Artist: Alyssa Milano
January 2003
American photo
The Charmed television star goes behind the camera in South Africa and proves she is a serious photographic
It's no exaggeration to say that Alyssa Milano has grown up in front of the camera, from her days as a toothy child star in the long-running TV sitcom Who's The Boss? to her current run as a sexy witch on the hit WB series Charmed. As it turns out, offscreen Milano was often to be found behind a camera - for years as a casual snapshooter but more lately as a serious, and talented, photoenthusiast. Just how talented could be seen last year on the walls of Los Angeles's esteemed Track 16 Gallery, which put up an exhibition of images that Milano made in South Africa in the summer of 2000, where she was on location shooting a movie for European television. The photos range widely in subject and style, from black-and-white documentary images of shantytowns to highly saturated color portraits and graphic landscapes. Milano recently spoke with American Photo contributor Michael Kaplan about her long-standing passion for the art, and the emotion, of still photography.
AMERICAN PHOTO : How does a famous actress get into photo journalism?
I had always taken pictures as a little girl, but then, a few years ago, my dad bought me a Canon EOS-1V, and I dove into it. I never took any classes. Professional photographers have told me not take classes at this point. I have my own thing now, and I want to keep it.
AMERICAN PHOTO : You must have shot on a lot of movie and TV sets.
Not really. I'd have been more apt to photograph friends and family members and flowers. People have told me to bring my camera on the set, but I've been acting professionally for so long that life on the set just doesn't seem interesting.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Unlike, say, South Africa?
South Africa changed things for me. As soon as I got there, I felt that photography was something for me to pursue in a more serious way. I watned to be more than just an amateur photographer taking snapshots. Every frame I shot, it felt like a gift. Usually, at home in L.A., I'd shoot a roll of film and there would be a few frames that would make me happy. In South Africa, though, there was so much to see. Each leaf there seemed to have a silver glow over it, and every frame looked great. That kept inspiring me to shoot more and more. Plus I was in South Africa for three months without my friends and family, so the camera became my best friend.
AMERICAN PHOTO : In your picture of the three children huddled around a small hut, I see a real sense of intimacy. How did you achieve that?
I had so much free time, I volunteered to work at the community center in Mandela Township, reading to the kids in the afternoons. Then they'd go out to play, and I'd take pictures of them. They were the cutest, happiest kids. They had no idea that I was an actress, and they wanted to have their pictures taken.
AMERICAN PHOTO : You're a veteran of the celebrity photo shoot. How does it feel to be on the other side of the camera?
I love it. Now, though, I have a lot more patience when people takem y picture than I did before. For me, hiding behind the camera is almost like wearing a disguise. Plus, regardless of the situation, I can keep myself busy in a creative way.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Are you bothered by paparazzi?
If a celebrity is on a red carpet, then the paparazzi have every right to take a picture. If a celebrity is walking out of a house, they have no right to shoot.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Are there any photographers with whom you particularly enjoy working?
I like a photographer named Steve Shaw. He's photographed me a lot and always winds up capturing images of me that are sweet. He shows a different side of me than most photographers do - most try to make me look sexy. Not that I have a problem with sexuality. It's okay, as long as it's not too posed. David LaChapelle is another one I enjoy working with. He's such a freak. He shot me in a 1950s-style kitchen with a frying pan in my hand and two fried eggs across my chest.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Do you ever offer technical advice to people who are shooting you?
I try to separate my being photographed from taking photos. You can get into the unfortunate mind-set of knowing too much about photography and knowing that a light will not flatter your face. I go into every session and allow the photographer to do his thing. It's the freedom I would want if I shot them.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Do you hit up the pros for tips?
Sometimes. When Steve Shaw photographed me with his Contax 645 medium-format SLR, I played with it a little bit. Then, the next day, I went out and got one for myself.
AMERICAN PHOTO : What do you have in your arsenal?
