The Distinguished Mayor AC Wharton, Jr.

Memphis Mayor AC Wharton, Jr.

During the past few years, a good bit of my work has been photographing conferences for various clients. The work ranges from shooting talking heads and candids of participants to capturing social activities. For the past few days I’ve been watching news reports on the Mississippi River flooding and saw a number of interviews of Memphis Mayor AC Wharton, Jr. Last year I had the pleasure of photographing Mayor Wharton and have to say he is one of the most photogenic individuals I have ever had the pleasure of photographing. As he was speaking on a panel I captured a number of images of him under dramatic stage lighting. Not the most flattering type of lighting, but with his full head of white hair, the images stand out in my memory and I thought I would post one here. Watching his interviews on the flooding, I’m just as impressed with his handling of the evacuations as I am with his photogenic appearance!

About Kolman Rosenberg

My interest in photography began as a college newspaper and yearbook photographer during the stormy 1960s and 1970s. I was influenced by many of the great photojournalists and documentary photographers such as W. Eugene Smith, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White and other black and white photographers of Life Magazine and the earlier Farm Security Administration. Though many of these photographers documented the horrors of war and the plight of poverty, they also showed me the dignity and adaptability of human beings in their desire to prevail.

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6 Responses to The Distinguished Mayor AC Wharton, Jr.

Barbara says:

May 11, 2011 at 5:59 pm

The variation in tones of brown/blacks/white/shadows and sun is lovely also.

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- Kolman Rosenberg says:
  
  May 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm
  
  Thanks Barbara! There were a number of big city mayors and a congressman there, all of whom I photographed, but Mayor Wharton kind of stood out!
  
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Roger says:

May 12, 2011 at 10:33 am

Excellent lighting Kolman. I like the transition between dark and light. It’s split exactly halfway between the subject. Great job again!!

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- Kolman Rosenberg says:
  
  May 12, 2011 at 10:47 am
  
  Thanks Roger! The lighting was one of those situations where I just had to take what I was given, stage lighting. Actually I kind of like the sharp contrast too. He just happened to be sitting, facing to his left. Others on the panel were facing the spotlights and were not as dramatic looking.
  
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shamtest says:

May 14, 2011 at 9:37 am

I can’t seem to access this site from my iphone!

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- Kolman Rosenberg says:
  
  May 14, 2011 at 4:42 pm
  
  I don’t know what to tell you. It should be accessible as far as I know.
  
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