The Wordsmiths Project Journal

The news is plastered everywhere publishing folks read – it even made national headlines: Steve Ross, the publisher and vice president of Crown Publishing will be moving to HarperCollins to become the president and publisher of the Collins division. However, The Wordsmiths Project portrait I did of Steve specifically reflects his work at Crown. So, I’m in a quandary. Do I create a new portrait or let the one that I have of him stand?

The current portrait is definitely related to Steve’s impressive body of work at Crown. Specifically, he made considerable waves in the industry when he created Crown Forum, the first major publishing house’s imprint for politically conservative titles, such as those penned by Ann Coulter, John Podhoretz and others of that right-wing ilk. Steve told us that some of his friends expressed disapproval and even dismay over the idea. However, he said that it was a decision related to his abiding belief in and support of the First Amendment. After all, Crown’s other imprints also publish books by Barak Obama, Jimmy Carter and others of the left. And that’s why my portrait of him has him juggling various books, trying to keep the right, left and center all in the air at the same time.

While I am sure that Steve does firmly feel that every political position has a right to be heard, and that such unimpeded voices are key to our democracy, I also know that he is a highly skilled marketer. One of the stories he likes to tell about himself is that even as a child he watched with fascination as people took books off the shelves in bookstores. Starting at a very young age, he tried to understand and analyze why certain books attracted attention, while others remained untouched. Not that he didn’t also love to pick up the books to read them, voraciously. But he read beyond the covers, striving to figure out what made each volume have the impact it did, what were the turns of phrases or the perspectives that made it work, what kinds of readers would be drawn to it, and how could it have done a better job.

This passion for books and for understanding what sells and why was evident in Steve when Daniel and I first met him. As a young associate editor at John Wiley & Sons, he was our editor on “The Green Travel Sourcebook.” At the lunch where I first came up with the idea and title for the book, and Steve jumped on it, excited by the (then) very new concept, I remember looking across the table at him. That was the moment that I realized that he was destined to go far in publishing. Not just because he was obviously bright and talented, with a passion for books, but that he had a way of encouraging the best from his authors. And, as an author, I knew that if I gave him my all, he would do the same. Besides, he had an instinct for the marketplace, which his writers could depend upon – as long as they listened to him.

Getting back to the current Steve Ross Wordsmiths Project portrait. Not only does it do a good job of telling the story of what Steve has achieved at Crown – juggling the various points of view and political perspectives of both the right and left, while intuitively finding the books that the public will buy – it is also one that I spent a great deal of time and energy creating.

Quite honestly, when I do a photo shoot for The Wordsmiths Project, I’m never quite sure what I’ll end up creating as the final portrait. Sure, I have a few ideas – more like itches that make me shoot from particular angles or ask a subject to strike a certain pose. Being familiar with Steve’s sense of humor, I knew I wanted something different for his portrait, so I asked him to sit cross-legged on a conference room table, and I climbed up on the table with him. It was silly and fun, requiring that we contort our bodies in ways that they don’t always go anymore. (After all, a few years have passed under the bridge since our Wiley and Green Travel days.) But it produced some great photos. When we were finished, I went out into the hallway and photographed numerous Crown books, because I knew I wanted to use them in the final portrait – whatever it would end up being.

Then, when I got back to my studio, I went to work on my favorite photos from the shoot, spending several days, designing, editing and working on the minute details. For those of you who know Adobe Photoshop or similar imaging programs, you may be interested in seeing the Layers palette of the final picture (shown to the right). The image ended up being over 650 megabytes in file size, because of all the layers and adjustment layers that I pasted together to create the portrait. (For those of you who aren’t into the details of computerized art, suffice it to say it was a very precise process of creating and combining various elements into a single picture. Each of the lines in the palette to the right represents a separate piece of image or a particular edit added to or tweaked in the final picture.)

