Famous faces, doing what they do best

Howard Schatz is an acclaimed photographer, but his latest book is also billed with a directing credit. It’s for good reason. “In Character: Actors Acting” is exactly that -- portraits of 100 actors caught doing what they do best in still photos, as opposed to film.

Among the actors (and scenes) pictured in the book are Don Cheadle playing a man who overhears another man talking about his wife at a bar, David Carradine as a senator greeting a campaign donor he can’t stand and Kathy Baker as an unmarried aunt baby-sitting her sister’s child.

Schatz is a New York City photographer who counts Time, Vogue, Sports Illustrated and GQ among the many cream-of-the-crop publications he’s shot for. “In Character” is his 16th photo book -- and one that’s as fun to read as it is to look through, thanks to the multitude of outrageous scenarios Schatz dreamed up for his subjects and the actors’ comments on their craft.

“I’m very curious and fascinated by the creative process,” said Schatz, whose actor portraits will be on display at Apex Fine Art beginning Friday. “To see somebody take words, a line, a story and make another human being out of them is one of the most fascinating, unbelievable things.”

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-- Susan Carpenter

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In Character: Actors Acting, Apex Fine Art, 152 N. La Brea Ave., L.A. Opens Friday. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Ends May 20. (323) 634-7887 or www.apexfineart.com