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Backstory

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  • Backstory: The Art of the Museum Reflections

    Traer Scott captures a disquieting reflection

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on April 30, 2012

    When i was a little girl, my mother was an assistant curator at the Natural History Museum in Raleigh, NC. When she brought me with her to work, I would spend hours in its diorama room. These exhibits are both fascinating and macabre; I think of them now as a relic of our troubled coexistence with nature.

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  • Backstory: Shooting in Layers

    Rory White finds the creative depth within his subjects

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on April 12, 2012

    I came up with the idea of shooting a subject behind a portrait while photographing a local Nashville musician; it eventually turned into a series with other artists. First I’ll shoot a portrait of the subject and print it on Epson photo paper. Then I’ll cover the image with packing tape, drop it in hot water, and peel the paper off the back—like a Polaroid emulsion transfer. Next, I’ll attach objects, hang it from a stand, and photograph my subject behind it.

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  • Backstory: Moving Light

    Yulia Gorbachenko adds sizzle to her fashion photographs

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on February 1, 2012

    I began the series “Illuminant Body” for my master’s thesis at the School of Visual Arts in New York. I’ve always been inspired by color and using different-colored light sources on a subject against a dark background. I wanted to use that to explore extravagance and sensuality in fashion photography. I added light painting to the series to add movement—it brings a perception of color in motion.

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  • Backstory: The Gleaners

    Craig Pulsifer depicts man at work in Manila

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on January 23, 2012

    In 2008, I traveled to Manila with my family and did volunteer work for Action International. One of the NGO’s members was writing a story on the “Ten Worst Jobs in Manila” for a street publication called The Jeepney, which focuses on raising awareness for social issues in the Philippines. He asked me to shoot for the story.

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  • Backstory: Capturing the Art of Crafts

    Jide Alakija documents children learning skilled trades

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on October 31, 2011

    I took this in Rwanda, where I went in 2008 with two charities, Tearfund UK and Compassion UK. They help children in third-world countries create products for export, to earn money for their communities. This child was making a basket by a window in a very dark class- room—there isn’t any electricity. I wanted to make people wonder about what’s going on in the image. This could be someone doing a task under extraordinarily difficult conditions for very little money; it could also be someone who has a skill and who enjoys working in his trade.

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  • Backstory: Photographing Florida's Illegal Alligator Hunting Industry

    Adam Krauss turns his lens on Florida's gators in need

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on September 19, 2011

    I learned about alligator hunting from growing up in South Florida—I had friends who hunted alligators illegally, using sawed-off shotguns. In 2006, I needed a major photo project, and I began researching ways to photograph the commerce of the alligator industry. I went through contacts in Florida and referrals to find farmers and hunters, and spent two weeks that summer shooting. 

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  • Backstory: Photographing a Painter at Work

    Jen Judge captures Frederico Vigil as he creates an enormous fresco

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on August 12, 2011

    The painter Frederico Vigil was commissioned in 2000 to paint a fresco on the walls and ceiling of the 45-foot high Torreón, or entrance tower, of the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Santa Fe, NM. This fresco spans 4,000 square feet and took him more than 9 years to complete.I showed up to photograph him last December for AARP The Magazine not knowing what to expect. When Vigil arrived and unlocked the entrance to the Torreón, I was amazed by how overwhelmingly large it was: The fresco towered over me, pulling the eye in every direction.

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  • Backstory: Photographing Bats

    Photographer Sanna Kannisto shoots creatures of the night

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on July 26, 2011

    “Nocturnal Visitor” is from a series on nectar-feeding bats and nocturnal flowers that are bat-pollinated. Bats find these flowers with echolocation; the flowers have evolved to be easier to detect acoustically. It’s an alliance.

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  • Backstory: Photographing Anti-Terrorism War Games

    Darren Vanselow captures a Grenadier during the bi-annual Swiss Raid Commando competition

    • By As told to Lori Fredrickson on July 5, 2011

    Every two years, elite military officers from many Western nations compete in an event called the Swiss Raid Commando. This is a hardcore, 72-hour-long, nonstop event involving war-tactic strategy focused on counterterrorism, including freeing hostages. It’s a friendly competition, done in part to learn from others’ tactics and techniques. But because it involves special forces, only a few photographers are allowed to shoot it for newspapers and magazines.

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