A White House photographer talks about White House photographers: that’s our September speaker, Dennis Brack. He’s covered 10 presidential administrations and has known the inside scoop for 50 years. During his time as a news photographer, Dennis worked with, drank with, and laughed with many of the colorful characters that photograph the presidents and their families. Over the decades, he’s interviewed countless photographers to collect their stories. The result is his book, Presidential Picture Stories: Behind the Cameras at the White House. Having been awarded dozens of 5-star reviews, the book delivers a fast history of the news picture business and a collection of delightful stories about the characters behind the cameras. We’ll hear some of these stories and how the book came about.

Dennis Brack notes that though his clients have changed over the years, LIFE and Newsweek were among the most important. For TIME, he averaged a picture a week for 23 years. As the Washington photographer for Black Star, he’s a member of the White House ISP pool, which consists of the eight major photo agencies that travel with the President in Washington. A major story for Dennis Brack was the coverage of the first Gulf War. In one week, his photographs were on the covers of TIME,Newsweek, US News, Paris Match, and many other magazines throughout the world.

For 25 years, Dennis Brack was the secretary /treasurer of the US Senate Standing Committee of Press Photographers. This 6-member committee determines the photographic coverage of the House and Senate, the conventions, and the inauguration. He was also President of the White House News Photographers Association for many years. Recently, he was the Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and honored at the White House News Photographers Association Eyes of History Gala. Like many TIME Magazine photographers, Dennis Brack has given his photographic collection to The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas. The transparencies and negatives will be preserved to be a source for future historians. The Briscoe Center has sponsored a major exhibition of Dennis Brack’s photographs.

For a quick view of Dennis Brack’s work, visit www.dennisbrack.com

Photos courtesy of Bob Catlett

Walt Calahan returns this spring to SSCC not as judge, but as speaker. His topic on May 1 is “The Myth of Thinking Outside the Box.” By this, Walt means that innovation begins and never ends by “mastering the box,” not thinking outside of it. He says we know this as photographers because the camera is our metaphoric “box”; if we don’t master the camera, none of our ideas outside of the camera will be captured successfully by the camera.

This is a viewpoint that Walt puts in practice not only in his own photography but also as a teacher of photography. As an adjunct instructor, he teaches photography for the art departments of both Stevenson University and McDaniel College. He feels that teaching helps insure a love for photography in the next generation of image makers.

Walt Calahan’s career has propelled him on adventures that demand superb mastery of the “box.” His photography assignments have taken him under the Atlantic Ocean aboard a U.S. Navy Trident submarine, down lava tube caves in Idaho, into surgical clinics for Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan, canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia and the great northern woods of Canada, and being launched off the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. As if that weren’t enough adventure, Walt has photographed such subjects as the tumult of the Romanian revolution.

Hundreds of magazines have used Walt’s work, including the National Geographic Society, Boys’ Life, Time, Fortune, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. General Electric, Yamaha, The Washington Performing Arts Society, Hillel Foundation, and Harvard Business School, among others, have commissioned him to illustrate their publications and advertisements.

Walt graduated with honors from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications and then earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from McDaniel College.

Walt’s Website

Our wry, edgy judge this month, Gary Landsman, sent in a highly personal, if not downright idiosyncratic, bio for the Cable Release. With only minor edits, here’s Gary Landsman’s take on photography and himself…

Landsman, why?

I get it, been at it over 20 years, shot everything from cockroaches to Presidents. No humor intended.

I’ve lit 737’s for USAirways (the whole plane) and auto parts for AAA. I know what it is to solve big-hassle problems on the fly, where to put a light, how to put a light, how to talk to the cop that needs validation.

I even had a police sergeant loan me his gun and badge for a Time-Life books shoot, hope to heaven his Captain never finds out.

Solve the technical problem, see it fast, and get it done, as often is the requirement.

Location almost always has its caveats. Figuring it out is what I do. Never let the client know the issues unless they need to be involved to solve the problem. They expect me to get it done, on budget, on time and better than they expected.

PERSONALITY

My subjects run the gamut of “been photographed” experiences. Some have been
abused, some ignored, some are ugly, some with
high expectations. I make them all feel at ease, so
I can capture great images of them. That’s likely
my best and unusual character as photographer.

SUMMARY
Light. Comfortable subjects. Ability to get what you need done regardless of parameters and issues.

Our speaker this month is familiar to all SSCC members: Dave Powell, who now runs the Members’ Open Forum on 4th Thursdays. And what a resource he is for SSCC! Dave joined SSCC a couple of years ago as one way to give back to the profession that’s been sustaining him for 50 years. Few of us, however, are familiar with Dave’s background, so we’ve asked him to kick off the new year by talking about his experiences, emphasizing his primary area of interest – lighting and light.
In his decades as a professional photographer, Dave has used a wide range of photo gear, lighting equipment, and film and video equipment. He has shot on assignment in all 48 contiguous states and has photographed in many locations overseas. While now somewhat retired, Dave continues to do limited assignment work for clients.

Dave has used various media to tell stories that illustrate and bring to life the high impact, high visibility, high pressure, and fast moving worlds of business, schools, museums, and government. He helps his clients refine, clarify, and heighten their messages so they can increase sales, boost fund-raising, or educate. Surprising to us, perhaps, is the fact that Dave is far more than a very successful commercial photographer. He’s an award-winning film and documentary maker and the creator and producer of video and multi-screen slide shows. He’s written and edited scripts. He’s served as advisor on AV equipment and graphic software packages. He’s also a web designer and a one-on-one executive coach for public speaking and presentations.

Here an example of a typical assignment for Dave: He created and produced two complex, multiimage, multi-screen slide shows for National Gallery exhibitions, which were used to give historical and thematic perspectives. In another example, Dave created an anti-smoking film commissioned by the government aimed at students – for which he won an Emmy Award. Since 1990, Dave has been the owner of David W. Powell Communications. Earlier, he held the responsibilities of partner in several communications media firms after serving as a producer/director at WETA and Voice of America. Dave’s client list fills pages; outstanding assignments have come from the World Bank, the CIA, University of Maryland, AT&T, British Airways, GEICO, Exxon Corporation, Hillwood Museum, Georgetown University, and the Egyptian government.

In his own education, Dave received his BA in Radio, Television, and Film Production at the University of Maryland, with an emphasis on public speaking and music. He also plays a mean saxophone.