DWF – Let’s start off with a little bio, tell us a little bit about yourself.

BRUCE – Well, sit down and get comfortable; after 36 years of lens work it’ll take considerably more a “little bit” to tell my story. It is, as our former President would say, “Complimacated”…

I come from circus stock on my mom’s side. Seriously – trapeze and wire-walkers, mostly. Artists, Apothecaries and Doctors on my dad’s side – an interesting mix…. I had very tolerant and progressive parents. In the sixth grade, when other kid’s were playing Little League, I was taking Life Drawing classes at the University. Nude models or baseball – Hmmm; tough call…. I studied Vocational Auto Mechanics in high school and put myself through college as a grease monkey. I studied Visual Communications, a field of study that included illustration, typography, photography, and design – both 2D and 3D. While a junior, I entered a long-running competition hosted by Conde Nast Publications. It was ostensibly a way for the fashion industry to find and recruit the nation’s top creative college seniors. Kinda like the ’70′s version of Project Runway. I won and was “discovered.” I completed my degree and then went right to work for Vogue, Women’s Wear Daily, Seventeen, Glamour, and Mademoiselle in New York and Europe. Barely old enough to vote and I still had traces of grease under my fingernails but I also had a 4000 sq. ft. loft on Fifth Avenue. Hung out at Worhol’s Factory and CBGBs. Viet Nam had wrapped just before my low draft lottery number was called. Didn’t really care for fashion – it was the hideous ’70′s, remember? – So I drifted towards hard news and photojournalism. Did quite a bit of work for Time/Life and found my way into designing and shooting Annual Reports. That led to advertising photography which led to television commercial production. During this time I left New York and drifted westward. In 1975, as I passed through Indianapolis, I was offered a sabbatical replacement position in the photo department of Indiana University’s Fine Art campus. I accepted and went on to become Department Chairman where I remained until 1980; I also taught several levels of Graphic Design and I continued to shoot both Time/Life assignments and Annual Reports. During this period, I created an extensive photo-essay on the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, became an R&D diver for Ikelite Mfg (underwater camera housing s), and cultivated a long-lived interest in helicopter work.

In early 1980, I lost all but a few off-site prints and negatives after a studio fire destroyed everything I owned. Armed with no portfolio or cameras, I set out to reinvent myself. Thankfully, I was engaged (by a former design student) to shoot an Annual Report for Armour-Dial in Phoenix, AZ. I quickly regained my feet and soon segued into the production of regional television commercials. My first directorial comedy efforts (for Blue Cross – Blue Shield) took me to the Clio Awards where I beat an entry from the biggest special effects house in the world, Robert Able and Associates. RA&A responded to the defeat by offering me the position of Live Action Director at their company. I accepted, moved to Hollywood and, in my first year, generated something on the order of $9M in billing. I quickly became Creative Director, was inducted into the Directors Guild of America, and learned a lot from many great and generous mentors, mostly Cinematographers, DOPs, Production Designers, and Editors but also Grips and Gaffers, the real boots-on-the-ground foot soldiers of show business. We produced some of the earliest Vector Animation, Raster Graphics, Motion Control, and Motion Capture stages. RA&A owned a Cray super computer and we had to create software to feed the darned thing. RR&A was one of the first houses to produce Music Videos for clients ranging from Bette Midler to Rod Stewart, from Michael Jackson to Placido Domingo and dozens of others in between. We won everything. It was at RR&A that my lovely bride, Maura Dutra, and I met and became best friends. Maura was my Post-Production Supervisor and sometimes Line Producer. I stayed at RR&A until bad management closed the doors unexpectedly. Many of the staff of 275 went on to Pixar, Rhythm & Hues, ILM, and Pacific Data Images. At the time of the closure, I was producing a series of Super Bowl spots for Chevrolet. Within 36 hours I formed Bruce Dorn Films which I successfully owned and operated until 2001. I specialized in state-of-the-art Special Effects, Comedy, Slice-of-Life, Sheet Metal, and anything considered high risk. Lots of under-water and aerial work along with the more mainstream stage and studio stuff. I had a sister production company in Santiago, Chile with personally-owned production offices in Hollywood, CA and Vancouver, BC. By 2002, the cumulative effects of the 9/11 tragedy, Big Bush’s” Gulf War One”, the Whittier earthquake, and the Rodney King Riots convinced me that all well-funded TVC production was about to come to a screeching halt. This psychological and economic downturn inspired me to consider “quitting while I was ahead” – I was well overdue to retire from this grueling game and decided pulled the plug… It was then that Maura and I decided to try the “small town experience” (Maura was born and raised in Hancock Park, a suburb of Hollywood) and when the dust settled, we landed in Prescott, AZ. We decided to busy ourselves with a continuing investigation of the emerging Digital Arts and set right to work. Between 2000 and 2003 we developed personal portfolios of Digital Paintings (using Corel Painter software) that are now distributed in 68 countries. Maura and I are Corel Painter Masters and we are currently developing some very interesting associated products. More on that as the year unfolds… I introduced Maura to shooting around 1995 and she has excelled. Starting in 2001, we actively pursued weddings regionally and abroad. Lately, my Commercial Creative, Corporate Consultation, African Safaris, and Boy Inventor things have taken off and they tend to occupy most of our time. Now, with the swelling of the Hybrid HD wave, I’m once again thinking about cinematography and all that implies. I’m embroiled in several interesting long-form HD projects and reinvigorated by the whole reinvention process. Given my long track record of fairly reliable “beginner’s luck”, I hope you one day see me stepping up to the podium at the Emmys or Oscars. Don’t have either one of those. Yet. Fingers crossed. Who knows? If I’ve learned nuthin’ else over my career I’ve definitely learned this; most limitations are self-imposed. I say, “Bite off too much and chew like crazy….”

