Standardization and Simplification

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Blues player Eddie Kirkland, ©Joe DiMaggio

One day I was teaching a class and I came up with a saying, standardization and simplification. To be quite honest, I don’t know if I heard it from someone else, or I actually made it up. What do I mean by standardization and simplification? By this I mean, know your equipment, keep it to an absolute minimum, make your insurance photographs, and once you’ve nailed that then you can experiment. Less is more. Simple, straightforward, composition: it will never fail you. When I visited Japan I was initially very surprised when I visited a Japanese garden. There was nothing there. The anthropologist I was with, took me by the hand and showed me what was there. Very simple, basic, and to the point. Once you see it, you’ll never forget it. It’s all about visual literacy. So, go out and make some great photos.

Signing off,

Joe D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roy Scheider A Man For All Seasons

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To All The Ships At Sea

To be honest I had no idea I was going to write yesterday’s blog and I really had no idea I was going to write today’s blog. At approximately 1:30 last night, still transferring files from the old hard drives to the Wiebetech RTX, I stumbled across one of JoAnne’s files marked “Roy Scheider”. I opened it and there was a photo of Roy and myself in his home. When I looked at the photo I realized the tooth I’m wearing is from the 3427 lb Great White from yesterday’s blog. Talk about a coincidence. You can’t make this stuff up!

There have been very few times in my career, where everything was in perfect alignment and the timing was perfect and the decision was made, and that decision could not have been better. In pre-production for the Discovery Documentary on White Sharks, I wanted to interview Roy Scheider, because of his starring role in “Jaws”. Roy and I had met many years before and it was a natural fit. After talking to him on the phone, I made the decision not to interview him, but to have him do all of the narration for the film.

To this day I cannot watch the film, but I can still listen to it. He is the best part of that film. I consider Roy one of the all time great actors.

There are very few actors that have the ability to go from playing “Cloudy” in “The French Connection” to Joe Gideon in “All That Jazz”. Roy was a master artist and an amazing talent. He will be missed…

Copyright JoAnne Kalish, 2007

Joe DiMaggio

Shark Week, August 9, 2011.

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                                                                                                                                                                                ©Dylan DiMaggio 2005

Normally During Shark week my phone constantly rings off the hook.  Purely by accident, after I downloaded all of my individual hard drives into the sixteen terabyte Wiebetech RTX, I stumbled across some photographs in South Africa that were taken while filming my documentary for Shark Week a few years ago.  I’ve been photographing and filming sharks since 1974.

      Copyright Joe DiMaggio  Photo of 3,427 lb Great White Shark with son Dylan DiMaggio and Captain Frank Mundus

W. Gene Smith once told me, that a Great Photo does not require a Caption.  OK, so I guess this is not a great photo. The photo is of my son Dylan DiMaggio, Captain Frank Mundus and last but not least is the world’s largest Great White Shark ever caught on Rod and Reel, a 3,427 Pound Great White. If you look at Frank’s hand and make an imaginary line to the tooth below his hand, you will see the 3 teeth I was given for my photography that was over and above the line of duty.

To All The Ships At Sea: Always remember to watch where you swim, the ocean is theirs.

Joe D.

30 Years and Counting

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Back in the Apollo days, it was a great time for photographers. As a matter of fact, the camaraderie between photographers was equal to the competition between the photographers. It may have been the end of the golden age of photography and the very beginning of the cold, calculating, digitizing of photography. Al was never a close friend but was, and is, a great recorder of light, action, stories, and now a very accomplished filmmaker. You learn in our business, you have to respect the competition. Respect is paramount in any relationship, or for that matter it may be the only critical part of a relationship. Al e-mailed me a multi-media show he did which is awesome called The South in the 60’s and I’d like to share it with you. I’m hoping Al and I will have the opportunity to work together in the near future. Check him out; check out his books, he’s an old school heavy weight.

Joe D

Ron Thompson, Anthony Donna, Director of Photography Time Magazine- Arnold Drapkin, Ralph Morse, Joe DiMaggio


Happy Birthday Joe

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Forty-five years ago in a small hospital a very small baby was born.  He was under two pounds.  For the most part his coloration was black and he had a slight hole in his chest.  He was over 2 months premature. The first Doctor looked at me and said you have a son but he will not live until tomorrow.  In a millisecond I went crazy.  My son Joseph was on one hand the luckiest baby in the world as he had a mother and father who loved him and had a great Doctor, from France, who literally sat with him for almost 48 consecutive hours.  Joseph spent 72 days in an incubator and beat all the odds and grew up to be a very special wonderful human being.  Today is his 45th birthday. I originally wanted to say it would have been his 45th birthday. I’m not going to say that. I think about him everyday. Not one day goes by when I don’t smile when I think about him and not one day goes by where I don’t cry that I lost him.  I will always love you Joseph.  Happy Birthday Joe

The Captains William Shatner’s New Film

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William Shatner, Liz Shatner, Joe DiMaggio & JoAnne Kalish          Photo © Marion Curtis


To All The Ships At Sea:

Only a few of you have ever asked me the name of my ship. Some of my friends and students who were slightly over 50 know who Walter Winchell was. The complete quote was “Good Evening, Mr. & Mrs. America from Border to Border and Coast to Coast and all the Ships at Sea let’s go to Press!”

