A picture says a thousand words" as the old saying goes.  In the music industry, capturing a moment in a photo can make or break an artist.  John Taylor is aware of this phenomenon and does very well at striking a pose for his fans to enjoy.  His current photographer is Cynthia Brubaker, who with her sharp eye and technique, has been able to take sensational pictures of John.  Now, it's time to zoom in and see how creativity and Cynthia mix.

---

Q/A:

Why did you decide to pursue photography as a career?
I was always a creative child.  Drawing and design came easy for me.  I drew all over everything:  books and notebooks.  I would create scenes on my desktops.  I even created a cartoon soap opera.  I drew all of the characters and would write dialogue for each scene.  As I became older, I started looking through magazines, particularly fashion.  Heavy design orientated and contrasty images caught my eye.  Selectively focused images I found fascinating.  I wanted to know how to create beautiful images like those.  I wanted to know how a camera worked.  I wanted to create designs out of life images.

How long have you been a photographer?
Forever?  I've frozen and designed frames of scenes in my mind since I can remember.  But, I started school in 1992.  I studied at Brooks Institute of Photography.

What inspires you?
True passion in another person.  Mostly in music and poetry, but it could be anything.  To see someone else moved by something really affects me.  The earth.  Looking at the trees and the clouds and just the world surrounding us.  Breathing, love, hate, anger, sadness, joy...all of it...that and good hair.  Oh and the "boy" on 7th Heaven (Barry Watson rroowwrr), he has damn good hair.

What types of photography do you enjoy?
Fashion and Fine art...and now digital art.  Anything creative to do with people.

What inspires you?
Other people's work, any art medium, i.e.:  photographs, paintings, videos, sculptures, and etc.  The human body.  Certain lighting situations.  Music with substance.  I guess anything that causes an emotional stir or reaction.  It may sound strange, but I'm not always inspired when I'm shooting.  I probably was before the moment, imagining what I would do with someone or a certain look I would go for.  But, working with people can be very difficult, especially if you can't get them to relax and enjoy themselves.  If they aren't a good sport and can't get into doing something different, maybe a pose that's a little out of the ordinary or they're dull and have no energy, usually sucking my mine.  I then become bored and feel very drained after a photo session.

What has been your favorite photography project or job?
JT, of course!  Maybe it was my first paying job.  Really, I don't think I have just one favorite.  I can never pin point just one thing.  When people comply to doing something abnormal, that becomes my favorite thing.  I've dressed men in women's lingerie, draped men on cars in a junk yard, and put people on furniture in the ocean.  I once took a pair of giant clown glasses and walked around the beach asking people to put them on so I could photograph them.  I have three rolls of strangers posing for me with a big red rubber nose on their face.

How did your working relationship with John Taylor come about?
John and I met through a mutual friend and we would hang out on occasion.  One day, we were talking about photography.  He pulled out an art book and said he wanted to do something like that.  John is a very cultured and creative person.  I think he had been wanting to do something a little less corporate.  So, we set it up.  I went to his house one day and we had some fun.  They must have thought it went well, because they hired me for an actual studio session later.

How do you and John collaborate together about/during a photo session?
To me, John seems very educated in art.  His sense of vision allows him to project his ideas with clarity.  I think because we had established a friendship first, that we were able to understand each other and are comfortable working together.  We have no troubles saying if we don't think an idea's going any where or if it is.

What is it like to work with John during a photo session?
JT:  Maybe I should do something like...

CB:  Oh, yeah yeah, do that.  That's hot.

JT:  Ya know Cyn, I'm just not...feeling it.  I don't feel like this jacket is working.

CB:  Are you crazy?  I think it's sexy!

JT:   I don't know...it's just...

CB:  All right.  We're done with this.  If you're not liking it, it won't look good.

(John goes to change, gets touched up, and comes back fifteen minutes later)

CB:  Yeah, you were right.  That looks sooo much better.

What has been your favorite photo session with John?
There has actually only have been two sessions with John and they were both completely different than each other.  One was location at his home and the other was in the studio.  Both have their own "favorite moments."

Did you know about John's background before you became his photographer, and if so, what was your reaction?
Yeah, I knew who John Taylor was.  Who doesn't?  But, to be completely honest, I wasn't a huge Duran Duran fan back in the day.  So, when I met him, the impact of who he was and all of his accomplishments didn't really affect me.  When I met him, he was just John.  However, I did start to notice that wherever we went, there were a lot of people and girls staring at us.  Well, at John.  And it was when they started to aggressively pushing me out of the way to try to touch him, that I realized who he really was.  Now, there's an impact!

Do you photograph other celebrities, and if so, who are they?
So far, John is the biggest name.  Other musicians would be Mindi Abair (played and toured with the Back Street Boys), the Underdogs (a band founded by Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots), and a few actors that are on their way to becoming famous.  I do publicity stuff for a magazine when they interview in LA and now I'm getting jobs and calls from ad agencies and photo editors here and on the west coast.

What are your future plans?
To grow and be better.  Every time I shoot, I learn something about myself or remember a technique.  I am my worst critic.  I look at my work and think, "why didn't I do this or why did I do that?" or "yuck!"   The immediate plan is to become more known by marketing myself.  I think I would like to keep freelancing.  Eventually, I will gain more exposure by being published and have representation.  Then, ideally, I would like to start landing fashion gigs and grow to be bicoastal.  This way, I can be hired to do many different things, have multiple clients, and shoot different types of people and etc.  Realistically, I just want to keep shooting.  To obtain enough work to live comfortably and still have time for hobbies, like fine art and digital images.  To create and be happy.


=Back to Top=