding of the Arts and Arts Education through The Creative Coalition, 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.

Through generous support from Sony, the ART & SOUL arts advocacy project features my portraits of artists from the entertainment industry accompanied by handwritten personal testimonials from each artist expressing the importance of the arts education in our culture and the positive impact the arts has on our lives. The project was twice taken to Capitol Hill to rally support for funding the arts and arts education.

Artists photographed for ‘Art & Soul’ include Adrian Grenier, Adrien Brody, Alan Cumming, Alfre Woodard, Alyssa Milano, Amanda Peet, Anne Hathaway, Barry Bostwick, Ben Vareen, Chazz Palminteri, Cheryl Hines, Chris Botti, Dana Delany, David Hyde Pierce, Debi Mazar, Dule Hill, Eddie Griffin, Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Evan Handler, Fisher Stevens, Harry Belafonte, Hill Harper, J. Alexander, James Denton, Jamie Kennedy, Jason Ritter, Jesse Williams, Joe Mantegna, Joel Schumaker, Josh Radnor, John Turturro, Kelsey Grammer, Kerry Washington, Lynn Whitfield, Marlon Wayans, Matthew Modine, Melissa Manchester, Mo’Nique, Oliver Platt, Omar Epps, Patricia Arquette, Paula Abdul, Peter Gallagher, Richard Belzer, Samuel L Jackson, Spike Lee, Steven Weber, Taraji P Henson, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, Tony Bennett and Wendie Malick.

ART & SOUL is the cornerstone of a grassroots campaign to focus national attention on the need to ensure that arts in America thrive and flourish. A preview of the project was shown at the Library of Congress in May 2010.

ART & SOUL is a wonderful way for those of us lucky enough to make a living from the arts to have an opportunity to show our support and give back.

Order yours today at: http://amzn.to/saveart

Tagged as: Adrian Grenier, Adrien Brody, Alan Cumming, Alfre Woodard, Alyssa Milano, Amanda Peet, Anne Hathaway, arts, Barry Bostwick, Ben Vareen, Books, Brian Smith, Chazz Palminteri, Cheryl Hines, Chris Botti, Dana Delany, David Hyde Pierce, Debi Mazar, Dule Hill, Eddie Griffin, Ellen Burstyn, Evan Handler, Fisher Stevens, Harry Belafonte, Hill Harper, J. Alexander, James Denton, Jamie Kennedy, Jason Ritter, Jesse Williams, Joe Mantegna, Joel Schumaker, John Turturro, Josh Radnor, Jr., Kelsey Grammer, Kerry Washington, Lynn Whitfield, Marlon Wayans, Matthew Modine, Melissa Manchester, Mo'Nique, National Arts Month, Oliver Platt, Omar Epps, Patricia Arquette, Paula Abdul, Peter Gallagher, Richard Belzer, Samuel L Jackson, Spike Lee, Stars Unite to Celebrate and Support the Arts, Steven Weber, Taraji P. Henson, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, Tony Bennett, Wendie Malick

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Pre-order ‘Art & Soul’ on Amazon

by Brian Smith on April 30, 2011

in Books

‘Art & Soul: Stars Unite to Celebrate and Support the Arts’ is now available for pre-order on Amazon. This book is a wonderful way to support the arts. A generous portion of the proceeds from the book will go to advocate funding of the Arts and Arts Education through The Creative Coalition, 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.

Through generous support from Sony, the ‘Art & Soul’ arts advocacy project features my portraits of artists from the entertainment industry accompanied by handwritten personal testimonials from each artist expressing the importance of the arts education in our culture and the positive impact the arts has on our lives. The project has been taken to Capitol Hill to rally support for funding of the arts and arts education.

Artists photographed for ‘Art & Soul’ include Adrian Grenier, Alyssa Milano, Anne Hathaway, Kelsey Grammer, Kerry Washington, Matthew Modine, Omar Epps, Patricia Arquette, Paula Abdul, Peter Gallagher, Samuel L Jackson, Spike Lee, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, Tony Bennett and .

‘Art & Soul’ is the cornerstone of a grassroots campaign to focus national attention on the need to ensure that arts in America thrive and flourish. A preview of the project was shown at the Library of Congress in May 2010.

‘Art & Soul’ is a wonderful way for those of us lucky enough to make a living from the arts to have an opportunity to show our support and give back.

