Jeff Vespa

Jeff Vespa (born 1970) is an American photographer, known as a co-founder of WireImage and celebrity photographer

Photography career

Vespa is most widely known for being one of nine co-founders of the photo agency website WireImage.com and its parent company MediaVast. He was also the original designer of WireImage's grid layout design. This design has now been adopted as the photo industry standard. In February 2007, MediaVast announced that it would sell to Getty Images for $207 million dollars in an all cash deal.

Starting in 2003, Vespa has been the official photographer of the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival since 2006.

In 2004, he joined forces with Paris Hilton to create a NY Times Bestselling book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose which was followed the next year with Your Heiress Diary: Confess it All to Me.

Film career

Vespa attended the American Film Institute Graduate Program for Producing in 1993. He produced the Lifetime Television movie Rituals in 1998 which starred Isaiah Washington and Regina King. More recently he produced, wrote and directed the 10 minute short film Nosebleed starring David Arquette. The film had it's premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) in March 2008 and then screened at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival as a part of the Semaine de la Critique section.

Bibliography

* (2004) - Paris Hilton and Merle Ginsberg, Photographs by Jeff Vespa Fireside ISBN 978-0-7432-6665-9
* (2005) - Paris Hilton and Merle Ginsberg, Photographs by Jeff Vespa Fireside ISBN 978-0-7432-8714-2
* Party Confidential (2006) - Lara Shriftman and Elizabeth Harrison, Photographs by Jeff Vespa Bullfinch ISBN 978-0-8212-5780-7

Filmography

* Nosebleed (2008) Producer, Writer and Director
* Rituals (1998) producer
* Tendrils (1996) producer

Exhibits

* Flinn Gallery Greenwich, CT, 2008 - Food...Glorious Food, Group Show
* Gallery at LoFi, LA, 2006 - Eat Me! Yummy New Photographs
* LAXART, LA, 2006 - One Shot: 100x100, Group Show
* Rush Arts Gallery, NY, 2006 - God Complex: Images Of Power, Group Show
* Traction 811, LA, 2004 - Hollywood Graffiti

Sources

* http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cannes_film_festival_2008/news/1728420/
* http://www.photoinduced.com/archives/819
* http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2007/09/wireimages-jeff.html?query=%22jeff+vespa%22
* http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=501751
* http://www.imaginginfo.com/article/article.jsp?id=1314
* http://www.abouttheimage.com/2006/12/wireimage_delta_air_lines_operating_celebrity_portrait_studio_at_sundance_film_festival.html
* http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955640.html?categoryid=2178&cs=1
* http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D10F9385B0C768CDDA80994DE404482

External links

* [http://www.jeffvespa.com/ Official website]
* [http://jeffvespa.blogspot.com/ Jeff Vespa blog]
* [http://www.artnet.com/artist/425225776/jeff-vespa.html Artnet]
*
* [http://www.wireimage.com/ WireImage]