What a treat it was to listen to Clay Enos give his talk on the portraiture of Watchmen. I’ve admired this man’s work for quite some time; but to be able to listen to him talk about his work and the work he did as stills photographer on the film Watchmen, was close to inspirational (in a non-stalker-ish way). The joy with which Clay spoke of being on set (almost like a kid in a candy store) was a breath of fresh air…truly in stark juxtaposition to the dark, foggy and mysterious environment of Watchmen.
Mr. Enos’ slow build, which at some points made me wonder if he might have been nervous, was sharply contrasted by the onslaught of images. He mentioned how many portraits he was showing us…I must have blanked it out. Believe me, there were lots! If you think this was a collection of Hollywood style press-type pics of the actors in costume or “what they really look like without make-up” you are sorely mistaken. It began as a journey into the world of movie-making, but soon enough, it was clear that what were seeing were the “people” of Watchmen; not the famous actors or the director (yes, yes, there were some rather sweet shots of the actors). These portraits were of the stuntmen, the “background actors,” the lighting guys, the props masters! And soon the journey into the world of Watchmen transformed into the world of portrait-making. He wasn’t really talking to the fans of the novel; he wasn’t talking to the fans of the film (or just film goers). He was talking to the photographers: the pros, the amateurs, the ones who will be picking up their dusty cameras tonight. The care that Clay used in making all of the portraits was evident by looking at the images themselves, as well as listening to his soft-spoken, but decisive tone.
His open admission that he had never worked on a movie set before was surprising and endearing; not to mention his almost geeky glee at telling us about green screen, corn syrup for blood and a rather hilarious account of playing paintball once filming had wrapped. Again, all this was in sharp contrast with the almost all black clad, iPhone using, MacBook pro clicking crowd. We were, after all, at the Apple Store. And there were plenty of shots of Apple product use in Clay’s collection; seemed almost like they had been snuck in there for effect. But it worked. It all worked. Even the well-timed plane ride/airplane model shot (you had to be there).
What else to say: if you haven’t seen the movie yet (or even if you have), I recommend you take a look at Clay’s portraits first (heck, buy the book even). If you don’t plan to see the film, I recommend you slide on over to Clay’s website to take a look at his work. You’ll enjoy it; and hey, you can also buy coffee from him!
Psst…of course I made my own set of Clay portraits from the talk. They will be on Flickr soon enough.