Yesterday we were on the good Ship Enterprise, which hosted my long time friends Bill & Liz Shatner for Bill’s new film, which he directed and produced called the Captains. The party was a blast and to catch up and see Bill and Liz is always totally enjoyable. Like everything Bill does, it has his unique fingerprint and is always pretty amazing.

Walter Iooss

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

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Somewhere around 1970 something, I had a Sports Illustrated assignment with Walter Ioos and we were up in Boston. If you don’t know who Walter is, he’s probably one of the greatest all around photographers in the last 40 years. Walter is a true Renaissance man. When he puts his mind to it, and his eye to it, he can photograph anything, and pretty much better than anyone else. Walter, by the way, had no secrets. He shared all of his inside tracts on how to make a great photo. He has a great level of confidence.

After a long day of shooting, we decided to have dinner on the north side of Boston, and Walter was astounded that I dragged along my camera. He said “How come you’re taking your camera?” I explained to him, you’ll never know when you will run into something you want to photograph. I think he thought it was pretty funny.

On my way to get a Fed Ex, I went to the door, and looked at a cluttered kitchen. My eye was grabbed by an orchid that was having its water changed. I went back to my office, and I took a couple of snaps. I think of it as an exercise, an exercise in visual literacy, or looking from the inside out.

A Great Phone Call

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I know I tend to use the same phrases over again.  To All The Ships At Sea… Sorry.  But I really am the luckiest guy in the World. It seems every time you turn around there’s bad news and enough of it will actually get to you. I’ve had a great two weeks. It started with a small but lucrative advertising shoot, rapidly followed by some great news with a new young editor, who’s going to come aboard and help me with a few projects. The best news is that he’s local. I had a wonderful chance meeting with an old friend, and a five star wedding with the Jacob & Boxer Family. Life just doesn’t get better than that.  Unless of course, my friend Bill Shatner calls which he did. Anytime I have an opportunity to talk to Bill it’s a good thing. He’s the most optimistic person in the whole world, oops maybe in the whole Galaxy. At the end of our 30 minute telephone conversation, I had a large grin on my face. Like always, Bill is up to his neck in new projects, exciting travel and oh my, he’s now flying a helicopter! The next time he’s in NY I’ll introduce him to Al Cerullo, probably the best helicopter pilot I’ve ever met.  I’m also going to end the week with two SOLD OUT WORKSHOPS in NYC.  I told you I’m a lucky Guy!

Bill Eppridge in a Class By Himself

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In my career I have been blessed with a few fortunate lucky right place, right time relationships. The first and foremost was attending the University of Missouri school of Journalism Workshop.  It really doesn’t get better than that. The second would be assisting W. Eugene Smith who taught me more about communications then anyone. Actually, he taught me more about many things but for the purpose of this we won’t go there. When asked to deliver a keynote speech at the NPPA, one of the people I thanked was Bill Eppridge. I would love to tell you that I know Bill well but as the truth be known, that’s just is not so. But here’s what I do know. Bill Eppridge has very few peers. He stands alone with his great talent.  He also has another quality that generally photographers don’t have. He’s an extremely humble about what he’s accomplished over the last few decades and he’s still a viable force to be dealt with. Bill invited me to his retrospective at the Fairfield Museum. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend. This past Sunday I had a little time off and decided to go to Fairfield, Connecticut to see the show.  I thought I knew exactly what I was going to see. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea the depth and scope of his work. Like many other photographers, we know about the positive RFK Photos, but the retrospective truly showed what an amazingly great talent he is. This is one of the few times I wish I was a great writer because there aren’t enough adjectives to express what an important body of work he has. Photographer Alfred Eisenstadt, once told me, he had maybe only a dozen fine photographs.  When I had the audacity to tell him, “no you have thousands of great photographs,” he smiled, clicked his heels and said, “one day you will understand.”
Thanks Bill for continuing to teach me the importance and power of a great still image.

Bill Eppridge in a Class By Himself

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

Eppridge

In my career I have been blessed with a few fortunate lucky right place, right time relationships. The first and foremost was attending the University of Missouri school of Journalism Workshop.  It really doesn’t get better than that. The second would be assisting W. Eugene Smith who taught me more about communications then anyone. Actually, he taught me more about many things but for the purpose of this we won’t go there. When asked to deliver a keynote speech at the NPPA, one of the people I thanked was Bill Eppridge. I would love to tell you that I know Bill well but as the truth be known, that’s just is not so. But here’s what I do know. Bill Eppridge has very few peers. He stands alone with his great talent.  He also has another quality that generally photographers don’t have. He’s an extremely humble about what he’s accomplished over the last few decades and he’s still a viable force to be dealt with. Bill invited me to his retrospective at the Fairfield Museum. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend. This past Sunday I had a little time off and decided to go to Fairfield, Connecticut to see the show.  I thought I knew exactly what I was going to see. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea the depth and scope of his work. Like many other photographers, we know about the positive RFK Photos, but the retrospective truly showed what an amazingly great talent he is. This is one of the few times I wish I was a great writer because there aren’t enough adjectives to express what an important body of work he has. Photographer Alfred Eisenstadt, once told me, he had maybe only a dozen fine photographs.  When I had the audacity to tell him, “no you have thousands of great photographs,” he smiled, clicked his heels and said, “one day you will understand.”

Thanks Bill for continuing to teach me the importance and power of a great still image.