Joe Martinez Photo

WAKE FOREST MAGAZINE SPRING 2016

Some images from the Spring 2016 issue of Wake Forest Magazine.  I photographed Jen Anderson ('00) and Jeff Dobbs ('77) for the "Object Curiosity" story in this year's issue.  The magazine curated a collection of objects truly unique to the Wake Forest community, including the first student issued IBM Thinkpads, and vintage WFU fashion straight out of the 1970s. 

Jen Anderson at her family home in Barnegat Light, NJ. ('00)

Jen with her 15 yr. old 6.5 lb IBM ThinkPad 365XD, the first generation of laptops distributed by Wake Forest to incoming students. 

Jen, with her mother, Mary who found the lapotp in her basement last year. 

Jen and Mary recall fond memories of her time at Wake Forest. 

Jeff Dobbs ('77), one of the most popular Demon Deacons of all time,  sporting his vintage WFU letterman jacket in NYC

Many call Jeff the original WFU mascot, and it's clear he hasn't lost a step.

Jeff Dobbs looks back on his time at Wake Forest. 

Detail of Jeff's vintage WFU jacket. 

I love connecting with fellow alumni on these assignments, and I feel so privileged to stay connected to Wake with opportunities like this. Go Deacs! 

ADIDAS ALL STAR WEEKEND TORONTO

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Two weeks ago, I flew out to Toronto, ON for adidas to cover the NBA All Star Weekend 2016.  It was a busy weekend, but it was great shooting along side the adidas photo crew (Kelly Kline, Emily Ramiser, Michel Leroy and Ned Dishman) for a second year.  Last year's all star weekend in NYC saw record low temperatures and this year was no different.  Saturday brought the coldest weather of the year in Canada, with temperatures falling to -11°F.  It was pretty intense (I couldn't feel my legs or my feet when I was outside), but luckily most of our assignments this year were indoors.  

The adidas Vault

Houston Rocket's James Harden surprises a group of local high schoolers at the adidas product vault. 

Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors signs jerseys at the adidas flagship store in downtown Toronto. 

New adidas Xeno Borealis on display at the adidas Vault

Minnesota Timber Wolves Anthony Wiggins at the Dufferin Clarke Community Centre

The biggest adidas event of the weekend, by far, was the Andrew Wiggins appearance at the Dufferin Clark Community Centre in his home town of Thornhill, ON.  Wiggins, '14-'15 Rookie of the Year, treated teens of Thornhill to a newly renovated youth center, new gym equipment, and shared stories about his days getting up endless shots in his home gym. It was a crazy afternoon, and we worked hard to knock out our shot list and cover every angle of the event.  Adidas just released a great video of the day, and I even make a small appearance at the :24 mark :) 

Andrew Wiggins signs his newly unveiled logo at the Dufferin Clark Community Centre gym

Andrew Wiggins taking media questions at the Dufferin Clark Community Centre gym

It's always great shooting for adidas and I'm already looking forward to 2017 All Star (with hopefully warmer weather) in Charlotte next year.  More to come!

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER 2015-2016

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I'm in the midst of planning my second shoot for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and thought it was a good opportunity to finally share last season's images as well as some BTS photos and videos. 

Late last year my friend and fellow Portfolio Center alum, Casey Walter asked me if I'd like to do some work for Jazz at Lincoln Center.  Casey is a design director at Jazz, and we'd been talking about collaborating on a project for some time, but it had mostly been in the vein of shooting some live concerts and small portrait work (all things I would have been more than excited to shoot). But when he approached me with the opportunity to shoot the 2015-2016 featured artist campaign, printed collateral to be used throughout the year, AND Wynton Marsalis and the JLC Orchestra?? Whoa.  YES.

That conversation set off a busy month of planning, assembling a team, multiple meetings about concept, lighting, budget, and scheduling.  It was by far the biggest project I had ever been a part of, and an experience I will value long into my career.  

The shoot was split into two days at Milk Studios.  Day one featured some fun portraits with the different artists who would be performing during the upcoming season, including Kate Davis, Jared Grimes, Monty Alexander, and Adriane Lenox.

Photo by Madison Salavec

Day 2 was a bit more involved and included individual portraits of each member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, including the man himself, Wynton Marsalis.  A major challenge of day 2 was a group shot featuring all 16 members of the orchestra.  This had to be done in the middle of the head shots, as not all members could be there for the full day, and a large number of production meetings centered on how best to accommodate the artists who had to leave early.  To do this, we had to make sure our headshot set and lighting were marked, so we could quickly move them and make room for our full orchestra group shot, and then come back to our original set for the remaining head shots .  To add to our already complicated day, we had to shoot the band in two different shots as not everyone could fit on the cyc wall at one time. 

We finished day 2 with solo portraits of Wynton Marsalis. He was incredibly gracious with his time and even allowed me to make a few natural light portraits of him after we had wrapped up on set.  The evening light flooding into the studio at the end of the day was too good to pass up.  It was the perfect end to a busy month of planning and an exciting couple of days.  The studio was constantly filled with music, and several impromptu jam sessions broke out throughout the day.  Not a bad way to close out the year!  

Shoots like these don't come together on their own, and I owe huge thanks to the folks at Wonderful Machine, Casey and everyone at Jazz at Lincoln Center, my rockstar friend and assistant Claudia Paul, digital tech Alex Rudinski, and of course my incredible producer, Madison Salavec. 

If you've been around Lincoln Center the past few months you may have seen some of the final images, but I'll be posting the final print materials here soon.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more :) 

Photo by Madison Salavec

Pharrell for NYU Tisch School of the Arts

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I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph Pharrell during his career retrospective talk with  Jason King at Town Hall.  Pharrell is the new Artist-in-Residence for NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the interview covered everything from his childhood in Virginia, early musical influences, success with the Neptunes, N.E.R.D., and working with some of the biggest names in music today.  As a fan myself, it was amazing to hear him talk about the evolution of his career and how so much of his success has come from experimenting and having a "Mr. Magoo" philosophy of stumbling onto ideas and following your instincts.  Check out NPR to watch the interview, and  thanks to Marat Berenstein and Nikki Mirasola for a great night! 

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