ABOUT

Meghan and I met while standing up in a wedding together in 2004 and were married in 2009. Our lives were forever changed in 2013 when Layla was born. Norah made her big entrance into the world in 2016 and together, the four of us are the Schacht family also known as "Team Schacht".

Suggested by Heather B- 2022 Notable Track - "Cecelia" | It's nostalgic for me. In high school I worked as a short order cook in a diner and "Cecelia" was on the juke box. Every night, after closing, we'd listen to this track, usually followed by the "B" side, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".

The first book of photography I ever purchased and the first photographer I ever really studied or admired. Yes, his photographs aren't always flattering, but it's less about flattery and more about raw honesty.

Freaks and Geeks is the greatest television show ever created and it's both a blessing and a curse that it only got one season. One perfectly imperfect season of television that launched the careers of some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Shooting for Vanity Fair is a dream. Not the kind of dream you ever think will come true, but one of those wild dreams that children have when they're young about wanting to be an Astronaut when they grow up. The images featured in Vanity Fair are a constant source of inspiration and this book documents the history of the magazine.

Suggested by Robert R - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Roxanne" | Nostalgia strikes again. I hope I'm not the only one with vivid college memories of playing the "Roxanne" drinking game. Maybe not the best song on the album, but noteworthy none the less.

I'm not sure what happened when I was growing up, but I never caught the reading bug. I consume a lot of information on the internet, but the whole idea of sitting and reading an analog book makes me sleepy. There are only a handful of books I've read and really enjoyed reading. I'm going to give this one to Jack Kerouac's "On The Road." His spastic, stream of conscience writing style, resonated with the way my brain works.

One of a few odd ducks in my library, this book shares the stories of some of America's greatest immigrant chefs and thanks to my friend and mentor Peter Hurley, the majority of the images in this book were created by photographers that I consider to be close friends. I assisted Peter on the shoot that took place in Chicago featuring local chef Thai Dang at his restaurant HaiSous. Chef Dang thanked us with a very special meal.

Suggested by Leonard K - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: All of them! | Seriously, that silky smooth voice, and a solid horn section... This album has me dancing in my seat just thinking about it.

In 2019 I had the opportunity to see Platon give a lecture in Northwest Indiana. If you're not familiar with Platon or his work, check out his episode in the Netflix documentary series, Abstract. Platon is an amazing story teller and he's photographed some of these most powerful people in the world. His lecture was inspiring and his work is as well.

I'm a sucker for a great soundtrack so I love most Cameron Crow movies. Almost Famous stands out. I love how La La Land balanced song and dance without forsaking the story and also managing to incorporate some amazing camera work. Speaking of camera work... BIRDMAN! I love a good franchise too. From Harry Potter, to Star Wars, to the Marvel cinematic Universe. I love movies. I can't answer this question.

Suggested by Ivan W - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Tears Dry on Their Own" | Ivan, a London native, refers to Adele as a poor man's Amy Winehouse. Not sure I agree with him, but I appreciate the sentiment. A great listen from start to finish.

It's difficult to underscore just how influential Annie has been on my photography. Her use of color and light makes her images immediately recognizable. That level of consistency is something I strive for in my own work. The photography in this book is nothing short of breathtaking and I refer to it often when trying to breathe new life into my portfolio.

For my 30th birthday, my wife and I went to Alinea. It's got 3 Michelin stars and it's located here in Chicago. If I'm being honest, we went and grabbed burgers after our 20+ course meal, but that's beside the point. Alinea was an experience, much in the same way I think of my headshot sessions. Interesting flavors, amazing service, and true showmanship. One of my favorite memories of all time.

Suggested by Trish C - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" | Carol King, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor at the height of the Laurel Canyon music scene. It boggles my mind that this supergroup of sorts was ever possible. It's pure magic!

The late Peter Lindbergh revolutionized fashion photography by blurring the lines between portraiture and fashion photography. . Nothing about Lindbergh's work is ever over retouched or over polished. Everything is perfectly imperfect and I love it. Whenever I'm shooting in black and white I channel my inner Lindbergh and it's during those moments that I feel like I'm at my best.

