Blog #222  9/12/17

When he was a star with The Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Richard Witter came to the studio to work with me. I think the photographs that came from our collaboration speak for themselves, and for Witter himself.

The point of this blog is to say, first of all, that there is a bell-shaped curve that can be applied to many more things than statistics. The top, and, generally, center of the curve shows where most things fall…in other words, the norm. In measuring talent, on rare occasions, there is an outlier off the right side of the curve, someone so outstanding, unusual and phenomenal that no one else on the curve comes close.

Richard Witter is one of those “outliers.”

Second: If you have a chance to work with such a fantastic talent, do not let him or her go. Hang on for the ride, since the trip will be something unforgettable and artistically sensational.

I have written before that a photograph is only as good as its weakest element. In order to create a magnificent image, everything in it must work magnificently. And, the most important element is the “star.” Witter so brilliantly captures the viewer’s eye that he made possible one wonderful image after another.

And, finally (he really did this!).

I was lucky enough to find him and smart enough to hold on.

Coming SOON!!!!!!

A book of outdoor studio portraits, made over the course of 25 years, from the Folsom Street Fair