Melanie Pullen is a photographer who currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California

Pullen's work has been exhibited internationally, including solo-shows at Ace Gallery, Los Angeles and Ace Gallery, Beverly Hills; White Wall Gallery, Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

; MiCamera, Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. Her work has also been included in various museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 exhibitions and has been broadly published

Photographic art

Pullen is most noted for High Fashion Crime Scenes which consists of over one-hundred photographs based on NYPD and LAPD

Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

 crime scene files.

To create High Fashion Crime Scenes (1995–2005), Pullen employed the services of up to 80 crew members and models per picture, with each image taking up to a month to create, and the series using over $13 million dollars worth of clothing and accessories.

Her photo shoots often resemble movie sets. High Fashion Crime Scenes in particular was directly inspired by cinema and photojournalism

Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...

.

During her research into crime-scene photography, Pullen became haunted by war imagery. Pullen states,

"As I grew desensitized to domestic crime and violence, I became more sensitized to images of war. It was a strange phenomenon that I've explored and philosophized. I don’t like violence, I have never been a dark person. I see stories and different layers to violent imagery. I'm curious about the response people have to violent images.”

This became Pullen's inspiration for Violent Times her more recent body of work and most elaborate series to date.

Early photography

It is interesting to note that although there is strong theoretical connotation to her work, alongside masterful lighting and color theory, Pullen has never gone to school for photography, or taken a single lesson. She has learned her craft through trial and error, a process that has proved greatly beneficial to her work.

Despite her love of “accidents”, she is in fact a perfectionist “to the point of driving [herself] insane.” Pullen is inspired by geometry, and she loves lines and symmetry.

Shortly after acquiring, her first camera in her teens she began shooting for several publications, magazines, catalogs, and record labels.

She worked in 2004 with Beck

Beck

Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...

 for his album Guero and The Information. In addition to Beck

Beck

Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...

, she's shot many other musicians, such as: Devendra Banhart

Devendra Banhart

Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...

, Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.- Early life :Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California...

, Rock Kills Kid and The Black Keys

The Black Keys

The Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....

.

Pullen did a small series of portraits of famed photographer Julius Shulman

Julius Shulman

Julius Shulman was an American architectural photographer best known for his photograph "Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960. Pierre Koenig, Architect." The house is also known as The Stahl House. Shulman's photography spread California Mid-century modern around the world...

 that have never been seen.

Printing and methods

Pullen's photographs are some of the largest images in the world. Her images range in size from four-foot up to ten-foot seamless photographs. Some are face-mounted prints and others are large-format positives

Positive (photography)

A positive is a film or paper record of a scene that represents the color and luminance of objects in that scene with the same colors and luminances . Color transparencies are an example of positive photography: the range of colors presented in the medium is limited by the tonal range of the...

 backlit in massive light-boxes.

She primarily works in film and shoots with a range of cameras, including: Hasselblad

Hasselblad

Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium-format cameras and photographic equipment based in Gothenburg, Sweden.The company is best known for the medium-format cameras it has produced since World War II....

 503cw; Hasselblad H2; Linhof

Linhof

Linhof is a German company, founded in Munich in 1887 by Valentin Linhof. The company is well known for making premium rollfilm and large format film cameras...

 Technika; Canon EOS 3

Canon EOS 3

The Canon EOS-3 is a 35mm film single-lens reflex camera for professionals and advanced amateurs built by Canon of Japan. It was introduced in November 1998and was offered as recently as 2007, though is no longer....

.

Pullen prints and retouches all of her own work with very little help, if any. She does her own high resolution scanning and she still employs traditional spotting techniques due to the size of her prints. She personally hand spots each print.

Childhood and Early Inspiration

Pullen was raised in New York City's West Village. As a child her family consisted of writers, publishers, poets and painters. Her childhood home was frequented in the 70s and 80s by the likes of Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

, Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

, Emily Glen and Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein , was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books...

