Con Man. The many faces of Howard Cogitz by John Keatley.

Con Man is my most recent fine art project about one of the most prolific American con men of the 20th century, Howard Cogitz. My hope is next time you see these portraits, they will be hanging in a gallery. Time for the real work to begin.

Below are some behind the scenes pictures for those of you who like to see how things are made. A very big thank you to Jennifer Popochock, Alexis Steinman, Brian Kirk, Viktor Fejes, Duffy De Armas, my wife Nichelle, and Peter Hanson. Behind the scenes pictures by Peter Hanson. I feel like this is just the start of something pretty exciting.

Big thanks to Jane Sherman and Seattle Met for this fun shoot with Seattle Seahawks big DE Michael Bennett. I am a huge Seahawks fan (ok, who in Seattle isn’t right now…), so making a portrait of one of my favorite players was an exciting opportunity. Thanks also to Michael and Pele for letting us set up a studio in their home. Go Hawks!

I have always been fascinated by faces. Throughout my career, faces are what I gravitate toward. But there have been many voices, external and internal, telling me to pull back and show more than just a face. “You can’t just shoot portraits” the voices said. I have experienced different periods of time where I have moved away from portraits, or at least tried to. My general curiosities as an artist have taken me in other directions at times also, not to just make this all about a mental struggle. I have explored environmental editorial portraiture, conceptual advertising (which I do enjoy), and many other types of photography. Trying these other kinds of photography have allowed me to figure out what I don’t want to do, and at the same time hone my passion for the things I do want to do. In that sense, I do not regret these periods of exploration. If anything, this process has given me even more freedom and confidence to do what I want to do now. This is the first time in my career that I finally feel like I have figured it out, so to speak. I have rediscovered what I am most passionate about and what I must do, create the portraits that fill my head day and night. I am filled with a whole new sense of excitement and creativity that I have never experienced before. This project means so much to me, and I am excited where it is already leading me as an artist.

Thank you to my good friends, Cal, Ian, and the entire Wexley School For Girls family.

Hair and Makeup by Jennifer Popochock and Nancy Leonardi
Styling by Alexis Steniman
Retouching by Viktor Fejes
Digital Tech Lonnie Webb

Congrats to my friend Catherine Giudici on finding love on The Bachelor. It became official last night, so I thought I would share a fun outtake from our recent shoot together. Very excited for Catherine and Sean Lowe. Hopefully I can share more of the images in the near future. There are so many great shots!

Gotta run.

Ryan Lewis in the house ya’ll. I recently posted one of my portraits of Ben Haggerty a.k.a. Macklemore, and now it’s time to share a portrait of his creative partner Ryan. They are in the middle of success that very few people ever experience, and this Saturday you can see them on SNL. Congrats guys!

I’m so thrilled with this portrait. I have wanted to shoot something with this type of feel for a long time, and it turned out so great. Big thanks to Gigantic Squid for the retouching.

More soon.

A little over a year ago I got an assignment for VIV Magazine to photograph a service dog named Radar and his boy who has autism. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think much about the images after I wrapped up the assignment. Several months later, I revisited the images with fresh eyes, and 2 of the portraits of Radar jumped out at me immediately. There was something very human like about his expressions and how he was coming across in the portraits. It looked like I photographed him in the middle of a conversation. This got me thinking about some new ideas, and lately I have found myself photographing dogs in a way that makes them seem more human than animal. It’s been a fun process, and today I thought I would share one of my recent favorites from my adventures with dogs. Say hello to Wallace the French Bulldog. How perfect is that name. Wallace. I love it.

On a personal side note, as a kid, I really wanted to be a dog trainer. I have always loved dog’s, but at some point in my life, I liked them so much I wanted to work with them for a career. Looking back now, I suppose it is only fitting that I now find myself working with dogs, and thoroughly enjoying it. And if you ever find yourself at our studio, ask me about the silly tricks Oliver, our small Pomeranian can do.

Hello, Taylor here! Hot off the press with some new work coming out of the Keatley studio. Last month we were given the assignment by Jane Sherman at Seattle Met to photograph a portrait of Charissa Thompson. Charissa host’s Fox Sports Live and reports on celebrity news for Extra. Basically, she is talking to famous people on a daily basis, and after spending 10 minuets with her I could see why. Extremely charismatic and approachable. And although she is intimidatingly beautiful and a celebrity in her own right, she seamlessly fit right in with the entire crew. She’s the first one of Keatley’s subjects to ever call me before the shoot and offer to buy everyone coffee. I mean, come on!

Before the shoot Matthew Halverson and Jane Sherman, at Seattle Met, told us they wanted and iconic serious portrait, but with a sports twist. Going into the shoot we had what we felt were 10 strong ideas. After tinkering with lighting until it was perfected, John began to gravitate toward 2 of those concepts. The top image you see is exactly what we envisioned. Monochromatic, fun, sporty, but also has a tinge of seriousness. One thing John said while driving to the shoot stuck with me. He said that he wanted to create an image that she could use for the next 50 years. While only Charissa could be the judge of that, I think he did a bang up job. Hope you enjoy the outcome!

Charissa Thompson for Seattle Met

AD : Jane Sherman

Writer: Matt Halverson

Producer: Me

Hair & Makeup: Haley Olsen

Retouching: Luminosity Imaging (Ryan Cleary)

“What you know ‘bout rockin’ the wolf on your noggin
What you knowin’ about wearing a fur fox skin” - Macklemore

What a fun shoot! I had the chance to work with Macklemore (Ben Haggerty) and Ryan Lewis 2 days before their new album “The Heist” came out and they headed out on tour. It was an incredible day, and some amazing images resulted. This being my favorite image. I think… Ahh, I don’t know, there are so many I like. Yeah, this is my favorite. Big congrats to the guys on Thrift Shop going platinum, as well as the incredible success they are having in general. You guys are making Seattle proud for sure. If you haven’t already heard The Heist, you should definitly check it out. One of the best albums to come along in a while, and obviously the music story of the year. I’m a fan.

I’ll post more images from this shoot when I can in the near future hopefully. For now, I’ll leave you with this. Represent!

It’s official!!! Jason Koenig and I directed a music video for the song “Arrows” by Fences featuring Macklemore and it comes out this Monday! Holy Smokes I am excited about this. You will be able to see it on Youtube, so get ready. More soon. Thanks for watching!

Home stretch! It is almost time, and this MTV News post is a nice little teaser that something amazing is about to drop. Stay tuned. This is what making a music video 24/7 looks like.