when i was younger, i used to pay a lot of attention to signs and wonders in my life. i allowed the tide to guide me, and didn’t often assert myself on the circumstances in an effort to anthropologically explore what life does when left to its own devices. for the most part, i have been more of an active passenger in my riverboat as it floats day by day toward the inevitable waterfall that leads to the river beyond. but every now and then, i still am amazed by how clearly the current manifests itself in my life, often in the form of synchronicity.
on monday, a friend of a friend who i had met only once before reached out to me to ask if i was available to shoot a photo to use as a movie poster for his short film, which is being cut and prepared for film festival submission within the month. he said that he was hoping to take a photo during the golden hour in the afternoon of the following afternoon. i responded that i wasn’t free during that time, but offered that we might actually get a better shot at 6:30 a.m. during the morning golden hour, and that i would be able to help him out if he didn’t mind an early morning. after some back and forth, we decided to meet at port authority at 5:30 a.m., and to then head toward the world trade center where we would take the shot. to make it there, i had to wake up at 4 a.m., and this is where the synchronicity kicks in. on the day that he and i first met, i was in transit from one photography gig to another, and in order to make it to the first one on time, i had to wake up at 4 a.m. as well. i joked that early mornings were becoming a theme with him.
as we exited the subway to walk toward the wtc and find the right location to take the shot, i noticed that the sidewalk was littered with dozens of empty checkbook ledgers, and upon realizing what they were, i felt the tingle of assurance that comes when you know you’re on the right path—the one that leads to the place you need to be to accomplish what you’ve set out to do. i suppose this might seem like nonsense, but given that his project, entitled death to the office slave, is related to the concept of leaving the misery of the office life behind in the pursuit of happiness, i thought it a fitting sign.
after a few test angles close to the base of the trade center, i realized that we were too close to get the shot we were after, so i kept my camera out and inched my way backward, first to the other side of the street—not far enough— then to the street corner—still not far enough. we noticed that there was an old cemetery in a churchyard that might be the right distance away, so we walked around the perimeter to find an opening, but it was secured with a state-of-the-art lock system that seemed out of place against the. backdrop of the tilted and moss-covered headstones. we both thought that a picture of him standing tied to a cross - yes there was a cross involved - in the midst of a graveyard with the wtc in the backdrop would make a pretty powerful statement and it would befit the death part of the project title perfectly. but death was only part of the concept, and so the quest continued.
i then noticed that across the street was a large green box-style dumpster - the kind used to collect detritus resulting from during moves and renovations - and it occurred to me that if jon was able to get on top of that dumpster, we could get just the right angle to get the shot that included his upper torso, the wtc and even some other artistic elements to complete the image that he had envisioned.
when we arrived at the dumpster, i saw that we were in luck, because it was stationed right next to a set of metal chairs that were the perfect height to help us step up into the dumpster. as jon hopped up there and i took a couple of test shots to make sure that we would be able to get the job done at this location, the sun was beginning to rise into the perfect position for us to capture the lighting we were after. we had found the perfect positioning, and right on time, too.
after we reviewed the test shots, jon took off his coat and sweatshirt so that he was only wearing the white shirt and grey tie of his character in the short film. we then both hopped up into the dumpster and i helped secure him to his cross with telephone wires. he held a phone receiver in his right hand, and a keyboard in his left, and wrapped around his head was an old beige mouse, his character’s nails and crown of thorns. while i was in the dumpster helping him prepare for the shot, i realized that we were standing on a pile of manila folders filled with who know how many years worth of accumulated office memos and records. scattered around the top of the pile were broken scanners, fax machines and other discarded relics. he couldn’t be standing atop a more fitting pile of refuse for this shot. even more fitting than the graveyard we had encountered on our way. we had seen death, and now we bore witness to the death of office slavery.
in order to get just the right shot, i cycled through several angles, shot with three different lenses, and rotated between using and not using the light of my softbox to light him dramatically from below. it took about 20 minutes to take all the photos, and in the end i captured at least three contenders for the poster.
i should mention that it was 10 degrees outside, and jon, who was standing wide open in the face of the wind with no jacket, no hat, no scarf and no gloves, suffered through it in near silence, only concerned with whether or not we got the shot. once it was over, he threw off the cross, i helped him descend from the dumpster, and then i helped him don his jacket and my gloves because he was too cold to do it himself. we them ran into a nearby cafe where i poured us some coffee that he used to finish warming his hands. thankfully he didn’t get hypothermia or frostbite.
after we warmed up a bit, the two of us sipped our coffee and then looked through the images, picking out two of our favorites. i still have yet to upload the photos - which i will be doing tonight, but i am certain that we accomplished what we set out to do.
and that is the story of the first time i shot a photo for a movie poster.