Leave it to Leonor #136

This week, I am thinking about photography. A few weeks ago I asked my instagram followers for topics they'd like to see me cover here. This topic, about my favorite photo shoots, comes from Sean. The timing is perfect as this week marks my 13-year anniversary in the photo world. I've written about how I became a photo editor before (you can read about it here, new subscribers.) I've been at a lot of magazines, making it hard to narrow things down, but I decided to focus in on three titles where I've had some time and distance to determine what stands out. 

My most memorable moment at the Times Magazine was working backstage during fashion week with the icon and legend Lee Friedlander. I didn't produce that shoot, but was one of several photo editors asked to run interference for one of the five days that he was on assignment. Ensuring that he got continued access to everything the photo editor had negotiated and that the tense fashion people didn't kick out the old man in the hair/makeup/dressing areas. It was amazing to watch him work.

Since I was a wee photo assistant with no photo production experience, it took a while for me to be given a feature assignment. But once I did, it felt like all my assignments were very on brand (Hockey players! Strong lady portraits!) One of my first big solo projects was a shoot about nutrition and dog food. I assigned Catherine Ledner who is known for her animal portraits and she created these two very elegant dining scenes. . .for dogs.   

There are so many NYMAG stories that I loved working on which made it incredibly difficult to choose. There was Marilyn Minter photographing Fiona Apple, working with Christopher Anderson for a year on the 2012 election coverage (including this Joe Biden story), this incredible portfolio of women sharing their abortion stories, a Saturday night sex tour with Pari Dukovic, extreme decor with Dean Kaufman, 17 minutes in the deepest bowels of Yankee Stadium with Mariano Rivera. 

All those were serious contenders, but long before I worked at NYMAG, I was a super fan. When I got hired, I was eating my way through a list of the best dishes by neighborhood. So when handed the reins to the food coverage, I tried to keep my cool. Readers, if you know anything about me by now, I am not cool and have zero chill. I was like an excited puppy when I got to work on Where to Eat, Adam Platt's annual round up of the best restaurants and Cheap Eats, Rob & Robin's extensive list of the best affordable dishes. Plus the weekly food pages, including In Season, which has since been retired (but became a book.) Needless to say, the idea of picking a favorite food shoot was difficult (Holiday Food, I love you!), but after much agonizing, I chose Cheap Eats 2013 shot by the brilliant Bobby Doherty. If you'll excuse my Stefon moment -- this list had everything -- the best burgers, huge sandwiches, pounds of barbecue, Questlove's fried chicken and CRONUTS. Getting all the food to the tiny NYMAG studio over the course of a week was a logistical nightmare, but sailing to the front of the cronut line as everyone looked on with curiosity and anger was amaaaaaazing.

When I went to Conde Nast Traveler, I knew that I wanted to work with Pari Dukovic because I knew he'd make original and interesting travel photos. I convinced the bosses to let me hire him to shoot for an annual reader's choice issue, which essentially meant that he would be traipsing around Florence for a few days. His sole mission was to make photos of iconic locations that didn't look cliche. (He succeeded.) 

And the Hurricane Sandy cover. Obviously.