YARN BOMB LOS ANGELES!! MAGDA SAYEG FOR THE WALL ST. JOURNAL
Last month Rebecca Horne at The Wall Street Journal gave me a dream assignment: shoot Magda Sayeg for the WSJ Weekend. Sayeg, also known as “Knitta Please,” is known for yarn bombing, or covering objects in public space with colorful knitted sheaths. She’s covered a municipal bus in Mexico City, a staircase in Sydney, and countless lamp posts and parking meters across the US. It’s like home crafting meets street art. To quote the Rachel Emma Silverman, the WSJ journalist who wrote the article: “Her work has spawned a movement. There are now yarn-bombing artists all over the world. Websites, blogs and coffee table books follow all the latest developments of the knit graffiti aesthetic.”
Why was it a dream assignment? All the components were in place: not only did I get to shoot an artist who’s work I admire, but I got to do it as she installed a new piece, outside, on the street, in my beloved downtown LA. The piece was full of bright color —right up my alley— and Magda’s wardrobe was even more saturated than the art she was installing, which meant plenty of pop to the images.
I loved being around Magda. She’s a savvy businesswoman who travels the globe making her art, but retains a sense of amazement that it’s all worked out for her so well. She takes great pleasure from making the work itself, and as an artist, that’s something I love to see.
The shoot was a constant negotiation of sidewalk traffic, three studio strobes, two ladders, and dozens of balls of yarn. I asked Magda to start off the shoot perched atop a ladder, in front of the finished part of the yarn mural. She looked at ease up there. I was on a ladder too, placed on the very edge of the sidewalk, to get as much of the mural in my frame as possible. Of course this meant my backside was hanging into the gutter and inches from cars barreling off the highway into downtown. My assistant Todd was watching me as much as he was watching the lights.
As you can see from the picks above, I love mixing my strobe with daylight, so as we setup and did our first shots, I kept a careful eye on the wide swaths of shadow cast by the skyscrapers all around our location. When the time was right, I switched my shooting position, composition, and lighting to incorporate the shaft of sunlight that we’d have on Magda for a window of 20 minutes. You can see the results of that below.
Throughout the morning, videographer Michael Kofsky shot video of my shoot which he incorporated into his short film and interview of Ms. Sayeg. Check it out and you can get a sense of the sidewalk setting where the installation and simultaneous photo shoot were happening. [Note the pants-hitch/butt pat that yours truly contributes to end the video!]
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