Category On Assignment

Transforming Global Health with Data and AI with Dr. Joan LaRovere

October 29, 2024 0 Comments read Blog, On Assignment, On Location, Portraits

Last month, I had the chance to photograph Dr. Joan LaRovere, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Transformation at Boston Children’s Hospital, for The Financial Times of London.

LaRovere is co-founder of the Virtue Foundation, which harnesses AI and data science to improve healthcare access worldwide, particularly in underserved areas. Inspired by her work at MIT Sloan and Boston Children’s, she’s launching a data-driven platform in 2025 to map healthcare needs in 72 low- and middle-income countries, helping clinicians allocate resources and address “medical deserts.”

We met at MIT Sloan, where LaRovere earned her Executive MBA and began to scale up her foundation’s impact. My goal was to capture several distinct portrait looks, balanced with elements of MIT (and Boston, if possible). Navigating crowded halls, armed with gear and pressed for time—common constraints for an editorial photographer—we worked together to create portraits that I hoped would give a sense of LaRovere and her work.

It’s inspiring to meet and photograph people like LaRovere, whose work impacts health outcomes for so many around the world even as she saves individual lives back in Boston.

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Joan LaRovere, photographed at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. *© Brian Fitzgerald*

Weaving Art and Function at Heide Martin Studio

June 12, 2024 0 Comments read Assignments, Creating Spaces, Creative, Creativity, Editorial, Mainers, Mainers at Work, On Assignment, On Location, Video

As part of my ongoing Creating Spaces series featuring Maine artists in their working environments, I had the opportunity to work last fall with Heide Martin and her husband, co-founder Patrick Coughlin. The couple operate Rockland, Maine-based Heide Martin Design Studio, creating unique and functional furniture and housewares.

I was drawn to the studio because of the strong sense of style that permeates their work. Working with natural, simple materials available here in Maine, the two produce exquisite pieces of art that happens to double as functional furniture.

In particular, I love how Heide incorporates the art of weaving into many of her pieces, drawing for inspiration from an out-of-print book on traditional weaving patterns, among other sources.

I’m happy to be able to show the video we produced that day, along with a few stills from my visit with Heide and Patrick in their spacious and well-ordered studio.

*Heide Martin and Patrick Coughlin at the Martin Design Studio. © Brian Fitzgerald*

On the Campaign Trail with Senator Angus King

June 6, 2024 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Client Work, Editorial, Mainers, Mainers at Work, On Assignment

Maine Senator Angus King

It’s election year, which last month led to the opportunity to photograph Independent Maine Senator Angus King for his reelection campaign.

I’m used to hauling gear to handle any lighting situation. This time, though, I was just carrying a couple of cameras and a small off-camera flash. It felt like being a newspaper photojournalist again.

King, an avid photographer himself, wanted candid shots. No assistants, no extra gear. Just natural moments as he met with constituents in Brunswick and Skowhegan. The mission was to travel fast and light, capturing real life as he made multiple stops along the way.

At one point, King left for an emergency dental appointment—reappearing 45 minutes later, ready to go. Soon he was throwing a football with Bowdoin College students at a local park (King was a high school football quarterback). In my book, toughness is scheduling a dental appointment and a photo shoot on the same day.

Eight hours and five locations later, King was still going strong at an event in Skowhegan. It was fun and an honor to spend the day with him and his campaign.

Maine Senator Angus King — © Brian Fitzgerald

Photographing AI leader Amanda Stent at Colby

January 16, 2024 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Client Work, Editorial, Education, Mainers, On Assignment, On Location, Showcase

Female Scientist — *Amanda Stent, inaugural Director of the Colby College Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence. ©Brian Fitzgerald*

I’m excited to share one of the assignments I did for Colby College recently. This was to photograph Amanda Stent, the inaugural Director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence at Colby—the first such cross-disciplinary institute at a liberal arts college.

Professor and student discussion — ©Brian Fitzgerald

Stent, a renowned expert in Natural Language Processing (NLP), transitioned from her role as NLP architect at Bloomberg L.P., where she led their AI team. She has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers and is co-inventor on more than 30 patents in NLP. In short, Stent is a big deal in the world of AI, and her leadership of the Davis Institute will allow Colby to fulfill its goal of integrating AI and machine learning into a liberal arts framework.

Luckily, the Colby Campus provided a number of interesting environments for portraits and for interactions with students. It was important to try to give a sense of the academic environment as well as the innovative work being done there at Colby.

