Michael Grecco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Michael Grecco | ||
 Michael Grecco at the launch of his book, Naked Ambition |
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| Background information | ||
| Date of birth: | May 20, 1958 | |
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Michael Grecco (born May 20, 1958) is an American photographer. While studying filmmaking and photography at Boston University, Grecco began working freelance for the Associated Press as a photojournalist. During that time, he also began his career as a magazine photographer, which has included an extensive body of work for various national magazines including Time and Newsweek. As a staff photographer for daily metropolitan newspaper the Boston Herald, he won numerous Boston Press Photographers awards, most notably for his coverage of Hurricane Gloria in 1985.
As a regular contributor to People, Grecco made his transition from hard-news photojournalism to photographic coverage of celebrity-driven events, including the Golden Globes, the Emmy Awards and the Academy Awards. Seeking a more personal experience with his subjects, he used this experience to launch his current career as a celebrity portrait photographer.
Since 1992, Grecco has been regularly shooting magazine covers for Time, Wired, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN, People and others. His celebrity portrait subjects have included Martin Scorsese, Hugh Hefner, Robert Duvall, Lucy Liu, Will Ferrell, Mel Brooks, Christina Applegate, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz, Jet Li, Bill Murray, Joaquin Phoenix and Rene Russo. Grecco's work has gained attention for its intimate quality and ability to capture the emotion as well as the appearance of his subjects.
In addition to his contributions to three photography collections, including Esquire magazine's book "Brothers" in 1999, he has published three books of his own. Grecco's The Art of Portrait Photography, Creative Lighting Techniques and Strategies (2000) and Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, the Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography (2006) are devoted to educating others in his field.
Naked Ambition: An R Rated Look at an X Rated Industry, is Grecco's most liberated work to date. The hardcover coffee table book, aimed to appeal to the art community and adult-entertainment fans in equal measure, features forewords by rock musician Dave Navarro and controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt. The work was edited by former Hustler and RIP magazine editor Lonn Friend and former FHM editor Rob Hill. The book contains colorful, revealing and often light-hearted portraits of such adult-entertainment stars as Jenna Jameson, Ron Jeremy, Larry Flynt, Tera Patrick and husband Evan Seinfeld, John Stagliano (aka Buttman), Alexandra Silk, Katsuni, and Sunny Lane.
