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| © Clay Enos |
Photographer Clay Enos in costume for a war scene. Click on the image to see more photos from Watchmen Portraits. |
While Enos (who read the graphic novel for the first time on the flight to the film set) didn't create this book with fans in mind necessarily, there is much for them to love. Portraits may not offer the telling behind-the-scenes moments that fans are looking for, but the order of photos may intrigue and delight them.
"Each spread kind of talks to each other," Enos explains, whether it's due to artistic elements or because of small details from the story. (For example: A young punk wearing metallic, futuristic shades is coupled with a SWAT cop in combat goggles, while a particularly garish costumed hero stands opposite a drag queen.) Like a Rorschach test—which can be found on the mask of one of the characters—there is a different meaning for each viewer.
But this careful, attentive layout surprisingly took Enos only 15 minutes to arrange—on the floor of the director's office, no less. "I'd been living with the photos long enough to know that some of them obviously went together," he says.
"Living" with the photos is a perfect way to describe Enos's relationship with his imagery, because ultimately, this project was a labor of love: He will not profit financially from Portraits. But he hopes the book might bring him some publicity and the opportunity to repeat the exercise in a different environment—say, the White House with all the people who make it run. Because what he loved most about his foray into set photography was the community his equalizing approach fostered and the way the "unsung heroes" felt appreciated.
"People invited me closer," he explains. "And towards the end, after I'd photographed so many people, when I'd pull someone new over, they'd be like ‘ah, finally!'" Enos smiles wide. "They'd been keeping track." --Lindsay Sakraida
Watchmen is in theaters and IMAX on March 6, 2009. To view more of Clay Enos's photography, visit clayenos.com.
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