Shooting Stars
Forget the paparazzi, the stalkers or even Robert Redford: Nobody sees more celebrities during Sundance than Jeff Vespa.
As an official photographer for the festival, Vespa shoots hundreds of festival actors and filmmakers from a makeshift studio on Park City's Main Street.
"We do portraits of pretty much everybody who attends," said Vespa, co-founder of WireImage, the digital photo service, in an interview. Stars now consider Vespa's studio a required stop on their Sundance circuit, he said. "Since we've been doing it for so long [since 1995], it's kind of expected."
Vespa gets anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes for each shoot, which he undertakes without costumes or props.
"My whole shtick is trying to capture people for who they really are. The challenge is to get people relaxed and comfortable in a short period of time," said the veteran celebrity photographer, who, like everyone else at Sundance, works long hours on insufficient rest. "The other challenge is staying awake."
Among this week's Sundance attendees, Vespa was especially struck by P. Diddy's focus, William H. Macy's expressive face and Tilda Swinton's brilliant green eyes. But his most memorable shoot may have been of Jack Black and the rest of the "Be Kind Rewind" cast.
"Jack Black was wearing this muscle T-shirt and he kept doing all these muscle-man poses," said Vespa, whose Sundance images will appear in magazines around the world. "He was hilarious."
--Brandon Griggs
posted by Brandon Griggs @ 11:35 AM |
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