Fashion Photography Homework #3: Project 2

So for this assignment, we were asked to do a controversial ad. Most of my classmates groaned while I smiled uncontrollably from ear to ear. Finally, something I know and can do very well. At least I thought I did, until I took the train home and started to brainstorm.

Coming up with controversial ideas, sure, not a problem. Trying to incorporate such ideas into fashion... ah-ha... ah-ha, like the old jewish man in "Coming to America."
That was gimmick.
I thought of David LaChappelle and Robert Mapplethorpe and Sally Mann. Shit, even Annie Leibovitz. None of them were really, truly inspiring me and no one else I knew personally did controversial photography, only paintings and mixed media.

So I sat down to brainstorm with Robert Dumé, director of the first independent film set I photographed for, and after bouncing a few ideas back and forth. Nothing really stuck, but then it hit me, "what if we photographed an old man and a young girl?" Nah, that sucks and it's been done I bet. So, "what if we photographed an older woman and a young man for an underwear ad in a provocative pose?" Ding, ding. We had a winner.

The first thing I did was hit up a close friend who is always down to shoot anything controversial for me, Kelvin. He agreed without so much hearing the whole of the idea.
Now, next to find an older woman. I asked one of my aunts and she agreed because it was for me and it was for homework and for my future.

Everything went in line for this shoot, from getting wardrobe, to hair and make up which I did (I was very proud of myself for that) and most importantly the location. A friend of mine, Carolina, agreed to let us use her very modern apartment on 42nd Street to shoot. She too, had no idea what kind of photo shoot it was except that it was a controversial one.

In the end, my professor loved it and I finally felt like I was back in her good graces.

Here is the finished product, with a tag line I created for this and all:

Fashion Photography Homework #3: Project 1

For this assignment, my professor asked us to collaborate with a fellow photographer to create a 6 page editorial spread. What a clusterfuck!

Here's why:

I was asked by my classmate Vera to collaborate with her on the assignment. Vera is a sweet Serbian girl who has a great and different style of photography than my own and so I logically agreed. I figured I could learn from her and learn to configure my style.


In the midst of this, I had already booked a flight to Miami to visit my family because my younger brother Jon was going away into the army. So there was no way, I was going to miss seeing him off. So that limited my free time to work on the actual shoot while working a full time job.

So me and Vera set up a date to meet at Starbucks to talk ideas through. What none of us realized prior to the acceptance of said collaboration was the fact that we had different brainstorming styles. Never mind shooting styles... She visualized things first and wrapped a concept around it. I work in the opposite direction.

So on the first day we agreed to shoot in the style of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo... sounds awesome, right? Yes, we thought so too, until we realized how little time we had and how much resources we would need to pull to get it done.

After much debate, we decided on a fashionable version of Children's Games. We decided to do hula hoop, jump rope, hopscotch, hide and seek and telephone. What we didn't do and decide on is who would shoot it.
We thought that we needed to each shoot the photographs, but sadly, we were mistaken.

We paid dearly for that one with our professor criticizing our every mistake. Our mistakes were, but not limited to, different lighting and different posing. I stylized my shots to be more playful and Vera more fashionable.

It didn't help that I shot my photographs in Miami and Vera here in NYC.. I also shot some here in the city too with a male model, and that is where my professor too criticized my work personally.


Here are our shots:

The last two shots, I was criticized on because the colors were different.. the left popped with colors, the right not so much, but that was my objective. To show vibrant South Beach and cool New York. Either way, the shoot was a flop.

What me and Vera should have done was decided who was going to do the art direction and who was going to do the shooting. Since Vera was more technical than myself, I would have done the art direction. Too bad, neither of us realized sooner.

Now if it was just me putting together the shoot, this is what my version would have looked like:

Only a slight difference, but then all the lighting matches since I used only natural lighting and the styling is the same with all the photographs having the same style specs.

Another Lesson Learned from this assignment.

Fashion Photography Homework #2: Project 2

My professor asked that we take a stylized shot and a snapshot. I thought I understood the assignment, but after seeing other people's work, I realized, I didn't.
Here's someone's rough definition:
"A “snapshot” can be taken of anything and of varying quality (composition, exposure, etc.) Usually a “snapshot” is a quick rough capture to document a scene or event. A “photograph” on the other hand is a well thought, composed, exposed and executed art form..."

