Dante: Photographer

Newspaper - Photo examples
One of the most memorable work periods of my life was as a freelance photographer for the Washington Post. I worked with freelance writer Michael Welzenbach. Michael and I met when he came to me for a photo of Artist Bruce Norris. During the selection process, impressed with my work, he asked me to become his photographer on future freelance assignments for the Post. This partnership continued for about half a year and resulted in 14 collaborations. All but one article appeared on the cover page of the Style section of the Washington Post. Unfortunately for our partnership, these articles resulted in Michael joining the Post writing staff and ending our collaboration. The company policy was that staffers had to use the salaried staff photographers, and I had no desire to become a full time news photographer. Although our partnership ended, Michael and I remained friends. I took the photo for his book jacket as well as other personal projects. Sadly, the world lost the only true Renaissance man I have ever known when he passed away a few years ago. This period of work remains one of the high points in my career. While preparing to take the photos for each article, I learned a great deal listening to each artist and Michael as he interviewed them. Their concept of their work and art in general, helped me to gain a new understanding for a variety of media. I also developed meaningful relationships with important local artists.
 
Michael Welzenbach - freelance writer on the below articles. Michael was a unique man. He started as a fantastic artist. Then he chose to become a brilliant writer, becoming a staff writer for the Washington Post, and later an editor on the Jacque Cousteau Magazine and Readers Digest. He wrote two books - one for the Smithsonian Institute and a novel called "Conversations with a Clown". He was a regular art critic on the local TV show "Around Town " , a good musician and singer who performed at the open mike night at Gallaghers Pub in DC. He was a larger than life guy.
This was a favorite photo portrait for one of the articles in the Style section of the Washington Post
The Tori Amos (Ellen Amos) interview for the article made her a friend and almost a client
See and read more at the above link
"Big Al" Carter is a beloved Washington artist. It was a difficult shot as he was such a prolific artist that his apartment only had pathways to get around. Al had painted himself out of three apartments before. Donald Davidson is an interesting artist who bases his work on psychological thinking. He regularly traveled to Europe, where his work had a following. We became friends after the interview and remain so today.