Photographer_Chris Buck

A great portrait photographer who recently shot the Michelle Bachman Newsweek cover photo. I'm not sure how the actual shoot went, or who the art director was, and I'm also not saying it is a great cover, but Chris Buck is a great photographer. See his website HERE.

Platon's Portraits of Power

The New Yorker magazine has an interactive portfolio of portraits by Platon of world leaders along with commentary by the photographer on every image. Viewing images in print form is better than viewing images on a computer, but this portfolio along with the commentary is extremely conducive to the computer platform. Platon, a staff photographer for the New Yorker set up a tiny studio off the floor of the General Assembly this past September when most world leaders were in New York for a meeting of the United Nations and worked to hustle as many of them in front of his lens as possible. I'm sure this was a very intense project for any photographer but I think Platon nailed it by looking at his portraits...they are great, and the commentary he has with the images are fascinating and add to the portrait viewing experience. See it HERE at the New Yorker. Platon's web site HERE.

Awkward Family Photos

When really bad photographers take portraits this is what you get, proving that portraiture requires a skill level that not everyone attains. This is really funny stuff, and amazing to me that someone can submit work to a client like this and expect a payment. For a hell of a laugh go HERE to Awkward Family Photos.com.

Martha Washington, First Lady... Hot Lady

The image of the first lady of our country are from portraits painted after her death showing a grandmother type of older woman we can all relate to, very humbling. But using surviving records and computerized age-regression imagery we are able to generate a portrait of Martha visualizing her in her mid 20's. Michael Deas’s portrait imagining what a young Martha Washington looked like. Deas is a noted realist painter you’ve seen his work without knowing it as he created the current Columbia Pictures logo as well as recent U.S. stamps commemorating movie stars like Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Marilyn Monroe. Check the full Washington post story HERE.