Alexis

Alexis Ordonez with Next LA

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.

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

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 

Denim Lookbook / Campaign (part 2)

Denim Lookbook / Campaign

Here are a few images from a look book that I just shot in the iconic LA river