Frank W. Ockenfels III
| Frank W. Ockenfels III | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 (age 56–57) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | School of Visual Arts |
| Known for | Photography |
| Website | fwo3 |
Frank W. Ockenfels III (referred to professionally as Frank Ockenfels 3) is an American photographer, artist, and director who is best known for his portraits of prominent celebrities like David Bowie, Angelina Jolie, Kurt Cobain and numerous others. He has also done promotional photography for films and television shows like Breaking Bad,House of Cards, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean among many others.
Ockenfels was born in Mendenhall, Pennsylvania but grew up in Lockport, New York, a suburb of Niagara Falls. His interest in photography was spurred as a child, and he often photographed classmates in junior high and high school. He was the yearbook photographer during his senior year of high school. After high school in 1978, Ockenfels applied to and studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
After college, Ockenfels worked as an assistant for Joshua Greene, Milton Greene's son. He cites Greene and Jeff Dunas as his early inspirations and mentors. For a short time, he was an assistant for Saturday Night Live's photographer, Edie Baskin. Ockenfels' career was launched in earnest in 1988 when he was hired to take a portrait of Tracy Chapman for Rolling Stone. The photograph was initially meant to be a quarter-page in support of Chapman's debut album, but it ended up being a double page spread after Chapman began to rise in popularity. This increased Ockenfels' profile as a photographer. Shortly after the Rolling Stone shoot, Frank met Carol LeFlufy who is still representing him today. In 1989, Ockenfels performed his first photo shoots of David Bowie, and he has since taken at least 15 more.
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