Sometimes photo shoots are really easy to come by. An editor calls you and says "Hey Dan, there's this great story about kayaking in your pajamas, it's the newest craze. Can you shoot it?" and I say "Sure, sounds fun, I've never gone kayaking in my pajamas." The photos are then submitted, and then I see them 6 months later in a magazine.
But sometimes you really have to work at a story. You see something really amazing, and you don't know when, or where or who is gonna publish it, but you just KNOW that if you take the time to shoot it, it will get published.
I first saw the home of
Randall Darwall and Brian Murphy a few years back when I was photographing them for an article about their woven textiles and "wearable art" fashions. When they invited me in for a cup of coffee (which was the first of many cups in our friendship over the years), I got the grand tour. Through their extensive travels and visits to art colony's and craft shows, they had amassed one of the most interesting and eclectic collections of "stuff" I had ever seen under one roof. I knew it was magazine worthy.
I took some scouting shots, to get the ball rolling. But I knew I needed more if I wanted to submit it to a magazine. After bugging myself for a year (A YEAR!!) I finally scheduled a day to photograph the house, on spec. With a busy summer schedule on Cape Cod, it's a leap of faith to commit to a project, and hire an assistant, when you might never get paid for it.
It also takes trust on the homeowners part, when you call and say, "Can I come and invade your home for ten hours, move around all your furniture, and make a general mess of your valuable art. But I promise I'll put everything back." Then they say, "Great! Is it going to be in a magaizine!?" And then you come back with the confidence inspiring response of "Maybe. I mean, not right now...but someday. We'll try our best!!"
After exploring many avenues to get the piece published, a friend of mine, writer
Jaci Conry was interested. She showed the images to Boston Home, and they too were interested. However yet another final photo shoot was needed. So about three years after my initial scouting of the house, I'm pleased to say that it appears in the newest issue of Boston Magazine's
Home edition. As you can see, they even used one of the images for the table of contents page. I'm glad they chose that photo. It rewards the quest for perfection of myself and Bryce (photo-assistant extraordinaire), since we spent about 20 minutes adjusting the positioning on those dice, which were on the bedroom mantle, but were transferred to the dining room to be included in the photo festivities. So in this crazy world of instantly being able to publish anything you want (like this blog), sometimes, good things come to those who wait. Here is a slideshow of some of the detail photos in all of their un-cropped glory.
