The New Yorker Goes Broad (City)

People often ask whether a shoot was fun, or what the vibe was like on set and my response inevitably is, “It doesn’t matter, just look at the pictures.” But this was a session that actually was fun and the mood was nothing short of joyful.

Broad City stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer were positive, friendly and seemingly game for anything. At the suggestion of New Yorker Photo Editor Siobhán Bohnacker and Director of Photography Whitney Johnson we did a quick tour of the Lower East Side, stopping at some visual spots that I had scouted the day before.

We shot seven set-ups in less than an hour and managed to get lots of conversation and laughs in there too. One of my favorites moments came when I went into a construction supplies store asking about doing a quick portrait by their store entrance. The manager politely told me that he couldn’t allow it without clearance from the head office in Virginia. As I started to head out though his younger associate eagerly added, “But if it’s Matt Damon perhaps we can work something out.” I relayed this to the girls waiting outside and we all had a laugh over it.

The Images: The top one is what is running in The New Yorker this week. The behind-the-scene photos are by Olga Cherkasova, and the final image is what I got when I asked them to give me their best “New Yorker” pose.