Many years ago when I first started considering photography as a career path, I was lucky enough to meet and have a conversation with, a very talented and award winning NYC photographer, Lanola Kathleen Stone. She answered many of my initial questions and also gave me several great pieces of advice. One of those suggestions was to study great photographers and to find photographers that inspire me.
I was an American Studies major in college, and my humanities classes often turned out to be my favorite. As a student, I loved digging into an individual artist or writer’s work. and analyzing it with my classmates and professors. As a teenager, I was very drawn to films and the craft of filmmaking. I loved watching historical and biographical documentaries.
I remember watching a film on PBS about the Kennedy family and was enamored with the original video footage and still photographs of the Kennedys. I especially enjoyed footage or photographs of their family at home, on vacation or with their children. It felt like a small, behind the scenes glimpse, into their lifestyle, but these images were much more elevated than the average photos of family life. I started reviewing more photos of the Kennedy family and found that many of the photos that I was the most drawn to, were all the work of photographer Mark Shaw.
As I studied his photographs, I found Shaw to be adept at capturing natural moments in a very artful way. You can view some of this work here. I loved both his color and black and white work and found both to be unique and thoughtful with amazing attention to composition, expression and moment. I discovered he had worked as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar and also freelanced for LIFE magazine. It was on a LIFE assignment that he was assigned to photograph a story on Jackie and later became a personal family friend as well as the Kennedy’s unofficial family photographer. I also discovered he photographed many film celebrities and icons including, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Danny Kaye, Cary Grant, Pablo Picasso, Yves St Laurent and Coco Chanel.
Here’s some thoughts on Mark Shaw’s photographs of Audrey Hepburn during the filming of Sabrina by author Juliet Cuming:
“The revealing, true-to-life photos that Mark took of Audrey are typical of his work and his photographic philosophy. He called his favorite pictures "snapshots." He preferred shooting on location to shooting in a studio—even though most of his financial success came from big ad campaigns, much of which was studio work. He liked a natural look and in order to keep his subjects relaxed he worked with as little photographic equipment as possible.”
— Charmed by Audrey: Life on the Set of Sabrina
This description of his work resonates with what I aim for in my own photography work. I really prize natural, genuine moments. Even in more formal portrait work, I really value natural and genuine expressions and postures and Shaw really seems to be a master of this skill. I also love how Shaw uses the natural environment to be a part of the story in his images. His photos of the Kennedy’s inspire me in my day in the life photography work.
Every artist, writer, musician, poet etc. often has many influences that inspire their work and I’ve wanted to share a little about some of my own personal influences. I strive to be as thoughtful and intentional as Shaw in considering the composition of my images and also in anticipating moments of genuine feeling and expression. I find inspiration in his focus on family life, and humor, as well as in his approach to color and natural posing in more formal portraits. I love how he elevates and makes art of simple, natural human moments.
I hope to share more photographer’s, artist’s, writer's and musician’s work that inspires me in the future. Let me know if there is anything you want to hear about.
Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!
See some of Shaw’s celebrity work here including the photos referenced above of Audrey Hepburn.