DANCERS AND BODY MODELS CALL!

DANCERS AND BODY MODELS CALL!

If interested, direct message me at tonypowell1@comcast.net instead of responding to this post or call me at 301.343.7805. I’m preparing for a gallery show – Body Language - of new images captured in darkness, experimenting with the effect of light on bodies in motion and at rest.

Looking for uninhibited, spontaneous dancers/models between the ages of 18-26 to collaborate with on this project. Up to 6 photos will be given to each dancer/model to add to your portfolio.

All photos taken in a safe, relaxed, and professional environment with a maximum time commitment of 3 hours. Forward this post to anyone you think fits the criteria and may be interested. Thanks, Tony

Courtney Portraits!

Courtney Caldwell. Georgetown. October 22, 2009. All images © Tony Powell

To see the entire photostream click here!

© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009

© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009

© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009

© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009

© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009

© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009

Samantha Craig

Samantha Craig. October 21, 2009. Northwest Washington, DC & National Harbor Waterfront, MD

Makeup by Carl Ray

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09

Carrie Miller Portfolio

Click here to see the entire photo shoot!

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. 9th & G Sts., NW. October 10, 2009

Shortly before photographing Barack Obama and Lady Gaga for Washington Life Magazine on Saturday, Carrie Miller and I were able to squeeze in our first photo shoot together. I’d seen her a few times with lawyer and night-lifer John Burns, while I was shooting over the summer at the W Hotel, but I never had a chance to introduce myself. I decided to ask her to shoot with me when I saw her again this past Thursday night at the grand re-opening of the W. My instincts were dead on. Carrie is one of the most naturally gifted models I’ve worked with to date. I normally leave a shoot with a handful of usable images but the portfolio Carrie and I created Saturday yielded dozens.

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Chinatown. October 10, 2009

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Chinatown. October 10, 2009

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Dupont Circle, NW. October 10, 2009. Clothing by Terra Boutique

Little did I know that time was of the essence if we were to make this work. She was heading back to school at USC Sunday night, so when I got the call on Friday that she could only shoot Saturday, I had to scramble to make it work. And work it did!

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Chinatown. October 10, 2009

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. 9th & G Sts., NW. October 10, 2009

I didn’t  want to try to round up a few assistants in a day so I decided to shoot before and during the “golden hour” – the hour after the sun has risen above the horizon line or the hour just before the sun dips below it – a time of day when the shadows cast by the sun are least harsh. With the help of her boyfriend John, I was able to shoot, guerilla style, at a few different locations around DC.

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. 9th & G Sts., NW. October 10, 2009

© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Dupont Circle, NW. October 10, 2009

Backgrounds exist everywhere. Training the eye to make use of any location and deciding how to light it is the great challenge. The process of creating an image is as rewarding, if not more so than the image itself. The only way to surmount a new obstacle is to take a chance at thinking or doing something in a different way. I’d never grow in understanding if I always did what I’ve always done. Instead of canceling the shoot when it started to rain lightly, I went with it, taking advantage of the even, overcast lighting produced by the thick overhead clouds – the greatest of all softboxes….and it’s free! With a set of brand new White Lightnings and my new Canon 5D, we set out to create something that was never there before.

A Passion for Fashion

Check out all the photos here !

Lindsay Kin wearing a vintage Bob Mackie © Tony Powell

Sunday’s fashion shoot at Meridian Hill Park and later – 35th & Reservoir in Georgetown –  was like a dream come true. I never really thought I’d be able to assemble a first-rate group of hair and makeup artists, or work with models and designers that I admire without having deep pockets or Leibovitz as a last name. But with lots of honest hard work and plenty of gentle begging I was able to do just that.

Andrew Paterini wearing Andrew Nowell and Stefanie Ball in a gown by Carmen Marc Valvo © Tony Powell

Stefanie Ball and Andrew Paterini © Tony Powell

With my website launching on my birthday – November 14th – I needed one more photo shoot to complete my fashion gallery (for the time being) in time for the launch. My good friends Susanna Quinn and Lily Mazahery were gracious enough to lend me current and vintage couture dresses from their personal collections just for this photo shoot. With dresses by Vera Wang, Nicole Miller, Bob Mackie, and Carmen Marc Valvo, I was entrusted with clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Lindsay Kin, Brooke Monahan, and Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell

The hair and makeup team for this shoot were all new to me but it felt like we’ve been together from the start.

