Patrick McMullan Photo Show: Subjectively Good

On Friday, Patrick McMullan hosted the opening reception for the Powerhouse Arena show of PMc photographers' personal work in DUMBO. Patrick's fans, adoring public, and regular Manhattanites made the trek out to quiet section of Brooklyn to view the collective works. The show will remain on display through May 25, and it's worth a DUMBO daytrip. We got some insight on it all from the great man himself.

How did this event materialize?
One of the guys who works for me, Mark Dimov, found out that the New York Photo Festival is here, and he came to me and said that he knew I wanted to do a group show of all our photographers, and he thought this could be a good opportunity. I did some books with Powerhouse, so I knew the Arena, and I knew it’d be a fun place, and DUMBO is a perfect spot. I like Manhattan because I know how to get to places, but I was born in Brooklyn, so I’m Brooklyn-savvy. After choosing the venue, I made it mandatory that all of my photographers have work in this show. It started off that they were all grumbling, but now that it’s up, everyone is thrilled. I have a lot of talented people that work for me—some more talented than others. Photography is always subjective. What you like and what you see and why it’s good is all up to the viewer. Some people like calm images of nature, other people like more set-up things, and this was just an opportunity for my photographers to show their personal work and what interests them individually. It’s very exciting for me because I’m a big collector of photography, all kinds. I’ve seen all of these images on the computer, but seeing them printed and mounted is a different story all together. We’re a creative coalition. I encourage my photographers in everything.

How recent are these works?
Most of the work here is from the last 5 years. All these kids are like 20. They all seem eternally 20 to me because I’m 100 in nightclub years. It’s the reverse of dog years ... for every year you run around in nightclubs, you’re 3 years older. That’s the way I see it.

How do you choose the people who work for you?
Almost anyone who becomes a photographer for me starts as an intern, meaning that they work for free; we find out what they’re good at, and they usually start off in the office. If and when they want to shoot, it’s like when a little duckling goes out. They’ll come with me and see what I do and the way I talk to people and get the pictures. If they have an ability for it—and some don’t, some take awhile to get it and some have a natural ability—we go from there. Personality is so important when you’re doing social pictures. You don’t want some glum guy demanding that you pose. There’s a style to it that is inviting rather than frightening. I’ve always tried to maintain that on my site people know when they’re on there and they’re excited about it. They know there’s nothing to be afraid of, and it’s going to be a nice picture.

Do you take pictures down if someone asks?
Of course, but we finally started a fee structure for that. If someone calls me within a day or two of an event, I have no problem taking it down. But if they call me three years later, and say, “I’m no longer going out with that guy, can you take that down?” Then they have to pay. I don’t have time for that. If it’s a friend of mine, fine. I had one guy who was at a party with his shirt off and he called me and said, “I’m a junior high school teacher now and one of my students Googled me and found that picture, can you take it down?” I said, yes, sure. I understand that, and I’m not here to embarrass people.

Anything else coming up on the PMc front?
My son Liam is in the new movie called Twelve by Joel Schumacher. I’ve always wanted to have a child that was a movie star.