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From the EditorBy: David SendlerCapturing those bachelors ... on film. |
You’re photographer Roland
Scarpa and you’ve got 12 daunting bachelors to shoot (see "Sexy, Smart and Single" by Shellie Benson on
p. 60). They’re 12 very different personalities and they’re saying things like:
"If mom doesn’t like you [as my date], you’re done."
"I’m more loyal than a golden retriever."
"She doesn’t have to have a great sense of humor. She just has to think I’m funny."
So maybe you have to be a little bit of a therapist, too, to figure these guys out, get them to relax and capture their various vibes on film. Roland says he doesn’t exactly put them on the couch, but he has his methods. He’s been around—in the fashion business in France and Italy for 15 years before Naples—and knows how to make people look their best. It’s only in the last 10 years that he switched over to photography and devoted himself to finding and revealing the beauty in his subjects on film. "That’s my passion," he says. "No props. No gimmicks."
Well, cue the music in the studio, and let’s see if we can get these guys to relax. Some dragged along full wardrobes, some arrived with just one extra T-shirt. Most wore looks of uncertainty. Roland smiled, chatted, cajoled. When Shellie was around, she laughed, teased, kept things lighthearted.
Pep talks helped. Roland urged one guy on: "Come on," he said, "imagine you’re at the bar. Give us the look that’ll get you over. Give me that attitude. The courting look."
One clean-cut bachelor brought along his parents and kept projecting a too-sweet family smile. When his folks departed, a different man appeared. Goodbye, Mr. Innocence. Hello, Hot Model.
The fellas started getting into it. Marc Ferris looked at his shots and the photos of others who had preceded him and said, "Well there’s Mr. Ten-Pack, there’s The Artist, so I see I’m playing The Boy Next Door." And play him he did—right onto our cover.
Each shoot ran about an hour and a half to get the bachelors warmed up, primed and natural. In the end, Roland could have been named Most Popular Playground Director.
TV news anchor Len Jennings said he’s comfortable reporting the news on television, but far more anxious presenting himself on film. When he saw how Roland caught him, he was thrilled. "My friends didn’t recognize me," Len said. "Roland did a great job."
Bachelor Mark Luth agreed. "I’m not accustomed to being under the lights and in front of a camera," he says. "As we worked through the shoot, I became very relaxed and comfortable. Roland is really the master."
Now done, maybe Master Roland will share his secrets of winning those bachelors over. Any takers, ladies?
"If mom doesn’t like you [as my date], you’re done."
"I’m more loyal than a golden retriever."
"She doesn’t have to have a great sense of humor. She just has to think I’m funny."
So maybe you have to be a little bit of a therapist, too, to figure these guys out, get them to relax and capture their various vibes on film. Roland says he doesn’t exactly put them on the couch, but he has his methods. He’s been around—in the fashion business in France and Italy for 15 years before Naples—and knows how to make people look their best. It’s only in the last 10 years that he switched over to photography and devoted himself to finding and revealing the beauty in his subjects on film. "That’s my passion," he says. "No props. No gimmicks."
Well, cue the music in the studio, and let’s see if we can get these guys to relax. Some dragged along full wardrobes, some arrived with just one extra T-shirt. Most wore looks of uncertainty. Roland smiled, chatted, cajoled. When Shellie was around, she laughed, teased, kept things lighthearted.
Pep talks helped. Roland urged one guy on: "Come on," he said, "imagine you’re at the bar. Give us the look that’ll get you over. Give me that attitude. The courting look."
One clean-cut bachelor brought along his parents and kept projecting a too-sweet family smile. When his folks departed, a different man appeared. Goodbye, Mr. Innocence. Hello, Hot Model.
The fellas started getting into it. Marc Ferris looked at his shots and the photos of others who had preceded him and said, "Well there’s Mr. Ten-Pack, there’s The Artist, so I see I’m playing The Boy Next Door." And play him he did—right onto our cover.
Each shoot ran about an hour and a half to get the bachelors warmed up, primed and natural. In the end, Roland could have been named Most Popular Playground Director.
TV news anchor Len Jennings said he’s comfortable reporting the news on television, but far more anxious presenting himself on film. When he saw how Roland caught him, he was thrilled. "My friends didn’t recognize me," Len said. "Roland did a great job."
Bachelor Mark Luth agreed. "I’m not accustomed to being under the lights and in front of a camera," he says. "As we worked through the shoot, I became very relaxed and comfortable. Roland is really the master."
Now done, maybe Master Roland will share his secrets of winning those bachelors over. Any takers, ladies?
