Portrait; Bowen Rodkey
SICKGNAR, Bowen Rodkey. Photographer, poet, brew master.
Jude D’Souza
Jude, one of my favorite NYC pals. If it weren’t for his couch and coffee maker… I tell you what, boy. I shot this portrait of him the last time I took advantage of his hospitality. What a handsome fella’. And ladies, I do believe he’s available.
Kimberly at the Woman’s Bowery
As a photographer shooting for a magazine its frustrating sometimes when your vision of a great photograph doesn’t align with the judgement of the photo editor. I think this is just a sweet portrait and would have loved to see it printed. Oh, well.
Veronica Kelly at Woman’s Bowery Mission
Mrs. Kelly, the lovely spouse of our fair city’s police chief and supporter of the Woman’s Bowery Mission, kindly made herself available to me for a portrait in the Garden of the Manhattan based woman’s shelter that she helped make possible. Thank you, Mrs. Kelly. What a pleasure meeting you.
Mr Brooks
Arthur C. Brooks is the president of AEI.
I was pressing my luck with this shot. The composition cuts into Mr Brooks forehead. He’s leaning right into it, too. The noir lighting gives him mystery and the perspective lines in those book shelves really propel the figure forward. Still, with other shots to choose from the editors picked this one. I’m always thankful when they see it my way.
Film maker, Brice Habeger in Alaska had this to say:
“Very bold choice to go with black and white, which I think represents Arthur’s thinking perfectly.
The part that I like the best is how you have Arthur properly exposed in the foreground- then you have the lines of the bookshelf leading away from the subject- and as the eye travels backwards in the frame it travels up to the ceiling where you have that slash of light, at a little below exposure, that leads the eye right back to Arthur.
In my mind, it goes in this nice big circle, but in an unusual way, like looking at a rotating ferris wheel from the front.
To me, it seems like a huge gamble with your framing and color choice, but it pays off.”
Thanks for the comment, Brice.
