william vázquez: photographer

Having photography LEGS in this economy.

2010-05-12T13:23:55Z

A recent shoot for Parker, The very awesome Diana, and her long legs waiting on set.

I have always been interested in photographing all sorts of things people, places, and things. In the business of photography that can be considered a bad thing. The argument being that you can't do everything equally well. How can you be an expert in all things? I do agree with that argument to a degree. Which means that if you want to work you have to specialize in one particular subject or style. Being a generalist has always been "not the way to do it." Although it has been the way I have been able to stay in this constantly changing business. The way I look at my job is that I tell stories, visual stories. I use a variety of styles to achieve that whether its in a reportage style where its just me, and my camera or a big todo in a studio with lots of production and crew. So I am a bit of a cameleon when it comes to visual style. I like to try different things all the time, and I really try to listen to my clients on what their needs are. So that can take me from photographing a peanut farm in Haiti, a baby formula plant in Singapore, a studio in NYC shooting fashion, to shooting advertising on a beach in Miami. It has been working for me for the last 20+ years (I am not as old as you are thinking), and still is. Not to say that this is the way to do it, but it has been my journey. That doesn't mean that I can take it easy, and relax...can't do that. It's harder than ever to earn a living in the creative arts. In order to stay in the mix you have to think like an artist and evolve, always evolve.

Blog Biennial: There's no crying in photography!

2010-04-27T13:12:30Z

Siem Reap, Cambodia 2008 © william vazquez2 years ago this month I started this blog. Like any photographer I spent a lot of time torturing myself as to why I should start a blog, and trying to convince myself not to. Ugh! more work in front of a computer! What will it look like? What will I say? Is my work interesting? Do I have anything to say? Is what I have to say interesting? Will I be able to keep adding content? Will anyone be listening or will it be more screaming into an empty room trying to reach people? Will anyone care? All these things rattled in my brain, which added to the procrastination, and delayed in getting off the ground. So I had to stop crying, plow ahead, and found my voice as well as the look along the way. It has been hard work staying focused, and resisting the temptation to post anything just to keep it current. I am proud of being able to keep up with it. It is definitely a long term project with slow returns, but I feel it has been successful in many ways. So those who are listening.....Many thanks!

I will be trying my best to keep it interesting for you.

2009-2010 travel, well so far for 2010

2010-03-23T13:19:34Z

View 2009-2010 travel in a larger map

From Novemeber 2009 to mid March 2010 I traveled on a project for a corporate citizenship report. Here are some stats from that trip. I really wanted to keep track of these details this time around, but I lost count somewhere in December so to tell you the truth I think these number are low except for the air miles which are correct.

55,523 air miles, 22 flights. 12 airports, 12 hotel stays, 15 cities, 8 car rentals, 2 train rides, taxis galore, countless road miles, 5 languages (Chinese, Malay, Creole, German, Danish, Portuguese), 3 weather delays, 2 missed flights, 2 visas, every weather imaginable from flooding, crazy thunderstorms, snow storms to 100 plus temps, a near fender bender, 1 getting the car stuck in a snow bank, lots of waiting and lots of rushing, tons of pointing and sign language, many great meals and many not so great meals, mass quantities of cliff bars consumed, 1 worn out suitcase, 1 worn out camera roller case, thousands of frames shot, a lot of great people met. Considering the amount of moving around. No real problems.

When do I get to do that again?

I love my job.

This is an image from a previous project, but is a good example of what a lot of the travel is. Lots and lots of not so great waiting around. it's 1:10am about 90 degrees and humid outside the closed Ho Chi Minh City Airport (something my travel agent neglected to mention) waiting for my connection to HUE at 8am. Just me and the rats. Too bad I couldn't get one in the shot.

10th stop...Rio de Janiero....finally, but only for 6 hours!

2010-02-15T02:38:58Z

So I was able to make it to Rio and shoot at a production plant. I spent a total of 6 hours in Rio. I know its crazy...I had to get back to Sao Paulo the same day to shoot early the next morning. Its a shame Rio really is all that you imagine it to be. I did get to see Ipanema, Copapcabana beach, had a beer, and Cod fish cakes (which are super tasty) on Copacabana beach. Not to mention soak in a bit of sun to get rid of the NY winter grey tone of my skin and it was 100 degrees which felt nice. As usual though I had to rush off to the next location.

Observations: Hot, actually very hot, great looking beaches and people. That's all I got I was there for only 6 hours.

Coming in for a landing at the airport in Rio you see the green patch in the upper middle thats the runway and yes it ends in the water.

Cool futuristic airport in Rio

Copacabana beach. Sort of reminds me of Coney Island.....a tiny bit if you squint your eyes.

Ground level view of the beach.

Copacabanna beach, from my perch at the restaurant before rushing off to the airport.

This image truly represents how I see things when I am traveling....Some blur with some sharp areas.

9th stop Rio, Brazil....never made it, but stayed in Sao Paulo

2010-02-15T01:01:44Z

The weather has played a huge part in my recent travels unfortunately not for the better. I was stuck in Shengyang, China (a small city near North Korea, although they did have a Prada, Gucci, and Burberry boutiques just to name a few) when on my way to Singapore because of snow, getting around Chicago was a nightmare with all the snow and the cold. I almost slid my rental car into another car in Odense, Denmark. Luckily whatever I did kept me from hitting the car, but got myself stuck in a snow bank instead. A woman who was jogging passed by me, volunteered to help push my car out of the snow bank as a result of the slide. Did I mention Danes are amazing?

