Featured Illustrator: Rick Lieder

 

Astrophysicist, photojournalist, book covers, macro photos and Marilyn Monroe: Illustrator/artist Rick Lieder

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet the guy who photographs little beings big, an artist with pen and camera, Renaissance Man Rick Lieder.

You graduated from the University of Michigan. What was your focus of study? Was photography always in the picture?

I originally wanted to be an astrophysicist; I was an amateur astronomer from an early age, built my own telescope, etc. Many late-night hours searching the sky for nebula and galaxies. Through my time at the University of Michigan I concentrated more on physics, chemistry and microbiology. That interest in science has never gone away. I believe both art and science are methods we use to understand ourselves and the universe.

My last actual job was as a chemist for a circuit board manufacturer.

But the pull of the arts was too strong, my interest in painting and photography had been growing for years. Books and reading have always been important to me, and that led me to the science fiction community.

I became friends with many writers and artists, and decided to quit my old life and began teaching myself photography and the other visual arts. I soon started working as a photojournalist, covering every subject imaginable before going out on my own as a freelancer, doing commercial work and environmental portraiture, for magazines, brochures and annual reports.

The Ann Arbor District Library has a collection of your photos for various newspapers and publications from the early 1980’s. What steps did it take for Rick Lieder, the UM graduate, to become Rick Lieder, the world-renowned macro-photographer?

I’m glad to see there is an archive of some of my newspaper work online. I worked for a smaller newspaper before eventually working for the Ann Arbor News. I made thousands of photographs while I worked there. I learned a lot, and won a few awards.

After leaving daily photojournalism, I specialized in photographing lasers and robots, and more general editorial work. I would often carry several hundred pounds of lighting equipment, setting up multiple flashes in corporate and industrial settings.

I moved from there to illustration and fine art, although I worked as a commercial/editorial photographer along with the illustration in the beginning. I always wanted to make art for books, and many of my artistic influences were book illustrators.

You did your first book cover in 1987, the paperback edition of The Roswell Incident. How did you find yourself as book cover illustrator?

cover art by Rick Lieder

I bought my first computer just to make art, long before Photoshop, when I had maybe sixteen colors to work with. I sold my first book cover a few months later while on a trip to see NY art directors. Much of my work has always been experimental, and my first book covers happened while trying to find publishers who would take a chance with new techniques.

Your wife, Kathe Koja, is a prolific author and producer. You are a photographer and artist and collaborator. Have you and Kathe worked together on projects?

I’ve illustrated many stories and books of Kathe’s, including most of her young adult novels from Frances Foster at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. I had worked with FSG on book covers before they asked if I would like to work on Kathe’s covers. They are some of my favorites, and I was given a lot of freedom in creating them, sometimes including the type design.

more cover art

I share my work with Kathe and she does the same with me. We’ve worked together on some yet unseen projects and have more planned.

Kathe, it seems, was instrumental in bringing you together with your ultimate collaborator, Helen Frost. The year was 2007, your wife was signing books at Book Beat with fellow authors Sarah Miller and Frost.

Helen was intrigued by your backyard “macro-photos,” and the two of you decided to pair your close-up photos of insects with her nature poetry. It took years to find an interested editor and publishing house. Can you describe those early days, working together with scant hope for publication?

Helen and I met at that book signing. In addition to book covers and illustrations, I’d been focusing on wildlife photography, mostly in my backyard, and I ended up sending her dozens of images, and she wrote a poem to fit a few of them. I then made a physical book dummy to send to publishers.

One of the stunning photos Rick provided

It was a true collaboration, and we spent quite a bit of time deciding which images worked best with Helen’s text.

Selling a book like ours was difficult, publishers usually separate the illustrator from the author and the rejections are never easy. It took three years and we submitted to all the major publishers.

After several years with no results, we struggled to keep up the enthusiasm. But we were convinced we had something great, and when we finally found Candlewick, our editor Sarah Ketchersid understood our vision and helped turn that initial idea into a beautiful picture book. STEP GENTLY OUT was a  much better book after all that time and effort.

In 2016, the PBS Nova program featured your photography in “Creatures of Night.” How much involvement did you have with the finished piece?

I had been photographing fireflies in my backyard, one of the most difficult subjects I’ve tried. I experimented constantly with different techniques and equipment. I have only a few minutes after the sun sets with enough light to make an image, but after years of going out every night during firefly season, my images had the quality I needed, and it resulted in our book AMONG A THOUSAND FIREFLIES.

Be prepared: these are astounding

I have also been working with video for many years, and adding time helps to capture the magic of a lightning bug’s courtship and mating. National Geographic Television contacted me since I was one of the only photographers working extensively with fireflies. I make most of the equipment I use, and I’ve even made several robot fireflies.

The 2016 PBS NOVA program “CREATURES OF LIGHT” primarily featured bioluminescent creatures of the deep ocean; bioluminescence on land is relatively rare. Here in Michigan we are fortunate to have so many firefly species.