I’m pleased that Steve loves the portrait. So much so, that when he saw it at the Book Expo exhibit, he asked if he could purchase the original signed and framed exhibition print that I had personally printed. (Unsigned, unframed pictures, printed by Smugmug.com’s automated system can be purchased on this site. They are quite good, but not the level of excellence of the exhibition prints.) I told him, no, he couldn’t buy it. But if he gave a substantial donation (and I quoted an appropriate sum) to the Writers Emergency Assistance Fund, that I would give the print to him. He didn’t take me up on that offer for a few days – not until after the news about him leaving Crown was made public. Then, he asked some of his future associates at HarperCollins if they felt it would be appropriate for him to have a piece of art in his new office that depicted him juggling some of the books he published at Crown. The consensus was that it would be a nice addition to his office. So, he called me and arranged to make the donation and asked me ship the portrait to him.

Even though I have that very nice nod of approval from Steve and others at HarperCollins, I can’t help but wonder if having a “dated” portrait of Steve in The Wordsmiths Project might be inappropriate. What do you think? Should I create a new portrait, or do you feel that the current one which reflects his work at Crown should stand?

Please voice your opinion through an email (via the Contact page) or leave your comments here. Thank you.

I am often asked what I mean when I say that my photography and writing inform each other.  Photography, storytelling, and, yes, life… it’s all about what we see, how we convey it to others and whether we can make it meaningful.

When I look at the world through the lens of my camera, I see so much more. My field of vision might be more limited, but everything becomes more focused, limned with greater clarity of shadows and light. Life resolves into aesthetic patterns and colors, giving definition and meaning, and making the ordinary everyday more noteworthy and memorable. It’s as though my lens has the magic ability to see through to the essentials of a moment or of a personality, to tell me story that I might have missed if it weren’t for my camera’s eye view.

I often think about my photography when I’m writing… visualizing what I want my readers to see, focusing my words as I would my camera lens. To go even further, I believe that being a photographer makes me a better writer, just as being a writer strengthens my photography.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned about writing, and about life, by watching the world through my camera lens:

• Stay focused on the central subject, but don’t lose sight of what surrounds it. The context (the background) of a picture (or a story) often gives it weight and meaning.

• Don’t stay stubbornly rooted in place. Explore different perspectives, even if it means getting down on the earth or climbing mountains.

• Crop (edit) until you’ve zeroed in on the essentials and have removed anything that might distract from what you want the viewer (reader) to see.

• Pay close attention not only to what the light illuminates, but also what lurks in the shadows and how it changes how you feel and think about the picture (or story).

• Small details, carefully captured, can often tell a whole story.

• If you’re going to lie, make it a glorious lie.

Because The Wordsmiths Project is a photo project, please feel free to email me (or put in a comment below) your questions about photography, as well as about publishing. 

My friend Gail Sisolak recently emailed me with a question about model releases. A fellow journalist, she is designing a Website about weddings, which she plans to launch for Valentine’s Day. She wants to include her photographs of weddings, but she also wants to make sure everything is done correctly. Her question was, if she takes the pictures in a public place, does she need model releases. On the one hand, Gail understands that releases are generally needed. However, a number of photographers she knows doesn’t bother with them.

My response to her was that, yes, she does need model releases. In this litigious age, people file suits for some of the most trivial reasons. But this isn’t really a trivial matter. The most personal possession anyone has is their image, who they are. Both ethically and legally, every individual has the right to decide how and where his or her image is used and by whom. If a person is identifiable (and that doesn’t just mean that their face can be seen, but any particular attribute, clothing or characteristic that his wife or mother or boss might recognize), you shouldn’t publish the picture without permission. Putting a photograph up on a Website is, by definition, publishing that picture so that anyone and everyone can see it. After all, that woman he’s with might not be his wife, or maybe he was supposed to be on a business trip in another city, or, perhaps, there’s nothing wrong with him being there, with those people, but he has the right to not have it broadcast all over the Internet.

What’s more, a hotel or similar venue isn’t a public place, even if she photographs it while standing on a public street. To be on the up and up (which is why Gail was asking the question, to be sure that she was doing everything correctly), she should also get a signed property release from the management or owner of the property where the wedding is taking place.

I’m not sure what photographers she was talking to about needing written permission. But most of Gail’s writing is in newspapers, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were news photographers, who work with a different set of rules. If a picture is news, then the freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, generally applies. Given the intricacies of our legal system, I’m not one to advise where the First Amendment leaves off, and the right to privacy and freedom from defamation picks up. I do have a feeling, however, that while a Website published by an individual might have a tenuous (perhaps, flimsy) claim to be about the news, that individual usually wouldn’t have the resources or desire to spend years arguing the matter in court. I certainly don’t. 

