Travel Fashion Documentary Editorial & Portrait Photographers: Feature Shoot'

Tamar Levine is a Los Angeles-based photographer specializing in fashion, portrait, and fine art photography. Since receiving her BFA at Art Center College of Design in 2005, she has been working on editorial and commercial work for a variety of clients.

In this ongoing portrait series she has been photographing Melissa, a woman who dresses up as different characters and roams around Hollywood Blvd. Melissa’s main character is Marilyn Monroe (from various movies), but she also does Black Swan, White Swan, Pirates of the Caribbean, to name a few.

Photo by Eran Gilat

Photo by Yassine El Mansouri

For the past six years I have been photographing the sub-culture of burnout competitions in Australia. The guys and girls who compete in the various competitions across Australia are a passionate bunch. As a photographer I enjoy the visual feast of a superb and powerful car on the black of the burnout pad juxtaposed against the softness of the tire smoke. In reality a burnout is extremely loud and aggressive but in the photos there is a sense of calm… poetic in a way.

Born in New Zealand, raised in Sydney, Simon Davidson discovered photography at the age of 25. His early years of photography were spent in the darkroom developing film and printing black and white images. Moving to New York in the late nineties to assist fashion photographers, Davidson returned to Australia in the new millennium to further assist before dabbling in fashion photography. A chance excursion to a street drag racing meet one cold winter evening changed the direction of his work, and he has been photographing Australian custom car culture as a personal endeavour for the last decade. This project has allowed him a healthy editorial career in the Australian modified and custom V8 car scene, leading to an advertising career. While the cars are central to the project, the people, and the characters are a rich source of subject.

Photo by Alex Arzt

Photo by Aline Smithson

Photo by Vincent Glielmi

Photo by Victoria Waldruff

Photo by Alex Wein

Photo by Anna Maguire

Photo by Arnaud Teicher

Photo by Briana Purser

Photo by Andrew Sullivan

Photo by Dan Depew

Photo by David Maurice Smith

Photo by Elizabeth Weinberg

Photo by Gabriela Herman

Photo by Ellen Jantzen

Photo by Daniel Porter

Photo by Hizuan

Photo by Ivan Jurado

Photo by Jonathan Hanson

Photo by Aline Smithson

Photo by Joshua Greer

Photo by I-Hsuen Chen

Photo by Justin Fiset

Photo by Karthik Subramanian

Photo by Kevin Tachman

Photo by Daniel Regan

Photo by Rex Curry

Photo by Neta Dror

Photo by Magali Duzant

Photo by Mikael Kennedy

Photo by Marcus Bastel

Photo by Marisha Camp

Photo by Matt Martin

Photo by Matthias Paul Hempt

Photo by Michelle Gerard

Photo by Ben Gold

Photo by Simon Simard

Photo by Ben Gold

Photo by Trevor Ray Hart

*This show was curated from reader submissions.

‘It felt like I was photographing the last, real glover left in NYC, and I probably wasn’t far from the truth. The clientele, as you can imagine, is made up of very small demographic, and on the higher end. Very few people buy a pair of gloves that is cut specifically for their hand, but it was once a common practice. The wooden hand is a beautiful object; I think it was carved for a woman about two-hundred years ago.’

I’ve followed Eric Medsker’s photography for several years now. In his most recent series, entitled Trades, he enters the subject’s world to document their art without disturbing the natural routine of their everyday, and as a result, is able to share private, rarely seen moments. I’ve asked Eric about his experiences while photographing … accompanying each image is his story.

‘Photographing the butchers was definitely one of the highlights of the entire project. Anyone who knows me knows I have a certain affinity for this skill and art form. The butcher shop I photographed was the famous Marlow and Daughters in Brooklyn, and they were incredibly accommodating for the day. I think butchering is one of the most visually stunning and also startling trades in the series. The deep red meat, stark white aprons, and well-honed, gleaming knives are coupled with a physicality that makes it remarkably fun to photograph. The day of this shoot was a delivery day, which created quite a scene: the guys hauling half steers out of the trucks and onto the chopping block, piling the meat high, immediately breaking them down into primal. This process is what you see happening in the photograph.’

‘Shooting the water tank builders of the Rausenwach Company presented the most logistical challenges. The photographs were all taken from the top of a building, high above midtown Manhattan. The guys start work early; in the course of just one day they tore down the old water tank and put up about eighty percent of a new one. Time constraints mean they need to have their techniques down to an exact science. An assistant and I spent the day fighting vertigo while running around documenting the process. In this photograph I climbed up onto another ledge and photographed across the expanse. Not for the acrophobic.’

