By Elizabeth McAvoy
PhotoPoint Community Writer
These are the twins, Elaine and Diane. They are on the verge of the Big Time! I am their regular photographer and they try to shoot just with me. ©2000 Jan Sanders.
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You could say Jan Sanders began sharpening his photography skills the day, almost 20 years ago, when he lost everything but a week's hotel rate gambling in Reno. Because that was the day he applied for a job waiting tables at a local casino. It was a year from that day that he bought his first restaurant. And it was 16 years from that day that he sold the last of three restaurants, packed up, and moved to Los Angeles, where he's now running a successful photography studio in Culver City.
"I have no second thoughts," said Jan Sanders, 52. "I had a good-paying job and I just quit it."
The first three years he lived in LA, Jan entertained the upper echelon of Hollywood society as maitre d' at one of Beverly Hills' premiere eating establishments, Barney Greengrass. From 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. he assigned tables, directed seating, and schmoozed with all the big-name clients. Off hours, he photographed night events at the restaurant.
Then one day USA Today photographer Michael Jacobs visited the restaurant and took Jan's photo for a news section about Los Angeles. The shoot planted an idea in Jan's head.
"I remember thinking to myself while posing that photography would be a great way to make a living at that point in my life," he said.
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This is Scott -- great eyes and jawline that I bring out in all his photos. He’s young and aspiring to be an actor and model. ©2000 Jan Sanders
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As fate would have it, shortly after the Barney Greengrass shoot an ideal studio space opened up. Jan moved in.
It started with a few portraits and gigs with wrestling magazines. But business quickly grew, and Jan quit the restaurant business to manage the studio full-time. He said the transition to photographer was a natural one. After all, he'd spent his entire life working with people.
"He was a brilliant maitre d'," said Michael, who instructs photojournalism at the University of California, Los Angeles, and initially encouraged Jan to hone his photography skills. "[That] is going to do him so well in photography. You have to get along with everybody."
"In our industry, there's a lot of stress," said Lori Capobianco, an administrative assistant at Ultimate Industries who often works with Jan when he's photographing wrestling events. "You deal with a lot of people and you don't know whether you're coming or going." Once, Lori said, Jan had to take a picture of her while she was hurriedly preparing for an event. It was a chaotic scene, but Jan managed to calm Lori and take her photo. "I was running around like a maniac - I couldn't relax for beans. He talked me into a mind frame where I was relaxed. He has a way with people to get them to perform for the camera."
This is Rob Van Dam -- RVD to wrestling fans. Rob was my first cover shot for World of Wrestling’s current January issue. Rob has crossed over to films and just finished
shooting in Thailand. ©2000 Jan Sanders
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"Other people went to school [for photography] but they haven't had the practical experience," said Jan, who calls himself world-educated. "[In the restaurant business] I had 20 to 30 seconds to size up a person and know in that time how I should act, what I could say to them, what I couldn't say to them. It became second nature to me. I really do enjoy interacting with people. I think it's one of the greatest things we have in our life, is other people."
Ashley is just starting her acting and modeling career, this is a photo
from her first photo session
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