Other than working closely with National Geographic on selecting my footage, I was not involved in the finished documentary, which was wonderful. Bioluminescence in all its forms is beautiful.

You live in Berkley, deeply nestled in the bosom of Metro Detroit. Yet many of your macro-photos are from your own suburban backyard. Do you let nature flourish by not cutting the grass? Is your backyard particularly wild?

The sentiment is clear in the titles: WAKE UP, STEP GENTLY OUT, WAIT—AND SEE, HELLO, I’M HERE, AMONG A THOUSAND FIREFLIES. The message is patience and mindfulness. Was there a proverbial apple-on-the-head moment that brought you to the realization there were tiny worlds of wonder at your feet?

For most of our books, the images were made in my small, undistinguished backyard, complete with many power lines. Part of my philosophy is to show how beautiful the world can be, no matter where you are, near a city or in rural area. You might think there's not much to see and perhaps none of us are as close to unspoiled nature as we’d like to be, but the closer you look, the more you'll find. Unfortunately, our old neighborhood is losing many trees, and rapid development is prioritized over any green spaces, so new houses have almost no yard at all.

I’m not sure our books would be possible if I had to work in our old yard today, I see fewer birds and insects.

Although I have more equipment these days, I began the wildlife work I’m now known for with a small point-and-shoot camera at the beginning of digital photography (the resolution of which was much less than that of any current smart phone.) Using only the sun and whatever light is reflected throughout my small yard presents its own set of challenges, and the limited depth of focus helps me create a less clinical, more emotional and painterly view. 

Other than cameras and lenses, I build my own equipment much of the time, primarily because my needs are so specific, and no manufacturer makes what I need. It also took years for me to work out my technique and equipment for in-flight bird photography in our backyard with so many cables in the way.

I’m trying to create a sense of emotional portraiture, the experience of seeing an individual creature rather than just the general anonymous representation of a species. By visually offering the beauty and struggle of these small lives, I want the viewers to feel pleasure and appreciation, and an awareness that we share the sprawling yet intimate space of the world with millions of other lives whose welfare depends on our behavior toward them.

We recently moved, and I have more space. We mow the lawn much less and are working to encourage native bees, butterflies and other wildlife. We have many large trees and left most of the leaves on the ground over our first winter, which has helped immensely; I’ve seen so many fireflies, birds and pollinators this spring, as well as a herd of deer and a flock of wild turkeys. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will be investing in our yard and help us remove some invasive species and encourage pollinators.

The hazards of insect photography are some “pretty spectacular bites and stings in some uncomfortable places.” Care to elaborate?

I’ve often gotten poison ivy or poison oak and many types of insect bites. One of my favorite places for fireflies was on the Huron River, but it unfortunately was also a field of poison ivy. Nevertheless, I made several of my favorite images in our books there.

And of course I get dirty depending where I have to chase my subject. It’s fine as long as I’m dressed to withstand the elements. I need to be close to the ground and very still, and once in a Rhode Island park, someone asked me if I was dead.

In an interview you included a full-color illustration you created for Wait—and See. Your illustration rivals your photographic work. Any chance you might illustrate one of your books?

Much of my time is spent drawing and painting. So many of my influences are painters. My favorite mediums are watercolor, oil and pen & ink. I plan to spend much more time on projects involving drawing, and have several book ideas in the works. Since I’ve been concentrating on our picture books for the last decade, I’ve shown my fine art less, but I’ll exhibit more of my work in the future.

You’ve posted a series of portraits of celebrities, entertainers and artists from past and present. Many are in a minimalist format of flowing lines, curves and gray tones. Incredible how you capture the essence of a young David Bowie, or Alfred Hitchcock in his prime. Where did this inspiration come from?

I do many commissioned portraits. I love the challenge of capturing a likeness, and I often combine media.

I love pen & ink, although a few are made with graphite. And I’m combining these with watercolor and gouache.

Drawing for me is the foundation of so much art, and I’m learning constantly from the great draughtsmen (and women) of the past.

Most of these portraits are of creative people, mostly writers, artists and musicians I admire. I’ve been doing this so long I can’t remember how I started. The difficulty of making a good portrait keeps me learning and improving. And I’m always experimenting.

You’ve even played with video, putting together a book trailer. Your creativity knows no bounds. Do you plan to dabble more in film?

I’ve been working with video for almost twenty years, it’s a great tool for telling stories I can’t make with still media. Most of my work with fireflies is video, and the technical difficulties took me years to solve. And learning all the editing software and post-production techniques is time-consuming.

Even as I’m writing this, I made one of my favorite videos of a white-tail fawn with fireflies in our backyard.

What’s next for you?

More art and more books for sure. I try to make something new every day, even if it’s a quick sketch.

Please share any social media platforms:

 

BugDreams.com    •   Wildlife - Picture books

SilentBurn.com    •   Portraits - Paintings

 

I’m easy to find on Facebook and Helen and I have a page for our books: “Beautiful Picture Books • Rick Lieder & Helen Frost”

 

I’m less active on other social media, but often post work on Instagram at @lostmirror.

More photos and images: