Jury 2010

Greg Garry

PHOTO DIRECTOR, COMPLEX MAGAZINE (USA)

Greg Garry is Photo Director at Complex - magazine eye-candy for anyone with a serious fetish for streetcars, sneaker culture, hip hop and graphic art. "We all have the same artistic goal at the magazine," he says. "It's about creating something beautiful out of thin air."

How did Greg find his niche in life? "I started out in TV and film art departments, creating sets and doing props. From there I met many great photographers who I started assisting and then started working with at various magazines."

What are his career highlights to date? "I have had lots of high points. Curating several photography exhibitions, winning the National Magazine award for General Excellence in 2004 was great. I've also traveled all over the globe, worked with some of my favorite photographers. I've had the fortune of meeting and shooting some amazing artists, actors and musicians along the way. But, the best is yet to come!"

It's no surprise considering the controlled chaos of working at any magazine that Greg doesn't have a typical work day. "There's lots of production for shoots, meetings, brainstorming sessions, celebrity wrangling, budgeting. Then sometimes it's like I'm a psychiatrist, massaging egos. And of course, there are lots of photo shoots, which are the most fun. I hate typical office life though!"

Greg's passion for photography comes from its "immediacy" and its ability to describe what words sometime can't. "The old cliché that a picture speaks a thousand words is very true. A great photo lingers in your imagination forever." As for what constitutes a great photo, he has his own preferences. "I tend to like images that are funny, sexy and scary all at the same time. So many things make up a great photo. I just like seeing something you've never seen before, and perhaps never thought you would."

As for the digital revolution, Greg is a firm believer. "The switchover to digital has been a revolution, and democratized the art. There was quite a resistance at first. When photographers say to me now I want to shoot film, I'm like, how quaint. But I love the digital immediacy of knowing right away that you got the shot."

What type of photography is he into? "I like portraits and fashion best. I tend to like all the extreme sports photography, like skate and snowboarding, biking, surfing, and underwater stuff. I like seeing the human body doing unbelievable things. Golf photography, on the other hand, I can live without."

It's no surprise then that he's happy to be judging at Red Bull Illume. "Any time you shine a light on great photography is a good thing."

www.complex.com