DWF – How did you become a photographer?

BRUCE- By accident. I was shooting a bridal gown editorial and one of the models shared that she was about to get married. They were going to do the fifty-disposable-cameras thing and I offered to do it pro-bono for the experience. It was eye-opening but fun. The resulting album was selected for the Loan Collection after our first and only try at PPA competition.

DWF- Who or what inspires you as an artist?

BRUCE – Filmmakers, Conceptual Artists, and Ad Men. Unspoiled Nature and Fat-Cat Industrialists. Nutty, huh?

DWF- If we needed a photographer today why would we book you? What makes you unique?

BRUCE – Call me! While I’m not currently accepting too many wedding bookings, I can be lured out for someone or something cool and unusual but for the most part, I have too many commercial and editorial projects to pursue mainstream weddings. If someone wants to give me free reign in a truly meaningful and creative way I always consider the gig. I approach each job like it’s the my very first. What makes me unique? Circus genes.

DWF- If you had to pick a favorite “Tool of the Trade” what would it be? and why?

BRUCE – A bandolier filled with throwing knives. I find that the ability to throw a well-balanced and razor-sharp knife with unerring accuracy almost always convinces people to see things from my perspective.

DWF – Care to share your favorite photographs?

BRUCE – (see more of Bruce’s work in the gallery below this article)

DWF – How about some final words to live by?

BRUCE – • Luck favors the prepared. • Jump and your parachute will appear. • Specialize. • Avoid herd mentality. • Offer something unique and your audience will find you. • Reinvent! • Evolve! • Zig when others zag. • Always, always wear pants with chaps. Trust me on that last one. Seriously.

Location – Arizona, USA
Business Name – iDC Photography / Bruce Dorn Films / Studio B
Years in Business – 36 years
Websites - www.idcphotography.com
Blog - www.idcphotography.com/blog

Read the thread that made Bruce Dorn a DWF legend:  Available Magic. Lighting on Location

Possibly Related Posts:

• Running and Gunning with IDC
• Canon Live Learning
• Arizona Cowgirl a Moving Picture with Bruce Dorn
• The Definition of Fusion
• Canon Live Learning