Title: LeBron James | Photographer: Michael O’Brien | Client: ESPN The Magazine
Michael O’Brien, a Graphis Photography Master, shot LeBron James for a cover for ESPN The Magazine in 2002 when James was in high school. In 2005, O’Brien spoke with Imaging Info Magazine about the shoot and what James was like as a teenager.
“We had LeBron for about an hour before an early-morning basketball practice at his high school in Cleveland,” O’Brien told Imaging Info Magazine. “LeBron was in the 12th grade and about to go pro. He came into the shoot wearing a white T-shirt wrapped around his head. I shot him with my Hasselblad 553 ELX and Elinchrom Octalight against a 20×30 brown muslin backdrop. I was impressed by how calm, collected, and centered he was with all the attention focused on him.”
O’Brien’s image of LeBron James received a Gold award in the Photography Annual 2004.
Title: Evolution | Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, USA | Client: NBA
Legendary sports photographer Walter Iooss took the pictures above of Michael Jordan, which were in the Graphis book, Sporting Life. The book features writing from Iooss’s diary alongside his photographs. The idea to keep a diary, Iooss wrote in the book, came from model and actress Carol Alt, while they were on a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot. “She would paste Polaroids of the jobs she worked to have a yearly record of her life,” Iooss wrote of Alt.
In 1992, Iooss (pronounced yose) approached Jordan about shooting portraits of him to combine with an essay, which would have historic and artistic value. The photographs might even humanize the superstar. Jordan agreed and the two developed a close relationship and even a friendship, which is evident in Iooss’s photographs of the former Chicago Bulls star.
Iooss’s images have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated more than 300 times. To view more of Iooss’s work, check out his website here.
To purchase Walter Iooss: Shooting Sports or any other photography books, visit our store here.
The advertisement above, titled “Evolution,” was a Gold winner in the Advertising Annual 2011. Art director Matt Ryan and creative directors Jame Barrett, Stefan Copiz and Ari Weiss helped conceptualize and execute the memorable ad. In addition, Suzee Barabee was the print producer and Weiss served as the copywriter for “Evolution.”
The Goodby, Silverstein & Partners firm is a Graphis Master. The firm’s “Detroit – SF Bridge” ad received a Gold award in the Advertising Annual 2013. It won another Gold award in the Advertising Annual 2014 for its series for Cheetos, “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.”
To view more work by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, check out its website here.
The advertising competition features the most compelling and influential advertising of the year. Gold and Platinum awards, along with winning entries, will be published in the Advertising Annual 2015. Submit your work to the Advertising Annual 2015 competition here.
