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Hillman Curtis started his talk, organized by AIGA/NY, by a simple quote from CK Williams, an American poet: “Fall in love with a master”.

That master for Curtis has been Richard Avedon, an American photographer, who was distinguished by capturing minimalist portraits in front of a sheer background that reveal its subjects’ character and soul. Curtis talked in great detail about his love of portraits saying, “Portraits are cornerstone to how I work.”


During his talk he shared several films, among them were Artist Series on Lawrence Weiner, Stefan Sagmeister, and the work he did for SVA.

I think what’s extraordinary and brilliant about Curtis’ work the way he weaves a narrative within an image. For an episode of Design Matters, he filmed Lawrence Weiner being interviewed by Debbie Millman. Curtis first drew the viewer’s attention to the shoes that Weiner was wearing. He observed that not only were they ‘total badass’ on a heel, but they also had been slightly torn, indicating that Weiner wore them daily.



Later, he prefaced the Sagmeister film by saying it’s important to be informed by the image and listen to what the image has to tell you. He quoted Chuck Close, “You should never try to capture emotion. It’s always there”.



Of all the tidbits shared during the talk, my favorite were his words on capturing narrative: “Listen to what the image has to tell you”, and do “anything to avoid a talking head”.

I draw a lot of inspiration from the engaging narrative, honest dialogue and emotive moments that permeate the work of Hillman Curtis. What draws me the most to Curtis’ work is his short documentaries. His Artist Series remains among my favorite videos. Beautifully shot and composed, I find myself revisiting them time and again when I need motivation, inspiration and just simple wisdom.

I love the quiet simplicity and honesty of film, and I use it quite often in my work. Last year for an assignment where we were randomly assigned a classmate as the subject of our project, I chose to showcase my classmate by presenting him through the format of Hillman Curtis’s Artist Series. To me, Curtis’s approach to film-making is a perfect balance between poignant storytelling and lyrical composition and movement. And because Curtis greatly influences me, I’ve always been curious to find out what influences the narrative of his film work. I was delighted to find out that I’ll be able to get a rare glimpse into the mind of this respected designer, self-taught filmmaker and author thanks to a Small Talk event hosted by AIGA/NY (details below).

Stay tuned for my write-up on the event and in the meantime, be sure to check out the Hillman Curtis website and his Artist Series. Share your thoughts of Hillman Curtis with us by posting a comment below and one reader will be randomly selected to receive free admission to the event.

AIGA/NY SMALL TALK NO. 2: HILLMAN CURTIS
MOVING PORTRAITS

Thursday 22 October 2009
6:30–8:00PM
Bumble and bumble, 3rd floor auditorium
415 West 13th Street Between Ninth Avenue & Washington St.

6:30–7:00PM Check-in
7:00–8:00PM Presentation

$20 AIGA members
$10 AIGA student members
$35 General public

Click here to register