Wow! Lea Michele, Nick Cannon, J J Abrams and Demi Moore Time 100 portraits

May 8, 2010 by David Shankbone

I love taking photos like the one above. It’s Lea Michele, who is on a show that I don’t watch called Glee. I photograph such celebrities all the time, but Lea is special and I didn’t even know it. She was one one of the Time 100 most influential people. Olivia Newton-John wrote this about her in the magazine:

Professional reporter that I am, I forgot to ask her how it feels to know that, as Rachel Berry on the hit TV show Glee, she is inspiring young people to get involved in musical programs in schools and encouraging communities to fund them — in short, how it feels to be a role model…. It must be so exciting to be Lea. To be in a wonderfully entertaining musical, playing a character whom millions of people around the world adore and whom young girls emulate — tell me about it!

I find it inspiring that random shows that I don’t even watch rekindle interest and love for things like drama and music programs in schools, and Lea was obviously a brilliant choice of casting. Kudos to you, Lea!

Here are more portraits of the Time 100, as well as celebrity supporters who were at the gala. All images licensed Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution – share them!

Click on the names to learn more about the people at Wikipedia.

Demi Moore, who attended the show with her Time 100 husband, Ashton Kutcher (whose portrait is on this post). Yes, she looks this incredible in person.

J. J. Abrams, film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, composer. He is known as the creator or co-creator of the television series Felicity, Alias, Lost, and Fringe, and as a director of the films Mission: Impossible III and the 2009 feature Star Trek. He is also known as the creator of the film Cloverfield. Although not a 2010 Time 100, he is 2006 alumnus of the list (see what Tom Cruise said about him there).

Liya Kebede (who I photographed in 2008), model and 2010 Time 100. Wrote Tom Ford in the magazine: “I have had the good fortune of coming to know Liya well over the past decade, and I am happy to say that my first impression of her was accurate. I was therefore not surprised when I heard that she had been appointed the World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in 2005. Or that she had founded the Liya Kebede Foundation with a similar mission. This year, in recognition of her work in this field, the World Economic Forum named her a Young Global Leader. In today’s world, celebrity advocates are not rare. What is rare is to encounter one whose devotion and drive come from a genuine desire to better our world. Liya’s work comes from a place of sincerity, and her beauty is much more than skin-deep.”

Nick Cannon, actor, comedian and rapper, and Mariah Carey’s husband. He is not a Time 100, but he wrote Simon Cowell’s profile for the magazine (Cowell wasn’t at the gala).

Lorne Michaels, the brilliant long-time Caudillo of Saturday Night Live. I photographed Lorne in 2008, and he is someone you instantly like when you are around him. He just gives off good energy.

Gayle King is editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and is the best friend of Oprah Winfrey. She has previously worked as a television news anchor and talk show host. King was also instrumental in the planning and creation of the Legends Weekend.