The Academy Awards - Backstage with Lauren Randolph

I was able to talk to Lauren Randolph about shooting the 2015 Oscars through out the experience. She had such unique stories of the glitterati showing up to a good old fashioned rehearsal the week before - no make up, gowns, or suits - just performers going to work. The tech rehearsals for live camera and edits and the actors that came in to challenge them and rehearse potential reactions of celebrities. She had an interesting knowledge base of having previously seen photographer Art Streiber present his own curatorial take of the story of "The Oscar" at a Slideluck show in LA - where he only shared the story of the statue itself, none of the backstage or performance (though his website includes his behind the scenes work too). Lauren was excited about an Academy Award show produced by broadway producers and hosted by such a theatrical actor - Neil Patrick Harris - indicating an abundance of musical performances and pizzaz. She was even caught on TV several times on the red carpet that night. 

Overall - a red carpet experience, a gown to wear to work, and some wildly familiar faces seen in person for the first time - makes for one interesting job. Here are some of her photos and direct words from Lauren about shooting the 2015 Academy Awards. 

When you were first approached to shoot at the Oscars did you expect to have as much access? 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I had my first initial creative call with the people from The Academy - although, they approached me by asking me what I'd want to shoot. I told them I wanted to tell the story of the Oscars that not everyone knows - the behind the scenes, and small intimate moments that maybe aren't always captured. I wanted to give people a glimpse into the full production, and not just show the final glossy product. 

 It was a rainy day. While they did their best - some press still got a little wet in the clean up of water logged tents.

You made a strong choice to share most of the images in black and white. When did you decide this? Why? 

My decision to share my story in black and white came after my first day of shooting with the producer, Neil Meron. I was following him around, and getting a look into what a day in his position looked like - backstage, in the greenroom, in the control room, talking with the director and the host, Neil Patrick Harris. Actually, I was shooting him in his office, explaining to him the story I was looking to capture - these behind the scenes moments, and a look into what he does that people maybe aren't used to seeing - and he asked me "Are these going to be in color or black and white?" I paused, and confessed, "I'm not sure yet, but they could end up either." That night as I was going through the images I realized that such an event, such a classic Hollywood award show, actually looked better told in black and white. It felt "old hollywood" to me. There was something about the images that felt timeless, and I wanted to keep the full story that way. 

Neil Meron - Producer                                     Hamish Hamilton - Director

Producer's Craig Zadan and Neil Meron shaking hands backstage with everyone at The Oscars

What was the best part about the job? 

For me, the best part, was actually seeing the production side. Everyone knows the glitz and glam of Hollywood. We've seen the red carpet photos, and celebrity presenters and award winners - but there's producers, directors, camera men, sound guys, digital techs, PAs - there's so many more people involved in the Academy Awards than you think about while watching the show. I know how much goes into producing a single photoshoot, it really is mind blowing to think about the production behind a stage show like these awards. It has everything from song, dance, performance, and all on live television. It was really fascinating to get to see the rehearsals and how much practice and thought goes into every detail and minute of the 3 hour show everyone is so used to watching on television. 

 Performance rehearsals

 Oscar winning artist - Common

John Legend

Would you want to shoot next year? 

I would absolutely want to shoot the Academy Awards again next year. The thing is, with a show like this, every year can be so much different than the last. The host is different, the presenters are different, the performers are different - getting access to shoot behind the scenes would never be the same. I had long days during this shoot, but there was never a dull moment. I was always so fascinated with what was going on, and felt so lucky to get a chance to see these things that not everyone gets to see.

Backstage - Rehearsal week at the Oscars

Backstage at the Oscars - the presenter chairs are filled.

 Batman & Questlove

 Reese Witherspoon

HEAR THAT, ACADEMY? Lauren Randolph is in next year. 

Lauren (LaurenLemon) shared her images (more than seen here) over several social networks - Instagram and both her's and the Academy's tumblr. Her skill as a portrait artist and her experience capturing candid slices of life really shined through in telling the story of the 2015 Academy Awards.  

Elizabeth Pojé + Associates Photographer's are Populating PDN

There is a buzz happening on PDN for two of our photographers right now.

You can find Cory Dawson featured as one of PDN's Photoserve Top 10 for March.

And a beautiful news update on Laura Crosta's campaign with Paris Baguette.

Go stop by and say hi to PDN and the work by Cory and Laura! 

Operation Christmas Child - Lauri Laukkanen

As the Holiday's come to a close and the New Year begins it's good to be reminded of more than holiday leftovers, getting back to work, and putting away the Christmas decorations. It's never a bad time of year to pay attention to those in need. Our photographer Lauri Laukkanen had an amazing opportunity this year ----

Four months ago, in August 2104, the Finnish division of Operation Christmas Child contacted me, and asked me if I would be interested in joining them on their gift-distribution trip to Romania in December. My family has been preparing shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Child-project every year for the past 5-6 years, so the organization and their cause was already familiar to me. I was more than happy to join them on this trip, and after making sure I could fit the trip in my calendar, we locked the dates, and four months later I was sitting on the plane, flying to Romania with the team 

Our trip lasted ten days. We arrived in Cluj, Romania on Saturday the 13th of December, and stayed in that part of the country for the first four days. On Wednesday we spent about 10 hours in our van driving from Cluj to Vaslui (the poorest county in the whole of European Union), where we spent the remaining five days. 

In Cluj we delivered gifts to local gypsy-churches, villages and families. We were able to visit a gypsy-village called Pirita - they don't allow visitors to enter their village so the the local church hadn’t been able to visit them before. But they made an exception with us when we told them about the shoebox-gifts that we would be giving out to them. This village was one of the saddest places I’ve ever seen in my life. People living in shacks built out of cardboard boxes and other trash. Dogs, cats, children and adults all living together in a muddy, dirty, and wet environment. Children walking in old dirty t-shirts, without shoes. But I’ll never forget the joy and happiness that I saw in these children’s faces when they received their Christmas-gifts! It was their first real Christmas gift, ever. 

The best part about this trip to me was the fact that I got to work and connect with small children. I have always loved playing with kids, and fooling around with these kids was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. Bringing joy to these children felt amazing, and taking photos of them (and selfies with them) seemed to amuse the kids almost as much as getting the shoeboxes did. :)

As a whole, the trip was pretty tough, both physically and emotionally. We worked around 10-12 hours every day, and spent a lot of hours commuting from one place to another, driving on some of the worst roads in the world. Watching these people live their lives in some of the worst conditions I’ve ever seen, was also a very tough thing to go through, emotionally speaking. But even in these bad conditions we always saw happy children, eagerly waiting for their gifts. And that’s what made this trip really worth it all. :)

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This here is one of my favorite photos from the trip - it was taken in the village called Pirita – that muddy, dirty town. In the middle of the crowd, I spotted this girl, patiently waiting for her gift, while people around her were running, shouting and trying to make their way to the men handing out the shoeboxes. For a brief moment, her eyes connected with mine, and I smiled to her. She looked back at me and smiled a little. This was a beautiful moment that I won’t ever forget. 

Another photo that I like a lot, was also taken in Pirita. This photo tells the viewer a lot about the life and the living-conditions of Pirita. The boy is holding the hand of his mother, who is pregnant, waiting for another baby. Their clothes are old and dirty. The ground is muddy. And behind them, in the background, there are a lot of people just like them – all living in the same poor conditions.

Each and every photo I took on that trip has a long story behind it, and it would take a hundred blog-posts to go through all the stories, but here are some of my favorite moments that I managed to capture during our trip: