Bettina May © Leland Bobbé

I recently photographed burlesque performer and pin-up model Bettina May. Bettina is known for creating a very ’40’s vintage persona in terms of hair and style but for this shot I wanted to shed that and just capture the beauty of her amazing hair and a great expression. Once again for me the beauty dish rules.

Jung Nam Lee @ Leland Bobbé

I met artist Jung Nam Lee at  my Neo-Burlesque exhibition opening at the Museum of Sex. As soon as I saw him I knew i had to get him in front of my camera . . . he was into it. I asked him to wear exactly what he was wearing at the opening because i really liked the vertical and horizontal stripes along with his salt and pepper hair. I shot this in the studio with a 300 mm lens lit with a beauty dish.

Giulio Adriani © Leland Bobbé

I was recently having dinner at Olio Pizza e Piu in the West Village in NYC and spotted this really interesting looking gentleman buzzing around the kitchen who happened to be  award winning Neopolitan pizzaiolo Giulio Adriani. I approached him, told him who I was and asked if he’d be interested in sitting for a portrait. I gave him my card went back to my table and saw him immediately head for the computer where i figured he was checking out my work. Before i knew it there was a free desert being delivered to my table and a smile on his face. He acceppted my invitation and  this was the result.

Victoria and Schäffer © Leland Bobbé

I previously had photographed both Victoria and Schäffer for my burlesque project. Now a happy couple, they have somehow morphed into looking like each other. I wanted to capture that in a portrait and after we all talked about it they told me that they each had a dark suit and red satin ties. Since they both wear glasses we decided to shoot it with matching frames. After a quick run to a discount store, Robin and I found the perfect nerdy magnifying reading glasses. I shot them both as singles thinking of pairing them up and then shot them together. This shot definitely worked the best. A really fun shoot.

Frank Bara @ Leland Bobbé

I recently met Frank at a galley opening of a painter friend of mine, Glen Hansen. With his red shirt and red suspenders he looked like the second coming of Santa. I approached him about sitting for a portrait and he readily accepted. He came with his Santa gear but i decided to strip it down and make it about his great face and his emotion. As an ex-actor this was not problem for him at all. I shot in color but as I was processing the raw files I decided to see what it would look like in black and white. As soon as i saw it reduced to black & white his expression and emotion just jumped out at me. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results.