Much of what I shoot involves people and often large groups of people. The ongoing pandemic has meant that most of my business has stopped although I expect things to slowly return this month.
So with time on my hands and blog pages to fill, I thought I’d reminisce about a few old photos.
Kenny Kramer used to live across the hall from Larry David, the co-creator of Seinfeld. In the TV series, Cosmo Kramer lived across the hall from Jerry Seinfeld.
As we shot a variety of photos, real-life Kramer was just as silly and frenetic as TV Kramer.
I photographed the MuchMusic Video Awards for several years for the City-TV network. But once the network was bought by CTV, everything changed. Budgets were cut and it became more corporate.
The event used to be all about music and spontaneous fun. The backstage parties and shenanigans were legendary (tons of free food and alcohol, the CEO and others were often fall-down drunk, male musicians being pantless, people using the washrooms for, uh, other things.) But after CTV acquired MuchMusic, the event became a routine TV award show and was used to promote CTV programming.
This photo was shot from the back of the theatre with a 400mm f2.8 lens and Kodak Ektapress 1600 pushed one stop. I wish we had today’s digital cameras back then.
The photo was shot with one large softbox over the camera and Fuji Press 400 during a break in a TV show production.
I knew who Redford was but never heard of Pitt. Up until then, 29-year-old Pitt had done mostly small parts on TV and had been in only one big movie, “Thelma & Louise.” All the female reporters at the press conference swooned over Redford and Pitt. Shot with Kodak Ektapress 1600.
The three Jonas brothers, including 18-year-old Kevin Jonas, had their afternoon concert cancelled when a huge storm with tornadoes struck southern Ontario. The outdoor concert venue flooded and the tent-covered roof shook wildly. As water poured down the aisles, fans had to stand on their seats to stay dry before fleeing the area. Stage crews rushed to lift speakers and cables out of the two-foot-deep water at the front of the stage.
I spent the entire day following the Jonas brothers as they rehearsed for the concert, did TV interviews and greeted fans. I noticed their father quietly guiding his sons, telling them to go over and greet fans, making sure they signed all autographs, ensuring they did all interviews and gently reminding them that all this was part of the job.
Massey Hall concerts were shot from the back of the theatre or occasionally from the sides. There was no photo pit at the front because the stage was so low. A 400mm f2.8 was the usual lens of choice.
When I shot a Stompin’ Tom Connors concert at Massey Hall (in 1990?), I was the only photographer there and, for some unknown reason, they put me at the foot of centre stage. Thankfully I had an 80-200mm lens with me. Since the stage at Massey Hall was only about four feet high, I did an awkward half-squat trying not to block the people sitting behind me. But my upper body still stuck up above the stage.
Midway through his first song, Stompin’ Tom suddenly stopped singing, pointed to me and loudly said into the microphone, “Hey Mr. Photographer, did ya get a good picture?” Then he posed with his guitar and a big silly grin and waited for me to shoot it. I took a photo, gave him the “okay” signal and he went right back to singing.
