Gina LeVay Beneath the Heart of the City
Thirteen years ago Gina LeVay left her hometown big city, Chicago, for a bigger city. First pursuing a B.A. at New York University in European Studies, Spanish Literature major, she later received an M.F.A. in Photography and Video from the School of Visual Arts. New York has been her home ever since.
©Gina LeVay
I first learned about Gina LeVay’s photography while walking through Grand Central one day in 2006. There was an exhibition of photos of the Sandhogs and their work on New York City Water Tunnel Number 3. I had been fascinated with the massive yet unseen capital project — the largest capital project in this hemisphere, by most accounts –Â since I read David Grann’s New Yorker article “City of Water,” in 2003. The article stuck with me. In the ensuing years, I walked my city’s streets knowing far below even the deepest subway line, men toiled night and day in dangerous conditions to build the third water tunnel. Upon completion, it will ensure the city will continue to have it’s 1.2 to 1.4 billion of gallons of water each day, even if the first two antiquated city tunnels fail.
©Gina LeVay
LeVay’s documentation of the Sandhogs has arguably become the defacto face of those who dig beneath the New York City and their work. Now collected in a new book, as people begin to think of this massive capital project in the future, they will recall LeVay’s photographs.
Light was carefully used as a fill, but not overpowering the ambient light in the tunnels. During LeVay’s many trips down to Tunnel Number Three, her main tool was a Mamiya RZ67 shooting Fuji 800 film. Her lighting on location was Profoto Pro-7b packs, although due to their lightweight nature, she now uses a Profoto AcuteB 600R, as well. Studio shots utilized Profoto Pro-7a with Pro heads. To achieve a soft but even light for portraits, she used Profoto large reflectors and, on occasion, a beauty dish. In addition, a Leaf back was used in the studio.
©Gina LeVay
In 2006 she started a series on female bullfighters in Spain shot with the RZ67 and film while striving for both strong portrait work and also record the reportage with more of a fine arts approach. “I was interested in the brutality and the beauty of the dance between her and the bull. I wanted a raw, rich light, like I had with the Sandhogs.”
©Gina LeVay
This past spring, LeVay completed a seven-city ad campaign for Dickies clothing. Profoto lighting was pressed into service again by LeVay, but this time she shot a Mamiya 645DF.
©Gina LeVay
Currently shooting a new project of the latest generation of American war widows, which she is intensely passionate about. “I’m still working out how to do this. The extraordinary thing about it is these women are very young–in their twenties or early thirties. Hopefully, this will become a document which avoids clichés. I hope it’s a document of our history.” Of the photo below, LeVay says, “I knew there was wonderful natural light coming in through the window. I like to mix ambient and strobe. I used the Profoto Softbox 3′ Octa and the AcuteB 600R to mimic the light coming in from the outside, but not to distract from the real ambient light. I do that a lot, and I think that’s the most successful: to match the feel. The lighting should compliment and not distract.”
©Gina LeVay
©Gina LeVay
While shooting for four months in India last year, she shot beautiful models in the harsh realities of the tea field plantations.
©Gina LeVay
“When you shoot in India, every piece of equipment comes with two people from the rental agencies,” LeVay says. “I explained I already had my assistants, but that’s not the way they do things there. By the end of the day you have 40 people behind the camera, and they all want to get fed. The street scene was quite a production–a mini-Bollywood production!”
©Gina LeVay
“I feel Profoto has been very influential in my career so far,” says LeVay. “You guys really care about your products, and photographers in general.” With great images coming from her lenses, we’ll definitely continue paying attention to Gina LeVay.
With the publication of Sandhogs, I will now have a selection of the images I walked among in Grand Central almost four years ago. I will sit in my warm and dry New York loft, savoring the brutal and beautiful images, while far below me brave men walk on ground no humans have walked on before. Then I will get up and turn on the faucet and be thankful.
Gina LeVay’s Sandhogs
Written by Ron Egatz
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[...] Some of his favorite pieces he’s written for the Profoto blog include profiles of Gina LeVay, Eduardo Citrinblum and Jonathan Saunders. Egatz runs Camber Press and has a book of his own work [...]