Photographer Ilan Rubin Talks About His Journey From Chelsea to Sunset Park

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Photographer Ilan Rubin | via Ilan Rubin Studio

As part of our series about Whale Square, a former industrial building turned office space in Sunset Park, we sat down with one of the building’s creative tenants, photographer Ilan Rubin. The Israeli native moved to New York City in 1985 and began building his commercial photography business a few years later in Chelsea. Since getting his big break shooting for Harper’s Bazaar in 1995, he’s worked with a multitude of major brands and magazines, including Cole Haan, Target, T Magazine, Vogue and Barney’s. Here, he remembers his beginnings in photography and compares his longtime studio in Chelsea to his newer studio at Whale Square in Sunset Park.

Where do you live, and how did you end up there?

I’ve lived in the Village for 25 years. When I first moved to New York, my parents had a friend who owned a few buildings in the West Village, and now I own an apartment there.

ilan-rubin-studios-sunset-park-whale-square-photography-tenant-benchesIlan Rubin for Knoll Furniture | via Ilan Rubin Studio

When did you discover your passion for photography?

In college, a long time ago. That’s the only thing I’ve ever done. As a kid, I was always interested in art, and a friend of mine studied photography at SVA. I met up with him, and I fell in love with photography.

ilan-rubin-studio-whale-square-photography-tenant-sunset-park-brooklyn-marie-claire-purseIlan Rubin for Marie Claire | via Ilan Rubin Studio

What was it like starting your career as a professional photographer?

Difficult. My first break was a promotional piece I did, and we sent it to different magazines, and Harper’s Bazaar called in 1995. Then I was shooting for Interview magazine, my agent saw the photo in the magazine, and we met and he’s been my agent for 20 years. I’ve done a lot of big campaigns for different magazines all over the world. German Vogue, Japanese Vogue, T Magazine at the Times. Now I shoot a lot for Barney’s. I have an agent in Milan in Italy, so I’ve shot a lot of campaigns for Chrysler. When I started I did more fashion, now I do more still lifes, commercially and for Elle and Marie Claire. I just designed the Barney’s windows. I worked on a book of jewelry.

My first studio was at 120 11th Avenue. I moved there in 1989. There was no Chelsea Piers at the time. I paid $600 for 1000 square feet. Then 601 West 26th Street, the Starett-Lehigh building. [When I decided to move] I had my assistant look for a new space for over a year — we looked in Dumbo, Greenpoint, Red Hook, Long Island City. Someone told me about Sunset Park, and we drove down and took pictures of buildings with studios for rent. I was the first of my kind here in Whale Square. Beautiful, amazing. Ten thousand square feet.

ilan-rubin-studio-whale-square-sunset-park-tenant-brooklyn-barneys-cosmeticsIlan Rubin for Barneys via Ilan Rubin Studio

What do you think of Whale Square and the surrounding neighborhood in Sunset Park?

I love it, especially moving from Chelsea where I was for 20 years. It’s very raw, real and authentic, not really gentrified yet. I like that my neighbors are cabinet makers. It’s by far less expensive than any of the other neighborhoods I looked at. Sunset Park is basically a commercial zone. Williamsburg is too expensive.

I’m surprised it’s taken people so long to get to Sunset Park, because it’s really very close to the city. It takes me 20 minutes. The views are breathtaking. It’s very inspiring. I think it’s a great place for artists and creative people, because of the views and the large spaces, the price per square foot, the proximity to the city. Once the building fills up with new tenants, artists, and maybe a few big companies come in, ecommerce or dot com, there will be a coffee shop in the building and food trucks will come. There’s going to be a shuttle to the subway. What we need is for more creative people to come to the area and the building. There’s great ethnic food in Sunset Park and in Bay Ridge, and there are more health-oriented restaurants in Bay Ridge. It’s [still] a little undiscovered. I kind of love it.

 

To learn more about Whale Square, visit their website.

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