Tale of the Hot Pink Tutu
Dancers of the San Francisco Ballet
I am lucky to live in a city filled with world-class music and dance, including the renowned San Francisco Ballet. So when the opportunity came along to hang out with some of the elite dancers in this ensemble, photograph them, and pretend to be a (sort of) choreographer for a day, I leaped at the chance.
In 1990 I got a call from a small ad agency representing the French eyewear manufacturer Vuarnet, asking me to bid on a shoot for their Ziari-branded sunglasses to appear in the British fashion magazine Harpers & Queen. Bidding is pretty common in advertising photography. Albeit it’s not always the lowest bidder who gets the shot; it’s the photographer who is shrewd enough, and experienced enough, to make sure he, or she, includes all necessary line item expenses. For example, if you budget for the rental from a jewelry store of a diamond ring to be worn by a model, did you include a line item on your estimate for the extra insurance required — or maybe an armed guard if it comes for Tiffany or Harry Winston? Along with a production estimate, I pitched the idea — honestly, it just came to me — of posing top professionals in various fields wearing vocation-specific uniforms or costumes in small groups. With the addition of dark glasses — voila! The Ziaris would stand out as a fashionable twist of incongruity.