Well, I have a Nikon F5 and almost every lens that goes with it. But I shot the South Africa stuff with the Canon that my dad gave me. It's a good camera that you can be creative with. I like using it to capture motion, which gives a sense of energy to the photos. I'm a big fan of blurred images. As far as film goes, I love Fujichrome Velvia, an ISO 40 film with great color saturation. And I like Ilford SFX [a black-and-white film with extended red sensitivity that can simulate the effect of infrared film]. If you shoot it without a red filter it's a gret black-and-white film. I like that versatility.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Do you do a lot of your own printing?
I don't. I like the excitement of picking up the film after it's been processed. That's part of the whole ritual: coming up with concepts, putting them all together, shooting the images, and dropping my film off at the lab. Then, the next day, you get a proof sheet full of surprises. That drive to the lab is scary. In South Africa it was really scarey because I knew there weren't going to be second chances for pictures - I'm unlikely to get a zebra sniffing at my wide-angle lens again, as I did during a safari in Kruger National Park.
AMERICAN PHOTO : How did it feel to see those photographs after returning home?
I didn't take out the pictures for six months. I had a hard time coming back and assimilating the person I was there with the person I am here. In Los Angeles, I cannot be an anonymous humanitarian who feels a kid's pain and makes him happy. here I'm a girl in Beverly Hills who appears on a WB show. It was a hard transition.
AMERICAN PHOTO : What made you finally revisit the photos?
I wanted to make my parents a book of images, mounting the South Africa photos into an album that I bought there I gave it to my father, he looked at the images, and had tears in his eyes. He told me that I needed to do an exhibition of these photos. I knew they were good, but I didn't want to do something that would allow the public and press to tear me apart. But then I decided to do an exhibition and auction off my photos for Nkosi's Haven, which is a safe haven for mothers with HIV and their babies. We had 900 people there. THe show raised $50,000. And the gallery's ownder bought the shot of colored houses.
AMERICAN PHOTO : What do you see yourself doing with photography in the future?
I'd like to use it to raise money for worthy causes. I'd like to open people up to different cultures and lifestyles. What I don't want to do is become so obsessed with taking pictures that I stop living in the moment. I don't want to look at a photograph a week after it was taken and not remember the emotion that comes along with it.
by Michael Kaplan
January 2003
American photo
The Charmed television star goes behind the camera in South Africa and proves she is a serious photographic
It's no exaggeration to say that Alyssa Milano has grown up in front of the camera, from her days as a toothy child star in the long-running TV sitcom Who's The Boss? to her current run as a sexy witch on the hit WB series Charmed. As it turns out, offscreen Milano was often to be found behind a camera - for years as a casual snapshooter but more lately as a serious, and talented, photoenthusiast. Just how talented could be seen last year on the walls of Los Angeles's esteemed Track 16 Gallery, which put up an exhibition of images that Milano made in South Africa in the summer of 2000, where she was on location shooting a movie for European television. The photos range widely in subject and style, from black-and-white documentary images of shantytowns to highly saturated color portraits and graphic landscapes. Milano recently spoke with American Photo contributor Michael Kaplan about her long-standing passion for the art, and the emotion, of still photography.
AMERICAN PHOTO : How does a famous actress get into photo journalism?
I had always taken pictures as a little girl, but then, a few years ago, my dad bought me a Canon EOS-1V, and I dove into it. I never took any classes. Professional photographers have told me not take classes at this point. I have my own thing now, and I want to keep it.
AMERICAN PHOTO : You must have shot on a lot of movie and TV sets.
Not really. I'd have been more apt to photograph friends and family members and flowers. People have told me to bring my camera on the set, but I've been acting professionally for so long that life on the set just doesn't seem interesting.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Unlike, say, South Africa?
South Africa changed things for me. As soon as I got there, I felt that photography was something for me to pursue in a more serious way. I watned to be more than just an amateur photographer taking snapshots. Every frame I shot, it felt like a gift. Usually, at home in L.A., I'd shoot a roll of film and there would be a few frames that would make me happy. In South Africa, though, there was so much to see. Each leaf there seemed to have a silver glow over it, and every frame looked great. That kept inspiring me to shoot more and more. Plus I was in South Africa for three months without my friends and family, so the camera became my best friend.
