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.

Here is my latest directing work for iBobber. I hope you enjoy the video, laugh out loud, and suddenly feel the urge to buy an iBobber. The fishfinder that syncs with your smartphone or tablet. 🙂
Big thank you to Fred Hammerquist, Alex Lebedev, Jeff Siegel, and Sage Price.
I am looking forward to doing a lot more directing in 2016. Merry Christmas everyone if I don’t talk to you in the next week.

Director: John Keatley http://localhost/keatleyphotos
Co Executive Producer and Production Company: Vacation Theory
Co Executive Producer: Redeye
Cast: Allen Fitzpatrick and Jake Ynzunza
Wardrobe Stylist: Alexis Steinman
Hair & Makeup: Haley Olsen
Gaffer: Casey Schmidt
Color and Sound by Post Nuclear http://www.postnuclear.co
Music Provided by Epidemic Sound http://www.epidemicsound.com/
Special thanks: Nina Kaseburg and Fred Hammerquist

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

Two years ago, John had the opportunity to go to Dubai for Gulf Photo Plus, where he joined a host of industry greats (David Alan Harvey, Greg Heisler, David Burnett, David Hobby, Zack Arias, Peter Hurley, and Joe McNally to name a few) to spend a week teaching all things photography and business. He had a fabulous time seeing Dubai, meeting students, becoming friends with the other instructors, and shooting a portrait of Gregory Heisler in a wig. It was awesome!

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.

It seems like forever ago now, but I actually played football in college until a shoulder injury sidelined my aspirations of reaching the NFL. I mostly played free safety, but I also moved to defensive end in my last season. Needless to say, photographing athletes is something I really enjoy, as it get’s me back out on the field to some extent.

Here is a quick snapshot I found from back in my college days. But back to Derrick Coleman, because that’s really what this is all about. Most of you have probably already seen the incredible Duracell commercial about his fight to get to the NFL, but if you haven’t or if you want to watch it again, here it is. It makes me emotional every time I see it. So good.

Thanks for a fun shoot Derrick and Go Hawks!

Possibly the biggest “studio” I have ever shot in.