On his first day at the studio in 1983, Constance Hansen remembers asking Russell Peacock to clean the stove. She laughs at the reversal of gender roles and then adds, “It was for a photo shoot. I remember asking Russell what photographers he liked and what he wanted to do and he started talking about riding his bicycle through Europe for six months and sculpture. Meanwhile I was in full commercial mode, working around the clock.”
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A bustling still life photographer, Hansen’s posh client roster included Bergdorf Goodman, Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, and Balducci’s – but things began to change when Peacock began collaborating with her. Paging through the luxurious art book style catalogues for Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons, inspiration struck. “We thought fashion photography looked like fun, not knowing how difficult it was,” Peacock says.
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After business hours ended, they opened studio to the downtown scene, inviting club icons like Dianne Brill and Marilyn for portraits, styling them in clothes by emerging designers like Marc Jacobs and Isabel Toledo, and publishing in the Village Voice, aRude, Taxi, and Interview. To establish a distinct identity, they adopted the name Guzman.
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“There were no doubles in photography at that time and everyone was against it except Paula Greif,” Hansen says. As creative director at Barney’s, Greif got Guzman its first big music gig – shooting the cover of Rockbird, Debbie Harry’s 1986 solo album. “We worked with Stephen Sprouse, Andy Warhol, and Linda Mason. We were trying not to act blown away but we were,” Hansen says.
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By 1990, Guzman had opened a 3,000 square foot studio on 31st Street in Manhattan. They also secured a Los Angeles photo agent, who get them gigs in the music industry, bringing in an extraordinary line up of artists including Sting, the Neville Brothers, Digable Planets, Luther Vandross, and Dru Hill. “It was a golden era,” Hansen says. “Someone would call us up to do whatever we wanted.”
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