Today we’d like to introduce you to Charter Weeks.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I began studying photography with Harry Calahan at RISD in the 1960s. I was deeply influenced by the extraordinary images coming out of Viet Nam and the civil rights movement in the south. In 1965 I went to London and studied at the London School of Film Technique and then returned to New York where I worked as commercial photographer shooting for major agencies, magazines and the music industry. I also was a principal in a film company and for two years we were the primary film resource for the BBC shooting both news and documentary projects. A most memorable experience was shooting in Harlem the night after Martin Luther King was killed (utter chaos.) I also did a series of photographs in the south for The National Sharecroppers Fund to use in fund raising.
I returned to New Hampshire in 1971 and worked partly as an art director at a small agency and cutting film for an independent film company in Manchester NH. I built my own house in rural southern New Hampshire and started an Industrial Advertising Agency (Isinglass Marketing.com) since it was not possible to make a living as a full time photographer during that period.
I have been a photographer for 50 years, much of it documentary in nature. I have photographed in Europe, Asia and Africa, been exhibited in galleries around the US and published in a variety of magazines including The New York Times, The Virginia Quarterly Review, South Loop Review, Drunken Boat Corvette Fever and other journals.
My archives reside at Keene State College.
There is much important history that has been preserved by photography. Mathew Brady, Louis Hine, Bruce Davidson, and Walker Evans just to mention a few. My motto is “Photography keeps yesterday safe for tomorrow.”
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest obstacles for me were being poor and returning to New Hampshire in the midst of one of the worst recessions the country has experienced. There was simply very little work.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My work as a photographer is divided between my commercial work and my work as an “artist” and documentarian. My commercial work is largely centered around the work I do for the clients of my ad agency. Most of it is industrial in nature and includes aerials for an engineering firm, manufacturing facilities in the North East and to some extent product photography that supports my clients’ products.
As a photographer I am most proud of my ability to produce really strong well-structured compelling images of people in all sorts of circumstances. I have learned over 50 years not to be afraid, to be pretty aggressive with my camera. A lot of my work focuses on work and labor. I also spent occasional trips to Appalachia over 3 years to document the effects of the “Great Recession” on the people of that region.
Pricing:
- My day rate is $1,500 plus a fee per image processed
Contact Info:
- Website: www.isinglassmarketing.com
- Phone: 603 664-7654
- Email: cw@charterweeks.com
Image Credit:
All images copyright Charter Weeks
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