Fashion Photography for the Barnyard Set

June 21, 2011 7:55 AM

"Once, a prima donna sheep got fed up with the photo shoot and stormed off the set," he says. "She was inconsolable and impossible to convince to return." Rob MacInnis takes photographs of barnyard animals using the techniques of fashion photography. More here (NYTimes blog). (Be sure to check out the panoramas.)
posted by OmieWise (25 comments total)

The author of that first article doesn't seem to have read any of the quotes from the artist. (Hint: It's not about the animals.)
posted by DU at 7:59 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

NSFN (Not safe for Norway)
posted by ryoshu at 8:08 AM on June 21, 2011

The sheep is a liar!!
posted by orthogonality at 8:09 AM on June 21, 2011

Eh? I read several quotes from the artist and do not share your conclusion.

Anyway I like these a lot! Thanks for posting.
posted by grobstein at 8:09 AM on June 21, 2011

These are great! What a delightful surprise. The faces are so soulful. Definitely makes me feel a need to be vegetarian. The group portraits are classic somehow, they remind me of folk art paintings like Hicks' Peacable Kingdom.
posted by nickyskye at 8:22 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, but what did they all look like before all the plastic surgery, makeup and photoshop?
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:23 AM on June 21, 2011 [8 favorites]

Prima donna sheep? Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(h)!
posted by tommasz at 8:26 AM on June 21, 2011

The panoramas are down for me, but I found this there. Seems to be a cow projected onto vegetation.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:29 AM on June 21, 2011

Oh I LOVE these! If I had a spare bundle of cash I'd buy prints. I really like the pictures of the groups of animals as it almost seems as if they're proud to be hanging out with their buddies for the photos.
posted by Salmonberry at 8:30 AM on June 21, 2011

Amazed at how they got all the animals in the group pix to stand still and face the camera. They all have that old west look of we are tough guys getting out picture taken even though we know they are softies at heart. So cute.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

These are great. The panoramas make me think of those 19th century pictures with the whole family proudly posed in front of the farmhouse.
posted by octothorpe at 8:38 AM on June 21, 2011

Amazed at how they got all the animals in the group pix to stand still and face the camera.

When I take family portraits the final result is always a PhotoShopped combo of multiple pictures because toddlers will never pose the way I want them to. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same.
posted by Dragonness at 8:38 AM on June 21, 2011

the final result is always a PhotoShopped combo of multiple pictures because toddlers

Not just toddlers. Older children too.

And I keep suggesting this plan to my wife but she rejects it, throws back another vodka and grimly tries again.
posted by DU at 9:04 AM on June 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

In fact, that is how he did it. From the NY Times blog article:

The animals in this image were photographed separately and then assembled together on stage during the production of the print.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:08 AM on June 21, 2011 [3 favorites]

The author of that first article doesn't seem to have read any of the quotes from the artist.

Postmodern commentary on the nature of consumption they may be, but they are also incredibly cute animals. The squee is not a lie.
posted by londonmark at 9:08 AM on June 21, 2011

Why do I have the mental image of some photographer yelling, "YEAAAAAH, Baby, sell it, SELL IT, YEAH! That's the stuff, YEAH, Flossie, give me that attitude..."
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 9:33 AM on June 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

I love the panoramas. Just like a school photo.
posted by Joh at 9:36 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

she rejects it, throws back another vodka and grimly tries again.
Sounds like she's not really in it for the photography.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:38 AM on June 21, 2011

The artist writes:“I take the conventions from the fashion world and apply them to the underclass barnyard animal."

But these aren't really "underclass" animals. The article continues, "Some of the first animals he photographed belong to Angela and Frazer Hunter, who own a farm overlooking the Northumberland Strait in Nova Scotia."

That would be the Angela and Frazer Hunter who

who run our area’s only certified organic dairy operation, raise organic beef and lamb, and (HOORAY!) will soon start to sell their own organic cheese!

The Hunter’s emigrated to Nova Scotia from the U.K. in the late 70s. In 1998 they bought a functioning dairy farm in Knoydart, halfway between Antigonish and New Glasgow, along the beautiful and rugged coastline of the Northumberland Strait. As Hunter would now be giving up his off-farm income they had to increase their revenue. They decided to do this in a variety of ways: they diversified–adding some beef and lamb production, and decided to add value to their dairy production by transitioning to organic, and eventually setting up a facility to produce organic cheese.

Sort of the upper-middle class of farm animals, I'd think.
posted by Jahaza at 9:39 AM on June 21, 2011 [3 favorites]

When I take family portraits the final result is always a PhotoShopped combo of multiple pictures because toddlers will never pose the way I want them to. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same.

I can see doing this for professional work, of course. Toddlers just can't sit still. I've told photographers to just take the shot already when my kids were not posed at all the way we wanted them but had big smiles, because that's the emotion I want to remember.

But real family pictures--you know, the ones taken at home, by that one family member who wants to Document Significant Events, usually after everyone else is frazzled and exhausted--need to have the kid crying and the dog running into the pic and the half-hidden face in the back row.

Oh, and the one person caught with eyes closed. That's always me, damn it.

I need a DaShiv. What happened to DaShiv?
posted by misha at 9:59 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yann Arthus-Bertrand does this much better.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:03 AM on June 21, 2011

Yeah, those are also good!
posted by OmieWise at 11:41 AM on June 21, 2011

Hey, anyone can download over 2,500 Yann Arthus-Bertrand wallpaper-sized aerial images for private use with the artist's encouragement. They're quite awesome.
posted by underthehat at 12:16 PM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yann Arthus-Bertrand...better...
Well, I do like this one. My mom has a repro of this at her kitchen counter, I giggle every time I'm there to see it.

But the style is so different, incomparable really.
posted by Namlit at 4:36 PM on June 21, 2011

Hey, I know this guy, sort of! I recognize him from my days in the NSCAD photo department, anyway, which isn't very big.

I'm not a big fan of the composites. The shopping is a bit too obvious; some of the animals look like they're floating off the page. But I appreciate what he's trying to do re: goofing on Leibovitz.

The individual portraits are great, though.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:00 PM on June 21, 2011