By Nathan Duke
On any given week, Doug Holt's job requires him to deal with mobsters, politicians and models and to travel anywhere from Douglaston to Croatia. But the Jackson Heights-based photographer, who operates his studio out of Long Island City, said Queens has been one of his best backdrops.
Doug Holt Photography, a one-man business at 45-40 Davis St. in Long Island City, shoots everything from fashion and portraitures to photojournalism and travel photography. His present and previous clients and subjects include Versace, the cast of “The Sopranos,” city elected officials, Forbes Magazine and Mario Badescu, while his assignments include fashion shows in Manhattan, travelogues on Africa and editorial pieces on boxer Chuck Wepner and former U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt.
But Holt, whose studio has been located in the graffiti-covered 5 Pointz building since opening four years ago, said western Queens is one of his favorite locales.
“People who come to my studio tell me that [Long Island City] is like the Manhattan of the 1980s,” he said. “You never see anything like it anymore. I love the industrial look as well as the wide horizons, brownstones from the 1800s, bridges, the water, train yards and roof tops.”
Much of Holt's work is dedicated to photographing commercial products for corporate clients or fashion shoots for city clothing lines, many of which are used in magazines for ad campaigns.
He said he conducts a large percentage of his shoots at his studio and neighborhoods across Queens, including Long Island City, Jackson Heights, Kew Gardens and Douglaston, even though most of his clients are Manhattan-based.
“I'm always trying to bring my clients out here,” he said. “I prefer to shoot in the borough.”
He said he completes an estimated 40 percent of his post-production work at his Davis Street studio.
Holt said he conducts most of his business over the phone and companies interested in hiring his services can visit his Web site at www.dougholtphotography.com.
He said he takes on a wide range of clients, including fashion companies, newspaper and magazine publications, accessory companies, city-based schools and nonprofits.
“I sort of wear a lot of hats,” he said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
