Foreword
"Stay Inspired" is a weekly post on my Facebook Page where I share the work of an inspirational photographer or artist every Thursday. I've been doing this every week since 2013, so there’s now a vast number of outstanding creatives from all genres and disciplines that we've looked at over the years. In fact, I’ve been sharing these for so long now, that even I’ve forgotten some of the great artists I shared at the beginning.
So because many of these great names have been lost to time, I thought ‘why don't I try and collate them all into one place for not only myself, but for you as well’.
This is the tenth compilation, so if you missed the previous ones and are interested in an inspiration-overload, here’s the links to them;
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 001
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 002
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 003
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 004
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 005
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 006
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 007
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 008
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 009
These new posts will look at a collection of 10 artists each and they should prove to be an excellent resource for not only inspiration but motivation as well. With each artist shared, I will include a short overview of their work including things to consider and look at whilst on their portfolio.
Please bear in mind that these opinions are mine and as such are clearly very subjective. I could just share a link, but I believe a more personal point of view on another artists’ work may be of more value to you over simply stating their name and age for example. But this does mean you may not always agree with me and I would encourage that. Art is subjective and like music, the best art does not appeal to everybody.
Inspirational Work from 10 Photographers and Artists 010
Primo Liu
This is the real deal, Primo Liu's work is on another level and if you are even remotely interested in fashion and makeup photography, you need to check out this guys work. The colours, the locations, the styling, the makeup, everything is looking hyper-real. I often see work where one link in the chain has let down another, maybe the lighting doesn't work with the styling, maybe the hair is flat, these things happen, but Primo's work is a great example of when every single person in the team is bringing their ‘A’ game.
I've been receiving a lot of interest on my port through Model Mayhem recently and it looks like the antiquated site is having a little a resurgence for those who are prepared to do a little extra digging (remember this was originally written in 2015). It looks like I struck gold with Primo Liu's work because unless my google is broken I can find very little out there about their work beyond this portfolio.
Head on over and check out the gorgeous imagery and while your there why not have a little hunt about and see if you can find something new.
Bruno Aveillan
If you are looking to improve your photography in the lens, not just on the screen then it's a good idea to take a look at some of the more creative cinematographers out there. Lots of the time cinematographers have to think about creating artistic and interesting effects in-camera, because it's just not cost or time-effective to generate crazy lighting effects digitally over hundreds of still frames a second.
Bruno Aveillan is definitely one of those guys and he's created some truly outstanding commercials for the likes of Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Audi to name but a few. His style, especially in his earlier work uses a lot of 'shoot-through', diffusion and even the tricky split field diopters to gorgeous effect. More impressively though (in my opinion) is that he managed to sell this look to literally the biggest names out there, and frankly if blurry sparkles are good enough for L.V. it’s good enough for anybody.
I've included a link below to his fashion stills in a similar vein but I urge those of you who don't know me to check out his videos and for those that do know me I insist that you do.
Old link - http://www.mfilomeno.com/photograph…/bruno-aveillan/fashion/
Updated 2020 link is his agency site here: https://www.mfilomeno.com/artist/bruno-aveillan/
Below is a link to his videos too:
Old link - http://www.mfilomeno.com/film-d…/bruno-aveillan/commercials/
Updated video link on his agency - https://www.mfilomeno.com/artist/bruno-aveillan/gallery/motion-2
Videos that must be watched:
Louis Vuitton - A Journey
Hugo Boss - Woman
Santoni
Kirsty Mitchell
There are certainly many great photographers out there who say that the key to a great photograph, is to tell a great story.
Photographer Kirsty Mitchell rose to photo infamy by doing exactly that and her phenomenal 5 year Wonderland project was the result of a story that was certainly an incredibly motivating and moving one indeed.
The images that Kirsty produced over that time are nothing short of breathtaking and with some of them taking up to a year each to plan and complete she exemplifies the ‘quality of quantity’ principle in photography.
I think we are all sometimes guilty of getting too bogged down in the technical aspects of photography, we fuss over the quality of a lens, worry about the flash duration of a specific head, wishing we had another light… the list goes on, but although these are important to build a shot, none of them actually tell a story.
Take a look at Kirsty's Wonderland project and take two minutes to read the story behind it and ask yourself 'what story are my photographs trying to tell?'
Remember not every image has to be incredibly deep and meaningful, but you should always at the very least know what emotion and feeling you are trying to convey with your shots.
http://kirstymitchellphotography.com/galleries/wonderland/
Sophie Rata
I really like Sophie Rata's work, I came across it a while ago but it's one of the rare portfolios that actually made me want to revisit.
The Belgium based photographer has somehow carved out a style from many things like technique and post pro but also from her models and posing. Every shot in her port almost looks like it's from the same shoot, a clear sign of unwavering consistency. Whilst we are on the subject of style, I really love Sophie's post pro technique and colour toning. It's very clear she has an amazing grasp of colour throughout all of her work, just scroll down and you'll see what I mean. Every shot in a set is rock solid in colour consistency and that is far harder to pull off than it sounds.
So what’s the reason this port brought me back? Well the main reason was that I was surprised at the layout, every image in her port is displayed in a continuous visual river as you scroll down and I was curious as to how that doesn't just look like a mess, I'm pretty sure my portfolio would be almost impossible to look at had it been displayed like this.
2020 Edit Note: Sadly we can no longer see her website in 2020, but seeing as this was written back in 2015, this was really before professional photographers were using Instagram and that free-flowing set of images in how Instagram ultimately is today.
So why does this one work? Well for reasons I explained earlier; Sophie knows how she wants her models posed before shooting because she has a vision of her style in mind. She also has a perfectionists eye for colour and tone which enables every image in every set to be pieces of the same puzzle, not just a set of stand alone shots.
It's worth taking a moment to imagine your own portfolio laid out like this and see if it would look like a cohesive stream or just a wave of independent cameo shots.
Old Site (now set to private) http://www.sophierata.com
New 2020 link to her Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sophie_rata_photography/ Be sure to scroll to her earlier work for the more creative stuff or check out her Flickr here https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanukgal/
Hunter & Gatti
Tonight we take a look at another creative duo that are synonymous with high-end fashion photography world wide.
Cristian Borillo and Martin Cespedes make up the team known as Hunter & Gatti and although they originally started as creative directors over ten years ago, their passion for art and all things fashion has seen them working with brands including Hugo Boss, Guess and Massimo Dutti.
In November of 2013 the pair launched their first exhibition in New York where they showcased their photography as well as paintings which incorporate their photographs in a mixed media.
I find their background an interesting one and one that is reflected in their photographic style. Firstly, they work as a duo, but secondly they have an art direction background so they would need to be good at verbalisation and managing shoots to create their vision, something that a lot of new photographers find very hard to refine.
Lastly though and probably most telling in their photographic style is their art background. They aren't afraid of trying to maintain realism and love to push colours into the 'ultra real' spectrum. Another sign of artist-turn-photographer is their love of eclectic composition. Rarely do they guide a viewer through an image with tricks like depth of field, as this is a look rarely present in paintings.
Their work is definitely worth a visit and especially if you're even vaguely interested in high-end fashion and advertising. If you'd like to do a little more digging, then their fashion editorial magazine HGISSUE is also really good too.
Glen Luchford
Today we look at where we've come from and what we can learn from fashion photographers that will forget more than we'll ever learn.
British born in 1968, Glen Luchford has worked in the fashion industry for decades and photographed campaigns for everybody, including Gucci, Levi, Mercedes Benz and so on. I can't honestly say that his style is synonymous with his name but his particular off-kilter look certainly did draw my attention to his work.
If you're taking a peruse though his work on his agency site, you may not be too surprised but bear in mind when he was taking some of these shots. Luchford was signed to Art+Commerce agency at 24 and was shooting major campaigns shortly after. Photographic statements like shooting an entire Gucci campaign in dingy bedsit certainly takes nerve to pull off, let alone shooting an Yves Saint Lauren advertising campaign through what looks like a pin-hole, leaving the majority of the double page spread in the black. I'm fairly sure his agency was holding their breath on those ones.
It would also seem that Luchford was the victim of what we would class as a complete hard drive melt down. In the late nineties Luchford stored thousands of negatives off site for a couple of weeks. Upon returning he found the storage had suffered a major flood and everything was covered in mould and flies. Not good.
Now this is catastrophic for anybody, but you have to remember the nineties was Luchford's heyday, back then he was one of the first to collaborate with the likes of Kate Moss and all of those images where destroyed in that flood. Just to give you some idea of the financial loss we are talking about, Luchford was selling a single print from that era for £25,000 and he lost thousands of negatives!
I'm off to back up my work just once more, but I recommend you check out the fashion photographer legend that is Glen Luchford on his current agencies sit.
This is a link to his agencies site (but it’s slower than my first Vauxhall Nova, so use his Instagram link below instead) https://www.artpartner.com/artists/film-print/glen-luchford/portfolio/
Glen Luchford Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_glen_luchford/
Joao Guedes
This weeks inspiration comes from the awesome Joao Guedes and his truly beautiful natural light feminine portraits.
I hesitated on what to call his photographic genre, because for many years this type of imagery would have been the staple of many a boudoir photographer, but this in my opinion is an outstanding evolution of that look.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking boudoir photography, I am all to aware of the 'reality' of that market but I have to say that I find Guedes' skill of composition and mastery of light-play on his models far sexier than the slightly contrived alternative.
