Stefan was the first subject for my designer series.  Deitch Projects, a prominent SOHO art gallery, was featuring an exhibition of his work that was concurrently being published in his book, "Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far".  The work was fascinating and often very funny with a unique perspective that is indicative of Stefan’s endless curiosity.  I knew that he’d be an excellent portrait subject from seeing him give his engaging TED Talks.

Here are a few of the other situations that I photographed that afternoon:

"Everybody Always Thinks They Are Right".  Stefan with his thirty-three foot tall angry monkey.  Previously, six of these monkeys were exhibited outdoors in cities in Scotland.  They were illustrated by Monika Aichele in Germany, built by Sportogo in California.  Another huge monkey, perched on Dietch Project’s rooftop would have made an even more interesting backdrop but the the ten below zero wind chill factor that January day made this setting an easy choice.  The wall on the left had 7200 very ripe and pungent bananas glued to it.   Days before this photo was taken, his arrangement of both ripe and green bananas spelled out the message:  Self Confidence Produces Fine Results.