Page 31 - OVATION Magazine (Issue 1)

BEHIND THE SCENES
Director of photography Marc Serota has shot everyone from LeBron James to Beyoncé over his 33-year career. For the debut issue
of Ovation, he spent a busy week in Atlanta that included photographing Cam Newton for one of our three covers at the NFL quarterback’s new Fellaship restaurant, lounge,
Afew days after meeting Newton, Serota photo- graphed Emmy-nominated stunt coordinator and performer Jahnel Curfman
in the streets of downtown Atlanta for the thrilling
images in “Double Take” (page 69).The shoot, Serota says, was suitably hardcore.
THE RENDEZVOUS “We met right around the corner from Fellaship, in front of the Elliott Street Pub and Inn, a 160-year-old building that used to be a speakeasy where Ella Fitzgerald performed.”
THE TEAM “Her stunt coordinator came up to me and said,‘What do you have in mind?’ I said, I want her
and cigar bar (“Where There’s Smoke,” page 96). Here, Serota takes us on location with the man himself.
THE PHOTO “I was looking for
a classic image, and we found a black-and-white photo of Sammy Davis Jr. that I sent to Cam’s agent as an example of what I wanted to do.We shot
jumping out of that window into this alley. He says:‘Okay, let me go get the mats.’ I said to Jahnel,‘I love this guy!’And she says,‘He’s my husband.’”
THE SUBJECT “Everything I threw at her she pulled off.
the image in aVIP area that Cam designed to be his place. And that’s the key: getting him where he’s most himself, so the pictures just pop.”
THE MAN “It’s funny, but Cam came in like he owned the place! [Editor’s note: He does.] Smoking a cigar, totally laid- back. Didn’t have to introduce
I said, I want it to look like you’ve been in a fight, and you’re in a red ballroom gown running up the street after someone. She said,‘Okay, where?’ Then it was: Can you jump off the loading dock,
do a complete flip in the air,
himself—you knew he was there. He was gracious and cool and said thank you to everyone.”
THE ATTITUDE “Cam consumes anything negative and turns
it back into a positive. I don’t think he cares about what people think. I’ll put it to
you this way: Fellaship is unbelievable, and I got a sense that even if he were losing money, he’d still be doing
it. He keeps a lot of people working and gives a very high profile to a neighborhood that quite frankly could have never imagined having a place like this a few years ago.”
but jump right here so you’re against the sky? ‘Yes.’We go four or five times, and boom we make an incredible shot. That’s pretty much how it was working with Jahnel: Ask and you shall receive. She’s just a pro.”
FALL 2019
OVATION |27
DJ SEROTA