Burleson celebrity photographer hopes to ‘stir up your emotions’ by shooting the stars

The stars are quite visible from Burleson.

Just ask Alan Mercer, who has been photographing stars from coast to coast professionally for more than two decades. From Academy Award winners to legendary icons, Mercer has photographed a plethora of greats.

His photos have even included an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner, Rita Moreno.

“I just always liked looking at magazine photos of people when I was a kid. I hung up posters and magazine photos on my wall, and if you come to my office or bedroom today, it is still the same,” Mercer, now 63, said. “I feel like photography chose me, although I did take a decade-long detour.

“I was always an artist growing up. I would draw and paint portraits.”

Then came a meeting with one of the all-time great artists, who told Mercer to chase his dream — which, at the time, ironically, wasn’t photography.

“I had the chance to meet the iconic Andy Warhol in 1985, and he encouraged me to pursue my love of portrait drawing when he saw a sketch I drew of him,” Mercer recalled. “He even took it out of my hands and autographed it for me. He told me I should continue this tradition and have other people sign the drawings, and so I took his advice and collected over 200 drawings of famous actors and musicians that autographed my work. After a few years with many exhibits I decided to retire from that work and in 1992 I returned to taking photos.”

Photography leads to LA connections

Mercer said he started taking photography seriously in the early 1990s, and by the end of the decade he had an exhibit at The Dream Café in Dallas. He photographed all the waiters and waitresses in striking and glamorous styles. People noticed and wanted portraits for engagements and family photos, as well as beauty shots for themselves. That led to him taking head shots for actors.

His goal in 1997 was to get a website started so someone in Los Angeles would see his work and hire him to photograph them. It worked.

“The Academy Award-winning director James Mall flew into Dallas and I photographed him for the DVD version of his documentary, ‘The Last Days.’ He worked with the Shoah Foundation and asked me if I would be interested in coming to Los Angeles to photograph Steven Spielberg, along with a few other prestigious directors from around the world,” Mercer said. “I took that as a sign that I should move to Los Angeles.”

And so began a career that has included Mercer photographing celebrities such as Moreno, Clint Eastwood, Reba McEntire and many others.

Mercer has even established friendships with several of the famous folks he’s photographed. His best friends over the years have included Danny Trejo, Sally Kellerman and Mamie Van Doren.

“I have been fortunate to become friends with several of the people I have worked with, and have been blessed to work with many people over and over again,” he said.

Among his most memorable assignments was getting to spend the day with the legendary Moreno. He had previously taken her photo that she would send to fans asking for an autographed picture.

“I did get to spend an entire day with her in Beverly Hills and go to the premiere of her latest film at the time, which was ‘Casa de los Babys,’ directed by John Sayles. It was a dream come true to be able to hang out with her and take her photo, as she is someone I have loved forever. She was nothing but charming and enjoyable,” Mercer recalled.

An affinity for Texas artists

Many of Mercer’s celebrity photograph subjects have their own connections to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They include Candy Clark, best known for her roles in “American Graffiti” and “The Man Who Fell To Earth” with David Bowie; Frederic Forrest, who is from Waxahachie; Larry Hagman, who was from Weatherford; Morgan Fairchild, who is originally from Dallas; Kinky Friedman and the fabulous Miss Ruta Lee, who ruled the stage at Casa Manana for many years.

He’s also photographed many famous Texas musicians, including Gary P. Nunn, B.J. Thomas, who lived in Arlington, Rick Trevino, Kimmie Rhodes, Flaco Jimenez, Little Joe of Little Joe Y La Familia and Marcia Ball, to name a few.

“I have several photos inside a variety of books as well. I have photographed two album covers each for Smokey Robinson and Etta James,” Mercer added.

Mercer lived in Los Angeles from 2001 to the end of 2013. He moved back to Texas for a variety of reasons, he said, the first being his father, who was approaching the end of his life and needed assistance.

“My mom was taking care of him by herself, so I wanted to help. It was such a privilege to be a part of that. After my father passed, my mom needed the help as she was exhausted from caring for my dad for over a decade,” he said.

“Another reason was Los Angeles in general was getting so expensive, and after 2008, show business was going through a tough time with budgets on projects slashed, so it became harder to earn a decent living,” he continued.

In fact, he said that is what inspired him to start a blog in January 2009. It gave Mercer an opportunity to present his work on a more regular basis when the jobs weren’t as plentiful anymore.

“It turned out to be a success, and many of my blogs were picked up by other media outlets, and the biggest thrill was when the New York Times quoted from my blog and printed my name,” he said.

Not all of his photography subjects are people. Mercer has also photographed foods, specifically that at his sister’s restaurant, Baker’s Ribs in Weatherford.

“With my sister and brother-in-law owning a restaurant, the opportunity presented itself to me and turns out, I have been Baker’s Ribs official photographer for 10 years now. Who knew I would have a career in food photography too?” he said with a chuckle. “I understand people write them daily saying ‘I can taste that barbecue brisket from my computer’ or ‘I have to have a cherry fried pie right now!’ The photography draws people in.

“I have to admit it was kind of cool to be driving the I-20 interstate and seeing a huge billboard of Baker’s Ribs food. I was used to billboards in Los Angeles of album covers I took, but I surprised myself when those food pictures made my mouth water. Whoever you are, the subject of the photo or the beholder, it should stir up your emotions.”