(7/15/08) – by Charlotte Bass-Lilly
No, we didn’t get new ‘uniforms’ designed by Donnatella Versace, or D&G, or Donna Karan… not anything of the sort. “W” magazine was coming to New Orleans 
and doing a huge section on the recovery of New Orleans and wanted to include the ‘people to watch’ in the recovery of our city.
It wasn’t our celebrated presence in the city, nor our donors nationwide, who brought ARNO to the attention of “W” magazine. It was our wonderful daily newspaper, the Times-Picayune, who suggested that Animal Rescue New Orleans was helping with recovery in another way… with the animals left homeless since Katrina. (God bless the daily newspapers!)
I was contacted first by a representative from the Times-Picayune and told that I was nominated as one of the people on which to focus for recovery efforts in a special issue that “W” was doing in upcoming months on New Orleans. Nomination did not mean we would be selected, just that our name and my position as executive director were given to the magazine. I immediately cringed… don’t like the individual spotlight, only think of ARNO as a collective entity, and really winced when I found out, if selected, it could mean a studio shot by the infamous photographer, Bruce Weber, with a high fashion model.
Next “W” Magazine editors called and wanted to set up a pre-interview and shoot some video of my interview and find out exactly what I did, what the organization did, and so on. Again I was told this was to give to the editors up in New York so they could make the selection of who was to be featured in this lineup of what came about to be some ‘stars’ of our city. I hesitated telling ARNO volunteer staff members, because fashion and me are not usually used in the same sentence, much less the same paragraph. I asked that the pre-interview be at the shelter to give them a better idea of who we are. They agreed. They turned out to be very warm, friendly and inviting. They were good at their jobs; after all, they needed to get the most out of the people they interviewed for the editors’ viewing. Of course they all fell in love with all the animals. Within the filmed interview I told how important it was that I was not singled out as some type of local celebrity, but that the animals were the most important part of what we accomplished, and all was accomplished through dozens of volunteers each day. (Trying to get across politely that they really didn’t want a studio shot of me with even St. Francis, much less a high fashion model.)
The next call was from “W” saying we were selected. Bruce Weber was coming down with his crew to do the shoot. That it would be quick and ARNO would probably end up with a small photo and cutline at most in the April 2008 edition within the magazine’s section on NOLA. I told them how appreciative we were that a national magazine would even run a caption with our name in it. This was exciting! Bruce Weber was a internationally known photographer, author, cinematographer, director, definitely a renaissance man of extreme talent and beloved in the fashion world for decades. Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. Gold was the operative word, because one of Bruce’s books, “Letter to True,” is about his beloved golden retriever, their relationship, and the importance of canine companionship. It seemed Bruce had a heart of gold for Goldens and has quite a few of them, most of the time traveling with his dogs on shoots when possible. [Bruce also directs a cinematic essay due out this summer with the same name, “Letter to True.”]
A Golden Opportunity
Then came the day. I nervously paced in front of the shelter, as I did not know what to expect. After all these were famous people coming to shoot ARNO for a big international magazine. My eye followed every car that was not familiar, this was nerve-wracking. Then came down the street what looked to be a presidential entourage. Three black SUV’s and a couple of other cars following too close came traveling quickly down the street, obviously intent with a purpose. They passed us up, and I said to myself, “I am losing my mind.” But the entourage turned around and parked right next to our building and I knew it was really “W” arriving.
Out of the first black SUV hopped a gentleman who looked like a modern-day Santa Claus. No, it wasn’t his dress or his size, though he did have a white beard and snowy white hair. It was his face. It was the most joyous, kind face I have ever seen on a man. It wasn’t ultimate career success I saw, it was pure goodness exuding from this human I was approaching. It was Bruce Weber and we introduced ourselves and I asked if he first would like to see the facilities to get just a look or feeling of what ARNO does. He was followed in his tour by at least 12 people, all part of his crew except for one writer from the Times-Picayune. Bruce Weber took a tour all right; he looked in every single kennel at ARNO, all the cats and all the dogs. A couple of our shy volunteers tried staying in the background cleaning the back runs and making themselves very scarce. It was obvious from the camera equipment and the intensity of the group that they were professionals. Soon one of their group broke down in tears, and one of the shy volunteers immediately came and comforted her. She was heartbroken that these animals had been on the street, alone and unloved, and was overwhelmed just by the number in our shelter.
Bruce asked questions about the animals. He asked questions about what we did. He asked questions about the volunteers. I told him of my desire that the volunteers were the core of ARNO and that I really wanted a shot that showed that as opposed to an individual shot. He was a little surprised at my not wishing to spotlight an individual, especially me.
The shoot was about to begin. He called for volunteers to come in front of the building each holding a pet. He spread his legs, and with the stance of a soldier
started shooting like he was operating a machine gun. He would hold his hand to the left and an assistant would quickly give him a new camera with a different lens, he would shoot, and then his hand would go to the right for another assistant to hand an additional camera with another lens. While shooting at the speed of light he would quickly call out order to ‘move that piece of hair out of your face’ and ‘take off those glasses’… this was a pro people. Then he asked Robin to walk into the shelter door with a dog in one arm and a dog with a cast on her leg on a leash. That was the shot. We surprisingly ended up with a full page in “W” Magazine’s April issue. (And a wonderful video by Bruce Weber about Animal Rescue New Orleans)
But that’s not all we got. Bruce Weber was moved and touched by our devotion and the results of our work. The animals had touched his heart. He grabbed my hands before he left and stuffed into it a roll of bills from the crew and said, “I will help you to get support. I have some very important friends and they need to know about ARNO and the work you do.” Bruce has continued to support us personally, along with his life’s love, Nan. He has also told many of his corporate clients about our work and they have contacted us about stories to feature in their upcoming publications.
ARNO is proud to have been featured in “W” Magazine, but we are even more proud to make a friend who believes in what we do. We love you, Bruce Weber!
For more about Bruce Weber, go to www.bruceweber.com and to see all the videos produced during Bruce Weber’s visit to New Orleans, including ARNO’s Animal Rescue video, go to http://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/2008/04/new_orleans_videos Make sure to leave your comments thanking “W” Magazine and Bruce Weber for spotlighting our city to their millions of international readers.