The beginning
Greg Gorman was born in Kansas in 1949 and although he studied photojournalism in college, it was circumstances rather than clear direction that took Greg into photography as a profession. Starting with a series of images taken at various rock concerts in the late 1960s, he made the rounds in Los Angeles till he got  noticed. Today Gorman is a global figure in black and white portrait photography and in Mumbai he demonstrated step by step techniques of how he captures and prints his astonishing images. At the workshop organized by Epson in Mumbai these are some of the valuable tips Gorman shared with amateurs and professional photographers….

Be your own self
Today so many people emulate other photographers' styles. It's important that you develop and showcase your own style of photography and with the kind of work one should identify what your area is rather than it being a copy of someone else's work. 

Teamwork is the key
You should develop a team you can work with. It is so important to work with makeup artists and hairstylists who can bring out that moment which is appropriate to get the result that you are looking for. 

Shoot the personality not the person
You should try to capture the personality and capture the shape or form when you are aiming for the perfect picture. When you shoot a portfolio you should be sure in which direction is the shoot moving. At times, you could be shooting different pictures and when you compare the results are all pointing in different directions. So you should try and establish what exactly you want to get out from the shoot. You should pursue your shoot with a direction and a focus. 

Let your picture speak
It's important to take your work out there for people to see. It's important to make a statement with the pictures that you have shot. It's important to put down something you believe in and pursue that. 

Ignore distractions
Today a photographer is surrounded by so many peripheral set of people whether it is the Manager or the Agent or the Publicist or the Producer or the Fashion Designer and each one has his or her viewpoint and it at times gets difficult to focus on your view point with so many people giving advice from their own perspective. You have to learn to forget all of that and focus on your subject.

Colour v/s Black and White
While shooting a model you have to decide what angle and which side you want the face to turn so that the lighting is balanced, for what media you are shooting for you have to look at various factors. Personally I prefer black and white to colour as personally I feel that colour can get in the way to bring out the personality of the person.

Get the Digital advantage
Many photographers look at digital as a substitute for poor photography. When I first embraced digital photography, I told myself that what I am going to shoot today will still be around for a long time even after I am gone. For me it has been really exciting after shooting for over 25 years of film to use this new technology and companies like Epson have ensured that the prints coming out are exceptional as many of these companies have engineers who design the hardware and software and they bring out these amazing new products which have made the art of digital printing a much more reckoning force I have been very lucky now to be able to have a workflow that I have created and working from home and taking printouts on these highly sophisticated printers - one of the major boons of digital imagery and printing. I don't have to worry whether it is 6 o'clock in the night or 6 o'clock in the morning. I can work on the computer when I want. As an international photographer it makes travelling convenient too- instead of carrying loads of films and worrying about x-ray, you can just carry a handful of flashcards which can store a large number of images without taking space in your luggage. You can download the images on computer and send as email to any publication anywhere in the world in just a few seconds. As far as the shooting is concerned, you can shoot digital in incredibly low light and still get some stunning images. 

Get over the fears
One of the biggest misunderstandings today is that people are afraid of digital. They don't want to accept this technology and I strongly recommend you to embrace this technology as this probably is where things are going and you need to move with the times. When you go back a long time ago to the 1800s and what kind of photography and equipment was being used at that time and how the equipment and style of photography has evolved from black and white to colour - from pin type cameras to TLRs and SLRs and now we are looking at a transition. What's exciting is that now we are living in a time where the face of traditional photography is changing and digital photography is going to be the future, in fact it is already in - that too in a big way.

Move ahead with digital
The bottom line is if you want to look at the big picture from the economical and commercial point of view, the supply and demand, more people are shooting digital than they are shooting film. What's going to happen - there will be fewer labs to get you the film prints, less film is being manufactured, less paper is going to be manufactured for film and soon you will have no paper or film being available or if available at an exorbitant price. Most advertising companies who make brochures are working digital, the print media is working digital. Everybody is using digital cameras today. Digital houses are being created. It's amazing when you look at the big picture - how quickly digital photography is replacing the film photography. The other advantage in digial vis-à-vis film is that if there is fine sunshine and I grab my camera and click a couple of pictures and a few more pictures three months down the line. I will be able to take the prints much later as the film is in the camera till it’s over where as in digital I can take print outs and see my output as soon as I click the picture. I don't have to wait for the film to get over. I can also convert colour to black and white. I can shoot tens of pictures and then print only those that I like. 

Getting a great picture
So many portfolios I see today are all done in digital. Although you can manipulate the images in photo shop but a great picture will always stand out based on how well you have captured the image. The heart and soul of a good picture still depends on the original capture of the image. A poor picture can be improved upon with photo shop but the image and essence of the picture is entirely on its capture. 

Photoshop makes good look great
Today every celebrity knows how to use photo shop and you know why that is - you know why photo shop works because reality sucks. It's not surprising to find a person look quite different in reality than the picture you saw in one of the glossy magazines- thank photo shop for that. 

