Musée Magazine Issue No. 19 - Power | Page 24

screaming at times . But it made me grow , and it forced me to understand and learn .
ANDREA : I read that she actually didn ’ t know a lot about lighting , and relied on her assistants to light for her . She knew what she wanted , but she didn ’ t have those technical skills .
MARTIN : Right , she doesn ’ t want to be so heavily involved in that . In retrospect , I understand . There are so many things that a photographer has to worry about . If it was terrible , she would sometimes throw us suggestions , but for the most part she just wanted it to be done . That was my job , to get it done , and if she didn ’ t like it , she would let me know . I would scramble to please her , and through that , I learned a tremendous amount . The production values on some of her shoots are huge , like movie stills . Managing large groups like that , I learned how not to be intimidated , even having 5-6 assistants and spending thousands of dollars to achieve one picture .
ANDREA : How often does that happen to you ?
MARTIN : It doesn ’ t anymore . That was the old days of magazine photography . That all came to an end . Budgets are nowhere near what they used to be . I also learned some of how not to be from Annie . I treat my staff very differently than she did . Sometimes you learn things that you don ’ t want to replicate and that ’ s also important .
ANDREA : Do you like smaller productions ?
MARTIN : I like those situations where you have a limited amount of time and you have to come back with something great - I do enjoy that pressure at times . I think I ’ ve been the happiest on the assignments with National Geographic where I have to run around the Brazilian rainforest with a huntergatherer tribe that live in little huts . I sleep in a tent next to them and wake up and just follow them around all day . I can ’ t even talk to them , because we don ’ t share a language . That experience is very fulfilling . Just one camera and no lights , just you as a spectator . It ’ s incredibly freeing , and there are no phones or computers so you just focus on the people and photographing their way of life .
ANDREA : How did you begin working with National Geographic ?
MARTIN : A friend of mine introduced me to them , and I do have a journalistic photography background . My photographs are also not retouched , which is very appealing to National Geographic . I did a couple of portrait stories for them , and also some documentary work .
ANDREA : The way in which you light your portrait photographs is very pragmatic , because you don ’ t have to retouch the way some photographers do , solves some problems concerning time and money . Did that enter your mind when developing your style ? And how often do you get turned down for private commissions because the style you shoot in is not always flattering ?
MARTIN : Well , I started this series because I like Bernd and Hilla Becher so much . They were German photographers that photographed a lot of industrial scenes , including a very famous water tower series . They photographed the same subject matter over and over and put them up for comparison . I found that fascinating , which really inspired me to do these close-up portraits , to photograph everyone in the same lighting , with the same camera , and the same film , and from the same angle . There was also a level of necessity , just starting out . You have a very limited amount of time with someone at a given location , oftentimes working with cranky subjects because they have twenty photoshoots in a day . And with these close-ups I can do the set up anywhere and it doesn ’ t take a lot of time . Often I would be shooting something for a magazine and then do a close-up portrait in addition . Now I do a close-up portrait of pretty much anyone who crosses my path .
ANDREA : So it never entered your mind that this style was a practical solution ?
Martin Schoeller , Christine Roth .
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