I’ve photographed David Harris on stage before, but this time we wanted to do something different. Instead of chasing moments under stage lights, we brought one seriously funny guy into the studio1 and built the shoot around what makes David, David.
David Harris is one of those people who is just naturally funny. He’s quick, incredibly expressive, and whether he’s on stage or just standing around the studio between shots, there’s usually something happening that makes you laugh.
I’ve photographed David performing on location and live before, but this time we wanted to do something different.
Before the shoot, David and I spent some time talking through what he needed, how the images would be used, and what we wanted them to feel like. We looked at examples, kicked around ideas, and eventually landed on bringing him into the studio where we could control the lighting, backgrounds and expressions rather than simply capturing whatever happened on stage.
From there, we built out a loose storyboard of the images we wanted to create. The idea wasn’t to lock David into a bunch of predetermined poses—it was to give us a framework (to ensure we got the images he needed) and then leave plenty of room for David to be David.
And honestly, photographing a comedian in the studio is pretty damn fun. Give David a little direction and then let him go. Some of my favorite images came from the expressions and moments in between what we had planned.
We kept the backgrounds simple and concentrated on David—his personality, expressions, and the range of characters that can appear on his face in about five seconds. We also photographed with the final use in mind, creating images that could stand on their own or be composited into other backgrounds and designs.
David is a great comedian, but more importantly, he’s become a friend. I loved getting the chance to make these with him.
Here are a few of my favorites.
- Studio setup: The studio is built around a tethered computer workstation with two viewing displays and a 60-inch screen. As we shoot, we can review the photographs together at full size—comparing expressions, poses, wardrobe and composition in real time. It makes David and his team part of the process and lets us refine both the images and our selections as the shoot develops. ↩