‘Photographing the tombstone engravers in Greenwood Cemetery took the most time to set up out of all the trades. Supreme Memorials in Park Slope were incredibly nice when I first approached them about the project. Our schedules didn’t match up until about nine months later, which worked out well because I was concerned with the cemetery looking overly drab if we scheduled in the fall or winter. Fortunately for us, the day we shot was beautiful. This is a trade you get into by family alone, which, like many of the trades I shot, is becoming more and more rare. Photographing in Greenwood is not common so the access to walk around the grounds with all my gear was a privilege that day.’

‘The ice sculptor happened as a surprise addition to a day of shooting the welders at Dennis Oppenheim’s studio in DUMBO. A friend was working there welding outdoor sculptures, which can be seen at Houston’s airport; he thought I might be interested in this guy who had an ice cutting studio down the street. When the welders broke for lunch, I left to find the ice sculptor. My experience in setting up shoots is that most people need time and a little persuasion before they’re ready to be photographed, but Joe and his comrade were game from the start. I spent about an hour photographing their creation of the pictured ice sculpture, which was commissioned for a party.’

‘Watch repair is definitely one of those old-school trades. Today, few enough people wear wristwatches let alone have space for a grandfather clock. This shop, one of the first locations in the series, was a tiny, packed storefront in Greenwich. The day was spent maneuvering a c-stand around the small shop, trying our best (successfully, thank goodness) not to break anything. The watchmaker showed how minuscule some of the materials these tradesmen use are, which to me was a fascinating contrast to the iron workers or water tank builders I’d shot previously.’

‘Barbering can be a lot like butchering; if done incorrectly, or correctly in a gangsters case. Paul Mole is one of the oldest barbers in the city; it’s a beautiful space, classic in every sense. I was thrilled when they agreed. My inspiration for shooting the barber came from viewing the image archives on the Library of Congresses website. This photograph is somewhat uncomfortable due to its tight cropped detail of sharp metal on flesh, but I liked the accompanying sense of drama.’

This post was contributed by photographer Brian Finke.

Alex Kisilevich is a photo-based artist living and working in Toronto, Canada. This new work is part of his series, Kallima, which is titled after a butterfly that bears this uncanny resemblance to a dried up leaf. The series explores ideas of camouflage, mimesis and human subjectivity.

Sandy Carson is a photographer raised in Scotland, now based in Austin, TX. We recently talked to him about his latest series, ‘Just Do It’.

At what point did you decide to document the movement to spay/neuter feral cats in Austin?
‘I became interested pretty early on, after trapping my first few cats to be spayed and neutered. I had been cleaning up a neighborhood cat colony at a crack house, which was overflowing with unfixed cats and kittens who were multiplying. When I took them to the Austin Humane Society and saw the number of ferals coming in, met the people involved and saw the whole operation, I figured I should be helping the cause with photography, as well as being a volunteer.’

How did you go about finding the subjects (cat colonies and cat trappers) to photograph?
‘Most of the time I just approached the regulars who were actively trapping and asked if they want to be photographed doing what they do; whether it be taking care of colonies, trapping, or fostering. There’s also a Central Texas TNR online group who have a tight network and have been a great help in letting me go out with them. Other than that, colonies of ferals and abandoned cats are rampant in urban areas. It also doesn’t hurt that your friends know you do this and they end up calling you when they find strays.’

I know you are involved in this initiative on a personal level and you became friends with many of the cat trappers. Can you talk a bit about how this influenced the images you’ve chosen to show?
‘Yeah, I’ve become good friends with most of my subjects through making photographs of them and being directly involved, which has definitely influenced my edit. I think it helps being actively involved in any project you are working on to a certain degree, otherwise how are you going to fully understand what you are shooting? Also, since I shot a lot of this content with my field camera, it definitely allowed more time and patience from subjects, which allowed for a more intimate interaction as I got to know them and their stories.’

Can you describe the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) process from capture to release?
‘It starts with trapping the cats in a humane cage trap at the colony or wherever they frequent. It’s a bit like fishing actually, in that you bait a trap and wait around for a bite. The trapped cats are then transported to a TNR location where they are spayed and neutered, given free vaccinations, and ear tipped, so they can be recognized as being a sterilized member of the colony. The cats are then kept overnight to recover from surgery and then returned to place of capture to live out a healthier life.’

How does one become a cat trapper?
‘It’s pretty easy. Most Humane Societies and ASPCA animal charity clinics have TNR classes and they will also rent out the traps free of charge. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a crazy “cat person” to be a certified trapper but cat attire is optional.’

I know this is a work in progress, but what are your hopes for this series?
‘I plan on documenting it for as long as I need to really, and that could go on for some time. I’m currently branching into audio and possibly some motion with this series. It’s also likely I’ll eventually do some exhibiting and a book with prints to raise funds and awareness for TNR.