Today we’d like to introduce you to Bil Zelman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Bil. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started off building my own darkroom when I was nine and carried a camera around with me obsessively for fifteen years working on a book titled “Isolated Gesture”. I’ve worked really hard since I was a kid to make images that were truly unique and not derivative of other artists- And since good work begat’s good work my career’s been a nice long ladder.
Since building that darkroom I’ve been lauded as Best 200 Photographers Worldwide by Archive ten years in a row, been fortunate to have made portraits of extraordinary figures such as Taylor Swift, Kristen Wiig, John Legend, Jerry Seinfeld, Ozzy Osbourne and many more. I’m also fortunate to have a commercial client list including top brands such as CocaCola, Apple, Microsoft, Harley Davison, Guinness, Budweiser and dozens of others.
On the fine art front Albert Watson awarded my recent book Isolated Gesture an Art Directors Club award and my work has been shown or collected by The Museum of Photographic Arts, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Lucie Foundation, The Center for Photographic Arts, The Center for Fine Art Photography, The Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts, The Portland Museum of Art and many others.
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh, it hasn’t always been easy of course- I left home at a really young age, dropped out of school and headed to Austin to chase the music scene. My first gigs were for free meals at restaurants provided by band members who looked the other way and mostly slept on couches and in my van for a few years.
Later on, I got my first real gig shooting David Bowie and I messed it all up and the pictures came back blurry and orange but somehow they were cool in their naiveté’. The mag loved them and immediately gave me more assignments shooting The Rolling Stones and Frank Black and Trent Reznor- Huge stuff for a kid under 21. I messed up plenty with a pace like that but always managed to get the shot they needed be it through experimentation or the fact that I’ve always just taken a hell of a lot of photos when on assignment.
Embracing the mistakes and imperfections in my images lends them a certain authenticity and genuineness and people come to me for that.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Zelman Studios story. Tell us more about the business.
Well- I might be an artist with a strong vision and a personality who can make anyone comfortable but I’ve also always felt that I’m in the service industry- I answer my phone, usually return your email within and hour or two and run a proper business.
Surrounding myself with smart agents, really experienced assistants and good-natured and kind people in my studio gives me the freedom to get out and shoot personal projects and get things into museums and still cater to the needs of restaurants and politicians and record labels and whomever I may be working with at the time.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Photography and motion/video are slamming together for certain. I’m currently directing tv spots and web videos about a third of the time and I see that increasing.
I also see the sheer amount of images my clients need going through the roof to satisfy print, digital, social and all of the other applications. A client like Frye Boot Company might need 150 images instead of what used to be 20- Largely to feed their Instagram and social media accounts.
Contact Info:
- Website: bilzelman.com
- Phone: 619-806-3686
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bilzelman/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bil.zelman
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