Lindsay Kin wearing Nicole Miller, Andrew Paterini, and Brooke Monahan in vintage Vera Wang © Tony Powell

I saw Shana Janelle Swain’s makeup before I ever met her, at a fashion show I photographed at K Street Lounge over the summer. Eduardo Bravo is a very popular hairstylist in Georgetown, and hair & makeup artist Myken Garcia was introduced to me by styling wunderkind James Cornwell backstage after the Fashion Fights Poverty (FFP) runway show last Friday night! One of the most talented and kind people I know, clothing stylist Anais de Viel Castel, agreed to help me bring the clothes to life. We started at Washington Life at the exact same time 3 years ago and have been friends ever since!

Crystal Hannon wearing a dress by Studio D Maxsi © Tony Powell

Two other meaningful things happened that night, at FFP. When I saw through my lens, model Lindsay Kin, walk down that runway in the  Chinese Ballroom of the Mayflower Hotel, I knew right away I had to work with her. She was wearing clothes by Studio D Maxsi, and as soon as that set was over I left my camera (something I never do) to race back to meet both model and designer before being swallowed up by the next wave of outfits and models to go out on the runway. I had been waiting to meet the right model to wear the red Bob Mackie dress that leads this posting. When I met Lindsay I knew she was the one. She was kind enough to oblige and I can say that never has an idea in my mind been so easily transferred to the real World. I almost didn’t go the runway show that night…the organizers were very busy and I didn’t know if I had place from which to shoot. That’s the beauty of staying open, of moving towards fear, not running away from it. I went that night despite the fear I wouldn’t have a place to get a good shot. It turns out that FFP founders Sylvie Luanghy and Kadrieka Maiden not only had a place for me, it was the best center spot in the house…and I almost stayed at home.

Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell

Andrew Paterini © Tony Powell

Portrait shoot with George Clinton

George Clinton, photographed by Tony Powell

Thursday, September 24, 2009 The Lofts, Adams Morgan, at the home of Julian Epstein and Lee Barona

George Clinton © Tony Powell

George Clinton © Tony Powell

Evenings in VOGUE

Model Collage © Tony Powell

I jokingly told a friend – a few weeks ago – at the premiere of the Anna Wintour documentary  “The September Issue,” that one day my pictures would be in VOGUE magazine. Little did I know it would become a reality much sooner than I anticipated. I owe it to Barbara Martin who recommended me to VOGUE after seeing my “The September Issue” after party photos taken at the W Hotel, an event she coordinated. None of this would have been possible without the support of Nancy Bagley and Soroush Shehabi, Owner/Publisher and CEO respectively, of Washington Life Magazine, who keep me in the public’s eye – photographing the best events in DC on a regular basis!

Mayor Adrian and Michelle Fenty © Tony Powell

So it came as a great surprise to be given the opportunity to photograph Evenings in VOGUE, hosted by the wife of Washington’s mayor, Michelle Fenty, and Nancy Koide. The fashionable crowd that descended upon Oya restaurant on 9th Street, in the District, was a who’s who of the DC social and nightlife scenes. The partial list: Mayor Adrian Fenty, Rima Al-Sabah, BET chief Debra Lee, Buffy Cafritz, Nini Ferguson, Debbie Dingell, Heather Podesta, Meryl Chertoff, Cindy Jones, Mai Abdo, Ann Walker Marchant, Nicki Kalokerinos, Andrea Rodgers, newly married Jayne Sandman, Becky Lee, Ellen Chube, TV anchors Lindsay Czarniak and Angie Goff, Kiki Ryan, Julian Epstein, Ernie and Debbi Jarvis, GEICO VP Rynthia Rost, Holidae Hayes, Jacqui Watson, and Rebecca Fishman Harris. DC Chief of Police, Cathy Lanier was there, sidearm on the ready, as well as the mayor’s mother, Jan Fenty.

photo © Tony Powell

My good friend and DJ Seyhan Duru worked his usual magic at the mixing table while 3 top models took turns strutting their stuff up on a platform in the latest fashions from New York. There was even a 3-chair makeup station sponsored by cosmetics giant Shiseido, where ladies could have their makeup touched up throughout the evening. The best finger foods I’ve seen in a while (crab cakes, mounds of sushi, and mini chocolate cakes) were being passed around all night and adding to the frenetic atmosphere? News crews, and the clamoring of people trying to get their picture taken with Michelle and the Mayor.

