George Heller – The Most Interesting Man In The Room
Summer is over and I guess it’s time to start posting again. For some reason I tend to go silent on the blog from July to October. I’m not exactly sure why since I actually had this post written and ready to go back in June!
Just before summer I headed to Menlo Park to photograph George Heller for Technology Review magazine and I have to say he was one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. As a tech geek myself he was particularly interesting because he was involved in the very beginnings of the computer industry. He was decades ahead of most others when it came to computer graphics and computer education. But it’s his entire story from surviving the Holocaust to a becoming a student at MIT to his devotion to teaching children that really makes him interesting. And, at 86 years old he’s still a bit of a bad ass with his weekly climbs to the top of the climbing wall at the Palo Alto YMCA.
Assistants
These are a couple pre-shoot shots of my assistants Tyler an Justin from a recent shoot. A lot of times, the assistants are more photogenic than the actual subjects (but not in Justin’s case).
Edward Hopper
This is a photo I shot for the article in San Francisco Magazine I wrote about the other day. It was shot on location at the very cool restaurant Serpentine, which happens to be in the same building as my studio. The photo editor for the magazine said this felt like an Edward Hopper painting. Edward Hopper is a favorite of mine, so I liked that.
Reinvention
Last month I photographed a project for San Francisco Magazine on “Reinvention.” The article was about eighteen people who have recently reinvented themselves, most of them going from a more traditional career to something they are far more passionate about. It was a great project to work on and I met a lot of interesting people over the four days of shooting.
French Laundry
Back in December I did a shoot for Wine Spectator magazine, photographing French Laundry’s owner and chef Thomas Keller. Unfortunately we didn’t get to eat at French Laundry while we were there since it was early in the morning, but they did provide us with some of the best pastries I’ve ever had in my life. And, the gift bag they gave us full of freshly made desserts was gone within minutes of arriving home.
