Inspired by the idea that one of the greatest gifts one generation can give to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience, multi-award-winning photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman has recorded the thoughts and ideas of fifty of the world's most prominent writers, artists, designers, actors, politicians, musicians, and religious and business leaders, all over sixty-five years old. To create profound, honest, and truly revealing portraits of these luminaries, Zuckerman has captured their voices, their physical presence, and the written word. The resulting book and film, included here on a DVD, provide an extraordinary legacy for the generations that follow, and a timeless portrait of the common experiences that unite us all.
Andrew Zuckerman (American, b.1977)
Noted filmmaker and photographer, Andrew Zuckerman, utilizes a multitude of platforms to produce work that is systematically executed, conceptually based, and democratically presented. Minimalist in nature, Zuckerman aims to create atmospheres of clarity and neutrality to facilitate the viewer's access to the material. His commitment to diversifying the points of entry into his work has garnered a global audience.
Zuckerman first made his mark on the publishing world with the 2007 release of CREATURE, a compendium of intimate animal portraits set against his signature white background. He has since explored this distinctive approach - which divorces subjects from their context and equalizes the larger conversation between them - in four additional critically acclaimed multi-media projects: WISDOM (2008), BIRD (2009), MUSIC (2010), and FLOWER (2012). Renowned designer, Massimo Vignelli, has lauded Zuckerman's "uncompromising notion of space in which any object becomes its own essence." His books have been translated into numerous languages and published in 18 international editions.
Exhibitions of Zuckerman's work include a solo show of photographs from CREATURE at the Forma International Center of Photography in Milan and the ongoing WISDOM traveling exhibition, featuring portraits and interviews with extraordinary individuals over the age of 65, including Nelson Mandela, Andrew Wyeth, and Chuck Close. It premiered at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. In July 2008, Zuckerman's portrait of Nelson Mandela appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Zuckerman's companion film to BIRD has been exhibited on The High Line in New York City in 2009, and at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in 2010. Photographs from BIRD were on display at Colette in Paris. His short film, "High Falls," premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and was selected as Best Short Film at the Woodstock Film Festival the same year. Writer David Carr called the project "a pretty film and a pretty smart film" in his New York Times review. In 2010, Zuckerman interviewed and photographed over fifty eminent musicians, composers, and producers (from Ornette Coleman to Iggy Pop) for the MUSIC project, which was realized as a book, film, and iPad app. His most recent multimedia project, FLOWER, includes images of over 250 varieties of flora with an accompanying taxonomical index and time lapse films of the life cycles of seven species, which were created from thousands of high definition stills. Filmmaker David Lynch has called FLOWER "a grand celebration of mother nature's artistry." CREATURE, BIRD, and FLOWER are informed by a conservationist approach.
Zuckerman's work has been commissioned by influential international brands and for inclusion in major private collections.