photo © Tony Powell

Urban Chic Shoot

Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell

Crystal Hannon © Tony Powell

Thanks to the staff of Urban Chic, yesterday got off to a great start with a photo shoot at one of the most solid and of the moment boutiques for ladies in DC. When model Courtney Caldwell and fashion blogger/stylist Mekeda Saggau-Sackey approached me – at Noche de Gala last Monday – about shooting there, I couldn’t resist. Washington Life Magazine has sent me there twice to cover events: Shoshanna Lonstein’s trunk show and a Spring shopping event, so I knew the layout, but found the back patio and parking lot to be great impromptu locations to take pictures. Courtney is a natural. I could have photographed her all day. I brought along my newest model/friend, Crystal Hannon, to get to know her, in front of the lens, before our really big couture shoot this Sunday – two very wealthy friends have agreed to loan vintage couture dresses by Vera Wang, Badgley Mischka, Calvin Klein, and Nicole Miller. Our first shoot together yesterday was a great success, even though my Pocket Wizards had a mind of their own and decided to trigger the strobes whenever they chose. I guess I’m heading over to Penn Camera today. After the Urban Chic shoot, Crystal and I found a wooded area on Whitehaven that was ideal for playing around with black and white photography. I learned from it all and the results exceeded my expectations. If I can walk away from a shoot with a handful of solid images I’m satisfied. Yesterday’s shoot yielded dozens. Let’s just hope that the rain stays away this Sunday!!!

Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell

Crystal Hannon © Tony Powell

Courtney and Crystal © Tony Powell

High Kicking at the Dance Awards II

Sona Kharatian and Jonathan Jordan © Tony Powell

Click here to see and purchase the photos!

Sona Kharatian and Jonathan Jordan © Tony Powell

One of my favorite times of the year is when the entire DC dance community comes together to recognize and support each other’s efforts at the Metro DC Dance Awards. This year’s ceremony, held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts’ Terrace Theater, was one of the most entertaining yet. We were all treated to a rare visit by “Martha Graham,” actually the NY-based female impersonator Richard Move, who, as the evening’s emcee, was able to channel Graham in a way that was both realistic and endearing.

Therrell Smith and Virginia Johnson © Tony Powell

Richard Move as Martha Graham © Tony Powell

Joy of Motion’s Youth Dance Ensemble © Tony Powell

Peter DiMuro © Tony Powell

Move’s devotion to Graham is apparent and his life’s work of imitation and total immersion has become an art form in and of itself. There were dance performances galore – scattered throughout the evening – beginning on the Millennium Stage at 6pm where the youth awards were given out, to the main event in the Terrace: Furia Flamenca, Joy of Motion Youth Dance Ensemble, ARKA Ballet, and Maryland Youth Ballet, were just a handful of the city’s brightest lights, from the local dance scene, to perform.

DC Cowboys © Tony Powell

Maryland Youth Ballet © Tony Powell

Juliana Calderon and Co. © Tony Powell

Septime Webre and Liz Lerman © Tony Powell

There was something for everyone – ballet, modern dance, flamenco, and even the dancing DC Cowboys!! I was overjoyed to see so many of my friends in one place and many of them winning awards: Septime Webre and the Washington Ballet for last season’s beautifully conceived, Celtic-inspired evening of ballet in the Eisenhower – Highland Fling (I went twice), Gesel Mason receiving the Pola Nirenska Award, my new friends Delphina Parenti and Jason Ignacio both receiving the award for Outstanding Individual Performance, Helen Hayes winning for Outstanding Achievement in Dance Education, and Brooke Kidd receiving the Kriegsman Award!

Alan Kriegsman, Andrea Snyder, Naima Prevots, Sali Ann Kriegsman

The climax of the evening’s honors was the  acceptance speech given by the internationally-renowned, Washington-trained prima ballerina and magazine editor Virginia Johnson, for her lifetime achievement in dance.  In accepting the Pola Nirenska Award, she stressed the importance of talking about dance to people who are not involved in the field, about engaging those that may otherwise not have access to the arts. A high point for me was having an opportunity to photograph Virginia with her first ballet teacher, 91 year-old Therrell Smith, who attended last night’s ceremony.

Helanius Wilkins, Helen Hayes, Gesel Mason © Tony Powell

After the tightly produced show we all went over to the Watergate’s 600 Restaurant to mingle the night away! Over 700 photos will soon be available for purchase and download.

Click here to see and purchase photos!

