Model of the Month: Erika Elizabeth
Photographer of the Month: Christopher Alvarez
Who is your favorite photographer of all time?
What inspires you?I can't really recall any one single favorite, but my heavy influences are Ellen Von Unwerth, Bettina Rheims, Peter Lindbergh, Helmut Newton, Nan Goldin and Gregory Crewdson.
Emotion, light, story, conflict, sex, beauty, truth.What do you look for when selecting a model to work with?
I am drawn to people who are natural, who I have chemistry with and who need a little direction. It's not always about poses and perfection, it's about honesty and drama. I like a person who brings themselves into the shoot, not just a blank canvas.What kind of camera/equipment do you use?
Canon 5D Mark II, mostly natural light. I use my 85mm prime a lot as well as my 70-200mm.What genre does your work focus on?
I shoot mostly editorial, beauty and raw sensual.
Makeup Artist of the Month: Alayna Rakes
What inspires you?
What do you look for when selecting a model to work with?I believe it is important to surround ourselves with positive and inspiring people. I am friendly with many talented and knowledgeable artists of different mediums (music, fabric, woodworking, graphic design, etc) that inspire me and it drives me to work harder. I know it's clique, but we must be open to inspiration from any source. Not just photos of pretty makeup in magazines, but artwork, color combinations in nature, textures, cultures and subcultures from around the world, fantasy, styles throughout history, atmosphere, emotion... I keep a folder of things that strike me and I look through it often.
Eyebrows! With every other feature it depends on the look we're going for. It probably sounds silly but it's true! For one shoot we might need a commercial model with light hair and another requires sharp features and olive skin, but the eyebrows must never be overplucked. Any aspiring models should start growing them inWhat product can you not live without?
I absolutely love Benefit's Bathina for print work. It gives the skin a healthy glow and help make legs look longer! This stuff is magic in photos. Body makeup might not be the first thing makeup artists think of, but it's our responsibility to make sure ALL of the skin looks great. The first time I used it was on a shoot with my sister (she's a pop singer), and even our mom commented on how her legs looked really nice in the photos!What is your favorite project you have worked on?
I sing opera, and was in a production of Mozart's The Magic Flute in 2012. I was playing the First Spirit, but also responsible for the makeup of all of the leads! It was very hectic, but I loved the process of designing the look for each character, and then actually being on stage with them. During non-singing moments I definitely caught myself examining their makeup rather than staying in character!What genre does your work focus on?
Most of my work is commercial, but like most makeup artists I jump on any beauty opportunities that I can. Those are what really get recognized and where we can show off! I definitely strive to do more classic beauty work.
Hair Stylist of the Month: Daria Wright
Why hair styling?
What is your favorite project you have worked on?Hair is sensual and powerful. I get to create all sorts of "mane" statements through my hair styling.
The Tyra Show - it was crazy fun. Awesome crew and a cool supermodel boss!What is your personal style?
Eclectic chic. Jeans and heels with statement accessories.What genre does your work focus on?
Beauty advertising/commercial are my favorites.What product can you not live without?
Smoothing Serum.
Wardrobe Stylist of the Month: Couture Zen (Melynda)
What inspires you?
What do you look for when selecting a model to work with?I am driven by classic American style meeting minds with artful and poppy. I would say I am inspired by Audrey and Katherine Hepburn (very heavily so) but also by films from the late 70s and early 80s. Women were so feminine then, and they were portrayed as poised, strong, and elegant to balance out that femininity. I love the idea of having something very classic/feminine and throwing a wild card in with something very funky, very new wave/punk rock (-an original 1950s dress with a T-shirt thrown on over and some chunky shoes, for instance.)
Variation of poses, fluid facial movements and feminine gestures. I am actually hugely against the stark poses and weird fetal position type looks some of these girls have in their portfolios, mouth agape and dead stares. I love using models to tell a story of something soft and accessible.What is your favorite project you have worked on?
So far, my favorite project has been my first photo shoot I ever did for a client. I was 22 and in charge of two separate teams of photographers with 2 locations in one building (shooting editorial and studio simultaneously). I negotiated all the contracts, wrote all the location terms and model contracts, dealt with a micro-budget, created the hair and makeup concept for the day, and I dictated all the frame-ups. I had 3 assistants and a team of interns from FIDM. I had never dreamed before that day I was even capable of something like that. It was chaos! Somehow, though, we (my team and I) managed to pull it off. It was incredible.What is your personal style?
My personal style comes from an obsession with fashion history and a desire to seamlessly cross over eras. For instance, I went to Christmas dinner wearing an original 1940s seafoam green, full-length knit skirt with a T-shirt which has a coordinating (seafoam and gold lame) alligator graphic curling fully around the chest/neckline and threw a black leather motorcycle jacket over it. Ever since I was a child, I have had a “different” eye for quirky things, and my style has remained more or less innately as stated, but I am more refined now and can afford better quality pieces. --I would call my style Classic American Couture meets Art School Nerd.What genre does your work focus on?
I would say my work focuses primarily on editorial storytelling.
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