Kennedy Dickerson: Negatives, Slides and Prints. OH MY!

Week Four was a slow and a short one at that.

Monday, I was given the task to go through a slew of folders to document the negatives and prints that were enclosed.

It is always kind of mindblowing to not only be looking at, but holding some original prints, negatives and slides that have been taken by past photographers as well as seeing what CBS has been involved in over the years.

Tuesday, Justina and I were invited to join John Filo, one of the few CBS photographers, in his studio on the 20th floor.

The studio is incredibly small and very cold, as pictured above. It is mostly used for headshots of employees, or other businesses that ask John to take their photograph for websites or credentials.

This is Weijia Jiang. She is a local reporter for WCBS in New York City, just joining the program in June! As part of the CBS team, Weijia needed a new headshot.

John is very kind and understanding when it comes to the subjects wants and needs. From my perspective, he makes them feel at ease and comfortable in their own skin. It is very interesting to see his process and how, especially with women, John focuses on the different angles that make the woman look good.

He starts with positioning the subjects straight on and continues to turn them right and left to find their "side". Surprisingly, not all women know which side is their best. Weijia, for example, was excited to discover that her right side is the better of the two!

After taking a number of photographs, John showed Weijia the multiple selections. His process consists of going through all of the photos first. After looking at them as a whole, Weijia picks her favorites and dwindles the choices until it comes down to the winner. 

This was the final product!

Towards the end of the day, Michael, Justina and I were given the task to rip up and destroy old slides and prints of movies such as Roxeanne, Turner and Hooch, Indiana Jones, even Gone with the Wind. Why were all of these gems destined to be destroyed, might you ask? Because the copyright for their use had expired and were no longer able to be used legally. Needless to say, the three of us were both appalled and excited because we were given the permission to keep the prints we liked the most. Without displaying them on the internet, of course.

Another week down, two more to go.