summer jewelry shoot

another great day filled with beauty and positive team energy. this time it was a jewelry shoot with olga from FORD. (i shared her pictures in my previous post)

the overall style of the shoot was light and airy - with simple lighting (and intentionally sophisticated catchlights in model's eyes) i wanted to create an "early summer morning" feel, elegant and sensual at the same time.

dina yassin put together 6 unique looks complimented by colorful jewelry pieces by different designers.

anetta klemens was on top of creating striking make-up looks focusing on olga's beautiful lips.

sato taeko did magic with the hair - from sleek french style bob to glamorous waves.

olga was stunning - classis european beauty, feminine and sensual, as well as very sweet & humble as a person. even my cat fedor fell in love with her and was jumping on her lap during the photosession to steal a kiss or two.

as always, backstage pictures for your sneak pick. more to come.

olga akhunova from FORD

around 8pm friday night after 2 days of back&forth with 3 different model agencies we confirmed beautiful olga (FORD) for our monday beauty/jewelry spec. isn't she gorgeous?

"american beauty" cover story (ROUGE magazine, april 2009)

yes! 2 editorials and a cover in one beautiful april issue! "red" has always been my favorite color *)
even though suggested cover options didn't make it to the cover, i'm still happy about this story. kelly looks gorgeous, doesn't she? my favorite shots of her are this, this, and this. what you think?

"alice in w" editorial (ROUGE magazine, april 2009)

and another april editorial - my "alice in wonderland" story published in ROUGE magazine.

it was a day full of adventures in my friend's (veronika ossi) beautiful loft in greenpoint. we were making the model (martina from MC2) climb the ladder and hang from the chandelier, play chess and have a crazy tea party with invisible guests, and listen to the songs of encaged red roses... everything how it is supposed to be on "the other side of the world" - upside down, with a twist!

full story can be viewed at: www.nymfea.com

"in the news" editorial (SENSE&STYLE, april 2009)

this month starts with a b&w editorial published in april issue of sense&style (philippines) - magazine i work with on a monthly basis for the past 2 years.

you can see full version of the story at www.nymfea.com

summer fashion

when i think "summer" i think "color", "energy", "freedom". all these we tried to show in our summer 2009 fashion editorial with beautiful marija from major model management. the story was clean and edgy - with lots of movement and expression. dina yassin who was styling the shoot pulled vibrant, playful clothes from amazing designers - manish aurora, PORTS 1961, cerpico, yeholee, irregular choice, juju, among others. bright, three-dimensional make-up by anetta klemens complimented the look. marija's hair were pulled up in a sleek yet unusual style (by jamal hodges), with a twisted braid and excuisite moon-shape hair piece.

there was so much of positive energy in my studio during this shoot that we managed to finish all 9 looks within 6 hours! time always flies in a great company.

"kat woman" editorial feat. russian top-model & emerging fashion designer katerena alkhimova

it was definitely a fun shoot and dream come true! my team (dina yassin [wardrobe], aldys minaya [make-up], sato taeko [ hair]) and i were shooting beautiful katerena alkhimova (muse of john galliano; face of jil sander, versus, keneth cole; face you saw on the covers of vogue and l'officiel, as well as editorials by steven meisel, peter lindberg, paolo roversi - among others) for her cover feature in ROUGE magazine as a russian top model and emerging fashion designer.
katerena recently started her fashion line - kat basics [http://www.katbasics.com]; her first collection consisted of two simple yet irresistably sexy pieces - skin tight black dress and body suit with transparent stripes. we were using both pieces - combined with current FW2009 fashion - to create 6 unique fashion looks and show katerena's inner women: seductive, romantic, glamourous, edgy, boyish, extravagant, and fatal. it was incredible to see all the transformation live! it felt like doing 6 different stories with one incredible beauty - as a photographer i could hardly ask for more.

for now just a sneak pick of the polaroids; full story to come shortly.

ROUGE cover story kelly carlson ("nip/tuck")

when i received an email from ROUGE magazine asking me whether i am available to fly to LA and do a cover story with gorgeous kelly carlson from "nip/tuck" series, i was - to say the least - flattered. it was my first assignment from the magazine after 3 months of very productive collaboration (by then i already had 2 cover stories, 3 editorials, and one feature with them, but all was submission-based)

we had 2 intense weeks of production and on-going communication between NY, LA, and bulgaria. finally, location was chosen (thompson beverly hills hotel agreed to provide their elegant premises for our hollywood-style story) and the date of the shoot was set. on march 2nd my stylist dina yassin and i flew to LA to meet with kelly and her beauty team.

the shoot had 2 parts - we started at the rooftop pool and in the afternoon moved inside the beautiful suite provided by courteous stuff of thompson beverly hills. glamour was in the air and on dina's clothes racks with elegant gowns from famous designers: PRADA, georges chakra, gustavo cadile, rosa cha, among others. my assistant (barett sweger from smashbox studios) was irreplaceable and helping me a lot to handle various lighting conditions. it great to hear an acknowledgment from kelly: "you really know your lighting. i love the way i look on your pictures".

and still it was a challenge. working with celebrities you need to be flexible and efficient; time is important and so are the right clothes and its variety to be able to choose from in case smth doesn't work. i think we did our best and rocked it. 9 beautiful looks and 3 cover options - not bad at all for our first LA shoot! definitely looking forward for more.

april issue of ROUGE with kelly on the cover is out on the newstands.

NOI.SE 24 & HIGHLIGHT 33

2 exciting emails from highlights publication [www.highlightsmag.com]: my "hello, charlie?" story will be featured in the following NOI.SE issue while "love letters" made it to highlights magazine.

on the newstands worldwide since april 2009.

meaning of beauty (ROUGE magazine, december 2008)

[The idea of the project is to show the Beauty seen through the eyes
of fashion photographers from different parts of the world.]

How would you define beauty?
Beauty is a state of mind, body, and soul, that reflects as a calm self-confidence and a mysterious half-smile in one’s eyes; It’s a harmony of internal and external.

Why did you choose to present yourself with this photograph?
This photograph is very special to me for several reasons: It was my very first beauty shoot (that time I was still working as a corporate lawyer during the day while taking photography classes at night and doing test shoots on the weekends) but even couple years later this picture still makes me feel proud and content; Also, it was an amazing experience shooting it and witnessing how the look as if created itself from scratch - out of our common team energy, ideas on-the-go, things that surrounded us in the studio (for example, we bought roses in a Deli downstairs to go with the veil, and then we used curtains’ tassels to compliment the braids). The model is my good old friend Marina, and it was her first modeling experience as well. I think all these mixed up together gave this picture such an innocent and sincere feel of a natural beauty.

Where in the world live the most beautiful women?
I guess I can’t be objective coming from Russia – country that is famous for its beautiful women. As a fashion photographer I prefer working with Eastern European models, especially girls from Poland, Croatia, Slovakia. Slavic features have this unique pedigree and serene elegancy I personally find very attractive. You won’t call these girls just pretty – they are beautiful, with their long slender bodies, pensive eyes, and faces that can tell you a story.

Do you believe in phrase “The beauty will save the world”? Why?
I do. For me beauty is the opposite of self-destruction, yet it’s just another side of the same coin. It’s like good and bad. Our striving for beauty is opposed and balanced in a strange way by our propensity to ruin what we have. But striving for beauty is a stronger feeling because it’s genuine and it’s firstborn. And even if the world collapses beauty will prevail (and thus save the world) because there is beauty even in ugly things.