BIO / REVIEWS

BIO

Andrew Orth is the photographer to whom the “in-the-know” turn when they require hip, cutting-edge visuals that capture the heart and soul of their subjects – from musicians to models, directors, and actors.

He first developed his craft studying theater at The Perkiomen School, in Pennsylvania. After graduating, Andrew soon found home to Temple University in Philadelphia Pa. studying Radio-televion-film. Within a year of graduation he moved to New York City and pursued his passion..photography. With time and determination by his side, Andrew began work location scouting, which eventually evolved into shooting models and actors, then later as a production photographer working with the major motion picture and television production companies. Andrew’s unique style and his charismatic approach to his subjects, inevitably resulted in pictures of startling honesty and beauty, which were immediately recognized by the elite film, fashion, and music industries. His outstanding work for such major clients as Hugo Boss, L’Oreal, Elite Models, Columbia Pictures, and Warner Bros. Music brought him to the attention of the hottest new advertising agencies of the late eighties, namely, Chiat-Day. It was a perfect fit, and Andrew established and ran the agency’s first in-house video post-production facility. After producing award-winning work for Chiat-Day clients including Apple Computer, Nike, Sara Lee, Yamaha and many more, Andrew pursued new challenges overseas, and spent two years shooting in Milan, the capital of the European Fashion world.

His reputation as one of the top fashion photographers in europe brought him back to the U.S. and to Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world. CAA, ICM, CU, Baker Wynoka Ryder, Bumble Ward and other major talent agencies now rely on Andrew to deliver the innovative publicity and editorial photographs their high-profile clients demand. Among the hundreds of magazines andrew has shot for, his syndication agent Retna Ltd. , has his work publicized world wide in such credited periodicals as Vanity Fair, Beat, Interview, Premiere, GQ, Soap Opera Weekly, People, Venice, Daily Variety, T.V. Guide, Flix (Japan), Latina, Picture, Lei, Harpers Bazaar, Milano, Grazia Neri (Italy), Stadt (Germany), All over P (Denmark), Scotish Daily (Scotland), Empire, Moxie, Daily Mail, Just Seventeen, (England), just to name a few…

Currently, Andrew frequently travels to New York and to other major cities across the country as well as European cities to photograph his clients. His vision and creative approach extend across a wide spectrum of genres and allow him to develop photographs of exceptional power, from conceptualization through execution, while still doing what he has always done best as a photographer – capturing the essence of his subject through the lens. Andrew’s commitment to his artistry reflects the characteristics that give him his most notable attributes as a photographer …

“Passion and Perfection”

REVIEWS

ART REVIEW: Capturing cool through the lens

Andrew Orth returns to the region in which he was reared with a collection of his animated celebrity photographs. The Reading Public Museum exhibition, “Engaging Hollywood,” proves immensely enjoyable.

By Ron Schira
Reading Eagle Correspondent

Reading, PA – For the largest display of art photography ever shown in the Cove Gallery of the Reading Public Museum, photographer Andrew Orth presents “Engaging Hollywood,” a series of animated portraits that represent the hip and upcoming personalities of today’s movie, music and television industry. The exhibit, which continues though Sept. 23, is a compilation of work begun in 1991.

By animated, I am suggesting that these 40 moderately sized, original pictures all contain some sort of activity. Each of Orth’s subjects “engages” the camera with his or her hands, body language or movement. That could be by pointing toward the lens, waving or gesticulating, posing at an odd angle — anything other than sitting static without character or energy.

Orth was reared in the Reading area but lives in California. He disdains the standard good posture and say-cheese ethic of portrait photography that ordinary studios embrace. As a fashion and production photographer who previously worked for such giants as Hugo Boss, L’Oreal, Chiat-Day, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. Music, he quickly discerned that this type of picture taking is simply boring and without essence.

He wants his subjects to give more than just their face and a smile.

His work has become very popular with the in-crowd, and his clients seek him out for that reason. He encourages them to address the camera physically, and by proxy to connect with the viewing audience.

