I did this little video a few weeks ago featuring amazing artist, and spoken word performer Nereo II for Manitoba Literacy Partners.
They run an amazing program called “Reader in residence”.
This program inspires adults to reach their learning goals.
I am very proud to be working with the people at LPM, and very excited for their upcoming magazine coming out, featuring a portrait I shot.
As seen in www.allmedinaeverything.com
This little project had 2 years in the making (or three?).
It was summer, and I fell in-love with stop motion/pixelation. I re-conected with an old friend and we went on a creative field trip, to feed off of each other and catch up. at the time, Helga was gathering all the materials to bring together an instalation art piece she was working on; wedding dresses made out of organic materials. you can see in this film she is collecting some of the elements she later used to create her “farmer’s wife” dress. Quite a talented lady my friend is.
But the strange thing is that this video took so long to get done, not because I didn’t like it, or i didn’t know how I wanted it to look, it was just missing the right sound. I had friends compose some music for it, other recommend pieces, but nothing fit. and without the right sound I couldn’t finish visualizing it.
And then came another inspirational friend who, funny enough, came to my life through another video project that I did recently (coming out so soon). I showed him an early edit version of this short and with fresh eyes and ideas he saw so many details that I missed, or forgot about, and gave the project a whole new meaning and feel for me. With that he also send me the recommendation for the song that you hear in this final cut.
Ingrid Gatin, the wonderful singer of this beautiful song, is also a fellow Winnipegger, and even though we have only met once or twice in the past, when i approached her to use her song for this piece she agreed. I think that is what this piece was missing, a full circle of wonderful Canadian artists to make it feel completed.
Once the song was right, everything fit into place. So much that i re-started the editing from zero, to sing the visuals to the music, and add the final touches for texture and colour.
So today, in no more than 2 hours, I started and finished this little short film that has been dying to see the light of day.
Would love to hear what you think!
Alaya. Swish Model Management.
MUA and Hair: Jocelyn Caballero.
Samanta Katz Photography.
Alaya from Swish Model Management.
Make up by Jocelyn Caballero.
Coco Rocha advocating for Model's rights.
Good read. Love this girl.
The 24-year-old gave a lesson on the business of modeling at Columbia Law School yesterday - from how to deal with ‘creepy’ photographers, to saying no to nudity, she shared her top tips for a successful career.
Is Beauty in the eye of the Beholder?
I came across this video today, and I thought it was worth sharing.
As a photographer I get to work with many different kinds of people.
As you might know, I mostly shoot people. Models, actors, performers, brides, grooms, strangers…. but always people. Why? because I think people are the most interesting thing.
The reason why this video fascinates me is because I see this sketch artist as myself. People book me for all sort of jobs, and I always get instructions like “my nose isn’t straight”, “this isn’t my good side”, “I’m camera shy”, “please photoshop this and that”, and my most favourite “i am not photogenic”. I think this video is my voice, it finally can be my way of saying to all of my clients “trust me, you will look better than you think, relax, enjoy, and let me do my thing”.
Let me get something straight here: Not being photogenic is not real. There isn’t such a thing as photogenic or not photogenic people. There are good and bad photographers, there is good and bad lighting, lenses, and angles. But there are no non-photogenic people. A good photographer should be able to use his/her skills to make you look good in a picture, no ifs or buts.
In the fashion world, what makes a model beautiful is her/his uniqueness, mannerisms, what makes them different. My job is to capture those things and make them look beautiful. Non model subjects are just like models, what makes them different makes them beautiful. As a photographer it is my job to see beauty and know how to interpret it so you see what i see. The hardest part of my job is to get the subjects in the photos to like what they see.
What makes me (hopefully) good at what i do, is that i understand that sometimes what people see in themselves are the flaws, but I, because I am not you, can see the beauty in you with no effort, and just like the sketch artists, i work with my lighting, angles, lenses, and position to “sketch” you the way you really look: Beautiful.
So next time you are in front of the camera, all you have to do is make sure the photographer in front of you is someone you trust, and remember this video.
And while I’m on a roll (no pun intended) here is the BTS from the first shoot for All Medina Everything, if you missed it.
On set again with this crazy talent this Monday, and then we are off to the Juno Awards to do some very exciting projects. Next weekend is going to be very exciting.
