Beatrice Neumann Photography

Taxi To The Dark Side

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:13:00 +0000

I highly recommend Taxi To The Dark Side - a well researched, top notch documentary piece that absolutely deserved The Academy Award for Best Picture.
The crimes committed by the Bush Administration are just as terrifying, if not even worse, than the terror it claims to fight against ... in a manner that could not be any further away from the ideals this country supposedly stands for.

Random Studio Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:07:00 +0000

YRB Magazine, Fall Issue Sept '08

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:43:00 +0000

Check out this story that came out in the Fashion issue of YRB Magazine.
Amy Chance did makeup & Michael Kanyon did hair, both are represented by the Celestine Agency.
And the girlie in the shots is Jamie Paetz @ NEXT.

Real & Chance

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:29:00 +0000

My favorite thing about my job is the fun pictures I get afterwards for my Facebook account.
So make sure not to miss Real Chance Of Love with Real and Chance on VH1 - November 3rd!

Fembots Don't Grow On Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:47:00 +0000

My Daft Punk cover that came out January this year attracted all sorts of attention and I still get many emails about it.

Therefore I wanted to elaborate on the creative process that preceded this shoot and is a good example of a successful collaborative effort which I am quite fond of in this case.

The Task At Hand:

The assignment was to shoot Daft Punk for the cover of Bigshot Magazine.

If you are familiar with Daft Punk, you'll know that their appearance is always the same: custom made leather suits by Hedi Slimane & LED helmets.

It is also the only thing they'll ever shoot and perform in.

But how could I make this shoot special ?

The Competition:

After some investigation I learned that at the time of my shoot, these 2 Covers were out.
How could my cover hold up against Spin and Paper? It better!

The Birth Of The Fembots

The first thought that popped into my head was having Daft Punk pose with "Girl Robots".

Since they did not exist, the closest relative of the yet to be born 'Fembots' would probably be Barbarella, but I feared that a too literal translation of the original inspiration would look like a robotic Halloween Parade.

This and This hopefully demonstrates how easily these things can be misunderstood.

Making The Fembots From Scratch

The first step: getting my fictional Babe Robots an interesting costume that had a retro-futuristic feel (which did not exist , either.)
yet!

I was very excited that Brian Lichtenberg had agreed to design a custom outfit - a fusion of his newest bathing suit design and his Hologram Leggings.

Giving Head.

I wanted to make sure that my Fembots looked more like robots than models in skin tight outfits.
Some kind of helmets sounded good, however I had to toss that idea. I was hoping for a smarter solution that would make this creation perfect!

I was curious what my lovely friend and retoucher genius Kristen @ Gloss thought about it.
She always has amazing ideas and I love that she's involved in both ends of many of my shoots : from bouncing thoughts around to post production.

In this case she sent a handful of images of hair styles that all looked perfect for this. Since I keep all my emails so I can trace back developments like these, I found the image Kristen had sent for inspiration.

Ta-ta!

So I bought a couple of platinum blonde wigs and cut a shape into them:

I also still had to sell this idea to the record label and Daft Punk PR & Management so Seth Pratt kindly drew a sketch that I was able to show them for approval.

And I'd be lying if I said that it was easy to convince them, but it was worth going through the extra trouble.

Birth Day!

On the day of the shoot, Yuji from The Rex Agency did makeup and turned the wigs into fembot perfection.

And last but not least, Kristen Lotto @ Gloss Studios did the retouching.

Now go and make your own! ; )

Grace Jones - Corporate Cannibal

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:14:00 +0000

Gnarls Barkley for TRACE Magazine - On Stands Now

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:53:00 +0000

Check out my cover I shot for TRACE Magazine.
Gnarls Barkley are cute as hell - don't you love the pink font? ; )
Trace is sold in the US and UK.

Dana Davis for KING Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:53:00 +0000

Check out my photos of "Heroes" star Dana Davis in the current issue of KING Magazine.

Be Kind, Rewind

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:37:00 +0000

Watch Michel Gondry's awesome silliness on DVD!

