During my first year with Celeste Cooper, I came across a poem by Ray Bradbury in the back of Design Times. I tore out the page and remember staring at it, soaking in every word. I loved the poem so much I Calligraphied it on parchment, burnt the edges, created a wax seal and handed it to Celeste for her birthday. Apart from that I'd never found a "place" for that poem and it followed me through out my career. I once said that I would never take out an ad for myself, I felt photographers advertise by being published. Well, when Stylist Robert Brown asked me to photograph his Provincetown home and he wanted to do a lot of evening shots, the first shot made me think again about an ad. Robert had set the table with candles and we added some wine glasses and then everything was perfect except for the light on the table area, so I quickly set up a modeling light to recreate warmth. Have you ever just known, just known that something magical just happened! Well that evening as I was being attacked by mosquitos, I knew.
When NE Finery was first released I was Star Struck! I LOVED the cover shot by Elizabeth Wertz and wrote to the Editor Yvonne Blacker. The cover was so unexpected and surreal to me and I wrote that I wanted to be apart of NE Finery. When I nervously presented my ad to Yvonne Blacker, with a part of the poem from Ray Bradbury, Yvonne asked about the rest of the poem. Both Yvonne Blacker and Robert Brown felt the image was so strong that the poem detracted from the overall ad. Then in a very unexpected moment Yvonne Blacker added the entire poem on the adjacent page and I will be eternally grateful.
Here is the link to the page in NE Finery, and please peruse the entire issue, it is fabulous and includes more of my work!
Warm Regards,
Michael J. Lee
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