Dylan Metrano: Crafting Tiny Marvels in a Cozy Space

December 6, 2023 0 Comments read Blog, Creating Spaces, Creativity, Editorial, Mainers, Mainers at Work, On Assignment

Dylan Metrano perches atop an adjustable office chair that—along with his drafting table—dominates his top-floor home studio. Glow-in-the-dark stars cling to the ceiling, remnants of a bygone nursery. A bookcase and artwork adorn the walls of its 8×10-foot interior.

“I’m in the space that I need, because I don’t work particularly big. My cutting mat is only 12′ x 12′ so I don’t really go much bigger than that,” says Metrano, a paper cutting artist based in Bath, Maine. “I wish I had more wall space to hang more art up in, but in general I’ve got everything I need in here, he says. “I can’t imagine working without it.”

In this cramped space, Metrano meticulously crafts paper designs, melding shapes and colors for cards, logos, T-shirts, posters, album covers, calendars and more. “My tools for paper cutting are basically an X-Acto knife, a glue stick and a ruler,” he explains. His sole extravagance, the rolling chair, came from an advance for illustrating a children’s book years ago. “I have to have a nice surface and a nice seat,” he explains.

Bending over his table, knife in hand, Metrano swiftly carves a black piece of paper with a stenciled design. The paper measures perhaps six inches square. It’s an animal—a bird.

“Birds are definitely one of my favorites. There’s so many varieties and they’re so colorful and interesting. The feathers are really fun to create,” he says.

Metrano grew up in Massachusetts but frequented the coast of Maine as a child. He later worked on Monhegan Island, where he met his future wife, Mandy. They eventually married, settling down and starting a chocolate-making business called La Nef Chocolate. Throughout it all, Metrano continued crafting paper art, even when lacking a dedicated space. “When I first moved to Monhegan (Island) I was doing paper cutting in the cafe there, but it’s distracting with people coming and going.”

Metrano pauses, glancing up at his MacBook. The screen reveals a reference image of the subject that is gradually taking shape, cut by cut, on his board. It’s a Killdeer, a small shorebird. Metrano adds bits of colored paper—red for the eyes, brown for the head and feathers, white for the breast. Almost done.

Birds are easier to create with than people, Metrano observes. “You don’t have to be so specific with birds or animals because they’re not recognizable as an individual. If I try to do a Prince portrait and the nose is not quite right, it’s not going to look like him. That’s where it gets more difficult. Those are harder to do ultimately, but they’re really gratifying when they come out well,” he says.

When creating purely for personal enjoyment, Metrano—a lifelong musician as well as an artist–prefers to create musician portraits. “That’s what I do just for myself,” he remarks, displaying a few past creations: Deep Purple. Prince, of course. The Beatles, and others—both famous and obscure.

Beatles Portraits — *© Brian Fitzgerald*

Despite its limited size, Metrano’s studio is a sanctuary. When he enters, he disengages from the world outside. “It’s more like switching off,” Metrano chuckles. “It’s a meditative exercise for me. Once I’ve got my pencil marks down on paper and I start cutting, I don’t really think about it. A couple of hours goes by and I’ve got a piece done.”

With the Killdeer finished, intricate cuts highlighting texture and color, Metrano rises from the table. His workspace is illuminated by a solitary desk lamp in the now-darkened room. It’s late, and his work is done.

“I do it because I enjoy it. If I ever find that I’m not enjoying it, I just won’t do it,” Metrano says, glancing around his close confines. “I’ll just go make more chocolates.”

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Creating Spaces is a project that explores the connection between Maine artists and craftsmen and their physical workspaces-—places that are often hallowed grounds of creativity and solitude, far from the public eye or the gallery.

The Business of Life with R.M. Davis

June 6, 2023 0 Comments read Blog, Business, Client Work, Marketing, On Assignment, Showcase, Video

Home-buying couple

In 2022 I had the opportunity to shoot and produce video footage for a fun campaign for a longtime client, R.M. Davis. RMD is a financial advisory firm based in Portland with deep roots. With a 45-year track record of working with wealthy individuals, estates and businesses, they worked with Burgess Advertising & Marketing to create a concept called ‘The Business of Life’. My job was to create images that illustrated the concept; basically a series of vignettes showing transitional moments like college graduation or building a new home as well as individuals and business owners meeting with financial advisors.

Here are a few of the final images as used in the campaign. As is more often the case with my advertising clients, we built the shoots so we could take video footage as well as stills. This was later incorporated into a Business of Life video.

I think the campaign is a powerful example of people- and client-focused marketing that really works.