So why should flying from Copenhagen via Frankfurt be any different? I was supposed to fly to Sao Paulo and make a connection to Rio de Janiero. That was not to be....My flight from Frankfurt was late by an hour then the connecting airlines computers were having issues so they couldn't get me on another flight. I traveled by taxi to the domestic airport to try to get another flight no luck. Ugh...a rare defeat for me. I usually mange to overcome those issues somehow. Anyway Rio was rescheduled and I stayed in Sao Paulo to work on other parts of the project. I photographed doctors, patients, battery recycling, regular people, kids, babies, and triplets...the triplets were a challenge.

I was last in Sao Paulo 10 years ago, and it was really great to be there again. Its a busy metropolis of 10,886,517 in the city and 19,616,060 in the greater metropolitan area of people with things to do.

Thanks to everyone in Sao Paulo who made my short time there interesting and special.

Observations in Sao Paulo in February: Hot!, beautiful people, clean for such a large city, bad traffic, crazy afternoon rains, great food, Brazilian Portuguese sounds beautiful, great music, friendly people, great vibe, Bohemia beer, and those Capirinas that somehow taste better there.

Flying into Sao Paulo. This is the edge of the city. Look how it ends so abruptly

Flying over Sao Paulo. This city is huge!

Riding around Sao Paulo. Part of my taxi series.

The clouds are rolling in right on time 4pm

Sao Paulo...thunder storm from william vazquez on Vimeo.

Thunder storm out my window at the Sheraton Sao Paulo Brooklin. During the storm the power went out in the hotel for about an hour.

A bridge in Sao Paulo that has become a symbol of the city.

Paging Dr William and Daniel. Daniel was instrumental in making things happen in Brazil. He's going to be president of Brazil one day I think.

What a great bunch of people to work with. Daniel, Denise, Fabiola, Flavia, Erica, Fernanda, me, not pictured and a super cool Patricia

8th stop København, Denmark

2010-02-14T23:37:59Z

I drove from Farsøe to Odense to shoot then on to Copenhagen. The drive to Copenhagen should take about 2 hours from Odense. My drive took almost double that due to snow, and because of the totally wrong tires on my fab Volvo rental car. So after a nerve wracking drive I slip and slide into Copenhagen. I went to Copenhagen to catch my flight to my next stop Brazil, see a friend, and some speed touristing (something I am getting very good at.) Too bad the weather was not too hospitable. It was cold, wet, snowy, and 8 inches of snow on the ground. It was beautiful with the snow and all, but wet feet are not conducive to walking around for too long. I bet its beautiful in the summer time though.

Observations: cold, snow, wet, (it is winter time after all), great architecture, pedestrian friendly, canals, great people, great hotel Royal SAS hotel.

At the SAS hotel, Copenhagen

A view from the 8th floor SAS hotel of the road Vesterbrogade

A view from the 8th floor SAS hotel of the road Vesterbrogade 10pm

A view from the 8th floor SAS hotel of the intersection Hammerichagade and Vesterbrogade Pedestrian street

Around town, Copenhagen

Canal, Copenhagen

Royal palace

Canal

Bikes are ridden in all weather.

Not only are they ridden in all kinds of weather there are minimal locks.

The Copenhagen Eye. It's the London Eye that more like a ferris wheel..

Great looking hallway, SAS hotel Copenhagen

7th stop Farsøe, Denmark.

2010-02-14T17:14:53Z

I visited Farsøe a small town in the Jutland region of Denmark. It was cold, snowy, and small. As a matter fact there was no hotel in town. I had to stay at a nearby town called Aars for that. I was photographing a woman named Bente for the report I am working on. I photographed her at home as well as working at her job as a bartender. The bar was a local place with a working class clientele. I got to meet some interesting people. That's the best part of projects like this I get to meet and interact with people from all walks of life. People like Thomas and Anders in the last photo. Thomas works in a lumber yard, and Anders is a fish farmer. He raises trout I believe. We were immediate friends. Most of the poeple at the bar were regular customers, and Bente told them that a NY photographer was coming to photograph her. They were excited by that I hope I didn't disappoint. I did keep the NY'er attitude dialed down a bit. Thomas and Anders kept offering to by me a drink. They found it incomprehensible that I would be in a bar and not drinking. I took them up on their offer once I was done. SKOL! That's cheers in Danish

Observations: cold, snow, ice, lonely, really nice people, good food as a matter of fact great food even in the middle or no where, great landscapes.

This is what was expecting me as I approached Aarlborg airport.

I just had to stop and photograph this horse. Unfortunalty as I was leaving my car got stuck and it took me half an hour to finally get enough traction to make it up the hill.

A small part of Farsøe. Everyhting was covered in ice. There has been so much snow the town ran out of salt for the roads. So driving was like driving on an ice skating rink in my Volvo with fancy low profile tires.

5am start...No cars on the road. I spent 15 minutes stopped in the middle of the road taking photos not one car passed by.

Bente and me at the bar.Thomas and Anders. Skol!