Going into the interview knowing the man had been
interviewed numerous times before. I wanted to set my interview apart from the
others. The man is Lloyd Liebes, a world-renowned fashion photographer. He
greeted us at the door of his home. He is an older man, grey hair with a
charismatic charm about him. Starting the interview I wanted to get the story
on how he started with photography in the first place. A logical place to
start, but very telling in Lloyd’s case.
Lloyd left home to the hustle and bustle of New York City
without much of a way to provide for himself once there he found an opportunity
with Saks 5th ave. Here he was able to work, get meals in the
cafeteria, housing, and ultimately unlimited access to the in-house studio
where he taught himself the craft of photography. From that point Lloyd, as a
photographer-landing job after job built career momentum that took hold of him
immediately. His fashion photography soon became his calling card getting work
at numerous magazines, Vogue being one of them. Being so sought after he was
able to travel to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Europe, Italy, and a whole list
of other places.
With the strength of his photography skills Lloyd saw the
difference in pro models and amateurs in that a pro model knows the steps to
pose for the camera and the amateur needs to be taught. These observations
eventually lead Lloyd to open a modeling school. Here he used the teachers as
subjects to teach students modeling skills. Many of the skills taught revolved
around self-confidence and self-awareness. Lloyd went on to explain that his
love of fashion photography grew out of his love of people. This love lead to
the ability to read people and take a shy and reserved model and make her
comfortable and relate and learn her communication style. He did this by
observing body language and speech pattern, which helped him connect and bring
the best out of each model.
I went on to ask Lloyd what it takes to be a great
photographer and of course a wealth of info sprung forth from him, and these
were the points that stood out most. Lloyd says, you must know your subject and
know your camera. In a sense this tip leads back to interaction with people is
essential, but at the same time knowing your camera and its limitations is a
must to capturing the perfect shot. Lloyd went on to say that at a certain
point in his career he trained himself to only need to take the one perfect
shot per subject out of a 24 to 12 frame roll of film. This feat could have
only come about with the imagination of Lloyd. His favorite quote is from
Albert Einstein, which says Imagination is more important than knowledge. It is
this same imagination that is key to getting that perfect shot. Seeing it in
your head and capturing it by pressing the trigger when you see it through the
viewfinder.
As the interview continued
Lloyd went on to tell me how imagination went on to become innovation, as he
helped Macy’s create better imagery for their print ads and catalogs. He told
me that in this particular instance meeting with the Macy’s creative staff they
would give him distinct directions on how to shoot the models using stick
figure drawings. These poses were used to highlight what they were wearing and
bring out the accessories. Lloyd found these diagrams to be very stiff and
didn’t capture the underling magnificence that could be captured. Lloyd then
directed the models to move their bodies walk, run, and jump creating a sense
of movement in the final images. These images
turned out to be very
intriguing and imaginative. Macy’s was upset at first as they saw that he
directly went against what they wanted. Yet when they say that customers
gravitated to the innovative take Lloyd brought Macy’s praised him and gave him
permission on future shoots to do as he saw fit.
Lloyd Liebes is now retired from commercial photography, but
not from photography in all as his main focus now are exotic flowers. In all my
time with Lloyd was incredible for it’s life lessons and his insight into
people and photography. As we wrapped the interview I still felt there was more
I could ask and gather from such a well-lived man that I thought this piece
wouldn’t be able to tell. Yet like Lloyd’s life it’s about taking what you have
and imagining what more it can be and making it reality. To find more of Lloyd Liebes work make sure to stop by his page here
liebesphoto.com or
Lloyd Liebes Facebook.
...GO!!!
