Photo studios aren't as practical or necessary as they once were, but they still provide a valuable place for photographers to craft their life's work.
This was a very enjoyable piece Bill. Most of my colleagues, and myself, out here in the NW, all had studios (shared) and it seemed necessary 20 years ago. But the combination of many more photographers and skyrocketing commercial rates over the last bunch of years, has led few people having shooting spaces. And there are fewer rentals now as well and that has led me to pass on a couple assignments.
Short of building my own studio, Owning an old firehouse and converting the truck bays into the studio has always seemed an ideal to me. They are solidly constructed with good utilities, and easy access. The hat trick for me consists of coming up with the money, finding one with good natural light, and finding a good compadre to share it with.
I still remember walking down the Bowery with a friend, he elbowed me and pointed at a giant graffiti-covered building. "Maisel is in there somewhere."
We stayed in the hotel across the street from Jay's former studio. Kids lined up around the block, only admitted sporadically since the "gear" (?) was so coveted. Jay influenced Pete Turner who influenced another bunch of color shooters (Steve Krongard, etc) with slide duping techniques for hyped color long before Photoshop, etc etc. Nice post.
On photography as a lifestyle, which I always imagined and strived for and now (not having a convenient portrait shoot space) largely fall short of.
On the decreasing relevance of the studio business model because of a convergence of outrageous real estate cost and technical shifts and changing tastes in imagery (driven by the technical camera thing).
When I was a baby photographer in the 90s it seemed like most of my mentors had some kind of studio space, and now the working studio feels quite rare. It’s hard to even rent one! You end up with production houses instead, which is not the same thing.
Great and entertaining read, Bill... I always loved to see other photographers' studios, especially the ones with a lot of personal touch through the architecture of the place in itself, objects, books, how they store the equipment etc... I assisted for two of the great commercial ad and portrait photographers in Brazil right when I jumped out of graphic design, it was that transition from film to digital. And their studios were like that, full of character. That experience definitely helped me dream about my own photography career.
Do you by any chance still have this American Photo issue or have an idea if I could find it online? I'd love to read this article!
This was a very enjoyable piece Bill. Most of my colleagues, and myself, out here in the NW, all had studios (shared) and it seemed necessary 20 years ago. But the combination of many more photographers and skyrocketing commercial rates over the last bunch of years, has led few people having shooting spaces. And there are fewer rentals now as well and that has led me to pass on a couple assignments.
Oh interesting. A shame to have to pass on work.
Short of building my own studio, Owning an old firehouse and converting the truck bays into the studio has always seemed an ideal to me. They are solidly constructed with good utilities, and easy access. The hat trick for me consists of coming up with the money, finding one with good natural light, and finding a good compadre to share it with.
Oh my gosh, you're so right! Charming old firehouses seem like the perfect studios!
I still remember walking down the Bowery with a friend, he elbowed me and pointed at a giant graffiti-covered building. "Maisel is in there somewhere."
Bill, this issue single-handedly brought me more inspiration and joy than I've gotten from a substack issue in ages. You've got a new subscriber.
Delighted to hear that. Thank you!
We stayed in the hotel across the street from Jay's former studio. Kids lined up around the block, only admitted sporadically since the "gear" (?) was so coveted. Jay influenced Pete Turner who influenced another bunch of color shooters (Steve Krongard, etc) with slide duping techniques for hyped color long before Photoshop, etc etc. Nice post.
Again, so many good thoughts.
On photography as a lifestyle, which I always imagined and strived for and now (not having a convenient portrait shoot space) largely fall short of.
On the decreasing relevance of the studio business model because of a convergence of outrageous real estate cost and technical shifts and changing tastes in imagery (driven by the technical camera thing).
When I was a baby photographer in the 90s it seemed like most of my mentors had some kind of studio space, and now the working studio feels quite rare. It’s hard to even rent one! You end up with production houses instead, which is not the same thing.
You're the second person to comment on the rarity of even rental studios these days. I'm gonna have to pay more attention to that.
I worked for the Image Bank which represented Maisel in the 70's - his eye was second to none, and was an honor to represent.
Great and entertaining read, Bill... I always loved to see other photographers' studios, especially the ones with a lot of personal touch through the architecture of the place in itself, objects, books, how they store the equipment etc... I assisted for two of the great commercial ad and portrait photographers in Brazil right when I jumped out of graphic design, it was that transition from film to digital. And their studios were like that, full of character. That experience definitely helped me dream about my own photography career.
Do you by any chance still have this American Photo issue or have an idea if I could find it online? I'd love to read this article!
What a privilege! And I’m glad to hear it’s being used for more than retail.