01
Shoot the actors
I don't have many "oh, they're too hard to shoot" stories, and they're all friendly to me. I grew up in Los Angeles in a "Hollywood-style family," so it's not uncommon for me to meet stars. It's my daily job to shoot celebrities, they come, I shoot, that's it. I pay more attention to my work than to them, such as techniques and cameras. Who is filming may have a little impact, but it won't bring a lot of pressure. Instead, it was the editors who were on the 30th floor of a building in New York who felt pressured because they couldn't be on the set and everything was out of control. When Clint Eastwood came, he said I only had 15 minutes, so you wouldn't ask him for 16 minutes. But for the whole 15 minutes, he would be very engaged without showing the "I'm busy, I only have 15 minutes, I need to go" state. After shooting these 15 minutes, he will leave. So if someone says "I only have 5 minutes", then I say "please give me the whole 5 minutes instead of saying you need to leave soon during those 5 minutes". Most of the people I've photographed have been able to present this professional state during filming. Makeup and hair are also a very exquisite part, which is an important part of the whole shooting process. Sometimes photographers say that they don't need hair stylists and makeup artists in order to save money, but they don't know that their role is not only in makeup and hair, but the moment the actors sit on the makeup chairs can help them quickly get into the state. Someone once said that the process of makeup and hair is the process of helping the subject find himself, and I think it is very correct.
Angelina Jolie. Photo by Jim © McHugh
John Travolta. Photo by Jim © McHugh
Olsen Twins. Photo by Jim © McHugh
02
Photograph artists
Photographing an artist is a completely different process and will be very interesting. I love artists, but I'm a little more nervous when I photograph them because artists have different temperaments, and whether he's famous or not, he spends most of his time working alone in a studio and they're very insecure. Even if he is the best artist in the world, he will still be nervous about his work.
And I often use a big camera, 4X5 or 8X10, and these devices may look a little special. So I found a little tip, and that's when you go to their studio, you have to go and see their work and be able to appreciate their work, because what artists care about most is their work. This moment of looking at the work is like the moment when shooting the actor's makeup, which must be there. In the beginning, during the shooting process, I would give the artists instructions on how to shoot, and I would pay more attention to the technical things of composition. But then I found myself not doing it anymore, and I'd rather the audience see the artist than see those technical attempts I'm doing. When you're using a 35mm camera, you'll often switch angles and shoot from top to bottom, but when I use a big 8X10 camera, I'll put the camera right in front of them and there's only a limit to the rest. I find myself more simple now.
George Harrison. Photo by Jim © McHugh
David Hockney, author. Photo by Jim © McHugh
David Hockney, visitor. Photo by Jim © McHugh
Ansel Adams By © Jim McHugh
I think the most important thing about helping a magazine shoot is to be time sensitive. The person being photographed only gives you a moment, and then they lose patience. No matter how interesting your shooting set is, you need to be sensitive to time. There are also some tricks to make better use of your shooting time, such as Yusuf Cash painting his large-format camera white to create a sense of strangeness, because other people's cameras are black. You also need to keep pressing the shutter during the shoot to make your model feel like you know what you're doing, rather than looking lost.
Hillary Clinton Photo by © Jim McHugh
About the Author:
Jim McHugh, a Los Angeles photographer known for his portraits of artists, including Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari and David Hockney, has worked with him for decades. His works are in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
*Article from China Photographer Magazine, Issue 12, 2020, original title "Jim Mai Xiu: The Artist Who Photographed the Artist", Photography / Jim Mai Xiu, Interview / Lu Yiwei
Edited | Fan Ermu
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