John Perkins Book Cover
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Tear Sheets
A guy could really get used to this whole book cover portrait thing. It’s exciting to see your work in full bleed on the cover of a book. No “10 Secrets to Sexy Abs” or “How to Keep The Doughnuts and Loose The Weight” tips plastered all over the cover. This is my most recent book cover photo, and as you can see, the subject is John Perkins. I have already written about John on my blog (here), and I have now had the opportunity to work with him on multiple occasions. Love Is The Final Fight does not come out until August 2010, but the marketing is getting under way now. John is a great man with an amazing story, and although I have not read this book yet, I would recommend it solely based on what I know about John.
I hope 2010 is starting out with a bang for everyone!
Tags: author portrait, book cover, book cover photo, book cover photographer, book cover portrait, book photography, celebrity photographer, Cover Photo, Dr. Perkins, Headshot, John Keatley, John Perkins, John Perkins book, John Perkins book cover photo, Love Is The Final Fight, portrait photographer
Brain Rules And John Medina
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
Mina san konnichiwa. Hot off the press, my portrait of Dr. John Medina was printed on the cover of the Japanese edition of Brain Rules.
“In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule—what scientists know for sure about how our brains work—and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.”
I photographed Dr. Medina’s author portrait and press pictures last year, just before the book was first released in the States. Since then, the pictures have been published in Harvard Business Review, Seattle Metropolitan, and Response, to name a few.
When I got the assignment, my mind started racing with ideas and concepts that I could use for a brain scientist. I had heard that John is a passionate and expressive person, but nothing prepared me for the amount of energy and intensity that John generates. The slide show should give you a pretty good idea of what the shoot was like. John sang a song, made up a science rap, and charged at me during the shoot. Oh, and ate a plastic brain. What more could a photographer ask for!? One of my favorite images was an outtake that we shot at the end. I had the idea of using a brain like that old light bulb hovering over a persons head when an idea goes off. It was difficult to keep the brain from moving (I used string) but we eventually got it in place, and that ended up being the picture that was printed on the book jacket for the author portrait.
There is a ton of online content about Brain Rules if you are interested in finding out more. I highly recommend reading the book, as well. The English version that is…unless you can read Japanese. It is written in a way that anyone can understand, and everything in the book is practical information that can be used in your daily life.
* If you are using a blog reader, you may need to visit my actual blog to see the slide show above.
Tags: author portrait, biologist, book cover, book cover photo, Brain Rules, Dr. Medina, How The Brain Works, human brain, Japanese Edition, John Medina, molecular biology, Pear Press, Portrait, scientist portrait, The Brain
Make It Work, Tim Gunn Style
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Celebrity, Editorial
Tim Gunn. The man is like a saint. Everyone loves him. And I have to say, he is one of the nicest people I have ever photographed or met. He was kind, easy to work with, and the only person who has ever said to me, “Are you sure you don’t want more time?” at the end of a shoot. What most people don’t know about this picture is that I actually made his suit out of an old soft box, and the lining from one of my camera bags. ”Find a way to mitigate that center seam” he repeatedly instructed as I tirelessly worked, rushing to finish the garment. ”Make it work!”
Talk about pressure. Thankfully he thought the suit was stunning, and the shoot went great too. While I was packing up, I noticed Tim in the corner of the room tearing up a piece of berber carpet. I gave him a questioning look, and he said, “For our next challenge, you will be designing an outfit for a garden party. You have fifteen minutes to caucus.”
Season 6 of Project Runway, hosted by Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum will be starting soon. To hold you over, (here) is one of my favorite Tim Gunn video clips.
Tags: author portrait, book portrait, Celebrity, celebrity photographer, celebrity photography, Celebrity Portrait, Fashion Design, Headshot, Headshots, Liz Claiborne, Parsons, Portrait, Project Runway, Style, Tim Gunn, Tim Gunn 10 Essentials, Tim Gunn Blog, Tim Gunn Guide To Style, Tim Gunn headshot, Tim Gunn picture, Tim Gunn portrait, Tim Gunn's guide to style, TV host, TV personality