Amber Heard for RADAR Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:17:00 +0000

Check it out the latest issue of Radar Magazine, including a photo I took of Amber Heard ....

By the way: Radar has been redesigned from scratch - worth a peek.
And the mag is funny as hell! : )

The Conference of the Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Written in the 12th century by Farid ud-Din Attar.
Discovered at random yesterday.

Till of the mighty Host that fledged the Dome
Of Heav'n and Floor of Earth on leaving Home,
A Handful reach'd and scrambled up the Knees
Of Kaf whose Feet dip in the Seven Seas;
And of the few that up his Forest-sides
Of Light and Darkness where The Presence hides,
But Thirty—thirty desperate draggled Things,
Half-dead, with scarce a Feather on their Wings,
Stunn'd, blinded, deafen'd with the Crash and Craze
Of Rock and Sea collapsing in a Blaze
That struck the Sun to Cinder—fell upon
The Threshold of the Everlasting One,
With but enough of Life in each to cry,
On THAT which all absorb'd—
And suddenly
Forth flash'd a winged Harbinger of Flame
And Tongue of Fire, and 'Who?' and 'Whence they came?'
And 'Why?' demanded. And the Tajidar
For all the Thirty answer'd him—'We are
Those Fractions of the Sum of Being, far
Dis-spent and foul disfigured, that once more
Strike for Admission at the Treasury Door.'
To whom the Angel answer'd—'Know ye not
That He you seek recks little who or what
Of Quantity and Kind—himself the Fount
Of Being Universal needs no Count
Of all the Drops o'erflowing from his Urn,
In what Degree they issue or return?'

You can read the entire piece here
or buy it here.

The Conference of the Birds (Persian: منطق الطیر, Mantiq at-Tayr, 1177) is a book of poems in Persian by Farid ud-Din Attar of approximately 4500 lines. The poem uses a journey by a group of 30 birds, led by a hoopoe as an allegory of a Sufi sheikh or master leading his pupils to enlightenment.

Besides being one of the most beautiful examples of Persian poetry, this book relies on a clever word play between the words Simorgh — a mysterious bird in Iranian mythology which is a symbol often found in sufi literature, and similar to the phoenix bird — and "si morgh" — meaning "thirty birds" in Persian.

Fun Times With The Glam Squad

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The lovely Amy Chance and Michael Kanyon have made my day today - we had a very fun shoot and I've learned a lot about blow dryers today. HA.
Our model expressed during a cigarette break how much she likes me.
My german accent is charming indeed!

Almost done .....

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:37:00 +0000

Melina Matsoukas RULES!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:20:00 +0000

Open Letter To Robert Smith

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:09:00 +0000

Dear Robert Smith,

We went to see The Cure at the Hollywood Bowl last night and wanted to address a few things to you.

Firstly: we totally appreciate your enthusiasm.
I mean who does 3 hr shows with so much gusto?

You even look and dress exactly the way you did in 1987.

Tyler and I were very excited to finally see you live and he even drove down from San Francisco for you so we can see The Cure together.

You were my imaginary friend when I was a troubled teenager and I know that you would have understood how rough life can be and you even dedicated a song to one of my favorite books by Camus.

You have made many amazing songs for us, and we appreciate that, too.

Don't we look happy and excited about the show?

And we were not the only excited ones:

The girlies to my left seemed to have a blast.

Here's my first question though:

WHY 23 Set Songs? And out of all the songs you've written, why this crappy selection?

We liked 2 or 3 out of the main set at the most but we hoped that you saved the good stuff for your encore.

This guy doesn't seem to be very sure of that judging from his expression:

The people behind us froze after the 3rd song and left after the 5th.

The Set List:

1.Underneath The Stars
2.Prayers For Rain
3.A Night Like This
4.The Walk
5.The End Of The World
6.Love Song
7.Sleep When I'm Dead
8.To Wish Impossible Things
9.Pictures Of You
10.Lullaby
11.From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
12.The Perfect Boy
13.Hot Hot Hot
14.The Only One
15.Push
16.Friday I'm In Love
17.In Between Days
18.Just Like Heaven
19.A Letter To Elise
20.Never Enough
21.Wrong Number
22.One Hundred Years
23.Baby Rag Dog Book

Tyler gave up after song 13 and slept through a couple I believe.