As seen from above…

The first installment in an ongoing gallery of images designed to challenge my eye to find form in any surrounding.

Donovan House Rooftop – Sunday afternoon, September 13, 2009

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

The Last Kiss of Summer – Adult Swim and “Club Ritz”

Check out all the Labor Day Adult Swim photos at www.tonypowell.smugmug.com

© Tony Powell

I photographed the Courage Cup fashion show at the Liaison Hotel a few weeks ago so in picking a pool to go to for the last time this summer I opted to head back there for the Labor Day Adult Swim – hosted by Ashley from VH-1’s House of Love.

Ashley from VH-1's House of Love © Tony Powell

The popular weekly get together – organized by promoter Eric Lund – has been able to attract a wildly diverse cross section of party goers ranging from teen-age to middle-age. Although the rain did finally shut it down late in the day, most of the afternoon (1-6) was filled with good times and sunny skies.

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

I headed over to Starbucks in Dupont Circle to wait out the rain before changing clothes and going over to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Georgetown for a party hosted by Seyhan Duru, Freddie Wyatt, Omar Rahman,  & Dawoud Al-khabbaz. For the second time, this quartet have taken over Degrees Lounge and the upstairs area of the Ritz’s fairly conservative dining spot, Fahrenheit, and created a mise en scène worthy of the clubs in South Beach. All remnants of dining were taken away leaving behind a vault of a space, like a painter’s new canvas, primed for the extent of the imagination. The party was so hot, the hotel’s fuses blew three times!

Click here to see all the “Club Ritz” photos!

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

The head count exceeded 900, the DJ was imported from London, and the lighting that accompanied the music was, perhaps, the most impressive I’ve seen in Washington. The state-of-the-art laser show seemed to occupy every cubic foot of the room, leaving no person or corner untouched. The effect created by the randomly shifting colors and shapes lent an edgy quality to some of the images from that night.

© Tony Powell

I was reminded of one of my favorite Surrealist painters, André Masson, who pioneered the technique of “automatic drawing,” a method wherein the artist’s rational mind is subjected in favor of the unconscious mind by allowing the hand to move randomly around the page. Since I was unable to see what was occurring through the lens in the interval it took the shutter to allow light into the camera – 1 to 2 seconds - I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Click here to see all the “Club Ritz” photos!

Team Brunette @ Midtown Loft

Click here to see all the photos!

© Tony Powell

I went over to the new Midtown Loft for a fundraiser hosted by Taryn Fielder and Makeda Saggau-Sackey, members of Team Brunette – one half of the Blondes vs. Brunettes organization that has, since 2005, raised nearly $150,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association National Capital Area Chapter.

© Tony Powell

This unique charity has brought some of Washington, D.C.’s most prominent young women leaders together to raise awareness about the disease – sometimes occurring in individuals as young as 30 – and funds for the Chapter so that it may continue to provide services and programs – at no or low cost – to area residents.

© Tony Powell

Other notable Team Brunette members: Kate Michael and Angie Goff. Located on the south side of Dupont Circle, the Midtown Loft is a bright new addition to the local lounge landscape.

© Tony Powell

Nowhere near as trendy as Fly or Spot lounges directly across the street, Midtown seems to relish in it’s homier, more user-friendly environment.

© Tony Powell

With pool tables in the back and plasma screens on the walls tuned to sports – I felt more at home than as though I was out.

© Tony Powell

The 3-story walk up reminded me of tenement houses in New York City, but once upstairs, the open layout and comfortable environment made me soon forget the generous climb. I’m always amazed at how many paths are crossing at all times.

© Tony Powell

I found out, only tonight, that my friend Wendy Gordon, who was there with Charles Adler, is the President of Hisaoka Communications, an organization that was once headed by Joan Hisaoka, the recently deceased sister of Robert Hisaoka, whose October 24th “Make a Difference” Gala, I get to cover for Washington Life Magazine.

© Tony Powell

According to the Blondes vs Brunettes website, “Sports is not exactly their thing. Sure, their hand-eye coordination is superb – when it comes to painting their toenails. But when it comes to fundraising, these women never fumble.”

© Tony Powell

To donate on Makeda’s page, visit: http://alz.kintera.org/bvbdc/makeda

To donate on Taryn’s page, visit: http://alz.kintera.org/bvbdc/taryn_it_up

To make a general donation to Team Brunette click here!

 

All of the money raised will support Team Brunette’s fundraising efforts before going head-to-head against Team Blonde on Saturday, November 14!