Featured Artist: Michael Winokur

Anastasia: What is your background?

Michael: I've been a photographer since I was in high school; I worked in photojournalism for ten years, and loved meeting interesting people every day, witnessing their lives and seeing their emotion. I started to move away from my documentary roots about six years ago and then dove, head first, into the commercial world when I moved to the Bay Area in 2000. Now, working mostly on location, I make portrait and lifestyle images for a variety of design and advertising agencies.

Anastasia: What is your technique?

Michael: I work closely with other creative professionals to help my clients communicate in a clear compelling visual language.

Anastasia: What is your involvement with the Guild?

Michael: I started going to Guild lunches about two years ago. It was a good way for me to meet people I was working with in a social atmosphere. Recently I was drafted to join the Guild Steering Committee as Secretary. I enjoy being in a room full of other creative people -- the energy is contagious.

Anastasia: Do you have a favorite client story?

Michael: I was working with Tine Pietschman at Mission Minded on a brochure for ACT Theatre. The war in Iraq had just started and the city was jammed with protestors. Union Square was one of the planned locations, just down the street from the theatre. We couldn't have known that the city would decide to close the park to keep the protestors out. Tine went over there and somehow she got permission for us to use the square. Except for us and the police, the park was empty. There were probably 30 officers in a ring around the spot we were working. It made us feel like we were filming a big budget movie.

Anastasia: Anything else?

Michael: I'm always doing personal work and making images for my stock collection. I think you owe it to your clients to push your own creativity and to challenge your own style so that you always have something fresh to bring to the party.

Biography:
Formally educated in Journalism at the University of Missouri, Michael combines the resourcefulness of a street photographer with controlled studio lighting and a strong sense of composition. His influences include Richard Avedon, Robert Maxwell and Irving Penn, but he is always looking for new ideas in other mediums.