The encores :(13 MORE Songs? WTF?)

Encore #1:

-If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
-The Kiss

Encore #2:

-At Night
-M
-Play For Today
-A Forest

Encore #3:

-Love Cats
-Let's Go To Bed
-Freak Show
-Close To Me
-Why Can't I Be You
-Boys Don't Cry

Dear Mr Smith : Are you still sure that Boys Don't Cry after 3 hrs of this?

Out of 36 songs stretched over 3 hrs you have played one that I love, and the only reason we didn't leave earlier was because of the Hollywood Bowl tandem parking.

But no worries - you'll be our hero always , but in the future we'll stick to our MP3 play list on iTunes.
We're more B-side kinda people , ya know .....

We wish we could have seen the Berlin show 2 months ago, but at least we'll have it on video....

Email Of The Month

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Even though I've been so busy that I can barely find time to empty my bladder (but I do - so no worries),

yet I MUST post this email I've received today.

Hello Beatrice,

I will be back in La from the 10th-18th.

Is there a possibility we can set aside a day to shoot?
I've heard so much about you and have even seen your genitals.
It's about fucking time I meet you.

I'm attaching photos taken last week.

Warmly,
Isabella

Ps: I have no idea where she may have seen my genitals but this lady deserves to be immortalized just for having the balls to say that.

You go girl!

; )

Helnwein On Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:53:00 +0000

Los Angeles is like an open wound that nobody has attempted connect.

It is the peripheral of a dying civilization - and if you want to see the uncensored version of the western world as it is NOW, this is the place.

Sometimes I feel like in 'Blade Runner' - where the collapse of all morals and values are displayed in a comic-like and apocalyptically surreal esthetic.

-Gottfried Helnwein

Imadlak, Draga Mimikem!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:01:00 +0000

I won't be around my mom for mothers day because she's 6000 miles away.
Whoever does have a chance to be with their moms on Sunday (or any given Sunday or other day of the week in general) can call themselves lucky.

I haven't seen my mom in a long time.....
And have been living without the luxury of having her near in over 10 years now.

Celebrate and cherish every single moment you can share with your mothers - many of my friends have lost theirs so hold on to these precious beings while they're around you so you can give them the biggest hug and all your love.

Imadlak, draga mimikem!!!

Ice Cube for Bigshot Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:49:00 +0000

The new issue of Bigshot Magazine just hit the stands, featuring one of my Ice Cube photos that I shot at his West Hollywood office.

(Nice office, by the way!)

If you want to read the full article , click here.

The Continuous Shot : Mikhail Kalatozov vs Baillie Walsh

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:03:00 +0000

Baillie Walsh is definitely my favorite director, hands down, and to my surprise much under appreciated for his incredible talent.

He was one of the first directors to use continuous shots in music videos, one of the best known perhaps Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack.

The in the mid 90's re-discovered film I Am Cuba , my favorite film to date, was shot wide angle and became famous for (seemingly) technically impossible continuous shots, and was shot in the early 60's by Mikhail Kalatozov.

There are too many to mention, but this scene is great example of the beautiful cinematography of the film:

Baillie Walsh's New Order Video "World" has so many elements of "I Am Cuba" that I was surprised to learn that he had shot all those videos long before he could have possibly seen "I Am Cuba" - this one was shot 1990, 5 years prior to its release.
This video reminds me of the famous "Havana Roof" scene in "I Am Cuba" .....

This is a great little clip, someone pasted different music over it, but it is the above mentioned scene with the much talked about 3 story camera drop that continues underwater as the camera follows a cuban beauty in the pool:

Maybe you can blame the Collective Unconscious ?

Either way - a beautiful thing.

