"CHINA NOW" A Traveling Exhibition with the V.M.F.A.

In 2006, Richmond photographer Christopher Winton-Stahle was part of a bilateral exchange program co-sponsored by the Rose Group for Cross-Cultural Understanding and the China Association for International Friendly Contact. The program's aim is to increase American understanding of China and its history, core values, traditions and philosophy. Winton-Stahle returned with more than 3,000 color photographs focusing on the people, the landscape, daily life, and evidence of China's explosive economic growth.

China's emerging status on the world stage and its relationship with the United States are increasingly the subjects of discussion in the 21st century. Traditions are evolving and, in some cases, being consumed by technology, development and the drive for newer, bigger, better. Transforming the mid-20th-century Mao-era architecture into state-of-the-art facilities for a younger, global, tech-savvy generation has become commonplace in most cities in China. Preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing have led to vast municipal projects intended to put China's best foot forward. The result is the replacement of older structures with new "green" buildings that incorporate the latest in ecologically-minded systems.

Amidst this blossoming growth, hazed by a level of pollution that has been referred to as "significantly worse than Los Angeles," more than 1.3 billion Chinese citizens do what their ancestors have done for centuries - endure.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (1996, Cambridge University Press) states that "In every epoch Chinese have made use of the resources they inherited – material, intellectual and institutional – to set goals, respond to new challenges, protect themselves, and advance their interests. Because their actions have a cumulative impact on the resources the next generation inherits, change is inevitable but so are links to the past. This I believe is as true today as ever."

It is within this complex cultural experience that photographer Christopher Winton-Stahle spent five frenetic days of exploration and education. Snippets of his vision make up the exhibition and lead viewers to ponder change, patterns, people and the global interplay of cultures.

"China Now" will be available at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art from September 4th to October 28th, 2007 before it begins a three year tour with the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's partnering museums.

Introducing Our New Studio...

As of June 1st, 2007 we have officially finished the renovation of our new studio on the West End of Richmond in the Commerce Center Business Park. This space started as a bare shell of a warehouse that we acquired last January after we determined that our need for a studio had reached a critical level. We have spent the last six months renovating the space and preparing to make it our new home. Though we were hosting our shoots there with existing clients that needed a studio space we have been reluctant to make the official announcement until now.

So, here’s a little bit of information about the space and what we have to offer.

• 2500 sq. ft. of total space
• 2 shooting sets
• 20’ x 20’ circular cyc wall
• 10’ x 20’ reception area & lounge
• 12’ x 12’ private make up and wardrobe room
• 10’ x 10’ wood working shop with miter saw and drill press
• 20’ ceiling in studio
• 10’ x 10’ mobile floor section on casters
• 10’ x 8’ mobile wall section on casters
• state of the art apple G5’s on mobile carts
• Wi-Fi/Airport and Network
• 2 restrooms (1 with splash sink and a shower…just in case…)
• Studio access through loading dock with 10’ x 15’ garage door

We will be hosting June’s Richmond Ad Club monthly "Happy Hour" Social and open house at the studio on June 28th from 5:30 to 7:30. The happy hour will be followed by the continuation of our open house until 10pm. We will continue to enjoy food, drink, music, and putt putt golf. Please feel free to join us! RSVP us at info@winton-stahle.com to request directions to the studio and to let us know that you’re coming.

Recent Projects

January turned out to be a really productive month despite the usual trend of having a totally dead month. It started off with a great shoot with Chad Hugo for Scratch Magazine. Chad was such a nice guy. Our shoot with him was a complete success and we were finished with enough time to just hang out with the folks there at Chad's studio and have a few shots of tequila to finish off the night. Check out the new issue of Scratch Magazine to see this feature article!

