My brother, Dan Morgan, suffers from the same syndrome as everyone
in my immediate family (with the possible exception of my sister Lynn). We all
want attention and fame. Nothing validates us better that a little press. The
following is an article that needs no further editorial comment from me.
People in Style
Shooting for perfection in world of high style Lakewood-born
photographer has eye for finery Wednesday,
March 30, 2005 Kathleen Murphy Colan Special to The Plain Dealer
New York- Since
moving to New York City in 1997, former Cleveland photographer Dan Morgan has
hung out in Gianni Versace’s Manhattan townhouse, held Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’
personal effects, arranged Marilyn Monroe’s jewelry, touched Madonna’s lingerie
and handled enough diamonds to fill a South African mine. He’s had these - and
more - brushes with greatness as a photographer for Sotheby’s, the uber-auction
house to the world’s rich and famous in New York City.
The company produces more than 100 auction catalogs each year,
and Morgan has been photographing the sought-after treasures they feature for
seven years. Morgan moved to the Big Apple at 38 - an age when many New Yorkers
contemplate leaving the Big-city rat race. He had no job prospects, little
money and nothing more than a dream of making it when he moved from Cleveland.
He left behind a thriving commercial photography business along with hundreds
of friends and family members to move into New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.
For a year, he roomed with four students from the Fashion Institute
of Technology whom he had never met before. It was a long way from the
comfortable loft apartment he left behind on the west side of the Flats.
“Yes, everyone thought I was crazy,” Morgan says. He says
he made the risky decision to broaden his knowledge of the photography
industry, to live in the center of the world’s publishing industry and,
hopefully, to marry a Swedish upermodel. “I went as far as I could go in Cleveland,” he
says. Morgan was - and still is - well known in art circles here for holding
regular art openings and launching the careers of emerging local artists at his
former gallery, Gallery 0022 on the Superior Viaduct. He’d grown up in
Lakewood, graduated from Lakewood igh School in 1976 and then majored in photography at the University
of Dayton.
After graduating from college in 1980, he started his own commercial
photography studio, which served clients such as Bonne Bell, Parker Hannifin,
General Electric and the Peterson Nut Co. “I wished him well when he left,
because he’s very talented,” says Jesse Bell, chairman emeritus for the Bonne
Bell cosmetics company in Lakewood. “We never doubted he would make it in New
York - he’s a great guy and meets people easily, he has a great work ethic, and
he’s always smiling.” When Morgan left, he told everyone he’d be back. And
while he does come back to visit family and attend the Tremont Art Walk three
or four times each year, he has no plans to return permanently. His luck and
accomplishments in New York have simply been too great. Upon his arrival in
Manhattan, Morgan started free-lancing for emerging jewelry and fashion
designers. He quickly picked up photography jobs for Kate Spade - the maker of high-end,
fashionable handbags and accessories - shooting bags for the company’s
promotional materials. He had an “aha moment” one day in 1998, while he sat in a
coffee shop thumbing through a Christie’s auction house catalog. “I made a cold
call to the photo editor at Sotheby’s and I got lucky,” he says. “I showed them
my portfolio and they started hiring me for jobs right away.” For seven years now, Morgan
has worked almost fulltime as a consultant photographer at Sotheby’s. The
arrangement has allowed him to pursue side projects that fulfill his desire
to work with artists and designers who are at the beginning of their careers. His
specialty at Sotheby’s is jewelry. He works alone in a tiny, 8-by-8-foot studio
at the Upper East Side auction house for eight hours at a time. A Sotheby’s
staffer signs over the dazzling goods to him in the morning and picks them up
at the end of the day.
Morgan says he likes working with “things” as opposed to “people”
because there is less hassle. “If you work as a photographer in high fashion or
with celebrities in New York, you’re invariably going to be dealing with an
entourage of people: the stylist, the makeup artist, the assistant, the
caterer, the poodle,” he says. “Before you know it, you’ve got a circus on your
hands. Patience, ingenuity and lighting expertise are the qualities Morgan says
are most important when he photographs “shiny things.” He often uses wire
hangers and coffee stirrers to move the merchandise. Toothpicks, tacky wax and
straight pins also come in handy for propping things in place. Matthew Weigman,
senior vice president of corporate affairs for Sotheby’s, says Morgan’s success
comes from his versatility.
“He’s photographed everything from diamonds to dinosaur bones,”
Weigman says. “In our business it’s all about presentation - how something looks
in a photograph determines interest level and ultimately, salability. “And Dan
is a master at unlocking the beauty of a scene.” With his career on track, Morgan got lucky in
love in the big city as well - but not with a Swedish supermodel. “I ended up
marrying a girl from Parma, Ohio,” he says. He met Annette Dessoffey, a nurse
at Bellevue Hospital, at Lola in Tremont while both were home visiting. They
married in 2002.
Today, the couple lives in a $2,500-a-month, one-bedroom apartment
on the city’s Upper East Side and enjoys the international experience the city
offers. Their flat is walking distance from Sotheby’s. Surprisingly, Morgan
says their future may hold a farm in Ohio or Pennsylvania. “We don’t plan on
having any children, but we may buy an alpaca farm,” he says. As for
photography, Morgan says he’ll be a shooter until the day he dies - no matter what
the subject matter.
Colan is a free-lance writer in
Cleveland.
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