February 6th, 2012
Again, the time has flown by and it’s been several months since I’ve updated my blog. Fortunately, much of the work I’ve produced has made it to my Recent Work gallery. I think it’s time to add what I can to the projects and give my clients and creative partners credit for their efforts.
On the architectural front I was fortunate enough to work on a few educational projects. I shot an arena for Smith Group (CMU Event Center), and an interesting project for IDS (the new University of Michigan Law School Commons). In November, I returned to the Cranbrook Art Museum and photographed interiors of both the galleries and the finished Collections Building for the Smith Group. On the residential side I photographed Lou DesRosiers‘ Minster Residence (very cool) and worked for the first time with Dan Clancy of Perlmutter-Freiwald, who handled the interior design. I’ve also added to my Significant Detroit Architecture project and have shot both the historic Wayne County Courthouse and the Reading Room at UofM’s Law School.
In the automotive world there has been three projects of note. Because of my involvement with the Concour’s d’Elegance I have had the opportunity to photograph some of the eclectic Crain Collection. So far I’ve photographed eight incredible vehicles from a vintage Bugatti to a 1960′s vintage dragster. I believe I delivered somewhere around 45-50 pieces of art from the eight days of photography. Some of the images were included in the “Detroit Knows Cars” exhibit of automotive art held at the Chase Building and now up at the Automotive Hall of Fame. In the automotive advertising arena I worked on the new brand from Chrysler, SRT8. My portion of the project involved the technology story, as well as, several interiors of all the vehicles. The interiors were once again shot outside, something I’m getting pretty accustomed too. We shot a completely dismantled engine also, which was a first for me. Brett Veach, of Union Ad Works, designed and art directed this project. I also worked on a nice Lincoln project for the fleet version of the MKT (they’ve resurrected the Towncar nameplate), shooting both studio exteriors and interiors with Michelangelo Cicerone and Ryan Swartz of Team Detroit.
Something that’s new for me is that my work has been selected by Graphis to be included in their 2012 100 Best in Photography Annual. My first memory of the publication was while I was a student at RIT in the mid 70′s. I’ve been inspired by it ever since so this is an incredible thrill for me. The book should be out by the end of February and can be found at www.Graphis.com.
Jim
SmithGroup, Event Center CMU
IDS, U of M Law School Commons
Smith Group, Cranbrook Museum of Art/Collections Building
DesRosiers Architects, Minster Residence
Significant Detroit Architecture, Wayne County Courthouse
Reading Room, U of M
Crain Collection/Concours Poster
Union Ad Works, SRT8 Technology story
