"my second big couture shoot was done two years later with Ben Stiller. He just made Zoolander, a comedy about male models, and I decided to shoot a series of send-ups of fashion photography cliches.... I was seven and a half months pregnant at the time, and one morning at 5:30 I found myself on the quai, shooting an homage to some famous photographs by Melvin Sokolsky of models in a plastic bubble. we had reproduced the bubble and hired a crane and gotten some kind of permission to do this, although that was all left a little vague. stiller rather tentatively got in the bubble and the crane lifted it over the seine. stella tennant stood on the side looking arrogant in a red Christian Lacroix gown." -on work, annie leibovitz (pg 132, on fashion)

less than three weeks ago i read through this section in austin one morning, and i remember reading through these sentences over twice again. i attempted to picture these images in my head - of people in bubbles. and yet, i could not recall annie nor melvin's images. i imagined what my picture would maybe look like and how i could use these ideas in my own photography.

today, we were expecting a photographer to come in to sign one of his pieces. it was a nude of selma blair. i remember seeing it hung when i came for my first interview over six months ago.



in the midst of writing down notes about the art system, i was asked to come outside to meet the photographer. he was an older man looking over casey's shoulder to make sure he was handling his print correctly. it was a nude print of selma. gisele got his attention and said, "Melvin, i'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to our group here, Ian." I shook his hand then quickly got transfixed on his procedure of handling the print, finding a place to begin writing, then signing, dating, and labeling of the edition number. He circled his hand above the back of the print in circles, then finally gently pressed down to create a circle where he placed all the information. He turned the piece pack over and started discussing how the photo has grown on him. He talked about his intentions - the composition. lighting, setting, and subject. I made note to look through the art system of the images we had on stock of his photography (once i actually learned the system properly).

an hour before closing, gisele was asked to find a photograph that she thought was suitable for a certain client's grandmother. we stopped the busy work we were trying to complete together. she whispered, "this is the fun part about my job." she started racking her mind for ideas of particular images, then began searching through the database for particular artists. we looked through shapiros then moved onto melvin. while looking through images, she pulled out other photographs my melvin that she needed to get quotes for, and magically we stumbled into a section of women posing in clear bubbles.

melvin? ... just before i planned on going to bed, i pulled out my on work book to confirm whether or not i was making the correct connection. i reread this paragraph and am laughing hard inside realizing the coincidence.

Melvin Sokolsky.