DANNY CLINCH BY HANNAH PEPLOW 1
WHY DANNY CLINCH? • I didn’t really know any studio photographers • Trawled through various very famous people and wasn’t feeling inspired… • A friend (and fellow Pearl Jam fan) visited from America and I explained that I have this assignment … • We had just bought tickets to see Pearl Jam in London… and she said, what about these guys who photograph for album covers… and there began my search… • She had watched a short film on Henry Diltz and said he was quite cool… it was through this search that I stumble across Danny Clinch… and he’s worked with Pearl Jam. • I’ve really enjoyed my journey into learning about Danny, I can’t imagine not following his work from now on. • So, let me tell you about this great guy. 2
ABOUT DANNY • American photographer & film director – born 1964 – New Jersey. – He likes his hats! • Music is his genre – listens to it, plays it, photographs it, and films it. • Community College @ 16 /17 yrs old, studied photography • New England School of Photography - Boston • In NJ – working in a portrait studio, saved money to go to an Ansel Adams workshop, one of the instructors was Annie Leibovitz. • He became an intern for Annie Leibowitz off the back of the workshop. • Met Bruce Springsteen – when Annie was doing the Tunnel of Love album cover (1987) ATTACH IMAGE. Danny has since gone on to work with The Boss many times. 3
PUBLICATIONS He has worked on hundreds of album covers and on the following publications Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and The New York Times to name but a few. 4
GENRES OF WORK • SPORT • ADVERTISING • FASHION • DOCUMENTARY • MUSIC • PORTRAITS • Sport – Lance Armstrong & Frankie Edgar (Mixed Martial Arts and competes in the UFC) • Advertising - examples mostly follow a portrait theme. From watching many video interviews of Danny, I don’t imagine he really enjoys still life… But the couple of whiskey on his website contain a camera and a guitar amp! • Fashion – classic – natural lighting v something a little different – made to look like very natural lighting. • Some of which I will discuss in a bit more detail further on. 5
EARLY WORK – SLICK RICK 1991 “This was taken the day before he was to go to prison in 1991,” Clinch recalls. “It was one of my earliest assignments for Spin magazine. I met him at a bar/restaurant and was surprised to see how perfectly he matched the leopard skin booth. I lit him with a Dynalite pack and used a small umbrella that I didn’t open up all the way, so that it was more focused and didn’t flood the entire frame/room . I also recall opening the shutter to let a bit of ambient light in as well. It was probably taken at 1/30 at f/8 with my old Hasselblad C body with a 50mm lens .” • Dynalite pack – portable flash power 6
EARLY WORK – TUPAC 1993 • Asked to photograph Tupac for Rolling Stone magazine. Tupac brought a change of clothes. As Tupac changed tops, Danny saw the tattoos. • The photoshoot for Rolling Stone magazine was only going to run for a ¼ page. It did. • But 3 years later Tupac is killed, his shots appear as a double page spread in Vanity Fair and the photo appears again in Rolling Stone magazine…. this time on the cover. • Harsh, narrow focus lighting – strong shadows 7
EARLY WORK – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 1999 • First (official) photo of Bruce Springsteen. • Simple Light. • He didn’t have a lot to work with or time. Bruce was setting up for a gig and Danny had already taken photos of the rest of the band, but struggled to get time with Bruce. 8
PORTRAITS • I’ve selected an handful of photos from his portrait portfolio • Smoky Robinson – Rembrandt – NB – eyes closed • Bruce Springsteen – Rembrandt – not looking at camera • Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) – loop • Bruce Springsteen – split light with a little spill of light onto left eye. Small backlight onto backdrop • Questlove – I like this photo, it breaks all the rules; • Left eye partially lit • No catch light • Hair blends with the background • He likes natural, low light, something he picked up fromworking with Steven Meisel (Fashion Photographer) at Vogue magazine – worth looking up, his work is pretty quirky. 9
“CAPTURE THE MOMENT WITHOUT GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE MOMENT” Beastie Boys – backstage at a festival. Danny gained access through a friend who had organised the festival, with the understanding she could have all the photos. 10
“LOOK FOR THE MOMENT WHEN THE GUARD IS DOWN” • 1992 – Tim Donnelly (Journalist) – was asked to interview Pearl Jam whilst on tour, the year after they released their debut album (Ten), it had taken until the summer of ’92 for the album to make it big. • ‘access no areas’ to “come and watch the gig”. • DC is good at building relationships. 11
“WALK IN AND SHOOT!” • “Walk in and Shoot!” - Something he picked up from Mary Ellen Mark (Photojournalist) • Thom Yorke from Radiohead – this was not staged, Danny found him like this as he entered the bands hotel room 12
DANNY CLINCH (JUNE 2015) “If you are passionate about something and you love it, just go for it, the rest will come. Don’t try and make the money come first, it won’t happen” • His latest book, Danny Clinch: Still Moving is divided into sections, including Portrait, Documentary, Backstage, Live, and Friends and Family. Each section features a short written introduction by Clinch. • Clinch writes in his intro to the Friends and Family section about his fellow musicians: “These are my friends and family. They trust me to capture these often intimate encounters. And for that I am grateful.” 13
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