A part of me rebels against this. After all, one of my favorite artists, Henri Cartier-Bresson, created such memorable photographs by simply walking along the street, snapping at whatever inspired him. I love doing the same, and I resent the fact that I often censor myself when the photograph I want to capture includes a person. Do I stop and ask permission first, thereby disrupting the composition that I see at that moment? Do I just shoot away, without asking, risking their ire, and hoping that they might be willing to sign a release after the fact?  Sometimes, I’m just too weary to bother with all the words of explanation of why I want a release. Yet, if I take the picture without getting a release, what is the purpose? As a professional photographer, I wouldn’t be able to use it. I can become quite disheartened when I see a great image that I let get away, when I have no hope of obtaining a signed release. That’s when I shoot anyway, for my own memories, my own artistic expression, even if no one will ever see it.

Even if we didn’t have legalities hamstringing us, sometimes it just isn’t nice to steal an image. I’m embarrassed to say that I overstepped that barrier last week. All my friends are used to seeing me with a camera. It’s as much a part of my everyday wardrobe as my shoes. They are also used to me taking their pictures. When I was speaking at a conference last week, I saw my friend and fellow writer Lawrence Schoen talking on his phone. The expression on his face was quite warm and appealing. Without thought, I took his picture. I did it so instinctively that I didn’t register the slight shake of his head until afterwards. He didn’t want his photograph taken just then. As I walked away, I felt guilty that I had stolen that moment from him. I have deleted the picture and, when I saw him next, I apologized.

Of course, I do take pictures of strangers, and I do get model and property releases from them. Often, if the person is standing some distance from me, I gesture with the camera, and give them a chance to nod yes or no. Then, I show them the picture on the camera’s LCD, and explain that I am a professional photographer, and that I may want to use the photo in a book, exhibit, lecture or other ways. But that I can’t, unless I have their written permission. I then show them a model release, and say that I would appreciate it if they would consider signing it. It’s done conversationally and respectfully, with my hope for their approval quite evident. I almost always get a signature, and I give them a copy, so they know what they have signed.

I keep my model and property releases simple and short (Wordsmiths model release, Wordsmiths property release, general property and model release). You will notice that the Wordsmiths releases are more limited than my general photography release. That’s because it would be inappropriate to ask editors, critics, agents and others whom I’m photographing for this project, to give me permission to use their images commercially or in stock photography. But for my general photography, I need a wider range of rights to use the pictures. Of course, I’m not an attorney, and I can’t say that the releases I use cover all bases or are correctly worded. Check out the American Society of Magazine Photographers’ Website for legal guidelines on model and property releases.

As a writer and photographer, words and pictures are so entwined in my mind, that Wordsmiths is the most natural subject for me to tackle. Whether I am writing, taking photographs or creating digital images, it all stems from the same creative urge and need to communicate. Drilling down to the essentials, seeking the visual and verbal vocabulary that will empower others to see what I see, understand what it is about a single moment or scene that draws me into it.  When it comes to making portraits, the experience is heightened, because it is a partnership. Another person is allowing me, for a few minutes, to enter their private world, to see them fully and try to capture who they are. For many years, I traveled the globe on assignment. I encountered tribes where people believe that a camera can steal the soul. In some ways, I agree with them. Not that I steal souls, but that the photographic experience is an intimate one.

I have only just begun The Wordsmiths Project, having done three photo shoots — of Frank Wilson, Gardner Dozois and Ben Salmon. However, every time I have come home from a Wordsmiths’ photo and interview session, I realize exactly why I love what I do.

As I continue The Wordsmiths Project, I will use this journal (or blog, if you wish) to share the experiences I have photographing and interviewing some of the most fascinating people — the folks behind the scenes in publishing, who influence what we read. I wil tell you about our discussions of books and writing, publishing and marketing, as well as give you any insights I glean from my subjects about what it takes to get their attention, interest them in a book or a writer, and make them excited enough that they will want to work on a particular book or project.

If you have questions (general ones about publishing and writing, not about how to get your book published or written) that you would like me to ask the folks I’ll be photographing and interviewing, please send them to me by clicking on the Contact button above, or by leaving comments in this Journal.