For instance, actor Cheech Marin strikes and ordinary pose but extends his arms and hands toward the viewer, as if questioning, whereas musician Taylor Swift energetically conjures to the lens. Actor and musician Henry Rollins cups his face in his hands while actor/director Jaime Gomez freeze-frames his own squinting image as if sizing up the scene.

Scrunching up her body, actor Nia Peebles crosses her legs and arms as she looks sideways to the viewer. Actor Troy Garity clenches his fist in a mock boxing pose, and actor Max Caulfield fusses with his hair.

Some are more fanciful than others. We gaze at them and wonder: Where have I seen this person, this face, in what film, on which TV show, who are they, what have they done?

Some of the works are printed in color, some in black-and-white; many of the performers point at the camera, wink at you and smile knowingly. Some of them relax on verandas, lounge on steps or sit on the floor.
However, the photographer is not interested in settings and much prefers to stay close to the person. The backgrounds are mostly black, white or non-distinct, and fortunately for those few that don’t manage to see every movie ever made, like myself, the labels give a tiny biography of the subject and the films in which they performed. You may be surprised when you recognize them outside of their roles.

Who would know, for example, that actor Barry Pepper had roles in “Saving Private Ryan” or had played Dale Earnhardt in the made-for-TV “The Dale Earnhardt Story,” or that glamorous Sandra Oh, supine on a pile of pillows, had roles in “Sideways” or on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“The photographs by themselves examine the dichotomy of the relationship between the Hollywood artist and their audience,” Orth explains in the catalog. “While the majority of my assignments in Hollywood were to capture portraits of my subjects, I consider my photography to be editorial in content. Overly stylized backgrounds or standardized lighting techniques don’t interest me as much as capturing a moment which offers a window into the subject’s personality.”

For the show’s opening reception, musician Quincy Coleman, daughter of actor Dabney Coleman and longtime friend of Andrew Orth, flew in from the West Coast and played acoustic guitar. She performed two of her original songs (“Mary” and “Blown Away”) on the alcove steps. A full-color photograph of her holding a guitar and pointing at the viewer is included in the show.

Whether these exciting pieces tell anything about the performer’s true identity is not at play here. Their personal lives are not for display and we consequently know nothing about any of their trials or troubles. We leave that to the tabloids. They instead evoke a pleasant or intriguing persona, an attraction, an attitude that speaks of youth and affluence and cool popularity.

And in one way, it is very similar to all portrait photography. All of us want to be seen at our best. We want to look good and be well liked and respected, but we don’t want to be seen as anonymous strangers — smiling faces with no spunk.

Orth, like his fellow portraitists Diane Arbus and Annie Leibovitz, believes that subject matter in a photo is also important. He captures the best side of his subjects without their looking forced or phony, and the pieces are consequently quite enjoyable.

InsidePA
By: Ellen Slupe, Staff
09/01/2007

Engaging Hollywood: The Photography of Andrew Orth captures the heart and soul of the famous of Hollywood and is exhibited at the Reading Public Museum through September 30.

Orth has charm that invites the sitters to relax, to set aside their trade image poses that they automatically step into in front of a camera. Some actually mug for the camera as does Troy Garity, posed with fists raised and eyes squinted, inviting combat; but most are serious yet approachable images suitable for publicity portfolios.

The most obvious inclusion in all but a few are the hands of the sitter. Wasn’t it Rodin who felt hands expressed more about the person than the face?

Apparently Orth agrees as his own self portrait includes a camera, his hands and face against a ground of light bouncing off a reflective surface. It is the gesture of the hands that helps project the desire to connect with the viewer.

The majority of the photos are in the stark contrast of black and white, eliciting drama. They show images of people, I suspect, who never took a bad photo in their lives. Sherri Saum of Law & Order taking umbrage to the norm is dressed in a red pant suit and flashes a great smile as she gestures with arm extended and finger pointing to the viewer.

Bobby Slayton presents a pensive, compact pose. His hands while clasped on his knee are positioned to touch his lips, all adding focus and drama to his wonderful dark eyes.

