I am the “cutting edge of the youth movement”, according to the cover of this month’s Digital Photo Pro. I was kind of floored when, last December, the editor emailed me telling me they wanted to feature me in the magazine. I was interviewed by Amanda Quintenz-Fielder, who wrote a really great article (she also writes for Rangefinder which I read all the time). Good things are happening right now.
One of things I enjoy about not having a “regular” (as in 9-5) job is that I can go see matinee movies whenever I want. Today I saw a film called “Bellflower” and it blew me away. I absolutely love that the filmmakers chose a style and just went with it (not to mention that it was their first film). Seeing this movie has left me incredibly inspired – I loved everything from the lens choice to the colouring to the music. Check it out if you get the chance, you won’t be sorry.
My shoot with Madeline marks not only my second attempt at bringing more “lifestyle” into my fashion work, but the first time in years that I’ve photographed a person using film. I found some LONG expired (think 1996) 120 film and shot a roll of Madeline with my Holga (I also tried using a Diana camera that I found but I prefer the Holga). I took some “straight” shots and then played around with double exposures a bit.
A few images from a (kind of) recent test shoot with Hannah, from Industry models.
A couple months ago, I explored an abandoned mini-golf course in southern California. It was pretty trashed (generally something I don’t like to photograph) but if you wandered around enough, you discovered little pockets of magic amongst the graffiti and garbage.
“…most of the time I miss it. But I try.”
- Bill Cunningham (on photographing the clothing that captures his eye – whether on the street or at Paris fashion week)
Over the weekend I went to see a documentary about an 80-yr old street fashion photographer named Bill Cunningham. Cunningham has worked for major publications and currently contributes to the New York Times Style section. His work is purely about documenting trends – he doesn’t consider himself an artist.
No matter what genre of photography you work in, or what discipline of art you practice – I think we can all take a page out of Cunningham’s book. The pure dedication he has for what he does, the passion he has for clothing is inspirational. Definitely a film worth checking out.
“Image quality is not the product of a machine, but of the person who directs the machine, and there are no limits to imagination and expression.”
- Ansel Adams (1984)
I did a quick beauty test last week for a new agency model. We did a clean beauty shot (which was what her agency needed) and then two more creative looks (which is what I wanted).
(Make up by Teal Druda)
I was going though a box of old negatives last week (yes, a box – 10 years ago when I first started taking photos I didn’t really care about properly storing my negatives) and I came across a photo I took of my (now) 13 year old dog, Yukon.
This photo was taken in 2000, with my Pentax K1000 when I was first learning the basics of everything photography (exposure, composition, negative development, and printing). I can almost relegated the negative to the box because the image was out of focus. However, a decade later and this image immediately grabbed my attention while looking through the negatives. I now like the fact that it’s blurry, and that 10 years of being in a box have added some scratches – it makes it feel reminiscent of a dream, which fits my current aesthetic. Every so often, I like going through my old images – not only do I get a chuckle out of what I was photographing back then, but it helps me remember who I was and where I came from as a photographer.
CONTINUE READING
A few weeks ago I headed over to the town of Joshua Tree CA with three awesome gals to take some photos. Here are some of the fruits of our labours…
A Canadian, Angela is a photographer that lives in Venice Beach, California and has driven from one end of the continent to the other three times in one year. She once flipped her car ten times and used to test explosives for the government.
angela marklew
angela@fstopinertia.com
310.913.5268
venice beach, ca