AMERICAN PHOTO : In your picture of the three children huddled around a small hut, I see a real sense of intimacy. How did you achieve that?
I had so much free time, I volunteered to work at the community center in Mandela Township, reading to the kids in the afternoons. Then they'd go out to play, and I'd take pictures of them. They were the cutest, happiest kids. They had no idea that I was an actress, and they wanted to have their pictures taken.
AMERICAN PHOTO : You're a veteran of the celebrity photo shoot. How does it feel to be on the other side of the camera?
I love it. Now, though, I have a lot more patience when people takem y picture than I did before. For me, hiding behind the camera is almost like wearing a disguise. Plus, regardless of the situation, I can keep myself busy in a creative way.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Are you bothered by paparazzi?
If a celebrity is on a red carpet, then the paparazzi have every right to take a picture. If a celebrity is walking out of a house, they have no right to shoot.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Are there any photographers with whom you particularly enjoy working?
I like a photographer named Steve Shaw. He's photographed me a lot and always winds up capturing images of me that are sweet. He shows a different side of me than most photographers do - most try to make me look sexy. Not that I have a problem with sexuality. It's okay, as long as it's not too posed. David LaChapelle is another one I enjoy working with. He's such a freak. He shot me in a 1950s-style kitchen with a frying pan in my hand and two fried eggs across my chest.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Do you ever offer technical advice to people who are shooting you?
I try to separate my being photographed from taking photos. You can get into the unfortunate mind-set of knowing too much about photography and knowing that a light will not flatter your face. I go into every session and allow the photographer to do his thing. It's the freedom I would want if I shot them.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Do you hit up the pros for tips?
Sometimes. When Steve Shaw photographed me with his Contax 645 medium-format SLR, I played with it a little bit. Then, the next day, I went out and got one for myself.
AMERICAN PHOTO : What do you have in your arsenal?
Well, I have a Nikon F5 and almost every lens that goes with it. But I shot the South Africa stuff with the Canon that my dad gave me. It's a good camera that you can be creative with. I like using it to capture motion, which gives a sense of energy to the photos. I'm a big fan of blurred images. As far as film goes, I love Fujichrome Velvia, an ISO 40 film with great color saturation. And I like Ilford SFX [a black-and-white film with extended red sensitivity that can simulate the effect of infrared film]. If you shoot it without a red filter it's a gret black-and-white film. I like that versatility.
AMERICAN PHOTO : Do you do a lot of your own printing?
I don't. I like the excitement of picking up the film after it's been processed. That's part of the whole ritual: coming up with concepts, putting them all together, shooting the images, and dropping my film off at the lab. Then, the next day, you get a proof sheet full of surprises. That drive to the lab is scary. In South Africa it was really scarey because I knew there weren't going to be second chances for pictures - I'm unlikely to get a zebra sniffing at my wide-angle lens again, as I did during a safari in Kruger National Park.
AMERICAN PHOTO : How did it feel to see those photographs after returning home?
I didn't take out the pictures for six months. I had a hard time coming back and assimilating the person I was there with the person I am here. In Los Angeles, I cannot be an anonymous humanitarian who feels a kid's pain and makes him happy. here I'm a girl in Beverly Hills who appears on a WB show. It was a hard transition.
AMERICAN PHOTO : What made you finally revisit the photos?
I wanted to make my parents a book of images, mounting the South Africa photos into an album that I bought there I gave it to my father, he looked at the images, and had tears in his eyes. He told me that I needed to do an exhibition of these photos. I knew they were good, but I didn't want to do something that would allow the public and press to tear me apart. But then I decided to do an exhibition and auction off my photos for Nkosi's Haven, which is a safe haven for mothers with HIV and their babies. We had 900 people there. THe show raised $50,000. And the gallery's ownder bought the shot of colored houses.
AMERICAN PHOTO : What do you see yourself doing with photography in the future?
I'd like to use it to raise money for worthy causes. I'd like to open people up to different cultures and lifestyles. What I don't want to do is become so obsessed with taking pictures that I stop living in the moment. I don't want to look at a photograph a week after it was taken and not remember the emotion that comes along with it.
by Michael Kaplan
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