Creative Point of View■ BY K ATRIN EISMANN

When is a photograph done? When you press the shutter; process the film or file; or make the print? In the three generations of the Shaw family, being “done” was rarely a consideration as each generation explores creative expression in image and film making.

Like Father, Like Son

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Photoshop from the creative to the practical

Austin, the youngest Shaw, is busy interpreting his father Larry’s clas-sic black-and-white images of jazz

music greats to create artwork that revels in delightful richness. While Larry Shaw, Austin’s father, is dedicated to curating and promoting exhibits of the culturally iconic photographs of Hollywood’s most famous faces and personalities by his father, Sam Shaw.

Austin Shaw grew up in the creative cacophony of New York City in a family steeped in professional photography and film production. His grandfather, Sam, was a documentary photographer whose non-staged, real-life aesthetic contrasted with the stiffer, highly controlled studio photography of the times. In the early 1950s, Sam started working in the film industry as a special photographer and his work on The Seven Year Itch created the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe standing on the subway grate with her dress blowing. In the 1960s, Sam evolved into a feature-film producer work-ing with Paul Newman on Paris Blues—a film addressing critical social issues—it’s known as an excellent drama and a must-see for any jazz lover.

Louis Armstrong

Sidney Poitier

Austin’s father, Larry, learned about photography from his father and his friends—including Martin Munkácsi, Bert Stern, and Louis Fauer—whose influences are credited for creating a documentary style of shooting that inspired some of the leading photographers of the 20th century including Henri Cartier- Bresson, Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Bruce Weber, and Herb Ritts. In 1960, Sam Shaw assigned Larry to be in charge

CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW

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Katrin Eismann is the author of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching and Photoshop Masking & Compositing. In 2005, she was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame and is pres-ently Chair of the MPS in Digital Photography department at the School of Visual Arts in NYC (www.sva.edu/digitalphoto).

of promoting Paris Blues and to do the set photography, which included creating portraits of Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington.

Bridging the generationsAustin took a slightly different route into the world of fine art and design by studying art at New York University and Com-munication Design at the Pratt Institute. His still and motion work combine traditional painting and drawing with design, photography, and typography. He has done print and broadcast work for Warner Bros., ABC, VH1, and numerous high-profile New York advertising agencies including Brand New School and Digital Kitchen.

While working on a pitch for a large bank that was sponsor-ing an arts festival, Austin reached for inspiration back to his father’s Paris Blues photographs of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Poitier. Upon considering the music and jazz scene, Austin explored accentuating the gesture of the images with color and texture to transform the bygone-era photographs into vibrant, contemporary images.

The essential processAs Austin explains, “After comping a few images, the bank decided to go in a different direction with the ad campaign. But I felt as if I was onto some-thing and, without client constraints, I wanted to continue working with my father’s images.” Austin started going through his father’s negatives looking for the “hero” moment in which the gesture of the musician conveyed the action moment in the music—as seen in this photograph of Duke Ellington.

Austin’s goal is to create a fusion between fine art, multime-dia, and design, and his approach is refined with each image he creates. His process combines drawing, painting, compositing, design, and photography as described below:

• Scan each negative at 300 ppi for a 30x40" print. • Outline the figure with the Pen tool (P). Once the path is

complete, Control-click (PC: Right-click) to change the path into a selection by choosing Make Selection. Apply a low-radius Feather when prompted and duplicate it onto its own layer by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J).

• To focus on the essence and graphical strength of the figure, Austin isolates parts of the image with masking and cropping.

• To add a tactile edge to the image, Austin scans in and adds paint spatters, paper textures, pieces of type, photo-graphic elements, and color and gradient washes to re-choreograph the initial image composition and create a richer, more contemporary image.

“I’m looking for the moment where the image feels right,” Austin says. “But I never want to become too comfortable and repeat a formula from one image to the next. Many times I’ll add a brush stoke, change a blend mode, or accentuate a texture just to see what will happen and to surprise myself. ”

Building relationshipsRecognizing inspiration is an essential aspect of being an artist. When asked what his father thought about the interpreted images, Austin says, “My father is delighted by them and he appreci-ates my interaction with his photo graphy. He also under-stands that my images go beyond the actual photograph. For me, it’s a wonderful way to connect with my father.”

In the Shaw family the creative process spans many decades as the old is made new and younger generations revel in classic photography.

[All original images in this article are by Larry Shaw and the inter-preted images by Austin Shaw. For additional information, please visit www.samshaw.com, www.spc-promotions.com, and www .austinshaw.com.] ■

Duke Ellington