 Stylized shot by Jill Greenberg (who is known for achieving these shots by enticing children with candy then taking the candy away at just the right time):

 

 

 Here is an example of a snap shot shot by someone else:

Here is my misunderstood version, Stylized:

Snapshot:

 

So essentially, they are very much the same shot as per my professor. I didn't realize the difference until the day I showed this in class.

Luckily, I wasn't the only one who misunderstood and I really felt that if the professor had shown us some examples of what a "stylized" shot was versus a "snapshot" prior to us doing the homework, most of us would have done a better job.

Actually come to think of it, the same goes for the ad vs the editorial. I didn't realize there was a difference until after my blunder. Lesson learned though and hopefully some of you will learn from mistakes as well. =0.)

Fashion Photography Homework #2: Project 1

So for this assignment, we were asked to do an ad inspired by a name brand we like in 3 photos, a tight, medium and long shot. I was inspired by the Louis Vuitton luggage ads because I simply love to travel and I felt it encompassed the romance of traveling.
I unfortunately do not (yet) own a Louis Vuitton luggage/trunk, so I used a vintage, green trunk I had from a previous shoot which even though it's not name brand I love it.
I was fortunate however to have an amazing friend (Robert Krevolin) who let me borrow his apartment while he was at work because I fell in love with his living room set up and the color of his couch. I was also fortunate to be in contact with Jubei Raziel, a former Ford model & current photographer/videographer (www.DevilMayCryInRain.com) through White Train (www.whitetrain.com) who agreed to model for this homework assignment.

A lot of thought went into this homework assignment.
Perhaps too much.
I will tell you why after you view the photographs.

Louis Vuitton luggage campaign ads above were shot by the fabulous Annie Leibovitz.

Now I certainly was not trying to copy Annie's technique because for a novice like myself, that would be nearly impossible. However I was trying to capture a mood, I wanted people to feel like packing up their bags and go somewhere. I wanted men to want to be this guy below.

My professor pretty much chastised me for this assignment.
So here is where I may have over thought this. I put so much emphasis on the things going into the luggage, I forgot to showcase the luggage. I was so much enthralled with having men want to be this man, I forgot to show the luggage on its own.
I was chastised not because the work was bad, but because it wasn't an ad, it was an editorial.

Oops!

I still personally love these shots, they will just now go under my portfolio as editorial shots, not an ad.  =0.)

Fashion Photography Homework: Project 2

For this homework, my professor asked us to shoot a short series of two photographs inspired by another photographer/photograph. I was initially inspired by Sally Mann who shoots her own children in a very provocative and mature way and I wanted to shoot my nieces with red lipstick holding wine glasses with grape juice, however my brother and his wife did not want their daughters perceived in such a way (their right to refuse).  So I went with another photographer who inspires me, Richard Avedon. I chose Avedon's umbrella photograph and created my version of it and I later found out, Avedon was inspired by Hungarian photographer Martin Munkacsi. So it only made sense to pay my own homage and used my youngest niece for the photograph. She was quite the model!

And I don't say she was quite the model because she was my niece, but she was a very ideal model to have on set and in some instances better than some of the adult models I have had. She listened to direction and went for it despite the fact that she was a little scared. She was holding this huge umbrella that was twice the size of her on a windy day and when her mom and I asked her to jump over the curb, she did, even though she was afraid. Brave girl.

And here it is:
Martin Munkacsi's, "The Puddle Jumper," 1934

Richard Avedon,  "Homage to Munkasci," 1957

My, "Homage to Avedon," 2011

Model: Amory Kate Garcia, Age 4.

The above two photos are the ones I showed to my professor and my classmates. My professor loved it and thought it would get me hired for a children's clothing ad.
Baby Gap, perhaps?

Here are more photos from that shoot:

Was I wrong in saying, she is quite the model? =0.)

Fashion Photography Homework: Project 1

The first objective for my fashion photography homework was to take two photographs, one has to show clothes or an item of clothing on a person and the next photo has to show the same clothing or item off a person.

