The Photographer Project

Brian Ach has been shooting celebrities for the past four years: walking the red carpet, attending invite-only events, and on occasion even vacationing with them. After a fellow shooter fell ill, Brian came up with the concept for this coffee-table book, turning the tables on the photographers and asking them about themselves and their work.

Enter The Photographer Project, a fascinating personal photography project from New York-based photographer Brian Ach.

It’s all in a day’s work for celebrity photographers, who regularly grace red carpets and are granted inside access to exclusive premieres, events, and concerts. The Photographer Project prompted over 60 New York entertainment photographers to answer questions such as:

“Which celebrity undeservedly gets a bad rap?”

“Who is your favorite/least favorite celebrity to photograph and why?”

“Tell, please, in detail, about the most crazy, interesting, funny, odd, or touching celebrity story that you have been part of.”

This new coffee table staple consists of full-length studio portraits of entertainment photographers who are based in New York City, along with ten standardized questions they answered about celebrities and celebrity photography. The Photographer Project gives the tabloid-hungry public a unique, exclusive glimpse into the world of celebrities, parties, and entertainment photography. The portraits are as unique as the varied personalities of the photographers themselves, and  The subjects include high-profile photographers such as Kevin Mazur, Patrick McMullan and others, as well as paparazzi shooters.

The Photographer Project was originally conceived to raise funds for Mr. Paul Hawthorne and his family. Paul was an entertainment photographer in New York City, and one of the best. He became ill with amyloidosis, a rare blood disease, in the fall of 2008, and passed away from complications on December 20, 2008. Paul was a son, a (twin) brother, husband to Amy, and a father to two great kids, Max and Lucas.

The Photographer Project has been made into a fascinating book, containing the aforementioned portraits and questions, along with an irreverent glossary of industry-specific terms and outtakes from the photo sessions. A portion of the proceeds from sales after printing will be donated by Brian Ach to the Hawthorne family.

The project is available in book form at blurb.com here.

See more at www.brianach.com