I
don’t do reality well. I have to romanticize things. I dream up images
and I shoot them – fantasies and escapism. If I can’t feel the image,
it won’t work.
The most fun I had was a commercial of an 1890’s cattle drive in the
snow in Colorado. We were creating reality and living it. Lots of
people were having fun on that shoot, the cowboys, the agency people
and my crew. The applied arts are all about getting paid for what you
love to do anyway. Not many people have that opportunity.
With over 100 advertising awards and 10,000 advertising credits, Jim
is a major force in commercial period photography and film direction.
He was the founding president of APA Los Angeles. He teaches
high-profile workshops and currently chairs the photography department
at San Francisco’s Academy of Art College.