. Pullen at the age of six would sometimes perform in Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...

 with Phillippe Petit (Man on Wire

Man on Wire

Man on Wire is a 2008 British documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title...

) in his neighborhood shows.

Pullen has noted that one of her inspirations was grandmother Ann Guilfoyle, the photo editor at Audubon Magazine and founder of The Guilfoyle Report
. Pullen's grandfather George Hornby started Domesday Press and worked as a freelancer or staff member with Knopf, Crown

Crown Publishing Group

-External links:*...

, Random House

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

, Crowell-Collier, Rowman & Littlefield

Rowman & Littlefield

Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books and journals for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns a book distributor, National Book Network...

, and Farrar Straus & Young. He designed Mr. President, a biographical study of Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 in 1951 with whom he worked. Kathleen Guilfoyle, Pullen's mother, is a painter and supported her family through painting murals in Manhattan's Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

 and through peddling her works on the streets of New York. Pullen's father, Wayne Pullen, has played professional pool for many years and is considered one of the most skilled one-pocket players in the US. He won first place in the USPPA Pro Am Classic in 2003 in Reno, Nevada.

Publications

Pullen’s monograph High Fashion Crime Scenes (74 plates) is published by Nazraeli Press and has received international critical acclaim by magazines such as Spin

Spin (magazine)

Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

, Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

, Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

, Elle

Elle (magazine)

Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...

 and Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

 Magazine. Pullen’s book includes an introduction by Luke Crisell and essays by both Robert Enright and Colin Westerbech.

Pullen's photographic series have also been featured in numerous publications and broadcasts including: San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle

thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

, New York Times Magazine, LA Times, ArtReview, The London Independent on Sunday Review, Vogue, Elle, Fortune

Fortune (magazine)

Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...

, W, GQ, RollingStone

Rollingstone

Rollingstone may refer to:*Rollingstone, Minnesota, United States of America*Rollingstone, Queensland, Australia...

, Nylon

Nylon

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...

, Photo, Art Forum, National Public Radio, CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

Radio and CBS News.

Photography Books

High Fashion Crime Scenes, Photographs by Melanie Pullen. Published by Nazraeli Press: 128 pages, ISBN 159005136X ISBN 978-1590051368

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2011
Project Atrium: Melanie Pullen, The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville FL http://www.mocajacksonville.org/current/project-atrium-melanie-pullen

2010
High Fashion Crime Scenes, Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

2009
Violent Times, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco

2008
Violent Times, Ace Gallery Los Angeles

2007
High Fashion Crime Scenes, Micamera, Milan, Italy

2006
High Fashion Crime Scenes, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2006
High Fashion Crime Scenes, White Wall Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2005
High Fashion Crime Scenes, Ace Gallery Beverly Hills

2004
High Fashion Crime Scenes, Presented by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 10th Annual Muse Art Walk, Los Angeles, CA

2003
High Fashion Crime Scenes, The Silverlake Society of Authentic Arts, Los Angeles, CA

Group Exhibitions

2008
Dreams of Promise And Peril, The Warehouse Gallery, Syracuse, NY
Photos and Phantasy: Selections from The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
Art And Illusion: Selections From The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Roseville Arts! Blue Line Gallery, Roseville, CA

2007
Tell Me a Story: Narrative Photography Now, The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA

2006
City Limits, University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Photos And Phantasy: Selections From The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, The Frederick R. Weisman Museum Of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA

2005
Berkus’ Beauties, Atkinson Gallery Santa Barbara City College
High Fashion Crime Scenes, Ace Gallery Beverly Hills

2004
Selected Work from Juliette Lewis Series, High Fashion Crime Scenes, Downtown Artwalk, Los Angeles, CA

2003
High Fashion Crime Scene Photographs, The Silverlake Society Of Authentic Arts, Los Angeles, CA
High Fashion Crime Scene Photographs, The Los Angeles Tar Festival, Los Angeles, CA