College Graduate

Industrial business owner

Couple in coastal home

Dirty Jobs, Good Pay: Photographing Blue Collar Workers

May 30, 2023 0 Comments read Blog, Editorial, Industrial, On Assignment, On Location

It’s hard to miss the rising star of blue-collar work in this world reshaped by a pandemic and advancements in artificial intelligence (A.I.). Anyone struggling to hire a plumber, a carpenter or other tradesman since 2020 has seen the effects of this first-hand. Previously overlooked as somehow ‘less than’ white-collar jobs, blue-collar work has become a beacon of resilience and growth, sustaining the economy amidst major layoffs in the tech industry, as reported by Business Insider.

The reason for this is clear: blue-collar roles, which are often hands-on, technical, and require plenty of problem-solving skills, resist replacement by automation or outsourcing. They are firmly rooted in the physical world, characterized by their tangibility and practicality.

This sense of authenticity and grit is what continually draws me to photograph people who work with their hands. There’s a strong sense of narrative within these images, both of resilience and tenacity. I am inspired by their skill, focus, and commitment to doing the job right.

My goal is not merely to capture an image, but to pay tribute to the meticulous nature of blue collar work and its practical impact on our daily lives. Whether it’s the skilled hands of a carpenter shaping a piece of furniture, or the attentive gaze of a mechanic resurrecting an old car, each image tells a story of profound usefulness and necessity.

In our post-pandemic world, tradespeople are more than just workers. They are keepers of a time-honored tradition of skilled American labor. Their work stands as a testament to our collective ability to adapt, persevere, and endure.

Automotive Technicians — *© Brian Fitzgerald*

Industrial Worker — *© Brian Fitzgerald*

Inside Northeast Air’s Hangar: Mechanics at Work

April 18, 2023 0 Comments read Behind the Scenes, Blog, Industrial, Mainers at Work, On Assignment

Aircraft Mechanics — *© Brian Fitzgerald*

I’m happy to share images made during a recent shoot with Northeast Air, a company operating out of the Portland Jetport. They specialize in providing ground handling, aircraft maintenance, fueling, and concierge services to travelers from around the globe.

The objective of this shoot was to capture images of Northeast Air’s skilled mechanics performing routine work on a Pilatus turboprop aircraft, located in the company’s maintenance hangar at the Jetport.

As an experienced editorial and commercial photographer, I’ve spent my career documenting technical and skilled labor like this. The inherent challenge is to focus on the individuals involved in the work, rather than solely on the impressive machinery they operate and maintain.

I love that my clients recognize that, at the core, they’re in the people business. They’re eager to celebrate their employees and give you a glimpse of what goes on behind the curtain—or, more correctly, what’s happening in the hangar.

Aircraft Mechanic — *© Brian Fitzgerald*

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Capturing Spontaneity: Photographing First Lady Jill Biden’s Visit

April 11, 2023 0 Comments read Blog, Client Work, Editorial, Marketing, On Assignment, Showcase

As a longtime newspaper photojournalist, I’ve covered my fair share of visiting dignitaries, from President George Bush (’44) to U.S. Senators and others. But, as I learned the hard way on assignment for the Arizona State University school paper, the State Press, showing up late means the Secret Service won’t let you in, even if you ask really nicely.

So, when I was recently assigned to cover First Lady Jill Biden’s brief visit to Southern Maine Community College for the Maine Community College System, I made sure to arrive early. These events are highly scripted, with an advance team marking out where the media will stand, cordoned off well away from the First Lady. Each photo opportunity has been planned, with impactful visuals virtually guaranteed — as long as you show up on time — from the positions of the people to the carefully-placed American flags.

But, just because the stage is set doesn’t mean there isn’t room for spontaneity. As a photographer, my job was to capture the story and mood of the event, even within the constraints in place. I positioned myself strategically, changed compositions, and varied my lens choice to anticipate and capture those unscripted moments.

The result was a set of images that told a genuine story, full of spontaneous moments that spoke to the human emotions and connections present at the event. As a former newspaper photographer, I’m grateful for the laboratory that experience provided me that still allows me to capture moments even in highly-controlled settings.

Creating a mood with cinematic portraits

April 12, 2022 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Editorial, Marketing, On Assignment

As a longtime commercial portrait photographer, I’m thrown into situations where a standard formal portrait isn’t called for. What’s needed is a portrait that focuses on a subject and has a more “cinematic”—a treatment and approach that may feel more ‘movie-like’, using precise lighting and positioning. The result is a dynamic, rich portrait with a contemporary feel that grabs attention.