I was an editorial fashion and portrait photographer in NYC and London for 18 years. Notable subjects include Kevin Bacon, Lenny Kravitz, Kate Moss, Morgan Freeman, Captain Beefheart, Sinead O’Connor and many other actors and musicians. My work was featured in Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, Vogue, British Elle, Bomb, and album covers. I was a rare woman in a very, very male-dominated field, trying to capture the female figure and attitude in the form of a narrative. Preview the collection of my best photographs from 1979-2016 here (some below; scroll down). Purchase the book at Amazon.
Audrey in Black Scarf, silver gelatin print 11×14
The photographs I made for myself were my best, and that is what is collected here. I could work intuitively without the input of a client. This is what I showed in my portfolio.
The theatrical potential of photography excites me. It evolved and expanded into my work as a painter. I am the director, and the models or figures are the actors. The story is often absurdist – a theme I continue to explore later with oil paintings inspired by my photographs. Visual narratives, the images present heroines balancing feelings of mystery or foreboding with a sense of celebration. They have some kind of task or important mission. The images are about the hardest part of the trip; the intersection between potential and conflict.
Self Portrait, 1979 Berkeley, silver digital print
(If I used my photograph as inspiration for an artwork, I’ve included it under the image of the painting)
Bullwinkel loves mixing “danger and fun” in order to synthesize the light and dark aspects of life. She puts, in the words of the symbolist Odilon Redon, ‘the logic of the visible … at the service of the invisible.’ “
– DeWitt Cheng
Ellen The Magnificent, 1980’s, color dye transfer print
Bowlmore Lanes, Downtown NYC, 1980’s, archival digital print
Sonia on the Road, East Village 1980’s, archival digital print 8×10 inches.
Traveler, 2017, silver gelatin print with toner
Sophia, 2018, 11 x 14 inches, silver gelatin print, mordencage effect
Bathtub Theatre, 1980’s, silver gelatin print, 11 x 14
Cecilia, 1980’s NYC, silver gelatin print
Rope (Milan), 1980’s archival digital print. On the other end was a fabulous escape artist.
3 Mannequins East Village 80’s, archival digital print
Stripes Train Station, Interview Magazine, color dye transfer print. I am obsessed with stripes.
Blue Hat, Blitz magazine circa 1987
Tub, silver gelatin print, 1980’s
Self Portrait with Jim, Downtown NYC 1980’s, archival digital print
Parking Lot Scene, 2012, digital archival print.
Tea Party Brouhaha, 1995, digital archival print.
Violet and Esmé, 2017, mordencage effect on silver gelatin paper. My children.
Awake, 2015, silver gelatin paper with toner
Esther and Granddaughter, 2002, archival digital print
Light Out for the Territory, silver gelatin print
Rest Time, digital print
Quintana and Joan, NYC. Quintana was my friend and a photo editor at Elle Decor.
Carousel Baby, archival digital print
White Bears, 2016, archival digital print
Plaza Girls, 2016, digital image made on iphone
Flower Girl, silver gelatin print 11 x 14 inches
Living Room With Saw, 2015, digital color
https://www.blurb.com/books/10809316-paula-bullwinkel-photography