Creating better images
Whilst shooting a portrait, I always look at the face, which angle and part of the face I want to capture. Every face is different and lighting also plays an important role, no two faces are the same. Before a shoot I spend a little time with the person , one of the ways to get a chance to meet them and talk to them , which side I want the light on, what angle I want to shoot, what I want them to wear and how I want their hair and make up to look. All that works into creating an image and that is very important. 

Make your subject comfortable
When I am about to start shooting I have a conversation and what I really am doing is looking at the face, looking at angles and when I actually start shooting I start really close to get an understanding to see which angles really work and which angles don't. Then I move back the camera and have a pretty good understanding knowing which angle would really work.

Shooting digital you can show the model what you are doing, they can see what angle you have taken her picture and how it turns out to be. It's very important that you communicate with the person you are shooting with and make them become a part of the decision making process. Make them feel that they are keen players and have a say in the pictures and that they understand what you are doing. Whilst taking a picture you should have a clear understanding of the ratio of light and shadow. You also have to look at the angle of people's head and body language. When I first started to shoot with digital the most important thing I learnt was the importance of colour management. 

Colour management and colour calibration are extremely important tools and play a big part in getting the perfect print.It's more difficult working on an LCD as it is more temperamental. You have to ensure that the light reflecting on your screen matches with the colour and light which is on your computer. 

Professional tips and importance of lighting
I am particular about lighting on my model. I prefer less make up, just a little bit of powder, not too shining. I like the hair to look a little more natural. During my pictures I get very aggravated with the stylists because they always are trying to adjust the clothes of the model. 

I am not a fashion photographer, I’m more personality focussed as you have seen in most of the pictures I have on display. Consequently I may be in the midst of capturing a moment I am looking out for and someone out there grabs a shirt and fixes a collar and that makes the whole thing go crazy. I am more concerned about capturing a feeling, capturing an essence of the person and that split second adjustment can disrupt your immense concentration and your focus to get the right moment. Generally when I shoot, I prefer to have the subject and me and keep the rest of the crew out of my eye line because during the shoot when I want to concentrate there is too much energy flowing around and I want to concentrate between myself and the person I am photographing. 

So generally when I start the first thing I do is to take the light reading. If the person I am shooting has dark hair and the background is dark, I want to make sure that the hair separates from the dark background. I start shooting a grey tone and when you do that you must ensure that the exposure is correct so that it can absorb the colours as they are. The purpose of grey card is so that your colours read a clear RGB and you get a neutral grey. I start spending a little time with the person I want to shoot and get to know the person. I look at the face and when you look at the face you want to shoot, you have to ensure that the face is kept in a relatively flat light. You don't want the influence of the light coming unless you determine where you want the light to fall and which part of the face you want to photograph. You should also get behind the person, get their point of view, look at where they are, look at the lighting falling on them and make necessary changes in the direction of light falling on the person if necessary. After you have taken the picture it is important that you process it well before taking the digital printout. 

Greg's machines
The Canon EOS 1 is still Gorman's camera of choice for more spontaneous shoots; a medium format camera using a Hasselblad is used for more static portraits. Now you know why Greg Gorman has developed into one of the most sophisticated and urbane fine-art photographer. His fine art aesthetic is well evident in the spectacular portraits in his published work Greg Gorman, Volume One. It features stark black and white personality portraits in addition to his more personal work with male and female nudes.

Gorman's prevailing philosophy that life itself is art is unmistakable, whether he is directing his camera at fine art, advertising or editorial material. His earliest work, done in the 1960's, was a stroke of beginner's luck that made him decide to become a photographer. His recent work, by contrast, is distinguished by meticulous attention to planning and executing the prints. Starting with early photos that mark Gorman's beginnings as a photographer, such as the untypical snapshot of the young, as yet unformed, Jack Nicholson and the photos taken by Gorman at concerts, the relatively few 1970's photos show a clearly traceable development from snapshot as the quick product of chance to sophisticated compositions reflecting the graphic idiom of classic black and white photography. 

Particularly in the field of portrait photography, where the here and now is caught and transfixed, it has retained that magical quality. Most of Gorman's subjects are people in the public eye - actors, artists and architects people in the public at large. The celebrities on glossy magazines and fine work of Gorman are the same personalities we see in films and in the icons of photographic illustration. They and their bodies are figments of our imagination in a modern mythology. Photography is the projection of a figure, evoked, it is true, by reality yet, like all photographs, these are, in reality, fiction. 

Photography is a medium with its own intrinsic reality beyond the bounds of all discussions of truth and lies. The affinity for photography of those who are active in the related medium of film is typical of photography. Classical in form, Gorman's nudes are informed with a neo-classical aesthetic. These figures move like dancers yet are freed of all meaning. They are sensuous and their sensuality is not devoid of abstraction. The whiteness of their skin is like marble, sculpted by the black of stark shadow. As for Gorman's iconography, he is perceptibly part of a classical tradition. A case in point is “Aaron, Red Rock”. 

This is a figure of a youth in a squatting pose that is a reference to 19th century art historical tradition. 'Greg Gorman is the only person I'd let photograph my corpse', said filmmaker John Waters. Unusual praise for a portrait photographer, but perhaps understandable for one so adept at producing contemporary icons. Wise words - Gorman could make a dead man look lively.As a portrait and celebrity photographer, Greg Gorman has few rivals. He can equal the cryogenic cool of Clarence Bull's Garbo portraits, the wild inventiveness of Annie Leibowitz's personality makeovers, and the pin-sharp precision of Richard Avedon: what's more, he can do it all in a single image. Gorman has given Christian Slater the weary gravitas of James Dean; he has posed Sharon Stone in y-fronts, smoking a cigar; and he has created the ultimate portrait of John Waters - a close-up of the filmmaker's pencil moustache, arched in an ironic sneer.

In 1990, after twenty years of creating images, Gorman published his first book, Greg Gorman Volume One. It showcased his skills as a supremely incisive portraitist and as a photographer of nudes with a dazzling sense of clarity and elan. In 1992, Greg Gorman Volume Two focused on his nudes; a 1968-96 retrospective, 'Inside Life', highlighted the range of his photography, from intimate glances at the Hollywood Demi Moore to a sweaty Jeff Koons, sitting on the toilet, flanked by two leather-clad strumpets.

On Nudes - You've done a lot of nude work. What's the continuing appeal of the subject for you?
When my career began taking off in the early 80s I was so consumed with commercial work that I barely had time for personal expression, and it's just not self-satisfying to work that way. It's really important to have a balance, otherwise your work can lose some of its spirit. And shooting without the clothes presents a lot of interesting problems - avoiding the realms of cliché ', avoiding having a subtext attached because of the nature of the nude itself. Plus, the kinds of boys I shoot are not always the most buffed - I tend to like more natural bodies - so it takes more thought in terms of posing, forming the bodies, to make them come out the way they do. I improvise a lot. Often I'll see the boys on the spot and we'll do pictures. Many times I never see them nude before the shoot - when I'm casting I focus on the faces, the eyes. The look is the key element in my work, and then the rest just falls in line.

Greg's achievements & his impressive portfolio - Greg's work on display
His fine art work is represented worldwide by the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles. He stages photographic works touring United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, China and not forgetting his trip to India in 2004. His work has also been exhibited in Verona, Lisbon, as well as at the “Ghost in the Shell” exhibition which was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

Gorman tops in music video
Greg Gorman directed his first music video for Capitol Records recording artist Grace Jones, “Love on Top of Love” which was later voted as one of the top ten videos of the decade in Germany. 

Graphics generated by Gorman for publicity include movies like “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Beverly Hills Cop 3”, “Speed”, “Total Recall”, “Pearl Harbour”, “Man in the Iron Mask” and many more.His talent has been utilized by advertising agencies such as Grey Advertising, Leo Burnett, Young and Rubicam, Leo Burnett, TBWA/Chiat Day, Foote, Cone and Belding, McCann-Erickson. Specific campaigns include Levi's, Rolex,United Airlines, Colgate, Reebok, Sony, Kawasaki, Eveready, Coca Cola, AT&T to name a few.

Some of the celebrities who have graced cover pages of magazines which include Vogue, Vanity Fair, Traveler and Go Silk as well as for brands like Omega, Roots, DDI Cellular, etc. Greg has also lectured across various venues in USA as well as Lisbon and conducted workshops in Tuscany, Albion-California.

His favourite stars and shooting Leonardo
Initially Gorman started shooting the likes of David Bowie, Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler and Dustin Hoffman. His favourite subjects have been Leonardo Di Caprio, Sophia Loren and Bette Davis. Gorman has had the privilege of witnessing the process of star making. When asked whether shooting Di Caprio early in his career, he saw signs of things to come, he says, “I knew he was going to be massive. I'd seen him in “This Boy's Life” and I knew he was going to be a huge star. I think most people did. He further added Leo acts in front of a still camera like he does in front of a movie camera; he's alive and electric and he enjoys his shoot. I think that's why many of the photos you see of Leo are very interesting pictures”. 

What others say about Greg
In his foreword to Greg Gorman's third book, Inside Life, Director John Walters expresses that Gorman makes people feel happy not just about being photographed but also being famous. A critique by Alex Craig and Andrew Stattford from Black+White “The Masters” state that Greg's pictures offer glimpses of being famous. His portraits never date. Their appeal lies in their ability to unmask the celebrity personality while still preserving the fantasy of the dream factory. His friends are his subjects and his subjects often become his friends. For Gorman there is an element of make-believe in the role photography plays in culture. He feels the pictures that he has shot are going to be around a lot longer than any of us. 

His future plans
Greg Gorman's latest book JUST BETWEEN US is a study of one individual captured in various settings worldwide. Greg Gorman is working in conjunction with the Laureus World Sports Academy on his latest book project which will feature a collection of portraits of the academy's world class athletes. Greg believes that a photograph is most successful when it doesn't answer all the questions and it leaves something to be desired and his thoughts are more than apparent in most of the pictures taken by him.

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