SCREENSPACE: Photographer Art Streiber

Veteran photographer Art Streiber shines new light in the August exhibition of ScreenSpace: A monthly celebration of the best photographers and directors presented by Smashbox Studios WEHO and Culver City. His images for multiple magazines and basically every major TV network seriously make you want to jump right in the shot — take a look at our exclusive interview with him and while you’re at it, pull out a notepad — you just might want to take some notes from a master…

Photographer Art Streiber.

SMASHBOX STUDIOS: Are you thrilled to be our ScreenSpace photographer for the month of August? We are! Start off by telling our readers a little bit about your relationship with our studio and stages.

ART STREIBER: I’ve been shooting at Smashbox for 15 years or more and have worked in every single one of the studios in Culver City, West Hollywood and of course, the original Smashbox space on Olympic Blvd in Santa Monica. Smashbox in Culver City was one of the very first studios I ever worked in and always feels like home to me. And in 1998 I worked on a story for LA Magazine ABOUT Smashbox in Culver City and how it was the crossroads of pop culture: Music, Television, Film and Sports stars were constantly coming and going and having their portraits made and working on ad campaigns with the world’s greatest photographers…so being featured as Smashbox’s ScreenSpace Photographer is an honor for me.

SB:You’ve been known to “perfectly light and capture” on the fly. Was there a more in-depth reason for this compliment coming to light for you, so to speak?
AS: I grew up in photojournalism, which really hones your ability to find (and light) a shot very quickly, and I’ve brought that “on the fly” mentality to my portraiture. For the most part, my subjects don’t have a lot of time to sit for a portrait, so my crew and I are very sensitive to their scheduling limitations and always attempt to maximize our time with our subjects. I insist on scouting the location in advance of the shoot, and if I can’t scout, I try to get to the location three to four hours before my subject’s call time so that we can load in, light multiple set ups and be ready to move quickly in order to get as many options as possible…My maxim? You have to be optimally prepared and optimally flexible in order to do this job well.

SB: Where do you think photography is headed in the next few years?
AS: Photography is headed for even more democratization as techniques that used to be available only to professionals are now available to everyone and the touch of a button. Most creative fields have been radically affected by this democratization; music, film-making , television, but I am a strong believer that there will always be a need for craftsmen and artists with a strongly developed aesthetic.

SB: Whom or what has been your favorite subject to shoot?

AS: I love shooting newsmakers and people that have accomplished something new, great or unique. We just photographed, Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, a music sharing website which I think will have an incredible impact on how we all consume music. I’m fascinated by people who have focused on making a difference in the world whether it’s commercial, social, humanitarian or cultural.

SB: Any current idols/mentors that you’re connecting with right now?
AS: I have always been a big fan of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon and I’ve recently been looking at a lot of their early work. They both made a monumental impression on portraiture in a very simple, elegant and sophisticated way…one light, no light, one grey backdrop…and the lesson I am taking away from looking at their imagery is that the most important thing a portrait photographer can do with his or her subject is connect.

SB: When was the moment that you knew you were a real life photographer?
AS: When my wife and I lived in Italy, working as co-Bureau Chiefs of the Milan office of W Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, I was asked to fly to Paris to photograph the Couture by John Fairchild, the legendary Editor in Chief of all of the Fairchild Publications. I remember being in a taxi from the airport, heading into Paris at dusk and thinking to myself that I needed to savor the moment that I was being asked to fly to one of the world’s fashion capitols to photograph the world’s top models wearing the world’s most unique fashion designs, and realizing that I was a really a photographer…that was what I did for a living…and that I was realizing one of my lifelong dreams.

SB: What’s your favorite time and/or process when you shoot? Pre? During? Post? We obviously want to pick your brain with this!

AS: My favorite moments on a shoot are when I see the image coming together in my viewfinder and realize that what had only been an idea or a concept days or weeks earlier, was actually going to work! And I love finding a shot that I didn’t anticipate finding. And I love building and lighting something that my crew and I have never done before …going for it, and pushing it and pushing it until the shot is successful and we get the look we were chasing… And I LOVE hearing from the client that they LOVE the imagery.

SB: Dogs or Cats?
AS: I have a six-year-old yellow lab named Jones, who, if left to his own devices on a shoot, would devour the entire contents of the craft service and catering tables.

SB: Hahaha! Bring it on. Are you currently working on anything we can look forward to? We’ll definitely be searching…
AS: I’ve just shot a 14 page portrait and fashion cover story for Vanity Fair Spain for their October issue that I am very excited to see in print and I am also psyched to see my first Architectural Digest cover in September.

SB: How do you manage being so celebrated?

AS: I consume A LOT of imagery, from books to magazines to the web and am always interested in seeing what else is out there, what’s being published, what is the prevailing aesthetic in magazine photography, entertainment photography, architectural, interior and lifestyle photography, fine art photography, etc. I work the newsstand from one end to the other and LOVE coverjunkie.com, not only for the accumulation of imagery, but also for the peek at international editorial design. I live a very “normal” life with an amazing wife and two incredible daughters…and of course, the dog. Regardless of who or what I have just photographed, whether I’ve been working at Smashbox Studios or am just getting back from a morning at the White House (which was incredible), carpools to drive, school events to attend, a dog to walk, all of which are much more important, in the long run, than the latest magazine cover.

SB:Thanks for turning us on to Cover Junkie! Any secrets to maintaining your creative balance?
AS: Balance is essential…the balance between work and relaxation, between work and family, and between art and commerce; managing to push the creative aspects of my photography, keeping it relevant, innovative and interesting, all while running a small business. It is critically important to constantly attend to all four aspects of the freelance photography business; Production, Archive, Marketing and Finance…and if you ignore any one of them for an extended period, you do so at your peril.

SB: What would your advice be to creatives?
AS: My advice…? Dream BIG, work hard and stay humble… And be very, very nice to the guys in the grip room.

*Rapidly jotting down notes, Art.*