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Arts & Culture

Who's Photographing the Watchmen? Clay Enos

Listen to my interview with photographer Clay Enos.

Clay Enos' portraits of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, Billy Crudup on the set as Dr. Manhattan, and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach (Clay Enos)

SAN FRANCISCO - At WonderCon Watchmen was all the buzz and it wasn't just about the movie. Clay Enos was the photogarpher hired by Zack Snyder to do publicity shots for the film. But like all things in the Watchmen universe it expanded to encompass much more than that. I spoke with Enos at WonderCon, just before the Saturday panel on Watchmen (you can listen to the full interview above). Enos explained how he began as the publicity photographer and then began taking portrait shots of everyone from the lead actors to crew members. These portraits are now gathered in a gorgeous coffee table book called Watchmen: Portraits . Enos also took all the photos that you see used within the film. And then Enos was inspired to create an organic coffee product named after Watchmen 's Night Owl. Here's the product description:

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It's a small moment in the film Watchmen - Dan and Laurie save a group from a tenement fire. Once inside the Owl Ship, the survivors are offered what else? Coffee. Among all that hardware, there's an airplane-style coffee maker. And Veidt Enterprise's Nite Owl Dark Roast is the imaginary brand of coffee they brew. What better name for the quintessential caffeinated beverage when served in the context of nocturnal crime-fighting? In truth, this is 100% organic specialty coffee from Watchmen unit photographer Clay Enos and his Organic Coffee Cartel.

Enos, a soft-spoken and thoughtful artist, seemed to be enjoying the buzz of WonderCon where he was handing out postcards for Nite Owl Coffee (part of the proceeds will go to charity). You can check out more of Enos' work at his website and his blog . Enos recently initiated a large scale photography project called Streetstudio. Launched in 2000, it involves shooting portraits of random passersby on the streets of New York (it has since expanded to cities such as London, Paris and Bangkok). Enos says this project has allowed him "to create quiet poignant portraits of everyday people that reflect the myriad beauty and electric spirit of New York City." So far,the Streetstudio collection contains more than twenty thousand portraits and it's still going strong. The Watchmen portraits reflect a similar aesthetic.

Clay Enos on the women of Watchmen (Clay Enos)