Blake Little is an entertainment, advertising, and fine art photographer based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
since 1982. He has had assignments in advertising, film, television, book and magazine publishing. He has worked with personalities in entertainment, sports and politics.
His work has been exhibited in New York, Seattle, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Japan.
Early life
Little was born and raised in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington. After studying for three years at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, he transferred to
Seattle Central College
Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substantial international ...
where he completed his photography degree in 1984. After college, he moved to Los Angeles. His portraits have included
David Hockney
David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
, John Baldessari and Edward Ruscha, and he has had commercial assignments and work in the entertainment industry.
Photography
Little has photographed people in entertainment, sports and politics. His clients includes
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
Samuel Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...
,
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...
,
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...
Marcia Cross
Marcia Anne Cross (born March 25, 1962) is an American actress. She acted in daytime soap operas such as ''The Edge of Night'', '' Another World'', and ''One Life to Live'' before moving to primetime television with a recurring role on ''Knots ...
,
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...
,
Glenn Close
Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
,
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
,
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...
.
Little works for book and magazine publishers including
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
,
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
,
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Vanity Fair'', ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'', ''
The Times of London
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...
Greg Kinnear
Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997).
Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including ''Sabrina'' (199 ...
. He did covers for ''I, Rhoda'' by
Valerie Harper
Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical ''Li'l Abner''. She is best remembered for her role as Rhod ...
, ''Prime Time'' by
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
, and ''New Rules'' by
Bill Maher
William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar la ...
. His portrait of Marissa Mayer was featured in ''Vanity Fair'' for April 2014 issue.
Little's advertising work includes photography for ''Austin Powers'', '' Borat'' and '' Get Smart''.
Monographs
Little has published three monographs; his first book ''Dichotomy'' in 1997, his second publication ''The Company of Men'' released in September, 2011, and his third book ''Manifest'' in September, 2013.
Exhibitions
Little had his first museum exhibition; Blake Little: Photographs from the Gay Rodeo at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, IN Jan. 18 – July 13, 2014.
"Blake Little- Photographs from the Gay Rodeo." Blake Little- Photographs from the Gay Rodeo. N.p., 18 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 May 2014. .
*September 2011 - "The Company of Men" Book Signing, Clamp Art Gallery, New York, NY
*September 2011 - "The Company of Men" Exhibition and Book Signing, Western Project, Los Angeles, CA
*September 2008 - "The Company of Men" Exhibition, Wessel O'Connor Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
*October 1996 - "Dichotomy" Exhibition, G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
*March 1995 - "The Nude and The Contemporary Photograph" Group Exhibition Tokyo Galleria, Tokyo, Japan.
*September 1993 - "Photographs, 1990–1994", Wessel O'Connor Fine Art, New York
*November 1992 - "The Nude: Classic Beauty" Group Exhibition The Silver Image Gallery, Seattle, WA
*July 1992 - "Bare Essentials " Group Exhibition Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
*April 1988 - "Artist's Images of Artists" Group Exhibition Donna Beam Fine Art, Las Vegas, NV
*April 1986 - "Light Sensitive VI" Group Exhibition, The Thomas Center Gallery, Gainesville, FL
*September 1985 - "Pacific Light " Group Exhibition Jan Kesner Gallery
*April 1984 - "New Photographs" Exhibition, James Turcotte Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
*November 1983 - "Cities" Group Exhibition, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
*September 1983 - "Los Angeles Ballet" Group Exhibition Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
*June 1992 - "Industrial Architecture" Exhibition Cameravision, Los Angeles, CA
Awards
Little was awarded the American Photo 2014 AP29 and the IPA Lucie Foundation's Int'l Photography Competition in 2013.