Public Wife, Private Mistress

Working with art directors can be a lovely experience, or it can be hell! Sometimes we're just not in sync, they want the art to go one way and I see it in a different direction.This can lead to stiff, or uptight-looking images, but sometimes the challenge of doing something in a different way than you're inclined to do it can lead to suprising results. That's what happened in this piece. These books are always about a Greek, Italian or Spanish billionaire, who just happens upon an ordinary girl from Midwest, USA and falls for her. Hard. The art director wanted all the books in this line to be very photographic looking, which is a lot harder than it sounds. The photographs we take in the studio are not intended to be ready for the cover. For instance, at this shoot the couple wasn't in Sicily, but in a NY studio, on a table with a cloth over it. The girl was a brunette and a bit too large for the guy. There were no candles, etc. I decided on a high viewpoint, to be able to see past them and take in the shoreline. Because their relative sizes weren't a good match, I chose to put the guy in front with the girl behind, which allowed the guy to spread out a bit. I still reduced her later, but it seemed to work. Not only that, through a magical process of collaboration between the photographer, ( Shirley Green ), the models, ( Emrie, Jason Wright ), and myself, a really nice, sexy mood occurred. I'm offerening suggestions and commands, so is Shirley and the two models are doing what they can to be in the part. The whole thing, from putting on costumes, setting up the lighting & set and shooting maybe 75 pictures takes under an hour! When everyone's in the groove, it seems like a Major Motion Picture ! Anyway, I had my way two years after the job was finished. I simply re-worked it to be more painterly, the way I originally intended.