New York City, September 1965. Having reached the ripe old age of 31, I realized that it was now or never to leave the comfort and income of the Richard Avedon studio and head out on my own in the exceedingly competitive world of commercial photography. This is a really scary undertaking, especially in the wilds of Manhattan.
What I needed was a partner.
Partnerships among photographers had become quite common at the time, and it made sense. Sharing studio space, rent, equipment, and darkroom facilities cuts costs. It also gives you someone to talk to when business is lousy. As it always is until you really get established.
At first I thought of a guy I knew fairly well who was the manager of one of NYC's top studios. We sometimes had dinner together, so the next time I would bring up this proposal. As it happened, he brought along someone else that I also knew, a very talented but struggling freelance photographer who worked out of his apartment. His name was Jim Houghton. Right at that moment I knew what to do. After the meal, I took Jim aside and laid out my plans. He said yes to them.
A few days later a lawyer drew up the papers and the new firm of Steinbicker/Houghton Inc. was born. Now all we needed was a studio. Jim was friends with another struggling photographer, whose studio was too big for him. A deal was struck, and in we moved. But not for long. Some of his creditors soon closed in, so we made a midnight move of our equipment just hours ahead of a padlocked door. Several early morning runs in Jim's tiny MG-TD brought it all up to the safety of my apartment on East 80th Street.
A few phone calls the next day brought us in contact with an older photographer who had a rather spacious studio on East 22nd Street. He was looking for a sub-tenant to help pay the rent. This one worked out. Jim already had a few clients — bread-and-butter stuff — and Avedon steered a good one our way. That was Abercrombie & Fitch, then an upscale Madison Avenue emporium for sporting goods and casual clothes. No, not the A&F that exists today. They produced several fairly large mail order catalogs a year, and needed lots of photos, mostly to be shot on location on Long Island. So by January 1966 we were off to a good start.
NEXT, our early clients include Ford and Coca-Cola.
Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.
SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? WHY, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.
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