I've never been much for vacations. Sitting on a beach or at a pool just aren't my thing, but over the years, I've gotten into getting off of the grid and going on adventures. That said, my ideal vacation involves hiking, maybe stand up paddle boarding or horseback riding, sitting around a fire, and looking at mountains.

Suggested by Layla S - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Drivers License" | A special recommendation by a special lady. This is the first album that my daughter and I bonded over, and now music is kind of our thing.

This book is for people who obsess about facial characteristics (guilty as charged). Schoeller photographs twins, triplets, and even some quadruplets. He shoots them each in the same style which gives the reader a unique opportunity to observe how very small differences can make a large impact on someones appearance. Maybe not as fun as his more celebrity-centric books, but fascinating none the less.

As a kid I loved to draw, in high school I learned to paint, and for as long as I can remember I've been interested in art, but I never really considered it a viable career path. After college, I tried a few traditional jobs that just weren't a good fit. I never felt particularly fulfilled doing anything other than art. Photography became my side hustle in 2009 and I opened my Fulton Market studio in 2010.

Suggested by Amanda J - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "The Scientist" | Seth Rogen may have made listening to Coldplay a little less cool, but this album still rocks. Side note... Will Champion is one of my favorite drummers of all time.

This is my favorite Schoeller book. Most people know Martin for his close up portraits, but in this book he takes a step back and adds more characters to the stories. A lot of people think of him as a bit of one trick pony, and all of those people are wrong. Schoeller has a fantastic sense of humor, and it's on display in this book for the world to see.

According to Tarantino, there are two types of people in this world. Elvis people and Beatles people. As a kid, my Dad was a big Elvis guy, which I think pushed me towards the Beatles. There's this book called "The Walrus was Paul" about the mysterious death of Paul McCartney that really hooked me. The book forced me to listen to the music for clues, and I've been a fan of both the Beatles and creative marketing ever since.

Suggested by Marci K - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Hello" | Not sure I could say anything about this album that hasn't already been said so instead I'm going to give a big shout out to photographer Alasdair McLellan for the amazing cover shot.

This book is a lot like Schoeller's other book, Close Up. The one with Jack Nicholson on the cover. Close Up went out of print years ago and rather than doing a re-print Schoeller made a sequel. More uncomfortably close pictures of celebrity faces. These books make amazing coffee table books meaning there's always one sitting out in my house to thumb through. They're great conversation starters.

As much as I love to play with color, if I had to choose... it's going to be black and white. I think it's a contrast thing. I just love the way that you can push the contrast in a black and white image to levels that can't be achieved in a color image.

Suggested by Eric B - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Great Balls of Fire" | I love soundtracks because they're often filled with songs I wouldn't otherwise have in my collection. I'm not a huge Jerry Lee Lewis fan, but whether we're talking about Stand by Me or Top Gun, "Great Balls of Fire" is a great track!

This book inspired a personal project I did called "In My Alley" where I photographed people in the alley behind my studio. In Seliger's book, all of the images are made in the stairwell outside of his NYC studio. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall during those sessions. I can only imagine fascinating conversations had between equally fascinating people. This is 100% something I try to achieve with every person who walks through the door of my studio.

I occasionally get opportunities to work with celebrities as they come through town. My favorite celebrity shoot was getting to work with the cast of Hamilton. As a huge fan of the show, it was an incredible honor to work with such a talented group of people.

Suggested by Sarah C - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Snow on the Beach" | I love the lyric "Weird but fucking beautiful". I smile every time I hear it. What I really love about this album is the marketing behind it. 4 unique album covers that can combined and turned into a functional wall art clock.

I still remember watching the "Come Away with Me" music video in college for the fist time. I identify with her on an artistic level. Over the years she's experimented with a lot of genre's and developed her own style and sound. That's been my journey as well. I'm a perpetual student of photography and my visual style is the culmination of all of my influences combined. That's how I think of Norah and her music. Decades of influences and inspiration all swirled together in a blender and garnished with her personal twist.

An early edition to the collection, this book has a lot of sentimental value. When Nigel photographs someone he doesn't waste the opportunity. It's not about getting that 1 good shot, it's about a variety of great shots. He gets the "cover shot" with studio lighting and the white background, but he gets the natural light lifestyle shots too. The man is equally at home shooting editorial portraits. Nigel is the reason I don't limit anything during your session.

