Photography students learn how it's done
SPARTA — Sparta High School art teachers Jennifer Kucher-Csatlos and Christy Graham recently led a field trip of six advanced photo students to New York City to watch a Calvin Klein photo shoot and then to the advertising agency Merkley and Partners to speak with an art buyer about portfolios and how she selects the art and artists for advertisements.
The photo shoot was held at Sandbox Studio in Manhattan.
They were able to see models getting photographed with clothes that will be available on the Calvin Klein website in November and individual products that will be available on their home goods line in November.
The students witnessed the hard work and dedication that goes into taking a single photograph and the teamwork that is involved in getting the whole production accomplished.
The gorgeous 19-year-old South African model explained to the students how she got into the business in between shots.
Rob Mandolene, one of the photographers, spent time showing the students his process and answering questions and even allowing the students to participate.
They followed up this experience with a short walk to Merkley & Partners, an advertising agency that represents the likes of Mercedes Benz, Tic Tac, and Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
They were led around the agency by Greg Kucher (Teacher Jen Kucher-Csatlos' brother) who explained the process of creating an ad from the birth of an idea to the final print seen in magazines or on billboards.
He introduced Bev Don, the senior art buyer at Merkley who hires the photographers. She showed the students a power point presentation about her function and that of her team and some insightful lessons about copyright law.
She also showed the students current portfolios of contemporary artists and took the time to look at some of the students' work and give feedback.
Greg Kucher then led them through the agency, showing how each department contributes to the process of making an ad.
They spent some time in the retouching department seeing how the artists layer print ads digitally with the same tools and techniques that the students use in the high school.