BIOGRAPHY

Portraits ‘n Courage

A Detroit photographer weathers the COVID-19 lockdown by preserving memories, one frame at a time

A sampling of Greenwell’s subjects (clockwise): Dennis Rodman, Tim Allen, Diana Ross, Richard Belzer, and MTV’s Nina Blackwood. (Images © Andy Greenwell, used with permission)

Every night after dark, lifelong insomniac Andy Greenwell steps out the side door of his modest suburban home in Plymouth, Michigan, crosses the driveway in the eerie quiet of a locked-down community, and opens the door to his studio. Inside, his life’s work awaits.

Since the COVID-19 shelter-in-place began, Greenwell, a commercial photographer, has been singularly focused on a project he calls “Turning Negatives Into Positives.” Like many people languishing at home in semi-quarantine, Greenwell is using his free time (the studio has been shut down since mid-March) to sort through old photos.

But the number and subjects of his photos are like no other.

“These are celebrity photos,” Greenwell says, pointing to a mishmash pile of transparencies, negatives, and slides. “These are comedians, these are sports figures, here are musicians, and those are products.” Other piles spill out on a long table in the stark white studio, along with stacks of prints, contact sheets, and envelopes splayed across the floor.

Greenwell photographed Willie Nelson in 1986. (Image © Andy Greenwell)

The range of subjects is broad and varied. Sports legends: Barry Sanders, Dennis Rodman, Isiah Thomas, Steve Yzerman, Howie Long, Sparky Anderson, Tara Lipinski, Jerry Stackhouse, Grant Hill, Mitch Albom — to name a few. Musicians: Willie Nelson, Harry Chapin, David Lee Roth, James Brown, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, and more. Comedians: Tim Allen (Greenwell knew him well and took the photo Rolling Stone used to introduce the budding comic), Richard Belzer, Dave Coulier, Willie Tyler (& Lester), and many others. Models galore, including Detroit-native Playboy model Linda Delgado. Not to mention TV/radio personalities, product photos, street photography, corporate executives, and obscure rock bands.

Greenwell knew and worked with Tim Allen when Allen was a Detroit-based comic. This photo was taken as part of a shoot for Rolling Stone magazine in 1990. Rolling Stone chose another photo, and this one was never published. (Image © Andy Greenwell)

The ambitious undertaking to convert negatives dating from the early 80s to late 90s into digital images is part pragmatism, part inspiration, and part therapy. “Converting the archive has always been on my list of things to do, but running a small business alone, I’ve never had time to take the project on,” says Greenwell. “Now I do.”

Organizing history

The archive itself has been a challenge to assemble. Three moving trucks loaded with gear and files delivered Greenwell’s opus to its current home two years ago when Greenwell and his girlfriend purchased a 50s ranch with a large outbuilding (converted to studio space) and moved operations from a much larger industrial-park space 15 miles north. In the move, boxes of negatives were lost and already-random files became more dispersed. “It took a full week to assemble this pile,” says Greenwell, “and I found another batch just last night.”

Greenwell holds a negative to be converted. On screen, a digitized negative appears. (Image by Andy Greenwell)

Each negative is individually cleaned and mounted into a specially designed holder, which is then mounted onto a clamp suspended on a C-stand. Studio lighting provides illumination. Using a Nikon digital camera, Greenwell shoots multiple exposures of each negative, checks the quality, names the photo, and sets it aside to adjust and retouch later. Each final image represents about an hour of work.

With each photo comes a story — but not a long one. Greenwell is a stoic man of few words. What was John Salley like? “Hilarious.” What happened to this model? “She got married and had a few kids. We’re friends on Facebook.” What was Richard Belzer like? “Not a smiler. Not a talker.” Which celebrity was the hardest to work with? “Not saying. But you’d be surprised….”

Author Mitch Albom and Greenwell worked together on a series of charity calendars in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (Image © Andy Greenwell)

Other stories emerge without prompting. “This guy,” says Greenwell, holding a color transparency up to a light in one hand and a loupe in the other, “this guy standing by the Duesenberg was probably the nicest guy I ever photographed.” The memory inspires a quick Google search, where he discovers that the subject died last year. “I wonder if the family would like any of these photos,” he muses.

Moments later, a photo of a Champaign, IL-based rock band leads to a story about the band’s legendary rendition of “When a Man Loves a Woman,” more searches, and some friend requests.

A photo of fighter jets prompts a longer tale about nearly falling out the open door of a companion plane while shooting skydivers. Greenwell’s life was spared by a fast-thinking camera crew member, who grabbed him by the belt as he tumbled toward the open door.

Focus point

Every photo in the hands of a different photographer would look a little different, depending on the life experiences, skill, equipment, and unique vision of the person behind the camera.

Greenwell’s vision was shaped growing up in a small, single-traffic-light town in eastern central Illinois. Martinsville, IL, was home to hard-working Midwesterners, including his family of six, where his dad owned a shoe repair business and delivered propane gas and his mom was a seamstress.

Greenwell graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in communications. There he discovered his passion for videography and photography. He began his career as a cameraman for TV news, then for PM Magazine in Champaign, and later in Detroit, where he earned an Emmy award and multiple nominations for his work.

He launched an independent business in 1987 and quickly became a sought-after photographer and cinematographer in the Midwest for celebrities, athletes, models, and businesses, as well as a popular instructor, with packed photography workshops.

Market challenges

But the volatile vocation became more challenging with the explosion of do-it-yourself digital photography, cell phone cameras, slashed automaker marketing budgets, and the Great Recession of 2008. Greenwell’s retirement funds were liquidated.

Few commercial photography businesses in the Detroit area survived the brutal market conditions of the century’s first decade, but Greenwell held on to the career he felt called to by living simply and even moving into his leased studio space.

Through it all, he remained productive and continued creative work (often unpaid) to stave off anxiety, which has plagued him throughout his life.

His business had only begun to rebound in the last year with fresh clients and a stronger economy…until the pandemic hit. With a forced shutdown, skittish clients, and another recession on the horizon, creative businesses and freelancers are expected to face new struggles. Small businesses like Greenwell’s have an uncertain future.

Negatives, slides, transparencies, and other materials from the Greenwell archive. Greenwell (right) prepares a negative for conversion.

Still, Greenwell soldiers on. Downtime, a breeding ground for anxiety, is not an option. The “Turning Negatives into Positives” project will deliver no revenue, but it is a way to get through the shutdown productively and to cultivate gratitude.

Work helps him forestall worries about the future and whether his business will survive in a yet-again changed world. Dipping into the past to revisit and celebrate creative accomplishments is just the therapy needed.

“Seeing these old photos makes me feel lucky,” says Greenwell, adding with a smile, “And maybe a little talented.”

Early the next morning, Greenwell emerges from the studio, locks the door, and crosses the driveway again to the music of birds chirping and chains tinkling as township employees open the park across the street — another night’s work complete, another batch of memories restored. Negatives, it seems, can become positives…with a lot of work.

And a new day begins.