For more then 30 years,
The New York Times Magazine has played a determining role in photography in the media, via commisions and as well as publications of work of all types, from photojournalism to fashion photography.
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Maya Arulpragasam by Ryan McGinley |
With the book
Photographs of the
New York Times Magazine, Kathy Ryan, director of photography for the NYT Magazine, presents the behind the scenes of her work as well as those who accompany her.
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Kathy Ryan, captured by Damon Winter |
Her analyses are of a crucial importance : she decides on images that influence the masses and the preception of an event, must channel her emotion, she plays an role in the evolution of photographic trends.
Assigning a shoot is in many ways, the most important aspect of what photo
editors do. Pairing the right photographer with the story is what yields the
surprise and delight when the pictures come in.
Kathy Ryan, the Director of Photography at
The New York Times
Magazine, is famous for cross-assigning—hiring a war photographer to shoot
celebrities, or commissioning a large-format landscape photographer to capture
news close up. In 2008, Ryan asked photojournalist Paolo Pellegrin to create the
Times Magazine’s annual Great Performances portfolio, which offered an
intimate look at celebrities who are often highly controlled by publicists. When
the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Kathy’s news instincts led her to look into a
larger, more global view of refugee camps. She sent Simon Norfolk, a large
format, landscape photographer, to record displaced people in three different
countries with his 8×10 camera. Any number of photojournalists could have
executed that assignment, but Simon’s unique eye found incredible detail in each
of those scenes, and distinguished the work from other news
pictures.
There’s always a risk in cross-assigning that way, and Kathy’s success in
getting provocative but thoughtful pictures is a testament to her remarkable
vision. But she’s still a journalist at heart, and aims to portray the world in
a surprising way for the viewer. Which is why her more straight-forward,
documentary-style commissions are equally as remarkable.
Kathy’s editing style is impeccable. Her nuanced eye leads her to always find
the heartbeat in each frame, pulling out incredible compositions and revealing
dramatic tension in the image.
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Skyline: Check Out the View, Note the New Proportions by Rodney Smith |
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Charlize Theron by Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin |
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James King, backstage at Karl Lagerfeld by Nan Goldin |
Read the full article by
Kira Pollack here.
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