Solstice Visuals

Zoom

Numero Magazine Under Fire For ‘African Queen’ Editorial

This editorial spread for Numero is causing some controversy. This is 16 year old model Ondria Hardin from North Carolina, with intentionally darkened skin to fit the name of the title.

Many argue that fashion exploits or ignores ethnic diversity.

Do you personally see anything wrong with this or are people making a big deal out of nothing?

(Source: The Huffington Post)

Kate Upton Takes A Serious Role In V Magazine

Kate Upton stars in V Magazine #81 as photographed by Sebastian Faena. It’s unique as we rarely see her in such serious roles.

Time Magazine’s Controversial Breastfeeding Cover On Extreme Parenting

This is the cover that is causing all sorts of controversy across the world. It’s in relation to ‘extreme parenting’. It’s definitely shown a point, but at a cost that the public did not like.

The cover photo shows 26-year-old Jamie Lynne Grumet breast-feeding her son Aram; Aram turns 4 next month. It is a startling image, to say the least.

The reason for the controversy was partly due to the fact that Aram is just 4 years old, an aged usually deemed as inappropriate for breastfeeding.

Here are the rest of the images: 1 2 3

We’d like to hear from you, does it offend you?

Feature: An Le - Fleur de la Nuit

An Le is back with his next editorial. We’ve featured him before and we’re glad to see his next set! Check out his recent editorial below.

Re: Magazine: www.re-savannah.com
Photographer: An Le (www.anlestudio.com)

Stylist: Juliana Sullivan & assistants: Chanelle Bertelsen, Carmela Osorio Lugo
Set designer: Dylan Auman (http://dylanauman.4ormat.com/)
Make-up: Mila Grass
Hair: Hillary Mund
Photo assistants: Dave Sweeny, Pat Bombard, Dylan DeRose
Models: Alexa Johns (Factor Women)
Kathleen Sayler (Rise model management)

Behind the Scenes Video:

Spread:

cover

01thenewissue_anle-1

01thenewissue_anle-13

01thenewissue_anle-9

01thenewissue_anle-11

01thenewissue_anle-7

01thenewissue_anle-5

01thenewissue_anle-3

New Work: Marie Claire - January 2012 (Id)

New retouching work for Marie Claire - January 2012 (Indonesia)

Photography by the talented Glenn Prasetya.

Click on the sets for a slightly larger view.

Zoom

Android Gaga

This is what Lady Gaga looks like in the morning after she forgets to take off her outfit from the previous night - A hot mess.

Kidding!

For the sake of fashion, she turned into an ‘angry android’ for L’Uomo Vogue.

If you ask me, I don’t like it at all. But hey, when you wrap the word ‘fashion’ around it as a justification, who is going to argue against it?

I just did.

Oh snap.

PHOTO: Inez Van Lansweerde & Vinoodh Matadin for L’Uomo Vogue

[Via source]

Fashion Film: Drip for Idoll

What a refreshing concept for a fashion film! Models need to train too.

Zoom

New Work: ELLE Cover, January 2012 (Vietnam)

Here’s my recent cover for ELLE Vietnam. A great way to start off the new year! We have a spread coming out soon as well.

This shot was by my friend and someone who I’ve personally met, Alvin Nguyen (http://alvinnguyen.com/).

Due to the soft lighting and low res, you can’t see all the skin work but surprisingly, she had great skin and it was very similar to the final - most of the work was modifying lighting and such. Very specific directions from the editor for the most part.

He’s come a long way within just a year. He started shooting seriously just a year and a half ago when I went to teach him retouching in Seattle. Now he’s going places. It’s no wonder, we share a similar work ethic and I know just how much effort and work he puts in!

Behind the Scenes: ELLE UK Cover Shoot with Reese Witherspoon

A nice BTS with the talented actress, Reese Witherspoon.

Every time I hear her name, I always think of this photoshop:

Fashion Film: Elle Czech Republic

Rankin Films

Plus Size Model Lizzie Miller Gets a Positive Reaction in Glamour

Once the magazine hit news stands, it caused quite a commotion, mostly in a positive direction depicting how average women look like. They were pleased to see a model reflect that image in the magazine.

What are your thoughts?

I think it’s great, good for her and good the audience reading/watching. Warm fuzzy feeling for everyone.

I am sure we’ll be seeing more plus size models in the future. As the world generally gets larger and larger, there will be more of a demand to see them in magazines. After all, what the public wants more of, they get more of, such as the more common addition of celebrities gracing covers of fashion magazines.

It’s always interesting seeing how fashion evolves and what the norm is. It always changes.

Behind the Scenes: Zink Magazine

Zink is a magazine that’s a personal favorite of mine. I read it often, and I’ve been published in it. I adore Zink. They really produce some of the best fashion spreads that you don’t see anywhere else.

Here’s a behind the scenes look with Jessie J.

Zoom

Vogue Archive Images

http://www.vogue.com/archive

That’s right, get excited, the Vogue archive is coming soon. This is quite huge, for obvious reasons.

New Work: Lara Jade - Beach Story

With this recent beach story, I wanted to keep the skin work minimal, understated, yet flawless in a way that no one can see what was done or what flaws were there originally per what IMG (Kristina’s agency) needed. We topped it off with Lara’s beautiful color grading work.

Please click on each image to see a detailed view.

Photography: Lara Jade (http://www.larajade.co.uk/)
Model: Kristina V @ IMG Models
Make Up: Deborah Altizio
Hair: Cash Lawless
Styling: Erin O’Keefe
Photography Assistance: Nicole De Waal

Photographers You Need to Know: Chris Fatseas

I recently came on across the work of Chris Fatseas (http://www.chrisfatseas.com).

Surprisingly, it turns out that Chris has only been shooting for 2 years! I immediately recognized his potential and asked if I could do a feature on him; he was more than delighted to partake. I want more people to see his work and to have him become more recognized.

What I really enjoy about his work is that it’s ethereal. It’s full of emotion yet subdued at the same time. It plays that delicate balance of purity and edginess. It has a whimsical feel yet it’s delicate. In short, it’s simply beautiful and I have an affinity to his work.

If I’m right, he’s going to be big in a few years so keep an eye out for Chris’s work in the upcoming months and years.

Check out his work below along with a short interview.

Interview

1. Tell us your history with photography and what got you into it.

I bought a camera at 19 so I could take a few photos of my first car. Soon, my mates were asking me to take some photos of there cars too. Then at 20, I was approached by a few motoring publications to shoot for them. It was good pocket money while I was studying at the university but my heart was never really in it.

The subject matter just didn’t inspire me. By the time I graduated from the university I was itching to shoot something more than sheet metal and decided to take on the world of fashion photography. What could possibly be more interesting and inspiring than taking a photo of a person?

2. What inspires you to stay passionate about your craft?

It’s not so much about inspiration as it is compulsion. I’m fascinated by the process of bringing a vision into reality. There are so many elements that go into a fashion shoot, such at the model, lighting, environment, clothing, hair, makeup, pose and expression, lens selection, composition, perspective, and the list goes on. There is nothing more satisfying or exciting than seeing each one of those elements coming into alignment and seeing a vision transform into reality in front of you.

3. Why do you shoot fashion and beauty specifically?

Fashion and beauty are very subjective and elusive terms and that’s what makes exploring them so rewarding; the creative possibilities are limitless. It’s that freedom of self expression and the process of creating and capturing art, there’s nothing else quite like it.

Work