Again, most have reduced backgrounds of a solid color to keep the viewer focused on the subject. It is refreshing to see the image of Jason George, of Barbershop fame. He is outside on a bricked patio with metal rail supporting purple bougainvillea. He sits with legs stretched and propped on the rail while looking sideways to face the camera and point to the viewer.

One of the most arresting photos is of Phil Soussan, the bass player with Ozzie Osborne. The only color in the darkened image is his lavender sweater. A pattern of repeated shapes is created by the movement of his jewelry-laden arms and hands that resonate like a stringed instrument. It brings to mind the motion in futurists’ paintings.

Taylor Swift is seated beside a pool of water and playfully flicks water to the viewer. Her long blond hair glistens in the sunlight like a pre-Raphaelite beauty in an impressionist background.

©Montgomery Newspapers 2007

Photographs take a peek behind Hollywood masks

By Geoff Gehman | Of The Morning Call
August 30, 2007

The Reading Public Museum is supplying some semi-star power in ’‘Engaging Hollywood,’’ an exhibition of Andrew Orth’s photographs of second- and third-tier actors and musicians, performers whose faces are more familiar than their names. Invitingly natural and distractingly hammy, the pictures illustrate the photographer’s ice-breaking request for his subjects to ’‘Just show me.’’

Orth’s regional connection is that he studied theater at the Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, and film, radio and television at Temple University. Since then he’s roamed the world shooting performers for advertising and talent agencies. GQ and Harpers Bazaar Italy are among the magazines that have published his cool, warm portraits of actors, musicians and models. He specializes in making his subjects comfortable and slightly exotic, in restoring the private side of pretty public people.

Orth does three things really well. His subjects appear to like their skin while wanting to shed it. In the show’s poster image, Lena Heady, who appeared in the film ’‘Mrs. Dalloway,’’ lies on her stomach, head in hands, consuming the camera without swallowing it. She looks like a slinky, casually seductive queen.

Orth helps actors try on other characters. Wet hair slicked back, head tilted between hands, Annabeth Gish, a perfectly decent performer in ’‘Mystic Pizza’’ and ’‘The Celestine Prophecy,’’ is elevated to Meryl Streep swan.

Another Orth strength is enhancing personality through process. Silvery sepia tones embellish Catherine Keener’s trademark persona/aura, a kind of timeless twilight elegance. Her mojo worked extremely well in ’‘Capote’’ as the novelist Harper Lee, who was Truman Capote’s efficient aide and calm friend as he went crazy researching ’‘In Cold Blood.’’

Gesturing in Orth’s pictures works well when it’s relatively subtle. Comic actor Cheech Marin’s fairly low, relaxed hands match his quizzical raised eyebrow, giving him the look of a rakish devil. And the middle finger raised by Misa (’‘The Cable Guy’’) Koprova to the tip of her nose becomes a silent curse, a seamless bridge to her alabaster skin. Who would have thought that flipping the bird could be so beautiful?

2007 the year in review: The best of the visual arts

Berks exhibits left lasting impressions. Local organizations excelled in bringing shows that proved stimulating and exciting.

By Ron Schira
Reading Eagle Correspondent

And so we turn another page, read on, the story continues. Life is short but Art goes on forever. _ And please excuse me if I wax poetic but it has been a tumultuous year for me.

I am not to be subdued, however, and I am here, dedicated, thankful and intent on delivering the arts to you. It is my pleasure to do so.

It is also my pleasure to overview the visual art events of the past year.

Now, we had quite a few good exhibits that graced this area in 2007 but what becomes important for me is what leaves an impression, what is the most memorable, and there is much to be remembered.

Beginning with the organizations, the Reading Public Museum gave us “Engaging Hollywood” in July, the photo portraits of famous performers by photographer Andrew Orth.

Quite an occasion with a live performance by singer Quincy Coleman, the exhibit was exciting and spirited and a high point of the summer.

•Contact Ron Schira at entertainment@readingeagle.com.