Joe DiMaggio - We're Talking About Photography Not Baseball

Although I normally can’t find a minute to breathe during the week I somehow was able to fit in a Lower Manhattan photography tour offered through Adorama last Sunday. Our fearless leader into these tourist traps was the great and accomplished photographer Joe DiMaggio. Not only is he extremely informative, but the man is funny as hell! Photography and comedy – honestly what is better?! In all seriousness though I was thrilled to work along side of such a seasoned pro.

The group varied from amateurs to up and coming professionals, yet Joe structured the workshop so no one was bored to tears or out of their league. He demonstrated how to make pictures of things already shoot millions of times look unique and unusual. I had an absolute ball with Joe and the ten hour workshop flew by even though I was carrying 20 lbs of equipment on my back. It’s now two days later and I still feel like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is why, when our schedules coincide, I drag the husband along to shoot and as the day progress my load gets lighter and his becomes heavier. Husband = photography assistant = happy photographer!

Here’s a brief bio on Joe pulled from takegreatpictures.com. I’m crossing my fingers I have the opportunity to school with him again.

Where it all started.

DiMaggio’s long-standing affair with photography began the day, at age nine, when he picked up his grandfather’s Kodak folding bellows camera. Later, his aunt bought him his own Kodak Brownie box camera, not suspecting that she was helping to launch a career of notable achievement.”

Joe DiMaggio considers himself a photographic “generalist,” so it’s quite likely that you have encountered his photographs along the way. They have graced magazine covers, advertising campaigns, corporate communications, books and newspapers. But despite a lifetime of photography as work, DiMaggio can’t disguise that he is having more fun than a kid with a new toy. His love of photography shines through his conversation, his teaching and, most of all, through his photographs.