The Chicago-published magazine identified everyone with this fun photo below.

After we shot the cover, I quickly moved the lights around to shoot this image for the table of contents spread.

Chicago Magazine Photographer Behind-The-Scenes

This was a tight fit so I had to use a few tricks to make the light directional, while making it even enough to fix in post. I used a Profoto 5’ Octabox with a grid as my main light and then from the same general direction I used a Chimera strip box boomed kind of above the first chair to light the back of the room, then filled the whole scene with a D1 bounced off the ceiling—all of which I had to keep out of the final shot!

Front Cover Backstory from Positively Aware Magazine

The neighborhood barbershop can become a gathering place for a community. That was the concept for the cover of this year’s annual HIV Drug Guide as 13 people living with HIV took part in our photo shoot. They shared their experiences and insights:

Keith Marek, 70, diagnosed in 1992: “Stay on your meds. And if you’re not on meds, get onto treatment.”

Shayvonna Albrecht, 22: “Being HIV-positive is a regular thing for me because I was diagnosed shortly after I was born. I grew up going to a summer camp for positive kids and kids with positive family members. You are not alone. There are so many other people in the same situation, and so many ways to connect with them.”

LeSherri James, 35, living with HIV since 2000: “My two kids—I have a four-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter—are what keep me going every day.”

D’Eva Longoria, health educator: “Make sure you have a support system, if you don’t have one, look for one—family, friends, a good community-based organization. Surround yourself with people who will keep you motivated! Empower yourself with all the right information and inform the people around you about HIV.”

Bruno Mondello, 49, diagnosed in 1987: “Information is key. I get information from my doctor’s office, reading publications such as Positively Aware, volunteering at HIV organizations, and attending seminars and workshops.”

Michael McNamara, 62, diagnosed in 1995: “Testing and treatment are so important. I’ve lost too many friends who didn’t seek the medical attention I did that saved my life.

Jimmy Simpson, 53: “The love of my dog Chip keeps me going. I work hard keeping me appointments, taking my meds, and going to the gym.”

Angelique Munro, 47, a transgender woman, entertainer/show director, HIV/AIDS advocate, and motivational speaker: “The state of HIV treatment is the best it has ever been and is improving every day, but the key is to know your status. Get tested regularly and learn how to protect yourself and your partners.”

Chad Hendry, 38, living with HIV eight years: “Even if I could, I wouldn’t change the journey that has brought me to this point. I love myself today—that wasn’t something I ever thought would be possible. I will forever be grateful to have been given another opportunity at life.”

Terry Lewis, 65, started treatment in 1994: “Plan on what you’re going to do 20 or 30 years from now. With today’s treatments, you’ll probably live to see old age, and you’ll need funds to live on.”

Sam Hoehnle, 35, HIV prevention and research worker; living with HIV seven years: “I want to enjoy and experience life to its fullest. My diagnosis was a wake-up call—enjoy life more fully.”

Annette Fields, 49, HIV-positive 24 years: “I was in a monogamous relationship with a man for about two years. During sex, we used condoms about 85% of the time. In November 1993 I found out he had died of complications from AIDS. The next month, I was diagnosed with HIV. I’m on a one-pill-a-day drug regimen and have a doctor I trust. I love that we can discuss what I need to do to stay healthy.”

Carlos Perez, 58, diagnosed in 1984: “Get onto treatment, and stay on treatment. If I can do it and become undetectable, you can do it.”

—Compiled by Rick Guasco

Special thanks to Greg Slade and Slade’s Barbershop, sladesbarbershop.com.

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The not for profit is a unique and loving outpatient treatment center that embraces those with substance use disorders and they will turn no willing client away. And I was grateful for the opportunity to help the Center and Executive Director Dan Hostetler raise money for the cause, since drug and alcohol abuse has touched everyone’s family, including my own.

The overall theme of the shoot was to photograph real people in their real clothes and then mix in props from around the center and some rustic ones from my own collection. Then we posed them in front of a blue green Gravity Backdrop.

For most of the shots I used Profoto D1 Air 500 Monolights, a Elinchrom 39″ Rotalux Deep OctaBox as my main light and then boomed a Photek Softlighter II 46-Inch Umbrella overhead and filled the whole shot with a Westcott 7-Feet White with Black Cover Parabolic Umbrella.