Suggested by Meghan S - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "You Know You're Right" | I was a freshman in high school when Cobain took his final bow. I remember being at a sleep over and hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time on SNL. This is the soundtrack to my most formative years.

I like to build things. I'm usually working on some kind of project. I've built guitars, and speakers, and computers, and all sorts of home automation stuff. I enjoy working with my hands and making something from nothing.

Heisler is the most likable photographer you'll ever meet. The kind of guy you want to sit and have a beer with. Most people, even famous ones, don't love to be photographed and Heisler uses his wit and charm to disarm his subjects and create an enjoyable experience. Heisler inspired me to make the studio a fun place to be. When my clients are enjoying themselves and having a good time, that energy always shows in the images.

Suggested by Daniela M - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "About Damn Time" | I love all of the throwback samples. I smiled from ear to ear when I realized that "Grrrls" was paying homage to the Beastie Boys.

Suggested by James D - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Leave Virginia Alone" | The original Wallflowers LP is probably one of my top 20 favorites of all time. It's certainly one of the most coherent albums ever recorded bested only by giants like "Dark Side of the Moon." What "All the Rest" lacks in coherence it makes up for in hidden gems.

My wife bought this book for herself and it didn't take long for me to "borrow" it. That was over 10 years ago and lucky for me, she still hasn't noticed. In a lot of ways, these shots are like headshots. They're interesting portraits of interesting people and that resonates with me. The subjects never look stiff or like they're trying too hard and there's a naturalness to the images. That's what makes a great headshot. When people look comfortable and confident in their own skin, they look more attractive.

I was born in Chicago and was a south sider until we moved to Indianapolis where I went to grade school. I spent most of my childhood in Valparaiso, Indiana and went on to attend Ball State University in Muncie. After college, having spent entirely too much time in Indiana, I moved back to Chicago where I met my wife Meghan. We're currently raising our family in Tinley Park, Illinois.

If there were a 6th Ninja Turtle, his name would have been Caravaggio. While not as famous as Michelangelo, he was a Renaissance painter and use color, light, and contrast is something I try to channel in my photography.

Suggested by Danny P - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Heartbreak Warfare" | I wouldn't want him to date my sister, but he's a hell of a guitar player and I genuinely find him to be an enjoyable person. I also love the key art for the album care of photographer Albert Watson. I need to get an Albert Watson book for the collection.

Dan Winters makes me want to push myself out of my comfort zone creatively. I do a lot of self portraits and personal projects as a form of professional development and it's those projects that have gotten me where I am today.

Suggested by Jamie J - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "The Chain" | If you listen closely you can catch Lindsey Buckingham exclaim "fuck" right before the dobro comes in as the track opens. Love the simplicity of the drums. Love the funky bass line. One of many great tracks on this album.

On the surface, this book doesn't fit in. It's a book full of sneakers, but not just any sneakers. These are the collective works of Virgil Abloh, Chicago born fashion designer, who founded Off-White Shoes. If you're not familiar, these are high-fashion gym shoes. Part of me loves this book because I'm really into sneakers, but the photographer in me loves the idea of how he took seemingly average shoe designs that people are familiar with and made them look more interesting... more unique.

Suggested by Dan C - 2022 | Noteworthy Track: "Karma Police" | I don't think I really understood Radiohead until I hit my 40's. I mean I listened to it, but I never really got it. Now I love them. Full disclosure, that never stopped me from singing the shit out of "Creep" at Karaoke night.

Seliger's career has spanned decades and knows no limits. Vanity Fair, Vogue, Esquire, Details, Time Magazine... He even shoots the occasional Rolling Stone cover. Seliger is a bit of of a chemeleon behind the camera meaning he has the ability to fit in anywhere and with anyone. That skill has made him a Hollywood insider. When you're being photographed by Mark Seliger, you're not working with a stranger, you're working with a friend. That's a powerful skillset that I'm constantly working to refine.

This one was an algorithm purchase meaning the algorithm told me that if I like Annie Leibovitz, Martin Schoeller, and Mark Seliger, I would probably like Andy Gotts, and they were right.

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.