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Steve Hellerstein needed more space. During a typical week, high-profile clients like Sony, Visa, Pepsi, Mercedes and Lancome would be among his still-life assignments. And his old, fully staffed 4,800-square-foot space on 22nd Street near 6th Avenue in New York City was getting mighty crowded.
"We were doing an amazing amount of work considering the space we were in," says Hellerstein, whose work has won awards worldwide. "We would have the current set, another set that we'd be color testing for the next day's shoot and other sets awaiting approval, since we don't break a set down until final approval. We typically have at least five sets up at once."
Hellerstein says he was looking for "an affordable space that would nurture a good creative environment." (A typical work day for his nine-person staff goes from 9 A.M. to 10 P.M.) He also wanted a studio that reflected his approach to photography. "I think a photo studio has a limited shelf life," he says. "Just as it is important for photographers to re-invent themselves stylistically, it is also important to re-invent their environment."
And, he adds, "I was looking for the kind of drama that would give me a certain 'wow' factor." Early in 1997 Hellerstein had visited 20 or so lofts that met his needs for space. But there was always something holding him back-too dark, bad floor plan, poor location, high cost. Some spaces simply felt "stale."
Then, by dumb luck, he found it. A stylist on an assignment for him was having difficulty picking out a backdrop for a shoot, so Hellerstein did something he rarely does: he left the studio to choose the backdrop himself. "I very rarely get out of the studio because we are so busy, and my time is usually spent on set," he says.
He went to a building in the west Chelsea area of Manhattan. After choosing a backdrop, he wandered down the hall. "I walked into this vast, empty, cavernous space," he recalls. "It was right around sunset, and it had an unbelievable panoramic view of the Hudson River...