The vision of Above and Beyond is to build an individualized treatment experience that is available to anyone in need regardless of their economic status. Their clients and clinicians create therapeutic alliances that design and execute personalized programs of recovery that co-exist side-by-side with personal development and growth goals. They believe that recovery is a process that requires meeting individuals where they are at, as well as addressing their environmental life circumstances such as: education, employment readiness, interpersonal relationships, and social reintegrative abilities and activities.

You can donate to Above and Beyond here!

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Trade magazine photography for Brickstreet Insights featuring nonprofit CEO Mark Ishaug of Thresholds.

Sometimes, even I need a boost, despite being 6-4! Shooting a #trademagazine in the loop today but I can’t say which one yet. #Elinchrom #rotalux #deepocta #deepocta100 #famousbtsmag #iso1200 #famousbtsmagazine #tallphotographer #canonusa #canon #profoto #profotoglobal #profotoD1 #d1air #setlife #behindthescenes #pelicancase #stormcase #octabox #softbox #coverphotoshoot #photoshoot #galaxys7 #chicagophotographer 📸 by @marcusmatteo

A post shared by John Gress (@johngressmedia) on Sep 27, 2016 at 2:13pm PDT

By www.brickstreet.com

The belief that everyone contributes to society and should have the opportunity to live a life of value, self-respect, passion and dignity is what drives Thresholds’ work. Established in 1959, Thresholds is one of the oldest and largest providers of recovery services for individuals living with serious mental illnesses in Illinois.

A study from the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that nearly one in five people in the United States is living with a disability, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates the same number experience mental illness in a given year. Thresholds works to help these individuals reclaim their lives.

Thresholds offers 30 programs in more than 100 locations throughout Chicago, Cook County and adjacent suburbs, and eight surrounding counties. These programs include access to medical and psychiatric care, job readiness and work placement, educational opportunities and safe, stable housing. The organization currently serves 10,000 people each year and employs more than 1,400.

When looking for a workers’ compensation insurer in 2013, Thresholds’ management knew that the carrier would need to understand the complexity of its business – the communities it serves, the issues it faces and all facets of its operations. BrickStreet provided Thresholds with the solutions and services to meet its unique needs.

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The film that tells the story of Daniel and Kameryn, two heart patients and their experience with cardiac care.

A Giving Heart Foundation from StoryView on Vimeo.

A Giving Heart Foundation funds initiatives and seeks partnerships to eliminate the need for babies and children to have open heart surgery.

Behind The Scenes

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Long before I shot this Chicago nightlife advertising photography lifestyle ad campaign, I first stepped into Chicago’s Union Station when I was 18 years-old and traveling through on my way to check out colleges with my mother. What possessed me to take a train clear across the country in 1996 is beyond me, but I did really enjoyed the experience of seeing so much of our country for the first time.

Chicago was an amazing place to me. The world just seemed so big and I just felt so small. I remember thinking the buildings that line Michigan Avenue were like a wall of 40-story edifices that dwarfed the skyline of my native Portland, Oregon. In retrospect those buildings aren’t that big compared to home, but I am sure when ever my family comes to visit they feel the same way.

Fast forward 18-years and I am back in Union Stations cavernous great hall, creating a nightlife lifestyle ad campaign for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s World of Chocolate. A charity event that raises money for people living with HIV and AIDS. You can make a donation and buy tickets to this amazing event, which takes place on December 4th, on their website.

Lighting the giant building was a challenge, but one I loved concurring. I had to light the room to look like nighttime,even though it was dusk. So I shaped the light on my models to strike them from different angles, while placing additional lights throughout the hall to light the background. To give the scenes a nightlife glow I put an full color temperature orange (CTO) gel on all of my lights. None of this wouldn’t be possible without the help of my assistant Christopher Free.

I love the chandeliers and lamps in the space. When I shot this nightlife lifestyle ad campaign, I made sure to introduce just enough light into the scene to create shadows and highlights without overpowering the light coming from these ornate fixtures.

The Chicago nightlife advertising photography lifestyle ad campaign was published in Chicago magazines and online.

Chicago Nightlife Advertising Photography Credits:

Producers: Rhett Lindsay, Dan Paterno
Models: Sriram Parthasarathy, Rosey Marie Holcomb, and Jefferson West
Makeup: Mel Wilson
Hair: Dan Paterno
Photo Assisting: Christopher Free
Fashions: CRAM Fashion
LuLu’s on the Avenue
Richard’s Fabulous Finds

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