CARLOS DENGLER

One of my most storied shoots was with founding member and former infamous bassist of one of the post punk band Interpol Carlos Dengler ( Formally known as Carlos D). Carlos left the band in 2010 and was pursuing an acting career in 2015. Back when this shoot took place in 2015 I had been a photographer for just a year when I came across Carlos on instagram and took a chance and reached out to him VIA Instagram DM. I was floored and totally surprised to my offer of shooting his portrait. His initial response was “ Are you in L.A” I responded “ No I’m in Boston, But I’ll travel to New York to shoot your portrait.” Carlos then replied “ I’ll be in touch”. I was amazed I had just had a conversation with someone that I had admired as a rock god from my younger days. Anyway the excited quickly faded to thoughts of “ I’ll never hear from this guy again”. And so life went on and months passed when one day there was an email from Carlos he said “ when do you want to do the shoot?” I was giddy and ready to go here I am first year of photography, shooting portraits and I was a shooting star ( or so I thought ). Carlos had suggested we meet on the corner W 182nd St. in the Fort Washington Neighborhood in upper Manhattan. I lived in Dedham Massachusetts. I packed my car drove to New York City. I parked in a tiny parked in this tiny narrow, Somewhat scary parking garage and set out on foot.The neighborhood was busy packed with people and traffic just as you might expect in New York. It was a beautiful spring day with passing showers. I set out to the meeting spot that Carlos told me to meet him at W 182nd st at the bottom of a tall staircase that connected two neighborhood. So there I was standing on a corner about to meet one of my idols of the Indy rock world. I was kinda nervous and looking around when I glanced up to the top of the staircase and there was Carlos dressed in a Bespoke Blue Suit. He always was fashionable when in Interpol, But still I didn’t expect him to be all dressed up like this. We said out hellos and walked up the stairs to Fort Washington Park ( the highest point in Manhattan. After shooting for a few we grabbed some coffee. We took some shots in the cafe and headed back to his building, That’s when this particular shot came from. This was taken in his apartment using only natural window light. I really like the pose, Black and white seemed to work very well with his expression and of course the subject. It all came together so naturally. Carlos was very generous. We even hung out and ate pizza. it was all so surreal. To top it all off he gave me a really great review. You can see more photos from my shoot with Carlos in my Gallery