Yesterday— today

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on July 30, 2012

While going through hundreds of thousands of images looking for 47 photographs for my new book- that first need to be found, then scanned, cleaned, and yes a little Photoshop maybe, it’ll all be good- what do I come up with? A short film that I directed a few years ago. I’m looking at half of the control room and half of the set. Oh my God. Total crew; 22 people, two gaffing trucks, executive producer, line producer, two editors, craft services, gaffers… that’s enough, you know where I’m going. See the last photo, talk about streamlining your crew. It’s all for fun, it’s all good. It’s Monday; go make a photograph, or a short film. Gone with the??? Joe D.

No, that’s not me with the camera around my neck

JoAnne Kalish; the world’s greatest crew

Filmmaker Albert Maysles

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on June 30, 2011

I guess there’s an old adage that the teacher becomes the student. Our son Dylan had a great opportunity 4 years ago. He worked as an intern for Al Maysels. Al is recognized as the father of modern documentary cinematography. His awards are absolutely amazing. When Grey Gardens closed on Broadway, the feature film was a Blockbuster. His original film on Grey Gardens and Salesmen are classic studies made in the way documentaries should be made. I had the pleasure to meet Al a few years ago at a cocktail party and reception.

Being in Al’s presence is being in the presence of greatness. He’s soft spoken, has a very small ego, and is a great talent. He was kind enough to invite me to his home along with my partner JoAnne Kalish and son Dylan to do a one-hour interview on his life and career.

I have very few heroes. One was Gene Smith, who I had the pleasure of assisting back in the day. Al is also a hero of mine. He has been kind enough to help me with my film In This Corner. Just came across a few photos of Al and thought all the Ships at Sea would like to take a look at a photograph of a great filmmaker.

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on June 22, 2011

“In a world that seems to be moving at light speed, the new technologies should be embraced. We as visual communicators should always remember the photograph comes first. The content is more important than the pixels or the manipulation after the fact.

My love affair for this medium has only grown ten-fold. With the advent of digital it’s like starting all over again. Our future generations will look back at this time the way we looked back to the Lumiere brothers. What a great time to be involved in photography and filmmaking.”

~Joe DiMaggio