Jonathan Becker and Bob Colacello In conversation

By Rachael Horst, Contributor

Two talented souls and longtime friends came together for a casual interview on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at SCAD Show. Their names are known in the industry for working with the likes of Andy Warhol, Brassai, Diana Vreeland and the Reagans just to name a few.

Of course, after name-dropping you now know that a casual conversation between these two is really not casual at all. Jonathan Becker (the photographer whose current exhibition “A Fashionable Mind” is at SCAD FASH) was the main topic of conversation, but with the friendship between Colacello (former editor at Interview and current contributor at Vanity Fair) and Becker, their stories are so fluid they unite.

The night altogether consisted of reminiscing about former celebrities, socialites and funny snippets about the lives of people that are the subjects of Colacello’s interviews coinciding with Becker’s portraits.

When speaking about the beginnings of their career, one of Colacello’s quotes from the night comes to mind, “…with careers, there’s always an element of chance.” This chance was given to Becker when he began admiring Brassai for his multifaceted work within photography, and decided to write to him. Brassai responded with great positivity and decided to take Becker under his wing. In Colacello’s case, a small name in the industry, Andy Warhol decided to take a chance and hire him as the editor for Interview magazine. It was at Interview that Becker and Colacello’s compelling friendship began because Colacello gave Becker his first assignment.

As the conversation progressed, Colacello began to talk about Becker’s work with admiration stating things like Becker is amazing “because he (places) people in context…I’m interested in context and so is the reader.” As a writer Colacello even compared Becker’s work with quotes from an interview saying, “Photographs are like quotes, they’re like pieces you take with you.” Just to hear the history of their careers was enough of a lesson for me, but to summarize what I took and others took away, Becker said, “[In the industry] “you don’t find your place, you make your place.”

If you want more information on Jonathan Becker’s work, SCAD FASH will be exhibiting his work “A Fashionable Mind,” from January. 22 to April 1. SCAD FASH has also created their own official photo book of the exhibition,which is currently available for purchase at SCAD FASH’s gift shop.