Tonight I am biting the bullet and finally getting an official portrait done. I have been working in fashion for over 15 years and never thought I needed, or wanted one.
The photographers pit/Getty Images
I have been able to put off doing this because a few years back I was able to sweet talk a fantastic fashion intern name Benjamin Seidler into doing an illustration of me. His illustration is what I use on my Twitter feed, Facebook page, and Tumblr.
A recent fashion illustration by Ben Seidler
I hate looking at photos of myself and I thought this would be the perfect alternative. Benjamin is also the genius behind the backdrop to my blog and he came up with the charming introductions to my IHT videos, the Suzy Menkes videos that appear on the New York Times website.
Benjamin has moved on to bigger and better things in the fashion world, but he still has time for old friends. He even offered to do another illustration of me…maybe to go with my new Jessica 2.0 body.
But about that portrait photo…
I turned to another friend in the fashion industry who also worked at the IHT at the start of her career, PR Power Girl Heloise Brion. Her main squeeze is the professional photographer Christophe Roué and I decided to go with him because I loved his use of natural light and the casual/ friendly feel of his photos.
Heloise Brion/ Christophe Roué
Choosing someone to take my photo got me thinking about who – if I could have any photographer in the world do my portrait- would be my dream photographer. I would love the International Herald Tribune’s long time fashion photographer Christopher Moore, who has been shooting catwalk photos for over fifty years, to take my photo. He always says yes…but we have yet to do the deed.
Also I really love what Jamie Beck is doing creating animated portraits called “cinemagraphs” (I wrote about them here) and would like to have one to call my own…maybe next time she is in Paris.
A "cinemagraph" image of Coco Rocha by Jamie Beck
Another great female photographer with a distinctive eye is the lovely Garance Doré. I see her all the time at the shows and find her friendly and outgoing with everyone, even at the very end of the very last day of Paris Fashion Week. Maybe its for this reason she is able to make each and every woman she takes a photo of look like she caught them on their best day.
Ceylan/Garance Doré
What about you? If you could have only one living photographer take your portrait who would you pick?