If you haven't seen "I Am Cuba" , I'd highly recommend to buy it, because you'd want to watch it over and over again....
The visual poetry of the film can only be matched by the poetry that continues through it from the beginning:

I am Cuba.
Once Christopher Columbus landed here.
He wrote in his diary:
”This is the most beautiful land ever seen by human eyes.“
Thank you Señor Columbus.
When you saw me for the first time,
I was singing and laughing.
I waved the fronds of my palms to greet your sails.
I thought your ships brought happiness.

I am Cuba.
Ships took my sugar and left me tears...
Strange thing — sugar, Señor Columbus.
It contains so many tears, but it is sweet...

I am Cuba.
Why are you running away?
You came here to have fun.
Go ahead, have fun!
Isn’t this a happy picture?
Don’t avert your eyes. Look!
I am Cuba.
For you, I am the casino, the bar, hotels and brothels.
But the hands of these children and old people are also me.
I am Cuba.

I am Cuba.
Sometimes it seems to me that the trunks of my palm trees are full of blood.
Sometimes it seems to me that the murmuring sounds around us are not the ocean,
but choked-back tears.
Who answers for this blood?
Who is responsible for these tears?

I am Cuba.
There are two paths for people when they are born.
The path of slavery — it crushes and decays.
And the path of the star — it illuminates but kills.
These are the words of José Marti.
You will choose the star.
Your path will be hard, and it will be marked by blood.
But in the name of justice wherever a single person goes,
thousands more will rise up.
And when there will be no more people,
then the stones will rise up.
I am Cuba.

I am Cuba.
Your arms have gotten used to farming tools,
but now a rifle is in your hands.
You are not shooting to kill.
You are firing at the past.
You are firing to protect your future.

Valentina Lisitsa - Pianist Extraordinaire

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:40:00 +0000

Are the 2 things in my life that drive me : my passion for my work and my love for music.
And when I discover certain things that move me deeply, it confirms how music can move us and why i matters to me.
When I hear music, I see colors and shapes and what sounds like someone on acid, that's me listening to music.

Music like this for instance:

I'd say that Horowitz clearly is my favorite pianist .... but there is something about Valentina Lisitsa that wants to make my heart stop.

London, Part II - Helena Magone

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:22:00 +0000

Prior to the fateful day I blogged about previously, I shot Latvian Model Helena Magone.

At first, she was a bit weirded out by my idea to shoot her in my my friend's tiny flat in Chiswick but warmed up to me eventually.
Later it turned out she was into Snoop Dogg, so I played Snoop Dogg for her and she started dancing and flapped her hair around.

At the end of the day I was very excited about my shoot for the following day. Little did I know that sometimes things can take a turn in ways never expected.

That same night I had a dream - actually a disturbing nightmare- that made me want to cancel the shoot with those kids.
The only reason I didn't , was because I had nobody's number and it was a Saturday, and no one could be reached at their agencies.

I follow my gut instincts as much as I can, but it occasionally conflicts with that part of my ego that won't give up. Ever.

Perhaps I was born in the wrong century: I would have made an excellent gladiator.

The $51.000 Shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:39:00 +0000

This was my last fashion shoot, shot in London, December 2007.
After the London shoot I had sworn to myself to never shoot fashion ever again.

Part of it was perhaps because 50K worth equipment amongst other things were stolen out of my rental car in Chiswick the morning of the shoot, which I didn't notice until I got to the studio in Camden Town (incredibly cold London morning) and the studio , that a makeup artist I knew had arranged for me, in fact had actually failed doing so.

For a moment I was drawing a blank - with the first freezing model, makeup artist and stylist in tow, and nowhere to shoot.
Shooting outdoors was "out of the question" for the stylist, so I had to book 2 awfully small rooms in a hotel a few streets over, which cost me around $1000 or so, but that was not really so much of my concern right then, cause that's pretty much small change after having run up a 50K bill that very morning, don't you think?

So there I was, in this tiny awfully furnished hotel room (that I had to myself with the model I was shooting, 6 altogether throughout the day), with the overly caffeinated stylist pacing back and forth in the room next to mine, pinching the 12 tops and 6 pairs of pants over and over, as if additional racks of clothes would miraculously appear that he didn't pull.

