“I always knew I was going to be an artist. It was a done deal right from when I was very little. It sounds like the dumbest thing ever, but my mom used to doodle when she was on the telephone and she made these - they weren't just little scribbles - these little shapes and forms. I don't know why she did it. I've never seen her do it again.” KnowsLittlesMadeDoneFormUsedArtistSoundDealsMomShapesMy MomTelephonesScribbles Author:Jeff Vespa
“We were little children, four or five years old, but they were all around the house and they made us look epic, like we were part of some story being told. My mom would have this woman come to our house and take photos of us. She did a photo book of us as well when I was one. I still have it.” YearsWellsLooksChildrenLittlesMadeStillsBookStoriesHouseFiveFourMomMy MomFive YearsEpicFive Year Olds Author:Jeff Vespa
“Learning that aesthetic as a kid - seeing those photos - made me think that that's what photos are supposed to look like. I never understood snapshots. I was looking at them like, "This is horrible; that's not what a picture is supposed to look like." I was taught by these photos. So when I picked up the camera, though I had never done it before, I kind of already knew what I was doing.” ThinkingLooksKindMadeDoneKidsSeeingTaughtUnderstoodCamerasHorribleAestheticSnapshots Author:Jeff Vespa
“It 2001 when we started. But prior to that, I had made this website called sundancepics.com, where me and this other photographer, Randall Michelson, could sell our images from Sundance online and it was successful. Steve Granitz, who's my main partner at WireImage, we were already working together, and I was like, "Look dude, this is it. We can do this."” LooksMadeTogetherCan DoSuccessfulSellsPhotographerPartnersOnlineWorking TogetherWebsiteSundance Author:Jeff Vespa
“I ended up meeting this guy Stefan Simchowitz, who produced Requiem for a Dream and also went to AFI. I randomly met him in Cannes. By September of 2000, we had made a deal with this company that he was working with. They merged with us and in January of 2001, we opened WireImage. It was pretty crazy because I only started shooting celebrity stuff in 1998 - literally two and a half years later, I'm opening this company.” YearsMadeTwoDreamGuyStuffDealsHalfCompanyCrazyMetsMeetingsOpeningShootingSeptemberThis GuyJanuaryHalf A YearCannesRequiemRequiem For A Dream Author:Jeff Vespa