Shooting for the November Men’s Issue of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia

It’s such an incredible feeling when you really click with an art director or a fashion editor. It’s a rush, in fact. And that’s the way it feels when I work for Sally from Harper’s Bazaar Arabia. I am always excited for another opportunity to work with her again, we just have a mutual love for fashion and we are on the same page, aesthically! So when I got her email back in July about this men’s shoot, I was thrilled! There was about a 3 week lead in before she actually landed in LA so the first thing we started doing was looking for the perfect model and since we were also shooting the cover, the casting was very important!

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Should you or shouldn’t you go

When young photographers are starting out and beginning to learn the technical craft of photography, there  seems to be a lot of confusion on whether or not photography college is the right choice. I get a ton of emails asking me whether or not I think it’s important to go to college and/or to get a degree in photography. And honestly it’s one of those questions only you can answer. Everybody is different and everyone learns in their own way. For some people, college is an important, integral part of their growing process and really want to participate in that kind of schooling process. Others are more self-motivated and learn better by doing. Experience is their best teacher and they flourish without the restraints of a school environment, all aspects of it including peer pressure and social mine fields. I can tell you about my experience and you can use that insight to help determine your own destiny but I, in no means whatsoever, would ever assume I know what’s best for you.  So while I’m eager and happy to share my story, I suggest asking a lot of different people their opinion and do your research. One person’s perspective is not enough when you’re really on the fence about something this important and life changing.

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I’m sort of known for not being a fan of using speedlights. Just never liked the look they give. I am not sure where this idea or belief came from, but I remember being back in college in the mid-’80′s and my colleagues and I would sort of categorize photographers who use this kind of light as Not Serious Ad Shooters. Not fair, I know, but none the less, I was young and impressionable and the idea has stayed with me over the years. However, over the last two or three years, I have been incorporating speedlights with my other lighting, whether I”m using natural light or studio flash like my Profotos. And what I mean by incorporating is that I use the speedlight to embellish the main lighting on my set. So let me explain that more clearly.

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A Still Image from the Movie “The Night Porter“

SO much is going on that I barely have time for anything other than taking care of what’s right in front of me. David had surgery last week, all is good there, he’s recovering nicely. We’re packing up our house, downsizing for the move to NYC! You never realize how much stuff you accumulate until you move! We’ve got a lot of exciting things going on with the Blog that I can’t exactly share just yet, but I think you’ll all be pretty stoked when the news breaks! And I have been working: I shot an ad campaign last month for some nice $$. I shot another Harper’s Bazaar Arabia editorial, this time I shot the cover too! Have an editorial coming out in KURV Magazine in Australia that I’ll blog about once that hits the newsstands and my portfolio now officially is in NYC full time and won’t come be in my possession again until I’m living there! It’s been called in about once a week to various advertising clients and magazines. The transition is going smoothly but it’s non-stop work! AND, we’ll be back in NYC this weekend for our first ever NYC Seminar! We’re shooting at Drive In Studios in Chelsea and we have a great group of people coming that I’m really excited to meet and work with! Damian Monzillo, my brother from another mother, soul friend and hair stylist extraordinaire will be doing the hair for the seminar! He rocks the Universe with his hair, he’s that good! And he’s MY official hair stylist, giving me those razor sharp bangs, my signature trademark. One thing that makes me so happy to be moving to NYC is that Damian lives there! We have such a passion for inspiring work and we love collaborating so  my excitement for the move is doubled by knowing Damian will be along side me on the crazy ride that NY surely will be!

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How Jimon Aframian is Living His Dream!

About a year ago, I found an email in my inbox from Jimon Aframian saying that he was starting a magazine here in Los Angeles and he’d like to feature some of my work from my Boys Collection. I have a soft spot for that body of work and am always eager and pleased that it continues to be highlighted and shown. I’m very proud of the body of work as it depicts to me a time in my life where I was dedicated to a certain project and it also is when I met my husband, David.

I wrote back and told Jimon, “sure, which images did he want”? At that point he had found my Blog and read where a certain editorial I had shot for another magazine didn’t run in the proper way and he asked if he could run that story. I was more than happy to find a good home for that shoot. So I told him yes! And the story came out in December in the  launch issue of the magazine aptly named JIMON.

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