When Kevin Scanlon was attending Mt. Lebanon High School, a printmaking class that included photography hooked him immediately.
“I was already good with math and science, so the learning curve with exposures and darkroom work wasn’t steep,” said Scanlon, 52. “The teachers, Mr. Batchelor and Mr. Lippert, said my buddies and I could shoot ourselves skateboarding for our assignments, so that was a no-brainer!”
Scanlon, who today lives in Brooklyn, maintained his interest in photography, going on to live and work in Los Angeles and shoot for a variety of publications across the city and region.
Starting July 10, a retrospective of Scanlon’s celebrity photography, “On Assignment,” will be on exhibit at the Two29 Gallery in Braddock. Photos in the exhibit include Hollywood legends like Clint Eastwood, newer movie stars like Lupita Nyong’o and famous musicians like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and the rapper Nas.
Scanlon spoke with TribLive recently about making his way from the Mt. Lebanon darkroom to film sets, concerts and celebrities’ homes in Hollywood.
This interview has been edited for length.
Q: How did you work your way up to becoming a photographer shooting for publications like The New York Times, L.A. Weekly and Guitar World?
A: The beginning was a lot like the environmentalist adage, “Think globally, act locally.” I wanted to shoot for national magazines and newspapers but wasn’t quite ready for prime-time yet. In 2001, I lived in Arizona and was nearing the end of my time playing guitar for my band Pollen, and it was time to get serious about taking a stab at photography as a career. I knew music editor Bob Mehr at the Phoenix New Times through Pollen, so I was able to meet the art director Hector Acuna and then Albert Orta, and the assignments got rolling.
When I moved to Los Angeles, I had a connection with Joe Donnelly (also from Pittsburgh) at L.A. Weekly, so that helped me meet their creative team. I shot hundreds and hundreds of assignments for them. Guitar World noticed me through old-fashioned promo pieces I sent them. Philip Gefter at The New York Times first reached out to me to license a photo I shot for L.A. Weekly, and that led to more than 160 assignments.
Q: This exhibit is focused on celebrity photography, but what was your day-to-day life like in L.A., in terms of photo assignments and other things you chose to shoot?
A: Day-to-day varied greatly depending on the year. Looking back at my calendar in March of 2009, for example, I had six days off, and most of the shoot days were filled with as many as five shoots. Most were for a special annual project for L.A. Weekly called The People Issue. It was a whirlwind. On the other side, in July of 2014, I had exactly one shoot. When assignments are slow, I do my best to organize my archive, do outreach, update my website, and when possible, shoot personal work. I’ve always loved shooting landscapes and still life. It’s therapeutic.
Q: Do you remember who the first celebrity you shot was, and what your thoughts were as you prepared for the shoot?
A: For me, the first, most consequential celebrity shoot was Weezer. It’s the earliest image in my exhibition, shot in 2000. I drove to Pomona, Calif., for their show at The Glass House. I had a ticket but I wanted to shoot the show, too. My band had played there before, so I knew the door to the backstage area. I knocked. Karl Koch, Weezer’s longtime assistant, answered. I handed him a few prints I shot of Weezer at Warped Tour as examples of my work and asked if it would be OK to shoot the show. He took the prints and said to come back in 15 minutes.
When I returned, he said the band recognized the shots from their message board (I had posted them a week prior) and liked them. He asked me if I’d be interested in shooting some group shots of the band backstage and shooting while they warm up. I couldn’t believe it. They used one of the shots for PR and even made it into a T-shirt.
Q: What was the most surprising shoot you’ve done, and why?
A: Wow, good question. I had an assignment for L.A. Weekly in 2009. The subject of the story was Don Hrycyk, an LAPD detective whose beat was art theft and art fraud. I met him at his desk at police headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. He introduced me to his deputy and promptly escorted me to a dark basement storage area where they kept dozens of convincing — albeit fraudulent — masterpieces. His deputy tagged along, presumably to watch and perhaps badger Hrycyk during the photo shoot. I set up a light and chatted with them about art and their work.
When I was ready to start shooting, I asked Hrycyk to step in. I grabbed my camera and turned to him to start shooting. Much to my surprise, his deputy was in the scene too, ready to be photographed. “This is awkward,” I thought to myself, since my assignment was only related to him. Ever the diplomat, I explained that I’ll shoot them together and individually in case the editorial staff needed multiple images and arrangements.
Why was this shoot a surprise? Because a couple months later, Hrycyk’s deputy was arrested for murder! Stephanie Lazarus was accused, and eventually convicted, of a murder dating back to 1986.
Q: Do celebrities ever get upset at the photos that end up in stories you’ve shot for?
A: Probably, but I rarely hear about it. I did hear about one in particular. I felt horrible because there were so many great shots, but I chose one where the subject was very animated in a fun and interesting way, but I guess it didn’t go over well with him and his team.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in doing this type of photography?
A: Moving the furniture.
Q: How did you go about choosing the pieces in the exhibit?
A: I wanted a broad selection covering many slices of our cultural landscape. It’s not quite a “greatest hits” in that some of the images are outtakes and off-moments that would normally be excluded as contenders for editorial. I wanted straight portraits to be balanced with environmental portraits.
I wanted an emotional range, too. I lean toward calm energy, sometimes moody moments, introspection, etc. But I included a few surprises too.
“On Assignment” will be on view from July 10 to Aug. 1 at Two29 Gallery, 229 Braddock Avenue in Braddock.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source triblive.com ’
