Musarium: The LAMPP

Interview with Paul Waldman

(Continued from page two)

What is your background in photography?
I had a girlfriend - Carolyn, an aerial photographer - who got me shooting with my father's vintage 35mm Nikon Nikomat. Since then I have used Nikon’s N series cameras as well as the Canon EOS 1. My favorite is the medium format Hasselblad. The Hasselblad’s 6cm x 6cm square format is the easily the most challenging and rewarding of all the camera systems I’ve worked with. Hasselblad uses Carl Zeiss optics for all their lenses. Zeiss glass was a decisive reason for going with Hasselblad. I worked as an independent model scout with Elite New York, a freelance fashion photographer, and as managing editor for ZONE, an arts and culture magazine. I used the time at Zone to refine my ability as an editorial portrait photographer, photographing and interviewing artists and celebrities. After I left ZONE, I founded the Living American Master Photographers Project. The LAMPP is a convergence of my core interests and abilities. As a photographer, I'm hoping my LAMPP work will lead to new commercial editorial assignments. I look forward to broadening my editorial portfolio.

What brought you to Arizona?
My family moved from New York when I was young so I grew up in Arizona. After college I lived in Del Mar for a few years doing fashion shoots and networking which ultimately took me to New York. When I lived in New York's Greenwich Village, I used to go up to the roof of my building on summer nights, just to wrap my eyes around the night sky. It seems every time I leave Arizona, its expansive sky draws me back.

What's next with the LAMPP project? Who do you want to photograph next?
I was recently approached by Haim Ariav of the a21group. It was the beginning of a wonderful relationship culminating in a21group's sponsorship of the LAMPP's 10th Anniversary Online Exhibit. They've done a wonderful job creating an awareness in the community for the project. Through to June 2002, every four months a new series of LAMPP participants will be exhibited. We expect some great exposure for the LAMPP at Photo Plus Expo East. It is the biggest photo industry trade convention, held annually in November at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center. Haim Ariav, of a21group is working personally with Richard Schleuning at Victor Hasselblad to create a print exhibit space at their booth this year. If all goes as planned, some of the finest living American master photographers will be stopping by Hasselblad to see their latest offerings and to check out the LAMPP exhibit.

To this end, Kodak played a pivotal role. The LAMPP standards require that I pay special attention to the quality of project. The LAMPP is entirely shot and printed on Kodak film and paper. We wouldn't have a display at Photo Plus Expo East if it wasn't for people like Mary Ann Semenko at Kodak, who arranged printing of the LAMPP images. A new website is currently under development at www.thelampp.com. For the future, a LAMPP television series on contemporary American photography is being actively pursued as well as an interactive DVD, multi-media CD ROM, and an archival book series.

I hope to make the LAMPP's interactive DVD using Apple's iDVD software and their new Superdrive. I love my Mac! It may seem trivial, but making the project fun has made all the difference. The LAMPP has a strong education message. I’m hoping to combine resources with the Institute for Studies in the Arts (ISA) at Arizona State University, and develop an interactive text series for students interested in photographic careers as well as inviting LAMPP participants for semester residencies. The LAMPP archive is constantly growing. We’re moving towards becoming a non-profit organization. New content is always in the works. Current priorities include Eve Arnold, Richard Avedon, Susan Meiselas, Roy DeCarava, Albert Watson, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Cindy Sherman, Cornell Capa, Leonard Freed, Herman Leonard, and Annie Leibovitz among others.

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