After class, I wondered what the hell was I going to do for this project. My first idea was to show a person fully decked out in a suit/dress and then using that same attire and laying it flat on the bed with that person in their underwear looking pretty sullen, sitting next to the bed.
I tossed that idea out. It was pretty shitty and done before.

I then decided to focus on one item, I was going back and forth between a handbag and a scarf. I chose the scarf because it's my favorite accessory.

Now the idea. This was pretty tough, but I eventually came up with something I knew no one had done, at least, not that I have seen.

I spent all day yesterday, calling around to friends whom I thought could pull this shoot off, friends who were naturally stylish and most importantly none that I shot before. I happened upon my friend, Rob Krevolin, a superb writer and a talent manager, who lives in the lower east side. I called him and though he hates being in front of the camera, he consented because he wanted to help in anyway he can. I have many people in my life that support my (photography) habit, he is one of them.

I asked him if he had roof access, he scoped out his apartment building and texted me that he did and that there were fire hydrants around the neighborhood. Essentially he scouted locations for me. He even found a red pump which would contrast/compliment so well with the teal scarf. =0.)

I got to his place, popped off 40 frames between himself and the hydrant and below are the results. Murphy tried to stop this shoot from happening, but I always believe things happen for a reason.

I am still debating which set I should show to my class for homework....thoughts?

Project 2 coming soon... =0.)

Life's Ups & Downs...

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced..." - Van Gogh

This quote is definitely something to live by if you are an artist of some sort, because there always comes a time when you doubt yourself, when people you trust betray you, when you think you won't succeed and when you realize you don't fit anywhere.

It's easy to get discouraged especially when you're starting out, you don't know where your strengths are necessarily and you want to be able to do different things. You want to have that eye, you want to have that focus because it seems that without them, you are just an amateur and no one who is taking their dream serious wants to be considered an amateur. In retrospect, aren't we all just amateurs?

It's easy to want to say I quit, but there will always be that pit in your stomach that weighs heavily. I try not to let that pit succumb me and it does happen. Sometimes I have to talk myself out of it and sometimes someone else has to do it for me. It seems also for me that no matter how many shots I have taken, no matter how many books I read, I still don't know enough. My photos still don't come out the way I envisioned. I do hope that in time, with more experience that they do. It also makes me realize, I still have so much to learn.

And there's where I don't feel as bad because I understand that there's still much to learn. I think on any level- amateur, serious amateur, semi-professional and professional- there is always something to learn. And if you think you've learned everything, how much more could you get from this?

That's when you toss in the towel and pick up a new hobby that could lead to a new profession.

Artist Statement

A person, a camera and a subject. This is a photographer. A person not afraid to lose seconds of his/her life with every click of the shutter in order to capture a moment in time. Sounds cheesy? In my experience I have found that statement to be true. On countless occasions I have excused myself from a scenario just so I could take a picture of it. I find that in stealing that moment I am somehow connected to it and for each photo I take from the world I leave a piece of me in its place. Trying to encompass everything that an eye can capture is the folly of the photographer. It's almost unfair to have so much to weave with so little thread. Instead I hope to evoke reactions with my photographs. Whether they inspire or disgust or please is not for me to decide, as an artist I'm only trying to light a fire under an audience.

In my directorial photo shoots, I aim to be unconventional but very much conceptual. The majority of my work is incited by inequality and prejudices of the world. Dominance and submission are two key elements that are consistent in my photographs. One thing I've tried to do is turn figurative ideas into poignant and graspable works. Something an audience can identify with even if only empathetically and not directly. I don't expect everyone to feel the same, but I do expect an opinion. The enemy of the artist is an audience with no opinion about their art whatsoever. If my ideas come to fruition and it strikes a chord with an individual, then I've succeeded as an artist.

Photography has allowed me to give shape to thoughts, beliefs and emotions. It takes that which is intangible and makes it real, or perhaps is it the other way around? Where something that was once real, and captured on camera, is now intangible. This is how we are survived and become legendary, through photos. It has the power to shape things not yet seen and I hope that my pictures will one day etch themselves into memories not just my own. This is what I strive for. Me, a camera and a subject.