Profile: Michael Van Auken by Larry Singer
Demosthenes Got It Right

Small opportunities,” superstar Greek orator Demosthenes once clearly said, “are often the beginning of great enterprises.”

For Michael Van Auken, small opportunities have long been the catalyst for great photographs.

One of these “small opportunities” was mastering a magic trick with a red rubber ball—a trick that would one day make him famous. But, despite the fame he has garnered by charming tiny people with amazing feats of legerdemain, it is not physical, but rather visual prestidigitation, that makes Van Auken’s photography unique.

Take, for example, two of Van Auken’s favorite images: a bride and groom and a woman sitting next to a guitarist. Both illustrations appear as though Van Auken had shot them on assignment for a glossy fashion magazine and a major record label, respectively. Actually they were the output of a portrait studio in Walnut Creek, CA.

While Van Auken’s fashion and bridal images are three steps beyond visually arresting, his portrait of a boy framed by a pair of tattoo-covered arms is so tastefully over-the-top with symbolism it could easily nail one of the top three slots in the “Portrait and Personality” division at the National Press Photography Association’s annual Pictures of the Year competition.

Not unexpectedly, the development of his talent hasn’t been a short or easy journey for Van Auken, but every small opportunity that came his way has proven, in retrospect, to be vital in shaping the vision he displays today.

Small Opportunity #1
Like many photographers, Van Auken’s camera karma began to develop during a high school photography course.

“It seemed like it would be an easy class to take,” Van Auken says, “and because it was much more fulfilling than I originally thought it was going to be, I caught the camera bug early. When I got involved with the yearbook and the newspaper, photography helped create an identity for me.

“I also thought it would be a good way to meet a girl,” he chuckles. “Actually I did, and I married her.”

Small Opportunity #2
Don (Pop) Twitchell, the father of one of Van Auken’s friends, had a photography studio in Pleasant Hill, CA. In addition to loaning Van Auken camera gear and letting him use his darkroom, Pop got Van Auken thinking about photography as a career and guided him to employment as a high-volume photographer.

Van Auken doesn’t hesitate to credit the challenges inherent in this facet of professional photography with helping to greatly improve the quality of his wedding and children’s photography.

It was also the pace of having to do up to 106 sessions in one day, Van Auken says, that helped teach him to build rapport, especially with children, quickly.

Small Opportunity #3
“During that time,” Van Auken says, “I learned a lot of little tricks, like the magic ball trick, for which I am still well known. When kids come back to the studio, their parents will ask them if they remember Michael the photographer, and they’ll kind of draw a blank. Then, when mom or dad says, ‘You know, the guy who did the magic ball trick,’ the kids’ faces will light up, and they’ll say, ‘Yeah, I remember him.’

“I did high-volume work for quite a while,” Van Auken explains, “and then I got involved in corporate portrait photography for a couple of years. This experience really helped refine my imagery.

“In the early 1980s,” Van Auken continues, “I also did some hair-styling photography.”

In 1984 Van Auken went into business for himself doing weddings, portraits and some commercial work.

Small Opportunity #4
It was when a friend of his introduced him to a local photography association in Northern California, Van Auken recalls, that the quality of his photography again began to noticeably improve.

“Up until that point,” Van Auken says, “I think I was still doing a high-volume style of photography. When I got involved with our local photography association, I saw the work other photographers were producing. That really opened me up to a number of people like Peg Jackson, Linda Evans, Robert Pierce and Linda Johnson, who I not only consider my friends and mentors, but also people from whom I get a great deal of inspiration.”

Small Opportunity #5
One of the people who not only helped and inspired Van Auken, but also assisted him in beginning a new chapter in his career, was Bambi Cantrell.

Over lunch one day, Van Auken, who had owned a studio for a number of years, told Cantrell he wanted to do more photography. He felt he was spending too much time being a business owner and not enough behind the camera.

Cantrell, who had just opened a studio, told Van Auken that because her speaking engagements often conflicted with time she could spend at the studio, she was looking for someone that knew the business.

It was, for Van Auken, an offer he could not refuse.

Small Opportunity #6
“Because there are large windows in front of the studio,” Van Auken says, “I shoot using natural light, and I shoot about 95 percent digital using automatic exposure.

“When shooting children, the nice thing is that while I may have a primary spot in which I want the child to be photographed, if the youngster gets tired of that, I’m set up so they can kind of walk around and do their own thing.”

When that happens Van Auken goes into photojournalistic mode.

“People tend to really like that pictorial look now,” Van Auken says, “especially in wedding photography.”

Small Opportunity #7
Very near the top of Van Auken’s list of his favorite photographs, is a black-and-white portrait of the pale young boy, contrasted with his father’s tanned and tattooed arms.

“The funny thing about that particular photograph,” Van Auken says, “is it just happened. I didn’t set it up. I was getting ready to photograph the little boy, and when his dad reached down to adjust his pant legs, I told him, just keep doing that, and I shot off a few frames.”

Van Auken takes visual cues from a wide variety of sources. He’s a big fan of the top editorial photographers. He says, “I probably infuse a fashion type of style into my work based on magazines like Vanity Fair and Vogue. That’s where a lot of my fashion style comes from. I also like to research children’s photography in publications like Parenting magazine and some of the Martha Stewart publications because these sources give you an idea what moms are looking at.”

Genes Versus Small Opportunities
When asked if he believes his diverse photographic abilities are natural or learned, Van Auken says, “I believe what skills I have developed are definitely learned, although my friends, and other photographers tend to argue with me about this.

“I guess there’s something there that’s natural,” he continues, “but I know some people who have been photographers for only a few years, and they just have the eye. I study both classical and modern art, and I really believe what gifts I have, have come about through education, study and observation.”

Speaking to the Future
As a photographer whose work transcends any single label or simple description, Van Auken has strong feelings about the significance of portrait photography, no matter what the particular style of execution. “In the final analysis,” Van Auken says, “the importance of what portrait photographers do is we’re recording family history. When we look at photographs of our family members, our ancestors or our grandparents, somebody created those images that have been passed down as important visual documents to us. Whoever captured those images may have thought at the time that they were just taking pictures, but because the images they captured reach out to us and speak to us from the past, they are obviously a lot more than that.”

To learn more about Michael Van Auken’s great enterprises and small opportunities, visit his web site at www.mvaphoto.com/.

Larry Singer is a writer, photographer and artist now living in Lauderhill, Florida. He has taught photography in Florida and Denver and now has an obsession with hearts. His work can be seen at homepage.mac.com/larrysinger/, and he can be contacted at larrysinger@mac.com/.