From there, he found the beauty in models, as well as musicians. Even though the two camps often intermingle, Butch has found a way to capture each subculture on their own very special terms. 

“At first I was shooting my life,” he says. “Lots of my friends: rock and roll kids and punk kids and kids around town. I kind of stumbled onto [model photography] serendipitously, here in Manhattan. I had a friend who was a photo assistant and he got me into the photo assisting thing.”

The gravitational pull of the art helped Butch both patch a theory together and set the genres apart.

“I do a lot of portrait work,” he says. “I shoot a lot of musicians. Fashion is one thing, but when you are photographing a musician, it’s a whole other mindset. It really helps you in the long run if you can photograph anybody, any time, anywhere. I think you can get a lot of good training by doing fashion work and then doing portrait work and doing both at the same time. Trying to develop your own common thread through both of it where your overall style is dominant. It should be obvious that you did it or that your team did it.”

Of course, with talent and a unique visual style come opinions, both welcomed and dreaded. “When it comes to people’s opinions,” he says, “I don’t mean to stand on cliché but everybody has one. And you can’t please everybody all the time. If you did, you would actually be failing at your job. You don’t want to please everybody all the time. There is probably a period in your career where you have the luxury of being totally creative and totally not bound by any kind of branded style thus far. At a certain point, you probably will have to deal with that. They demand that.”

Before long, he was taking his branded style to magazines like Cosmopolitan.

“It’s like, beyond being very well trained working for other photographers, what do you do?” he says regarding how to stand out from the bizillions of photographers clawing their way toward the very narrow doorway of magazine shooting. “[The magazine editors say], ‘show me something I haven’t seen.’ When you go to a magazine like Cosmo, it’s kind of like your interpretation of their formula. You are going to have to research what they do up there.

How are you going to fit in?

“First you have to learn what’s appropriate and then kind of push the envelope a bit and not be afraid to fill up some frame on your film. You bring them a bunch of stuff to work with. Different layouts. They know what they’re looking for, but you try to show them some other stuff. It’s possible that they would say, ‘wow, this is a really exciting interpretation. Let’s use that.’ You’re so fortunate to be a part of something everyday and have fun with it, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to deliver. Hopefully, you will have a good editor to let you know. It’s like, ‘okay, we got the shot. Now let’s experiment a bit.’”

Butch became part of the Cosmo machine while managing to maintain his individual style. While working with Cosmo, he says, “You not only learn how the magazine itself works, but what a big engine it is. There are something like fifty publications of it around the world. And it’s one of the largest read magazines in the world. I would imagine that they come up with certain formulas and certain models of how the magazine is and the readership can count on that. I’m sure they work with focus groups. When you have as many ad pages as they have, that comes with a lot of responsibility, to fill the magazine with stories and the photos that will go with it. They really work hard on coming up with what that is.”

Of course, a photographer can only be as good as his subjects. Butch’s advice for models is quite zen: “Try not to be nervous and don’t be scared. You’re not going to make any mistakes. There are always variations on what’s happening between the photographer and the model. How could you possibly make a mistake? Just keep moving and try to have a dialogue with the team and find out what they are going for so that you can help to interpret that.

“Don’t be nervous about making a mistake. Because you’re not gonna. You should be totally free to interpret what is going on. Do some homework. Look at the magazines and see what’s going on. Have the team tell you what it is that they want from you. You can’t be expected to be clairvoyant and read the photographer’s mind. Keep it on a professional level like that and you can’t go wrong. If you’re in an apartment, get a dialogue going so you can get the feeling. It’s the same as being in a movie, I guess. You’re trying to tell a story here. What’s our story? You’re supposed to be in the story. Get it to that level. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, because there aren’t any. There are just variations.”

Butch’s advice is solid, which figures, because he learned from one of the world’s best photographers, Bruce Weber.

Butch says of Bruce, “He’s always working. Whether or not he’s cashing in on it is one thing, but he truly is passionate about what he does. That’s something to allocate into your own personal form of measure. Where you are comfortable?

“He’s such a well-rounded guy and he keeps a lot of youthful energy around him. He never de-motivates anybody. When somebody has such a high demand on himself, and you become a part of that job, it’s demanded of you as well. But in a sense, you want to deliver the best for a person like that. And he has the ability to bring that out in people. Not only did he create a look, but it also sold, which is ironic. The guy is truly a voice in a place that is full of echoes.”

Butch’s work continues to echo throughout the canyons of Manhattan and beyond.

“I can’t remember where I read it or heard it,” he says, “but the Latin root of photography means ‘to write with light.’ I love singer-songwriters. This is my way of being a part of all that. Number one, telling stories, and number two, being another aspect of working with artists. Kind of being a part of their image, not in a superficial sense, but really just how they are brought to the world. I mean, they do have to have their photograph taken. The market demands it. And I like being a part of that with a lot of the artists who I work with. It’s a nice moment when you do get to have that connection with them, kind of a one-on-one or with the band. You’re now a part of their art as well and they’re a part of yours. I like that connection.”

 

Photos courtesy of Butch Hogan, all rights reserved.

For a closer look at Butch’s beautiful work, go to

www.butchhogan.com

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