The next week we were out in the country in a large cornfield, which had been mowed down for the winter, photographing a man to look like a farmer to be place on a billboard for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. This was, of course, one of those shoots that you get the model through make up and wardrobe, our crew gets the shot set up and ready to go, and then everyone has to wait in the freezing cold for that perfect moment to present itself when the sun is at just the right point and the sky looks just right. Of course, what always happens in these situations is that the moment presents itself and everyone runs like crazy, working to get through the shots before the sun sets and we lose our sweet light for the day. It's Always a little stressful and quite the rush but these are the kind of shoots that make this really fun and interesting. God, I love this job!

We worked with Frankl Creative in shooting an ad campaign for the Better Business Bureau of Virginia, which also turned out to be a really fun two days of production and photography. I always say that any shoot that involves a smoke machine is going to be a fun one! On this particular job I was able to use the smoke machine on two of our three sets so I was really quite happy about that! We had a great crew and a wonderful cast of talent. I'd like to thank the three little kids that stood in the background for our broken down car photo. These kids were such troopers! It was so cold that evening and we just kept shooting because we were losing our light. Finally when they were about to cry because they were so cold we really started to get some great shots. I'm sorry guys that I kept you out there for so long but It was all for the sake of the art. Besides, no one lost any fingers due to frost bite so it was a good day! What an awesome crew we had for the Better Business Bureau campaign!

We also started on a new year of photographing products to be placed on packaging for Rubbermaid Commercial Products. So, you'll be happy to know that you can find samples of our beautiful photography on most any mop, broom, sponge, or household cleaner package at any Wal-Mart or Lowes in America! We love these guys because they really take care of us and I'd, personal, like to give a big shout out to our agency on this account, "you know who you are" for being such a great client and helping to take care of us in 2006.

Ad campaign photographs for the B.B.B. (Designs by Frankl Creative)

You've just gotta love GWAR!

Winton-Stahle Photography shoots GWAR's latest album cover "Beyond Hell"

This post is coming a little late however since we just launched our blog around the middle of January then I suppose that it's better late than never. Last June after photographing GWAR for Revolver Magazine we really hit it off with the guys from the band and began to build a business relationship with them. About a month later we were contacted by them to shoot the cover for their new album, "Beyond Hell", which was released in the fall. One of the many things that I love about this job is that I always get to meet such a diverse group of people. For example, the day that we met with GWAR to discuss their new CD album we also had a meeting with an architectural firm to discuss shooting one of their new high rises in South Florida. Heidi and I went to the first meeting dressed in our finest clothes with all of our "T's" crossed and "i" dotted. We all sat around a conference table and discussed the project in more detail, making decisions about the job. Immediately afterwards we went down to GWAR's studio, stopping briefly to change into more casual clothes for this second meeting of the day and we went through the same type of ritual of sitting down around a conference table with our client, GWAR, to discuss the direction of the project. The only difference was at this meeting there were severed corpes heads and little dead babies, FAKE OF COURSE, laying on the conference table.

Photography with Chad Hugo for a Scratch Magazine.

We recently had the opportunity to photograph Chad Hugo for a feature article in Scratch Magazine. Now I have to be honest, before Scratch Magazine called us for the job I didn’t know who Chad Hugo was. However, after doing a little research I definitely recognized his music N.E.R.D., The Neptunes, and some of the other projects that he’s worked on. I just have to say that Chad was one of the most down-to-earth, coolest people that I have ever met and had the pleasure of working with! He was very gracious, pleasant to work with, and after our shoot was over we ended the evening with pizza, great conversation, and a little music. I love this job! I’d like to give a big thank you to Mr. Chad Hugo for being so cool to our production team and for sharing a little bit of time with us after the shoot was over.

Welcome to our Blog!

Welcome to the official Winton-Stahle Photography, L.L.C. web log! Here you will be able to find out a little more about our company, our crew, our work ethics, our favorite colors, and why we think that you should choose our company for your next photographic project whether you are an advertising agency looking for a dependable, creative, and fun company to do the photography for an ad campaign or a magazine in search of a photographer to shoot a feature article. We are here to take care of you.