Griff Lipson Talks Image Making with The World's Biggest Celebrities
As far as consistency is concerned, Lipson seems to have mastered the art.
Words, Igee Okafor
Photography, Daniel D’Ottavio
Portrait photographer Griff Lipson has a rather uncommon story - landing a job at The New York Times shortly after moving to New York and going on to further a career photographing some of today’s most influential events and personalities. All thanks to an unexpected connection on a train to the hamptons in 2016.
By industry standards, Lipson has managed to surpass a multitude of seasoned professionals that have come before him - in his resume, professionalism, content production level, and notoriety. “I always had a camera attached to my hand. My parents bought me one for my birthday I think in 6th grade,” he says. “It was a very basic Nikon DSLR and at the time, it was fun.”
Before he moved to New York, in 2016, he was studying finance at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Interestingly enough, being just an hour or so away from New York City, Lipson was provided with the time and experience he needed to extend his photography skills. Skills that prompted for one of his photos to run online on W Magazine during his last moments at Lehigh. An accolade he seemingly used as inspiration to fuel his photography goals.
Fast forward years later at his first official gig for the New York Times photographing Ben Affleck, an experience he says he had no perspective of until he left the publication, it was all tunnel vision.
“The best part about the New York Times was that they were drawing people from the political world, the science world, the movie world, the music world” he says. “It wasn’t just one industry they were focused on. They were having me shoot three times a week depending on the month. One day would be Bill Clinton, and the next day would be Margot Robbie. It was a whirlwind. It was such a whirlwind, I didn’t really understand what was actually going on until I took a month off to digest it.”
Even after leaving the New York Times and a job at Sector magazine that followed shortly after, Lipson has been able to maintain a steady workflow in the realm of portrait photography in various contexts including high society events and studio work.
In addition to photography, Lipson also pitches, produces, and directs his shoots. As far as consistency is concerned - an important factor in any successful modern day workflow, Lipson seems to have mastered the art. Currently, having gathered highly influential personalities like Demi Moore, Meryl Streep, Ralph and Ricky Lauren, and Olivier Rousteing - the question now transitions into how this 25 year old remains so focused and versatile in an industry that is can be quite repetitious.
It’s not everyday a talent as young as Lipson is trusted by a global brand like HBO to execute an image making production for a TV sensation like Big Little Lies. “There’s a massive learning curve” he says. “I don’t want to just be the photographer. I feel like in 2019, we all have to play different roles and I wanted to use my brain a little bit more. I wanted to be involved in literally every conversation that went into this project that I was working on with HBO. I asked to be on every email. Just wanted to be involved as much as I could.”
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Relationships are like flowers.
You have to water them and see them through.
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When asked about realizing his potential of becoming a household name in pop culture, Lipson maintains the fact that he’s taking it one day at a time. “I just want to connect with the subject. That’s all I really care about.” he says.
On the subject of succeeding as a young photographer and overall talent in this day and age of social media, Lipson was keen to point out the importance of perspective, humility, and kindness.
“I’ve seen how far kindness goes especially with the people that I have worked with” he says. “When someone is not kind to me, I’m less inclined to do well. Bringing a vibe to set that feels hostile doesn’t work and I have had plenty of those situations”
He adds, “Relationships are like flowers. You have to water them and see them through and the only way they’re going to blossom is if you put the time and energy.”
Although there are other things Lipson will like to try professionally, an interest in various forms of the arts remains a delight for Lipson to tackle – timelessly, consistently, and in depth — in true millennial fashion.
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