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TO SEE A GALLERY OF DOUGLAS DUBLER'S IMAGES, CLICK HERE

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Beginning with his underwater photography to his current top-quality fashion and artistic images, Douglas Dubler has a long history as a highly accomplished commercial, editorial and fine art photographer. Communication Arts, the Art Director’s Club and Clio have honored him, and he is currently on the staff of the School of Visual Arts in New York City. After shooting hundreds of magazine covers, over a thousand cosmetic ad campaigns, and exhibiting his work in premier galleries around the world, he has earned the right to produce his own photographic projects.

Beauty Cycle © 2007 Douglas Dubler 3

“I started doing photography as a hobby when I was around nine years old,” he comments. Back then, he used a sheet film camera. “I only had one sheet-film holder, so I could only take one picture at a time. I didn’t have a light meter and had to guess at the exposure.” He also developed film in his basement, which he describes as having been full of dust and light leaks. “Very low-tech equipment,” he laughs. “But it taught me the economy of trying to be as accurate as possible with exposures.” As for quality, Douglas says he’s always aimed high. “Even as an amateur, I believed in getting the best photo equipment. I bought expensive Nikons—no cheap cameras or lenses.” He saw work by photographers whom he admired and noted, “These people were using Hasselblads and Nikons. At the very least, I wanted a more level playing field where equipment was concerned.” In the beginning, he even bought lenses for his Nikon SLR with unemployment checks. “I was buying camera equipment but didn’t really have any money to live on,” he says.

Da Vinci © 2007 Douglas Dubler 3

Ubiquitous Beginnings

Although he wanted to become a professional photographer early on, Douglas describes his educational journey as a bit ubiquitous. “I had a trust fund and the person in charge of it tried to discourage me from being an artist, saying that I wouldn’t make any money at it.” Thus, he was obligated to take business courses at Boston University, although his focus was on fine arts. After graduation, he became a plastic sculptor and silkscreen artist. “I started using photography in my silkscreening work and gradually got more involved with it. I’ve always enjoyed doing art; I did not like working in the business world. Despite the fact that I was being discouraged from pursuing a career in art, I decided that it was what made me happy so it was what I wanted to do with my life,” he asserts.

Before becoming a studio photographer, he got his start photographing underwater life in California and the Virgin Islands during the early '60s. “I spent quite a bit of time in the ocean diving and fishing,” Douglas says. His clients were the U.S. Navy, General Electric and other organizations involved with marine biology research. During the 1970s, his work evolved into studio photography, and he began to amass clientele that included Kodak, Coca-Cola, Rolex, Proctor & Gamble, BMW, Waterford, and Hasselblad.  In 1976, he moved to Los Angeles to focus on fashion and beauty photography. Douglas worked with major studios and has photographed numerous celebrities throughout the years, including Jacqueline Bisset, Shirley McLaine, Andie McDowell, Sharon Stone, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Taylor, and Dolly Parton. He was also a photo consultant and did special photography for feature films.

In the early ’80s, he moved to New York to shoot major cosmetic accounts and to begin working with European markets. His editorial assignments took him primarily to Italy, where he worked for Amica, Lei, and Italian Vogue. In addition to doing editorial work over the past few years, Douglas also plays the role of creative director for a number of fashion, cosmetic and jewelry projects. “They’re very high-end; out of the mass-market mainstream,” he explains. “I get more involved from the conceptual standpoint of the project, and then I execute the photography. I’m not particularly interested in executing concepts that I haven’t been involved with, because I’ve had too many disappointing experiences during my career with those kinds of situations. I’ve found more satisfaction has come when I’ve gotten involved with the conceptual stage of the project, and I get a better end result.” For example, LVMH (Moet, Hennessy & Louis Vuitton) hired Douglas in 2000 to conceptualize and photograph images for their E-Luxury site.

Jerry Hall © 2007 Douglas Dubler 3

Calling the Shots

A couple of years ago, he did a huge project for the largest producer of gem quality cultured pearls in the world, Paspaley Pearls. This traveling exhibit featured photographs of one-of-a-kind museum jewelry pieces created by 17 of the best jewelry designers in the world. “I photographed these pieces and developed an icon for the show,” he points out. “It’s been touring all the major museums all over the world for the past two and a half years.” He adds that the project’s unlimited budget enabled him to do a very high level of production. “It was also an artistic project, as it appeared in all the major museums,” he adds.

“These are the type of projects I look for,” says Douglas. “And as a result, I don’t have a traditional rep who goes around looking for jobs for me.” He also notes that at this stage of the game he doesn’t need to work every day. “I’ve done 750 magazine covers and 1500 national cosmetic ads. So what more is left for me, except to come up with something very interesting and do it on my own—and to have total control over the situation.” Around 25 years ago, he says that he was treated much better when he took on jobs for $1000-$1500 a day as opposed to those that paid merely $200 a day. “The business model here is to keep raising your fees,” he says. “That way, you get rid of all the people who are not supportive. That’s not to say that people paying big fees won’t be demanding, but generally speaking, they won’t make life difficult for you creatively.”

Douglas casts the talent for his jobs, and is very particular. “It may take me three weeks to find a girl. I may look at 200 cards, numerous books, and 20 models to begin with. A whole lot of time and effort goes into it, and that’s why my pictures look the way they do. I’ve been called a control freak, and I’ve found a way to make my obsessive personality disorders pay me money,” he asserts.

Noguchi Garden © 2007 Douglas Dubler 3

Present and Future

He currently shoots with a Mamiya RZ67 medium-format camera with a Leaf Aptus 75 digital back, and his favorite lens is a 210mm Apochromatic (“I try to use that lens whenever possible"). He also uses Broncolor lighting exclusively. Additionally, Douglas has or has had consulting relationships with Leaf, Epson, Panasonic, Mamiya, Minolta, Sekonic, Nikon, Fuji, Kodak, and Sinar-Bron. He is an Epson Stylus Pro and a member of X-Rite’s newly formed Coloratti.

His future plans include doing more of what he currently enjoys. “What I do is to come up with a project and then I find somebody to marry that project to, so I don’t wait for somebody to call me for a job.” He’s always exhibiting his fine-art photography as well, both abstract images as well as his figurative work. And not surprisingly, he says, “I have an extensive archive of probably half a million transparencies. I’ve had the good fortune to have worked with some of the big supermodels of the ’70s and ’80s, and have images of those models from those days. This “vintage” photography is something that galleries seem to be very interested in at present. He is currently represented by Andre Zarre Gallery in New York City. Douglas says he plans to shift his focus to working in Europe, “both editorially and with some big advertising clients.” He says, “Editorial work has always been more interesting to me in Europe than in the United States,” adding that he feels that creativity is limited here. “In Europe—and particularly Italy— artists are treated like royalty. My artistic temperament is much better suited to working in Europe.”

He says that he seldom shows tearsheets in his portfolio, preferring instead to show the original images. “I prefer the visual purity and integrity of the original image,” Douglas says.  “It is a more accurate reflection of my eye.” Many photos that have appeared as magazine covers are on his website. “I remember the first time I went to Italy to work,” he recalls. The magazine allowed him to hire the model, to edit the film and to give them a few transparencies to choose from. “I got my best work like that and got covers for very prestigious magazines like Italian Vogue. It’s just the way that I like to work, and I would think any creative photographer would prefer that over someone telling you what to do.”

See more of Douglas Dubler’s images at http://www.douglasdubler3.com.

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TO SEE A GALLERY OF DOUGLAS DUBLER'S IMAGES, CLICK HERE

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