I think one of the most difficult, but in the end most liberating aspects of my middle years as a photographer, was the transition from photographing people (subjects) I had carefully searched out and chosen because of their age, wisdom, maturity, character, etc., to photographing models. This was an enormous transformation for me. I went from doing portraiture to doing something quite different. I went from photographing people of enormous strength and endurance, to generally young, beautiful, or attractive, affable people. They were not my usual subjects. The question arose for me: How do I make pictures that have strength and intensity with people who do not generally possess it? The answer for me lies in stepping back, rather than going forward. When I was younger, I kept getting closer, until I had removed all the artifice, until I was standing face to face with people. I would look in their eyes to their souls and I would find my own personal strength. Now I was asked to photograph the "beautiful people." It was not about their soul and character, but rather about their style, their beauty, or even their clothing. Without consciously even realizing it, I learned to make the photographs despite these restrictions or constraints, even better than what proceeded it. I think the general solution became what was hidden and only occasionally expressed in my early work, and that was humor. I learned how to step back, so that the model became a figure rather than a portrait. He becomes part of the story, reciting lines with me, rather than at me. It is a story with him as a character, a personage, rather than a novel about him. Also particularly with the men, the story or anecdote became whimsical and humorous. It was a way to make the images as compelling (or for me even more compelling) than my earlier work, yet it is completely different. It was my way of dealing with the cards that were provided, and finding a hand that was stronger than the one I was originally dealt. I want to wish everyone a happy holiday. I will be taking a small break, returning on the 4th of January. May the year that comes next bestow more graciousness, love, and security than the one just passing. Till next year.

As I began to feel more comfortable with stepping back and placing people in the environment, I also began the transition (which may be discussed in later blogs) to photograph fashion. Ironically, as an aside, I grew up in the world of fashion, when women were stylish, and the photographers were romantic and extraordinary. Today, both the fashion and the imagery has reached its low point. It is neither distinguished nor graceful, but rather conceptual, mean spirited, vulgar, and to my mind tasteless. But this is a story of another matter. I love making pictures, and the fashion world has allowed me opportunities that I greatly appreciate. When done properly, it feels gracious, sensuous, beautiful, and stylish. It's about mystery and potential. Although I do not have this picture to share with you, I do have another story about my middle years. It comes from the beginnings of my transition from shooting portraiture and landscapes to shooting fashion. Although fashion is a form of portraiture, it involves models, which are an entirely different breed. They will be discussed next week. Early on in my years of doing assignment work, I was asked to work for Coach, the manufacturer of leather goods. The campaign was entitled Descendants of Famous People. I think I did three or four of these ads, but the one I would like to discuss is one I did with a young woman who was a descendant of Babe Ruth. It felt natural, and obviously appropriate, to shoot this picture at Yankee Stadium in New York. I remember that this 20 year old woman lived in another state, so she did not arrive until the morning of the shoot. On that morning, we (the talent, myself, the stylist, the hair and makeup person, assistants, etc.) all met at the location van. The woman appeared quite sad, forlorn, and uncomfortable. She obviously was not used to the attention. Her true life had no relation to the glory of Babe Ruth. She only had his genes. She was raised in a very humble manner, and carried herself with her head down, and with an extreme, uncomfortable self-consciousness. I introduced myself and the crew, and explained that there were people here to help her with her clothes, and her makeup, and I hoped that the experience would be fun for her. I disappeared for an hour to scout the right location, and as I was returning to the van, she was exiting. It was if a new woman was born. She was beautiful, held herself differently, looked directly at me, and was proud of herself. I remember this moment vividly. I remember thinking "I want to do this." If you can change a person's feelings simply by changing their clothes and style, what a great gift that is. All through the shoot, she was happy, beautiful, and slightly sexy. It was a new, happy person. When the shoot was over, and the clock struck five, she went back into the van,…

I am pleased to report that the book party and signing at Sotheby's last night went well. I'll be sure to post some pictures in the days that follow. For now I am plopping a couple Alka-Seltzers into my coffee to try and speed the recovery from all the festivities. Continue to stay tuned; I have some very personal, very tasty insights to share, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow. Until then, my most loyal readers...

Like all things that are organic, my photographic history seems to have a beginning, middle, and end to it. This morning, I would like to talk briefly about the middle development of my photographic career. As The End primarily deals with the after effects of the middle section of my career, this picture precedes most of the pictures in the book. As noted previously, and shown last week, the early periods of my photographic life were intensely focused on intimate and close (both physically and emotionally) portraits of people of my choosing. As mentioned earlier, it was if the camera's eye was more penetrating and insightful than my own. I was searching, and the camera provided a means to see right into the very soul of a person. There was rarely a deviation from this focus. When a trust was created, I was able to perceive the emotional core of a person. As relates to what I just said, I once had the good fortune to have lunch with Anna Freud, and told her that I felt I could look into a person's eyes and soul, and see where 20 years of therapy would lead them. It was not as if I was naive to peoples' potential for evil, but rather focused on their potential. I could see their fears, their anger, their hurt, their anxiety, but felt these not necessarily as wrongs or inappropriate, but rather simply part of the human condition. By seeing their potential, it was an opportunity of saying yes to life. This again is how my photographic life began, but then in the 1980's things began to change. The middle portion of my life began to evolve. Although the solution required enormous emotional turmoil, the problem was quite simple. As I began to find it necessary to work for clients, I no longer had the luxury of traveling the country to find and choose the person I wanted to photograph. For today I will tell you about part 1 of "the road taken," and what began as a tumultuous way to find a new voice. The first assignment I wish to mention was an opportunity in the mid-80's to begin to photograph CEO's. I did this for a number of years, and it provided the beginnings of a new but familiar voice. My first assignment was quite a gift. It was to travel the world, and photograph approximately 10 CEO's of different divisions of the corporate structure of H.J. Heinz Company. The only problem was I was told that I could no longer simply be close to the subject, and not show their environment. In other words, I couldn't be sent to England, and have the viewer not know where the photograph was taken. The subject had to be shown in context. This was initially frightening. On the one hand, I was no longer choosing my subject, but also I now had to learn to step back and show the environment. Without realizing it, this…