04/27/2017

Visionary Alchemy Exhibit in Tribeca

This Saturday April 29, 2017 The Guardian will be shown in the Visionary Alchemy Group Exhibit in Tribeca. The show is sponsored by the Society for Art of Imagination and is opening Saturday April 29 from 6 to 9pm at One Art Space, 23 Warren St., New York, NY 10007. It will be a great show of mostly paintings, The Guardian may be the only photographic work present. There will be work from H.R. Giger and Alex Grey on view as well as wonderful works from a huge collection of international artists all working in the realm of the imagination. The following quoted from the Society for Art of Imagination’s website:

This art may be called by many names – Fantastic Realism, Surrealism, Magic Realism, Visionary Art, Cosmic Art and Inspirational Art, however the work is neither purely abstract nor rigidly realistic. Members of the Society work independently of one another in various countries yet their work shows a consistent ethos.

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12/03/2015

Showtime-Jacobs vs. Quillin Poster

What a thrilling assignment from Showtime! The challenge was to create a photorealistic composite of Daniel Jacobs and Peter Quillin portrayed as giants battling high above downtown Brooklyn. Billed as the Battle for Brooklyn, these two warriors are poised for a legendary face-off to settle the score once and for all. Capturing the background was accomplished with a helicopter charter at sunset  over the East River and the contenders were photographed in a makeshift studio in the Times Square Millennium Hotel. I am deeply grateful to Showtime and creative director Ethan Callender for calling me in for this exciting and satisfying project.

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09/21/2015

New York Magazine-The Age of Iron

If you live in NYC you must have noticed the seemingly hundreds of skyscraper projects rising in every neighborhood. This photorealistic composite that exaggerates this trend features many of the current projects and is running this week in New York Magazine (Sept. 21, 2015 cover date, page 107-8) leading the real estate feature. Check it out, I had a lot of fun creating the Unreal perspective

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03/17/2015

At-Edge interview-Is it REAL or is it Porto?

At-Edge, the monumental photo industry sourcebook that features only 155 select photographers in their illustrious collection of global photographic talent, has honored me with a blog interview. It features the latest major project I was involved with, The Real Cost, a nationwide anti-smoking campaign awarded by FCB NY ad agency and their client the Food and Drug Administration. It also delves into several other projects that I’ve been involved with lately (Powder, Overload, and  Rockettes); this is some serious eye candy folks, don’t miss it, feel free to check it out here, and of course share if you are inspired.

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01/13/2015

Anti-Smoking Monster Campaign

When Jackie Anzaldi and Mike Lubrano from FCB/Garfinkel NYC called us for FDA’s Nationwide Anti-Smoking Campaign it instantly seemed a strong possibility for a great project. I am thrilled to share the final results of our collaboration; The Real Cost Campaign is running in most major markets across the country as large posters in Bus Shelters and in Subways.  It is designed to dissuade young people from starting cigarette smoking and to remind others how toxic and dangerous nicotine addiction is.  The Monsters were created by the most amazing effects company I’ve ever worked with, Legacy Effects.

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10/17/2014

Blacklight and Centaur at Photoplace Gallery

I will be exhibiting two prints in the Dreams, Fantasies and Illusions Show at Photoplace Gallery in Middlebury, Vt. They chose one of my images for the banner. The jurors for this exhibition are the amazing photographic team of Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick. After years of concentrating on work that is published in books and magazines I’m making a greater effort to exhibit my personal work in galleries.  If you’re nearby, stop in and check out all the work.

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01/13/2014

History of Photo Compositing 1983 edition

Back in 1983 before the invention of Photoshop it wasn’t quite as easy for a photographer to illustrate his dreams and visions as it is today.  The process of making the image shown here involved shooting the elements to scale on 4×5 film, mounting each element in position on a sheet of 11×14 exposed, processed Kodalith film (essentially a piece of solid black film) that was punched with pin registration holes, making photographic masks of the city, cutting a frisket by hand and opaquing all the city detail but leaving the edge photographic, and then once all that was prepared, exposing the elements in sequence followed by their masks on Ektachrome 6121 Dupe film, balancing the exposure and color balance of each element.  It’s actually much harder than briefly described here because getting perfect masks and perfect image registration was an art in itself.  The reward was making an image that stood out for its uniqueness in its time.

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01/02/2014

Saints and Sinners at BAU

The Guardian, one of the images from the Winged Women series, is on exhibit at Beacon Artists Union in Beacon, NY in a group show titled Saints and Sinners.  The print is a 16″x20″digital archival pigment print in a 20″x24″ frame.  There is a show closing party on Saturday, January 4, 2014 from 6-9pm at BAU gallery, 506 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508.  Please join us for music, conversation and a great exhibit.

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11/11/2013

Interview on Workbook Blog

I’ve been advertising in The Workbook since 1996 and they have honored me with an informative, image-rich, interview on their blog titled 5 Things You Didn’t Know About James Porto.  If you are curious about the history of my photo illustration work and career, it’s a brief tour of some of the highlights and well worth the read, click here.

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03/28/2013

Adobe Photoshop Master Class

This beautiful art showcase book from Adobe Press, entitled Adobe Photoshop Master Class,  features 30 established and emerging Photoshop artists, their masterful work, and tutorials demonstrating their techniques for using Adobe Photoshop. Curated by renowned photographer and educator Ibarionex Perello, this book features an inspiring collection of innovative Photoshop artists and their amazing artwork.   The images represent a mix of techniques and styles and are field-defining works that demonstrate technical excellence and awe-inspiring aesthetics.  I am honored to be included as one of the featured artists.  I highly recommend this book if you have an interest in manipulated imagery.  If you follow this link you can buy this book at a 35% discount by entering the coupon code-PHOTOMASTER.  Enjoy!

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