Meet Marc Hauser of Marc Hauser Portraits in West Town

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Hauser.

Marc, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My passion for photography started at a really young age. My dad used to have a darkroom in the basement of our house, to process his film. Little we knew that his hobby, would become my lifetime profession.

When I was 13 years old he gave me a camera right before I went out for summer camp. The director of the camp saw the pictures I took and payed me to have them featured in the camp’s brochure. That’s when I knew I was meant to be a photographer. Photography was my reason to exist. I would spend full days out photographing in the streets, and come back home with at least 30 rolls of film to process.

At the age of 14, I got a job as a photo assistant with Stan Malinowski, one of the most famous fashion photographers of that time. One day the art director of Playboy saw my work at Stan’s studio and asked if I would be interested in photographing John Print. That was the beginning of a long working relationship with Playboy and other big companies like Rolling Stones and AGI.

In the following two decades, I had the opportunity to photograph artists and celebrities like David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger, Bill Gates, John Mellencamp, Oprah Winfrey, Dolly Parton, Woody Allen, Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman, among others. Also, I got into advertisement photography and did ads for Leo Burnett, ABC television, Absolute Vodka, GQ and others.

In the late 2000s, I wanted to go back to where everything began and I started photographing non-celebrities again. Being able to capture someone’s story is invaluable to me, and the reason why I photograph. I am lucky enough to still be able to do it three decades later.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
A road long as mine, can’t never be just smooth. Challenges exist to help us grow, and I definitely had to overcome many obstacles. The main one was after a big accident I had in the early 2000s. I fell off a crane while working on a photoshoot and my right leg and eye got severely injured. I guess no one is ever prepared for something like this, but in the end there’s only one thing to do: keep moving forward… and that’s what I did.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Marc Hauser Portraits – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am known for portrait photography. My images usually have a B&W/Sepia tone and a type lighting that is very distinctive. It is very easy for people to look at one of my images and say “That’s a Hauser”.

I think that what sets me apart from others is the way I look at people and how I tell their stories. I work in a very intuitive way and my concern is not on the technical aspects of photography, but rather in capturing someone’s essence on film.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I will be launching an online store in January 2018, where people can buy some of my classic portraits, including celebrities I have photographed in the past.

On a more general note, I only have one plan for the future: keep doing photography for another three decades.

Contact Info:

• Address: 319 North Western Avenue #1F
  Chicago, IL 60612
• Website: www.classichauserportraits.com
• Phone: 312-243-7824
• Email: studio@classichauserportraits.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hauserportraits/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hauserportraits/
• Twitter: twitter.com/hauserportraits?lang=en

Image Credit:
Marc Hauser Portraits

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