© Paul Elledge 1998

This month’s image “From the vault” mixes things up by showing another aspect of Paul’s work outside of his well known portraits.  For several years Paul and Leasha traveled the world for “Travel and Leisure Golf”.  They had the pleasure of visiting exotic countries that were home to some of the finest golf courses, hotels, and restaurants.

This month we feature an image from T &L Golf taken to illustrate the beautiful city of Sydney Australia.  It was a rainy day and Paul needed to make the best of inclement weather.  Paul with camera, and Leasha with umbrella had to visit many sites that day.  The highlight image was taken in the center of Sydney in Hyde Park.  A stunning location,  combined with a long exposure to get gather enough light and add the magic motion of the patrons of the park creating a striking black and white landscape.  Enjoy!

©Lillian Bassman

One of Team Elledge’s favorite prints at Art Chicago was by Lillian Bassman.  Her style with it’s use of bold black and white illustrated a mid century world of elegance.  In a story much in vain of Martin Scoreses’s HUGO her work with it’s interest in pure form fell out of style in the 70′s.   She then tossed out her life’s work of negatives and prints.  Fortune would have, that a forgotten cache of work was discovered and was re-appreciated in the 90′s.   Passing at 94, she continued her personal work into her 90′s.  Lillian Bassman was an inspiration, and we morn her passing.

©Lillian Bassman

© 2010 Paul Elledge

We would like to send our condolences to the friends and families of the lives lost and still missing on the Costa Concordia near Isola del Giglio.  While creating images for the San Diego Mia Francesca,  Paul and Leasha spent time on the island and photographed near the disaster site a year and half ago.  They had the good fortune to experience the magical island culture with all of it’s natural beauty during better times.

©1991 Paul Elledge

This month’s image “From the vault” features rocker and both Grammy & Acadamy Award winner Trent Reznor.  This image was taken in 1991 during the “Pretty Hate Machine” time period of his band “Nine Inch Nails “.

Paul photographed this image backstage at the very first Lollapalooza in Chicago.  This is an early example of what the studio calls a “Lunar Portrait” which is a reference to the lighting set-up.   Lunar portraits started out as a style Paul created for a series of personal portraits that quickly  became a signature style in the early days of Paul’s career. The first images, like the one of Trent, used the Hasselblad 500 CM with an 80mm lens shot wide open at f/2.8 using either using Tri-X or in this case,  Agfa 3200 asa transparency film.   In order to more closely connect with Paul’s point of view, this method of creating images  migrated to working with the 4X5 format within a year of this shoot.

The inspriation for this “look” came from Paul’s childhood love of vintage photographic imagary.  Paul was enchanted with the connection of the eyes, and the smooth tonal scale of early photographic portraits he discovered at flea markets and thift shops.   “My aesthetic has always been grounded in the honest portrayal of the common person in early photographic portraiture.”

©2011 Paul Elledge

Team Elledge just delivered new Italian work for yet another Mia Francesca.  This body of work is a combination of portraits and landscapes from Paul’s last trip to Tuscany.   The prints are printed on Harman Gloss Baryta Warmtone with the custom sepia being applied in Lightroom 3.   This paper has fantastic tonal scale and a print surface that rivals Paul’s classic silver prints.  We have pushed the limits on scale this time producing many super sized prints.  Check them out in person at the Mia Francesca D.C Ranch location or here.

Staff Inspection of the big pano from Cortona

©2011 Paul Elledge

As we reflect on this past year,  we would like to take a moment and thank everyone that has helped make 2011 a great year.  Where you look is where you go, so in 2012 keep your eyes on the path you have chosen.  Team Elledge would like to extend the best for everyone this new year.

©2011 Paul Elledge

Team Elledge would like to wish you all of the best this Holiday Season.   What ever your personal celebratory direction is this time of year-  Happy Holidays.

©Paul Elledge

This month’s image “From The Vault” features country music star George Strait.  Paul has had the pleasure of working with George a couple of times.  The combination of our love of his music and his dashing cowboy good looks inspired this classic image.

This portrait was from an assignment for Entertainment Weekly magazine.  The image was shot with a 4×5 Deardorf, and used a lighting and lens combination style that Paul developed from his love for vintage photographic images.  The studio set was built back stage by Paul and his assistant so that the shot could be made prior to George Strait’s concert.

©Nan Goldin

While working in New York last week we had time to visit one art show.   “Scopophilia” by Nan Goldin was our choice based on our love of her work.  Nan Goldin’s photographs are a visual combination of emotional obsession and empathy. Goldin’s new work reveals human bodies in the Louvre just as she reveals bodies in her classic works.  As written in Dossier:  “By merging the two sets of images, Goldin reminds you of the concreteness, the near-corporality, of you own personal history.”  No words can truly capture the deep emotions felt from viewing both the slide presentation and the printed works.  For Team Elledge this is a MUST see show.

©Nan Goldin

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