Why are we doing this?

I d- uh, Chris Buck, I get Chris Buck's email, a portrait photographer-

I also get Chris Buck's email, although I haven't seen it lately, unless it came today and I didn't see it.

I think it came today or yesterday, and it, it detailed a photo shoot with Lena Dunham, who I don't-

Oh

... have particularly strong opinions about either way, but I know she's, she's-

Well, she's just been writing some things in The New York Times.

She's been, she's been, she's b- she's back in, she's back in the spotlight.

Anyway.

Yeah.

So but here's what he said.

Uh, he said, uh, this is Chris Buck, "Lena Dunham may be the most innately talented person I've ever photographed, and I was happy to make her my muse again.

We shot at Hudson Yards until we got kicked out, and then on the street adjacent to it.

To get the best angle, I ended up in the middle of the road dodging cars to get the shot." What did I love about that? What I loved was Chris Buck photographing Lena Dunham, presumably for, you know, Vanity Fair or Rolling Stone or somebody, and it was, "We shot at Hudson Yards until we got kicked out." And here I am-

Uh

... spending all my time getting permission and paying fees and jumping through hoops and making sure everybody's happy, 'cause I gotta be a pro, and I, and I don't like the idea of ever getting kicked out.

And then I see this guy making great w- great work, obviously, and, um, like, as world-class as anybody gets, and he's comfortable saying like, "Yeah, let's go to Hudson Yards.

Shoot there while we can, and when they kick us out, we'll go somewhere else." And I feel like I needed to read that, uh-

Yeah.

[clears throat]

... today to get over myself and, um, just be okay doing client work where it's like, "Hey, this might happen, and we'll s- we'll, we'll roll with it," and we don't have to alwa- Like, everything doesn't always have to be button-down and perfect, and that's not a setup for talking about perfectionism.

But I do think that's, I do think that's just really valuable to hear.

I sp- I spent a couple days outside last week on location, and I spent, like, weeks beforehand making phone calls and getting permissions and changing a shoot day to accommodate, and, and he just shows up and does it.

And in fact, when I was on location last week, toward the end of one of the days, another photographer showed up and was doing something sort of in the background of my shot, and I just remember thinking, "I paid a fee to be here."

[laughs]

"I'm fairly certain you just showed up in our, in our picture here."