Posted by: Veronica Lynne on: 28 November 2007
American Photo has an interview with photographer Lynn Blodgett.
Photographer Lynn Blodgett has a demanding day job: He’s president and chief executive officer of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., a Dallas-based Fortune 500 company specializing in information-technology outsourcing that employs some 58,000 people worldwide. But he has been avidly pursuing his avocation of photography for several years, a passion that eventually led Blodgett to study the craft with renowned celebrity portraitist Andrew Eccles.
In his most recent project, with Eccles’s encouragement, Blodgett has focused his lens on people with whom he might appear to have little in common — homeless citizens in various cities throughout the nation. His series of black-and-white portraits resulted in a remarkable monograph, Finding Grace: The Face of America’s Homeless (Palace Press, $55), which American Photo included in its January/February portfolio of the Best Photo Books of the Year. (Proceeds from Blodgett’s volume will go to a charity called the Finding Grace Homeless Initiative.)
“I hope we can see beyond the myths that all homeless people are lazy, addicted, or crazy,” Blodgett says. “These are real people, and we can learn from them.” Many of Blodgett’s photographs were made in cities where he was conducting business; he often sought out people to photograph after a day of corporate meetings. When American Photo recently caught up with Blodgett, he had spent the previous days dealing with fallout from a big shakeup on the board of directors of his corporation — and also touring to promote his new book and campaign on behalf of the Finding Grace charity during Homeless Awareness Week. Here he talks about the genesis and evolution of his photographic work.
Read the complete interview/article here.
7 July 2008 at 7:53 am
Lynn Blodgett has some nerve writing a book about the homeless! His company has a reputation of abusing their employees and taking advantage of them. Many of his employees struggle because of his company guidelines. Shame on him.