Just Loomis

Just Loomis (born January 1957 in Reno, Nevada) is a fine art photographer known for his portraiture and fashion photography. His work has been published and exhibited internationally and has appeared in Harper's Bazaar, British Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine. His book, "As We Are" was published in 2010 by Hatje Cantz.

Family history

Loomis' paternal grandfather, James R. Loomis, was a photographer as well as an acquaintance of George Eastman. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned James R. Loomis to travel throughout South America taking portraits of "politically powerful officials who were threatening to turn communist".[1] Just Loomis' great-great grandfather was also a professional photographer, working in the midwest in the 19th century, shortly after the invention of photography.

Career

Early work

Just Loomis began taking photographs in the 1970s. His earliest work, taken when he was in high school, focused on the people and landscapes around Reno, Nevada, where he was raised.[2]

In 1976, Loomis attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. During his studies there, he, along with his classmates Mark Arbeit and George Holz, sought out and met photographer Helmut Newton and the three students became his assistants shortly thereafter. Loomis remained close to Newton for 25 years until his death in 2004, and remains friends with Helmut's widow, June Newton, to this day (see: "recent work" below).[3]

From 1982-85, Loomis lived in Milan, where he met and worked for Carla Sozzani at Vogue Sposa. In 1985, he moved to New York, where he worked for Carrie Donovan at Harper's Bazaar and The New York Times Magazine for over a decade. In 1989, his photograph of Carla Bruni, shot for Harper's Bazaar, earned him the cover and "Photo of the Year" award for American Photographer magazine.

Just Loomis has taken portraits of many celebrities, including Madonna, Carla Bruni, Uma Thurman, Calvin Klein and David Lynch. He also frequently worked for the Warner Bros. record label, photographing a number of musicians including a-ha, Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, George Benson, Amy Grant, Patty Griffin and KD Lang. In 1986, his photograph for the album cover of Aha's Hunting High and Low was nominated for the Grammy for the "album cover of the year".[4] Loomis' photograph for KD Lang's Invincible Summer album cover won an Art Directors Annual Award for Photography in 2000.

Recent work

In 1997, Loomis moved to Santa Fe, and then to Malibu, California, to devote his energies solely to fine art photography. His work in portraiture from this period earned him a one-man exhibit at Lincoln Center in New York in 2009.

Also in 2009, June Newton organized an exhibition entitled "Three Boys From Pasadena." The show included work by Loomis as well as by George Holz, and Mark Arbeit - the three longtime apprentices and friends of June's late husband Helmut Newton. The exhibition premiered at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin, and traveled to Paris, New York, Cologne, Antwerp, and finally to the Williamson Gallery at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. [3]

After seeing the exhibit at the Helmut Newton Foundation, Christina Steingraber from Hatje Cantz in Berlin offered to publish Loomis' work in a book. "As We Are" was published in 2010, was nominated for the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis, and was named "Photobook of the Year" by Communication Arts and PDN magazines. The publication of "As We Are" led to a one-man exhibit of the work at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo, Norway.[2]

Starting in 2010, Loomis began teaching internationally, at the Neue Schule fur Fotografie in Berlin, the Fotofagskolen in Norway, the Santa Fe Workshops, and the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. He currently teaches undergraduate and MFA programs at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Awards

Exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, Christine Savage. "Art Moderne and Christian Science: The History of Reno's Loomis Manor". "Nevada Historical Society Quarterly." Nevada Historical Society, Winter 1993. Web.
  2. 1 2 Harder, Matthias. Afterword. "As We Are." Berlin: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2010. 111-113. Print
  3. 1 2 Appleford, Steve. "The Photographers of 'Three Boys from Pasadena". Los Angeles Times, June 2012. Web.
  4. ↑ Loomis, Just. "Aha: The Photos." Oslo, Forlaget Press, 2011. Print


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