Latest news with #WitnesstoInnocence
Gulf Today
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
New York photographer covers the famous and homeless
For over three decades, Martin Schoeller has been at the forefront of contemporary portraiture. His signature close-up style scrutinises faces with an almost forensic intensity, capturing both the powerful and the powerless with unfiltered precision – always applying the same style and approach to all. Speaking at the International Photography Festival (Xposure) 2025, the renowned New York-based photographer offered a candid look at his career, detailing his unconventional beginnings, the artistic ethos driving his work, and the unpredictable, often chaotic, nature of his shoots. Schoeller recalled his early financial struggles admitting, 'I was broke. I had no money'. Desperate for work, he embedded himself with the Newark police department, bluffing his way into their confidence. 'I told the press secretary I was working for a German magazine on a piece about police work in the United States. He never checked my credentials and just said, 'Okay, I have these two detectives you can hang out with.'' His big break came in 1998 when Time Out New York commissioned him to photograph Vanessa Redgrave. Over the years, Schoeller has captured an estimated 3,000 close-up portraits. The breadth of his subjects is staggering: celebrities, world leaders, athletes, the homeless, death row exonerees, and Holocaust survivors. He has consistently pushed the boundaries of portraiture, blending conceptual elements with his journalistic instincts. A favourite example was his 2003 portrait of Quentin Tarantino, taken at the height of Kill Bill's notoriety. Another classic was his portrait of Tony Hawk, in which the legendary skateboarder leaps off his own kitchen counter with his wife and two children sharing the frame. 'He wanted to be photographed in a skate park,' Schoeller admitted. 'I told his wife, 'It'll make a great Christmas card.' So she made him do it,' he remarked jokingly. Schoeller has not only documented the famous but also shed light on the overlooked. One of his most personal projects involved photographing and interviewing over 300 homeless individuals in Los Angeles. 'I set up my studio next to a food truck run by a friend's father,' he said. 'Because people trusted him, they trusted me.' A particularly poignant encounter came when he photographed a young runaway named Frisk. 'His mother contacted me after seeing his portrait on Instagram. With the help of other homeless people, we found him, and he ended up moving back home. Out of 300 stories, that was the one happy ending.' Schoeller's commitment to social issues extends to his work with Witness to Innocence, an organisation supporting death row exonerees. His multi-year project capturing the harrowing experiences of exonerated individuals culminated in an exhibition, a National Geographic feature, and a museum show. 'It took me two years to gain the trust (of the editors). At first, they thought my portraits looked like mugshots, not something they wanted to be remembered by.' The 'hardest part' Despite the changing landscape of editorial photography, Schoeller remains steadfast in his approach. 'Advertising jobs pay the bills, which lets me fund personal projects where I can lose money,' he quipped. 'But the hardest part? Coming up with an idea that makes sense and convincing someone famous to do it. You don't see the failures. But for every 10 ideas, I'm lucky if three or four happen.' As he wrapped up his talk, Schoeller reflected on his body of work with characteristic candour. 'Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don't. But if you're taking pictures for yourself first, not just for the subject, then you're on the right track.' His portraits — whether of A-listers or the forgotten — continue to resonate because they strip away artifice, leaving only the subject and their story. For Martin Schoeller, that's all that has ever mattered. This is one of the many talks at Xposure this year, where the visitors are not only getting an opportunity to immerse themselves in the brilliant photography but also interact closely with the creative geniuses behind the lens. Xposure 2025 is a free-to-attend event and will run until February 26 at Aljada, Sharjah. For more details on the programmes, workshops, exhibitions, visit:
Sharjah 24
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Sharjah 24
Obama's photographer: The challenge of finding story to tell
Tackling the future of photography He said it is very difficult to make a living out of photography. 'Photography will always be around and more people enjoy photography now. On the one hand, everyone is a photographer now which is great but it also devalues a single image. It has become easy to take pictures where one just has to press a button to get an image. It used to be a craft earlier, where one had to know the camera and filming process.' Advice for newcomers He advised newcomers to photojournalism to tread with caution in an era characterised by social media habits where people enjoy 15-second video content and moving images. However, he commented that 'photography will be more democratic because whenever something happens, someone will take a picture and it will give a sense of what's happening around the world'. Challenges in the industry Schoeller, who took pictures of former US President Barack Obama and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel , said funding is an issue in keeping business afloat. Copyright issues and database of AI images are bottlenecks in the use of images in advertising. Emphasizing democratic portraits Schoeller's close-up portraits have emphasised the facial features of his subjects — world leaders and indigenous groups, movie stars and the homeless, female bodybuilders and artists — levelling them in an inherently democratic fashion. A Personal project Schoeller gave his audience a presentation of The Death Row Exonerees, a personal project of his from 2019, which departed from the usual style of still photography to capture the emotions and story behind the lives of convicts in US prisons who had escaped the noose. It turned into a museum exhibition with video installations, and later a story for National Geographic, which helped raise money for ex-convicts' organisation Witness to Innocence, he said. Upcoming presentation Schoeller will hold a presentation on February 23 titled 'Redefining portraiture over three decades'. Xposure 2025 Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), Xposure 2025 runs from February 20 - 26. It features 100-plus galleries, over 300 renowned photographers and over 2500 pictures. Xposure is the biggest platform for visual storytelling globally, redefining how photography and media communicate humanity's most pressing issues. The festival fosters a space for creators of all levels to showcase their talents, hone their skills, and connect with global professionals. Learn more about the biggest platform for visual storytelling globally. Visit