Anyone who knows me just a little, can tell you how much of a control freak I am.
Something like this could never happen to me -not even in theory.
Everything stolen? No studio? Stylist barely pulling anything? No assistant?

Since part of the equipment was stored in the front part of the car , there was still enough gear left enough to take pictures with. And so I did.

And as I quietly sat by myself for a few minutes ,expecting disappointed and confused models arriving at my lousy hotel room door shortly , I started laughing.
I felt like crying actually, but all I could do was laugh.

When Eliza walked in the room with that warm smile and those sparkling blue eyes of hers, she was only to be out sparkled by an extremely shiny metallic jacket and black hot pants, graced by a matching gold metallic cobra head - on said hot pants.

And then I knew : if I won't commit suicide at the end of this day, I will never shoot fashion ever again.

Surprisingly, these lovely beings greeted me with so much gratitude and excitement that I really didn't know if I was dreaming or if some hidden cameras will pop out of the walls and someone announcing the grand price I just had won.

Most of them came from as far as 5 hrs away and yet they all took the strange fashion they wore with a sense of humor .

All 6 of them did the same, independently from each other; winked or nodded once they've noticed my despair, and went on and said "So let's shoot!".

These kids, probably between 15 and 18, actually ended up teaching ME a valuable lesson about life that day, and a fashion shoot was the last scenario where I would have expected this.

I don't know if words can possibly describe the way I felt after the shoot was done. Having been robbed just a few hours prior to that, and jet lagged, I may as well could have jumped from any given bridge.

Instead, I felt incredibly happy having met these amazing kids. Some talked more than others but they were all very special and it was like a little gift -which sounds cheesy because I'm a tough chick and stuff - but these kids have turned the world upside down for me.

So who cares what they wore ?
I had met 6 amazing people that day and I have pictures of it.

And that truly is priceless.

The Herd Of Nerds

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:47:00 +0000

Ok - after Coop sent me these shots today, it's official.
We'll out nerd anyone. And it's Barely Legal.

Thanks, Coop! ; )

Making the Move from Assisting to Shooting

noreply@blogger.com (Beatrice Neumann) — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:16:00 +0000

I don't really know how to answer this question when someone asks me.
Partly because I was always shooting while assisting and besides : I was an awful assistant, so I didn't really have much of a choice than to stick to shooting.

I believe that it takes a certain kind of personality to be a good assistant and one of my assistants simply LOVES assisting, much more than shooting, which is what probably makes him such an excellent assistant.

One of the first photographers I've ever assisted told me straight up that I suck at assisting because "I'm a Photographer".

I was very upset and moved to New York against his personal advice - he said "I would not even survive a week in New York" and should "just start shooting" instead.

How on earth was I supposed to go out there and shoot without knowing a damn thing?
So I survived more than a week, against his predictions, a whole 5 years even, before moving to LA (voluntarily).

My time assisting was extremely valuable ... not so much for the technical part (because I think that's relatively easy to learn) but more for being exposed to the various situations that photographers face on a daily basis.

To get to the point :

A friend of mine has been raving about this shooter Sebastian Kim ,who assisted Avedon for 4 years and Meisel for about 6 years.

I personally think that's an awful lot of assisting.

And I am not quite sure what to make of his work overall, although I do like some of his personal projects , but I mainly brought him up here because I've found this very insightful interview with him that gives an idea of the transitioning and the assistant vs photographer dilemma that many face and goes into a lot of detail on this topic:

The pros and cons of lengthy assisting, what to expect when you'll go off on your own, and also view a portfolio of someone who assisted 2 so very different photographers for long periods of time.

I cannot provide such valuable information in regards to assisting like Mr. Sebastian does. Period. And I've also heard that he's a nice guy, which is kinda rare for someone with his history of assisting.

Here's my fave from Sebastian's "Personal Projects" section:

I also like his funny series of spoof 80's prom shots, which shows in which ways assisting someone like Meisel can pay off: