Look Book for Thrive

Look Book for Thrive Activewear

Photography: Kat Kaye

Creative Direction: Bree @ Thrive Activewear

Produced by Space + Light

Models: Indigo McMillian @ Nu, Das, CESD & Masha @ Peak

Hair & Makeup: Kenye Hart

Digitech: Josh Fogel

Photo Assistant: Jess Whitehead

Preview of Editorial for Rogue Magazine

Here's a preview of my editorial for Rogue Magazine's issue 6. The models for this shoot were Sam Evans with Next LA whom I always love working with and the very talented Allie Holton with Nous Models. Wardrobe styling by the very stylish Sabrina Che. Hair and makeup by the wonderful Kenye Hart. 

It was great working with horses on this. The day felt magical..

Issue 6 of Rogue Magazine should be hitting newsstands soon!

Ben Dahlhaus

I recently worked with model Ben Dahlhaus with Next LA, PMA Hamburg, and Models 1 London. While I do love conceptualizing and planning my shoots, I occasionally will do more of a spontaneous shoot with nothing planned ahead of time. I find that these type of shoots help keep my mind open to the creative process and connect me even closer to my intuition. Hair by Kenye Hart and wardrobe by Betty Barajas. 

Pierson

I made some portraits of Pierson Williams at Next Models LA. Pierson has done a lot of commercial campaigns with companies like Nike and Adidas. For our time together, I sought to capture something more personal.

Girlgaze Exhibition at the Annenberg Space for Photography

I am happy to announce that I am part of the Girl Gaze exhibition currently being held at the Annenberg Space for Photography. Girl Gaze is a multi-media project founded by Amanda de Cadenet and is supported by Inez van Lamsveerde, Amber Valletta, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Lynsey Addario, and Collier Schorr. At the opening night, Amanda discussed the importance of media platforms embracing imagery from a female perspective and it was inspiring.

Whether you care or don't care about fashion and art, it is irrelevant when it comes to the  significant effects that these industries actually have on your sense of self and the different roles you perceive people having or being capable of having in society. Listen, I love the work of many male photographers and continue to do so. However when one group dominates the image making process, as is the case with the photography industry, the results are images that cater to that one group and how they see the world. You become conditioned to believe in expectations that may not represent your experience in life and contribute to a feeling that you're always coming up short. At that point it's not about your experience but what someone else thinks it should be. There is a difference between a story being told by a main character versus a bystander. And personally, I enjoy seeing a woman for who she is and how she sees the world and not what she's been told to be. 

Here are some photos from the opening night!

Artist Elyn Kazarian and I at the show. Polaroids by Sabrina Che. 

Sibling

There is a little boy inside the man who is my brother... Oh, how I hated that little boy. And how I love him too.

-Anna Quindlen

Models: Joshua Wilson with Next Models, Dayne Eigner with M

Wardrobe Stylist: Sabrina Che

"My Skin, My Body" featured on Udee (part 3)

My photo series, My Skin, My Body is being featured on Udee for a second installment. In the series, I photograph women in nature with no retouching. The feature includes an interview I did with Fahamisha Thompson who sat in for the series. Udee is doing some amazing things and I'm so honored to be a part of it! See the link below for the feature!

http://udee.co/skin-body-part-3/

Dean Michael

Dean Michael with Next Models LA

New Iconic in Fantastics Magazine

On the shifting nature of fame, author Jill Neimark writes that “where once the famous achieved an almost godlike status, one that seemed impermeable and historical, today celebrity exists for and by an information age.” There is a new template for fame and it involves the disclosure of personal information as a form of social currency. The once enigmatic and elusive figure that fans would project their own dreams and hopes onto has slowly dissipated into obscurity and been replaced with a figure that is online and available for public consumption. The less one shares, the more they fade out of public consciousness.

We want to see the person as a product and learn about the process of becoming them--how they apply their makeup, what they eat, where they sleep, and we want it in real time. Product endorsements are a signifier of fame and are presented as a tool to achieve emulation. Past icons are protected on their pedestals of fame and mystery because their rise predated tools like social media that are built on an excess of mundane details about people’s lives or because premature deaths left us with more questions than answers, maintaining the mystery. Yet it is a different kind of fame than that which builds icons. It is now through familiarity that we connect, no longer do we spend much time speculating--there is an entitlement to personal information. So much is exposed, that the cloak of mystery is dropped and we are left with a person and not a god.

I took iconic people and moments and recreated them in a present day context. I imagined what new archetypes these people or characters would potentially embody if their rise to fame was happening now. I explored the idea of constant visibility and self presentation, product endorsements, an infatuation with technology, and a general sense of ennui that seems to permeate so much imagery today. Justin Gossman w/Wilhelmina NYC was cast as Mick Jagger. Sam Evans w/Next LA & Wilhelmina NYC got into character as Elvis, James Dean, and Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Lacey Claire Rogers w/No Ties became Frida Kahlo, Priscilla Presley, Amy Winehouse, and Marilyn Monroe.

Team Credits:

Photography by Kat Kaye

Models: Sam Evans w/Next Models LA and Wilhelmina NYC, Lacey Claire Rogers w/No Ties Management, Justin Gossman w/Wilhelmina LA/NYC and New Madison Paris

Wardrobe Stylist: Sabrina Che

Hair Stylist: Jen Puebla Alfaro

Makeup Artist: Sam Takao

View the webitorial at www.fantasticsmag.com/stories/new-iconic 

Shaun

I recently had the pleasure of making some portraits of one of my favorite models, the ever inspiring Shaun Ross.

"My Skin, My Body" featured on Udee (part 2)

My photo series, My Skin, My Body is being featured on Udee for a second installment. In the series, I photograph women in nature with no retouching. The feature includes an interview I did with Anette Puskas who sat in for the series. Udee is doing some amazing things and I'm so honored to be a part of it! See the link below for the feature!

http://udee.co/skin-body-part-2/ 

PRIDE 2016

I just had the privilege of photographing this year's PRIDE festival in West Hollywood. It was an incredible experience and I can't begin to describe what a great sense of love I witnessed and FELT. How wonderful would it be if everyone could always feel this free to be who they are, wherever we may be.

Former NFL player Esera Tuaolo

Zoe

A few images from a commissioned shoot for Zoe's agencies in Asia. 

Denim Lookbook / Campaign (part 2)

Commissioned Portraits

I was commissioned to make some portraits of hair stylist extraordinaire Julie Daniel, who also works as a national design artist for Neuma Beauty. You can get in touch with Julie through her website www.JulieDanielHair.com.