May 15, 2009
photographer patrick cline
Oh, what the hell. It's my blog and I can do what I like. That's why this time I'm publishing more than the usual five images because I love them all. Even narrowing the selection down to this many was tough. The story of photographer Patrick Cline is what dreams are made of. He started out assisting and is fast on his way to shooting for Vanity Fair. He is making it in the Big Apple, which is what many only aspire to. I learnt about Patrick via Michelle Adams when she praised his work over coffee on her recent visit to Australia. You may remember from when I interviewed her here that she spoke about a collaborative photography project called Lonny - the name is an amalgamation of Lon(don) and NY. Luckily for all of us, many of the photos above are actually for sale - here. Or, for now, you can do what I'm about do, and print some off and stick them in front of your desk and dream until the real thing arrives in the post. Thanks, Patrick!
Which five words best describe you? Driven. Intuitive. Productive. Stubborn. Hungry (all the time).
What was your first job and what path have you taken since then? My first job was with a black and white printer, at an underground studio in Spitalfields Market, East London. I learnt how to hand process, and print in the darkroom. I then went onto assisting, an Editorial/Advertising photographer Dan Burn Forti. At this point I hadn't wanted to be a photographer, but it took about a month of working for this guy, and I was hooked. After a few years of assisting many great photographers in London, I traveled to NY for my first crack at living there. I loved the city, and how much opportunity came my way compared to London, so I spent a couple of years working at a high end Color Lab in Manhattan, printing for photographers such as Annie Leibovitz, Tom Munro and Mario Testino. I am now back in NY, and have been for 2 years, and now have a small company that prints, retouches and designs from my studio in Manhattan. I also shoot, and have just recently taken on photographers to represent as an agent.
What's your proudest achievement? I guess it has everything to do with my career right now, it is so easy to get caught up in the stress and day-to-day runnings of work, I forget that I not only work for myself, but have a studio in Manhattan, which is kind of a dream I've always had.
What's been your best decision? To make the move back to New York, and start a business, I knew it was right for me here.
Who inspires you? A handful of photographers, Daniela Federici, Tom Munro, Michael Thompson, Dan Burn Forti (the person that first opened the door to my obsession) Mario Testino - these are basically people that I love the work of, and just think have the most amazing lives, traveling and meeting interesting people. Also a few people around me at the moment, creative, talented people, that in this tough economic climate, just keep going, pushing, trying, evolving, inventing. These people help me move forward too.
What are you passionate about? Food, oh and obviously work, but yeah, love eating.
What's the best lesson you've learnt? To always follow my instincts, whether that be about people, work, just life in general.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? I admire a lot of famous people for various reasons, but wouldn't necessarily want to meet them, I guess I would want to meet one of my late family, to see what they were like, great great grandfather maybe?
What dream do you still want to fulfil? To shoot for Vanity Fair.
What are you reading? Vanity Fair (oh and a book called The Cosmic Ordering Service by Barbel Mohr).
What was your first job and what path have you taken since then? My first job was with a black and white printer, at an underground studio in Spitalfields Market, East London. I learnt how to hand process, and print in the darkroom. I then went onto assisting, an Editorial/Advertising photographer Dan Burn Forti. At this point I hadn't wanted to be a photographer, but it took about a month of working for this guy, and I was hooked. After a few years of assisting many great photographers in London, I traveled to NY for my first crack at living there. I loved the city, and how much opportunity came my way compared to London, so I spent a couple of years working at a high end Color Lab in Manhattan, printing for photographers such as Annie Leibovitz, Tom Munro and Mario Testino. I am now back in NY, and have been for 2 years, and now have a small company that prints, retouches and designs from my studio in Manhattan. I also shoot, and have just recently taken on photographers to represent as an agent.
What's your proudest achievement? I guess it has everything to do with my career right now, it is so easy to get caught up in the stress and day-to-day runnings of work, I forget that I not only work for myself, but have a studio in Manhattan, which is kind of a dream I've always had.
What's been your best decision? To make the move back to New York, and start a business, I knew it was right for me here.
Who inspires you? A handful of photographers, Daniela Federici, Tom Munro, Michael Thompson, Dan Burn Forti (the person that first opened the door to my obsession) Mario Testino - these are basically people that I love the work of, and just think have the most amazing lives, traveling and meeting interesting people. Also a few people around me at the moment, creative, talented people, that in this tough economic climate, just keep going, pushing, trying, evolving, inventing. These people help me move forward too.
What are you passionate about? Food, oh and obviously work, but yeah, love eating.
What's the best lesson you've learnt? To always follow my instincts, whether that be about people, work, just life in general.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? I admire a lot of famous people for various reasons, but wouldn't necessarily want to meet them, I guess I would want to meet one of my late family, to see what they were like, great great grandfather maybe?
What dream do you still want to fulfil? To shoot for Vanity Fair.
What are you reading? Vanity Fair (oh and a book called The Cosmic Ordering Service by Barbel Mohr).
images courtesy of Patrick Cline