Order yours today at: http://amzn.to/saveart

Tagged as: Adrian Grenier, Alyssa Milano, Anne Hathaway, Books, Kelsey Grammer, Kerry Washington, Matthew Modine, Omar Epps, Patricia Arquette, Paula Abdul, Peter Gallagher, Samuel L Jackson, Spike Lee, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, Tony Bennett

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Kickstart ‘Full Metal Jacket Diary’ App

by Brian Smith on April 28, 2011

in Film

If you ever wanted a front row seat of a how movies are made, it might soon be at your finder tips.

Actor Matthew Modine 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. Matthew’s behind-the-scenes account of the making of the motion picture and photographs appeared his book ‘Full Metal Jacket Diary’. It’s a wonderfully revealing look inside the movie making process. If you’ve ever been curious about what it was like to work with Stanley Kubrick, ‘Full Metal Jacket Diary’ lifts the curtains and takes you inside.

Producer Adam Rackoff is looking for Kickstarter funding to complete a ‘Full Metal Jacket Diary’ iPad App loaded with additional photographs and new audio interviews. ‘Full Metal Jacket Diary’ has a cherished spot in my library of photography book, I’m eager to see how the additional content enhances the experience.

In a recent interview, Modine pointed out that Stanley Kubrick was always quick to embrace new technology. I think he’d love this!

Tagged as: Adam Rackoff, Full Metal Jacket, Kickstarter, Matthew Modine

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Matthew Modine Walks in Your Shoes

by Brian Smith on May 11, 2009

in Celebrity Portrait Photography

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, Barry Levinson, Books, Film, Full Metal Jacket, Full Metal Jacket Diary, magazine photographer, Matthew Modine, PoliWood, Premiere, Stanley Kubrick, The Creative Coalition, Transporter 2, Tribeca Film Festival

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Mr Smith Goes to Washington

by Brian Smith on May 7, 2009

in Books

I’m in Washington, D.C. today with The Creative Coalition joining a delegation of artists from The Creative Coalition headed Creative Coalition president – actor Tim Daly along with Dana Delany, Alfre Woodard, Matthew Modine, Kerry Washington and Rachael Leigh Cook presenting a mock-up of my book ART & SOUL to The White House and Congress to support public funding for arts and arts education.

The Creative Coalition in Washington, D.C.Tim Daly, Kerry Washington, Alfre Woodard and Dana Delaney photographed for ART & SOUL"ART & SOUL" photographed by Brian Smith for The Creative Coalit

The book features my portraits of celebrities including Tim Daly, Alfre Woodard, Kerry Washington, Dana Delany, Tony Bennett, Anne Hathaway, Zooey Deschanel, Alyssa Milano, Ellen Burstyn and David Hyde Pierce accompanied by handwritten personal testimonials from each artist which express their support for the importance of the arts in our lives.

The project was made possible through generous sponsorship from Hachette Filipacchi Media, American PHOTO and Sony. My thanks to Kayla Lindquist, of Sony Artisan’s of Imagery program, Robin Bronk, Barbara Horvath and Briana Mulherin of The Creative Coalition, Jeffrey Roberts, Al Silvestri, Alissa Reynolds, Anna Martin, Athos Kyriakides, David Schonauer and Russell Hart of American PHOTO and Hachette Filipacchi Media, Eileen Gittins and Robin Goldberg of Blurb, Arri Weeks and Matthew Schulert, our fabulous digital tech from Splashlight, Joel Warren and Eddie Tricomi and over a dozen hair and make-up artists from Warren-Tricomi and Ted Okada, Steve Sommers, Phil Lubell, Kristen Elder and Mark Weir of Sony. But my biggest and deepest thanks goes to my lovely wife Fazia who always makes sure everyone always look great on our shoots – thanks for believing in me all of these years…

Friday night we’ll all be with director Barry Levinson for the Washington, D.C. premiere of his documentary film PoliWood, which examines the intersection of celebrity and politics. The film debuted last Friday to a sold-out theater at the Tribeca Film Festival. Catch it if you can! Things wrap up Saturday with the White House Correspondents’ Brunch and Dinner

Tagged as: Alfre Woodard, Art & Soul, Barry Levinson, Books, Brian Smith, Congress, Dana Deleany, Kerry Washington, make-up artists, Matthew Modine, PoliWood, Sony a900, Ted Okada, The Arts, The Creative Coalition, Tim Daly, Warren-Tricomi, Washington DC

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