Posts Tagged ‘Fashion Photography’

Watch out, world!

As you read in my post on day 1 of this shoot, this session was planned to build Kendall Jenner’s Wilhelmina Models portfolio from scratch. This shoot also generated more controversy than any shoot I’ve ever done.

To date, these photos, or discussion of them, have been featured on Larry King Live, E! News, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, US Magazine, OK! Magazine, The Huffington Post, and over 50 blogs.

As with day one, Kendall was an absolute natural in front of the camera, and a pleasure to work with. In hindsight, I’m glad we got the more difficult beach shoot out of the way on the first day, because it really made this second in-studio day a cakewalk.

Special thanks to Clyde Haygood on hair, Rob Scheppy on make-up, Monica Rose for her always-brilliant styling, my ace-team at Slickforce, and to Kris Jenner for shepherding me through the publicity storm!

This week, HairLocs International launched its nationwide campaign across nearly every Niche Media title, including Ocean Drive, LA Confidential, Gotham, Hamptons, and Vegas magazines. Through a good friend of mine, Lupe Ceballos, for whom I used to photograph recording artists, I was able to bring the campaign to SlickforceStudio. We handled everything from the production to the casting—which is why you may recognize some of your favorite Slickforce superstar models in the campaign.

The shoot was incredibly fun, especially for hair-stylist Al Ingram, because we got to experiment with many ways of making hair look exciting on camera—and you all know I love amazing hair. Slickforce lead make-up artist Gaby Ramos nailed every shot in this campaign, which is even more impressive given the full spectrum of model complexions that she worked on.

Thanks to HairLocs and to the incredible Slickforce team for helping to create a beautiful campaign!

MODELS (Left-to-right thumbs): Airess Padda, Nazanin Mandi, Ayanna Jordan, Jenifer Richardson, Remington Nelson

It’s not everyday you get to work with someone you know is going to be big. I mean, it’s different if they’re already a star…but there’s a special energy that happens on a shoot when you know that one day people will be looking back at this shoot, to see where it all began.

Such luck smacked me across the face last week when Kris Jenner, mastermind and matriarch of the Kardashian clan, asked me to photograph her daughter, Kendall, for her Wilhelmina modeling book. She had been very happy with the shoots I’d given Kim, Khloé, and Kourtney, and she was hoping I could do the same with Kendall. The only catch, you see, is that she’s only 14-years old.

Kendall was a trooper right out of the gate. I asked her if she minded getting in the water, crawling on sharp rocks, etc., and she simply shook her head and said she’d do whatever it took to make art. Thanks to her sisters, I had Kendall’s trust. So, as I do with every model, I immediately got the hard stuff out of the way, because there’s never enough sunlight for a warmup period. I stuck Kendall on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and she held her poses with incredible professionalism—and her faces with intensity—even as waves smacked her in the back of the head.

The rest of the shoot went much the same way, and Kendall’s learning curve was incredibly steep. I was continually impressed with how quickly she took what she learned from one setup and applied it onto the next one. By the time a girl is 21, which is the average age I photograph, I expect them to have had at least a few good years of checking themselves out in the mirror and working their poses. But for a 14-year-old with almost no experience (save her celebrity genes), Kendall hit this one right out of the park for sure.

I didn’t expect the controversy that this shoot generated—it’s already been featured on E! News, People, In Touch, Extra, and Access Hollywood. Apparently some thought the shoot was too provocative for such a young model (sample video here). But to be fair, we should make a distinction between fashion modeling and glamour modeling. If you look at the early work of Adriana Lima, Brooke Shields, Miranda Kerr—the list goes on—their books were filled with sensational-yet-hardly-conservative images that launched them into supermodel status before age 16. In my opinion, whether the model wears a sweater or a swimsuit bears little relevance, as long as the shoot is tastefully done. I made a concerted effort to keep this shoot a very healthy PG13.

I have to give special love to stylist Monica Rose on this shoot, who not only brought incredible wardrobe as she’s always done with Kim, and who sat by the laptop making sure every frame was perfect, but who also was waiting in tow with a robe and towel, ready to warm up Kendall each time she ran back shivering onto the beach. You’re the best! xo

Credits:
Wardrobe Styling: Monica Rose
Make-up: Joyce Bonelli
Hair: Rob Scheppy
Production Stills: Derek Eskridge & Christian Arias

Where is there a f*cking Pinkberry around here?

As I move towards more artistic endeavors in 2010, I find myself referencing my past work. This was one of my favorite spreads I’ve shot, and it was one of my first fashion editorials, this time for the short-lived Coexistence magazine. We cast model Jessica Ricardi, and she was fantastic.

We shot this in the alley behind my downtown apartment…and although it smelled like piss, this was my second collaboration with the immensely talented wardrobe stylist Diana Chan, whom I’ve continued to work with religiously ever since.  The shot entitled “Superstar!!!” (far right) is probably the photo I get more comments than anything else.  Only the future will tell for sure, but I believe it is the shot that marked the beginning of the hyper-saturated-accent-color-comic-book style I would be known for (unless the SHOW covers have pigeon-holed me for life LOL).

Directing this shoot was a lot of fun. Completely different than the glam mags I was used to shooting at the time.