Guedes makes this style of imagery look very effortless and candid, although I guarantee the skill he posses in making his models look this relaxed and timeless is not easy to come by.
Head on over to his site and see for yourselves but I don't think you'll be disappointed.
https://joaoguedes.com/diaries
Don’t worry millennials, I got you covered fam, here’s his Instagram too https://www.instagram.com/joaohguedes/
Emily Soto
It's always a good idea to revisit some of the work from photographers you admire, granted there is always somebody new and hungry on the scene vying for your precious eyeball-time, but going back to revisit the work of familiar artists is useful as it visually explains how an artist grows their style and where they've taken it. Sometimes nothing much will have changed, they're still shooting the same Rembradt lighting they've been using for decades, keeping it safe and getting paid for what they're known for. There's nothing wrong with that, but there are certain artists who are hungry to develop and push their style and Emily Soto is definitely one of those people.
Soto is known for her softer, slightly dreamy approach to her work and she's done an extraordinary job of being at the forefront of making analogue photography ‘cool’ again. Every man/woman and their dog has now gone out and picked up at least one old Polaroid camera or dug through their granddads attic for the ability to have a go at shooting a real life instant image for themselves.
I know Soto works very closely with the nostalgia-machines of Lomo and the Impossible Project and she's managed to produce some seriously breathtaking imagery whilst testing some of their kit.
I have to say that if you haven't already seen Emily Soto's work then you're in for a real treat. If like me and you saw some of her early work a few years ago when she was first tinkering with film, then you're also in for a mind blowing update as she is nailing that incredibly distinctive style of hers and no matter how much the rest of us try, many will never come close to that truly timeless and nostalgic look.
2020 Editors note: Ironically, when I originally wrote this in 2015, what I said held true then as it does now and 5 years on, Emily’s work has evolved again. Oddly, it’s actually very hard to find some of Emily’s very early work today, but I think some of her early shots are still viewable on Instagram and are certainly worth a look too.
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilysoto/
Sugar Los Angeles
Here's another little nugget from the land of the perpetual magic-hour, Sugar Los Angeles. Sugar Los Angeles is about a freelance photographer who focuses his lens on the natural beauty of women and he staes on his site
'There are no makeup artists, hairstylists, or anyone else who can misrepresent who these wonderful people are.'
He has a very simple, but yet very striking style with flawless lighting, composition and posing. All this comes together to present us with a very timeless and sensual series of images.
A couple of weeks back I posted a similar style and I mentioned then that this really is the modern boudoir photography (Edit: See Joao Guedes above) , and whether its to your taste or not, I guarantee we will be seeing a lot more of this in the coming years (Wow, how right I was back in 2015)
It’s worth checking out the video in the 'workshop' tab too, as that looks like an uber chilled and super cool day (man where the hell are those locations?! I NEED them).
Edit: Sadly I dont this he runs workshops any more and as a result, I can’t see the videos listed anywhere. If you find them, let me know.
Laurent Nivalle
Ive been following Laurent Nivalle's work for a couple of years now, and although I was originally following him for his love and interpretation of the classic cars and motorbikes he was shooting, he has started to share a lot more of his personal work including more portraiture and fashion.
His style, in my opinion. is nothing short of breathtaking and every image he displays is outstanding in its own right There are very few 'filler' shots here.
Regardless of whether or not Nivalle is photographing person or machine, his timeless approach to his post-pro is perfect and occasionally he will mix that with some very modern styled typography too. This gives his images an almost steampunk-esque mix of old and new.
It's very rare for me to say this, as it's often never important, but I would love to know some details on Nivalle's kit. It looks like he plays with some cinema style lenses and I'm convinced that the dramatic tilt-focus effects he's pulling off are in camera too. I'd love to know how he's pulling those off. They look so cool.
Regardless of how he gets the final results though, his extensive portfolio speaks for itself. Follow the link, have a poke around but if you're looking for a quick fix, scroll to the bottom of his index page and there is a fairly comprehensive 'portraits' section which shows some of best earlier works too.
Let me know what you think and if you reckon you know any of his 'in' and 'out' of camera tricks, feel free to share :D
Closing Comments
As with all of my posts, I welcome your comments and thoughts on the artists I've shared here today. But although all of the photographers and creatives I've mentioned above come from my own personal tastes and appreciations, I still feel they are all incredibly varied, which ultimately means there will be at least one persons work here that you'll love.
Granted we've really only looked at 'people' photographers including, portraits, fashion and editorial shooters with none of the other photographic genres being covered, but it's still incredible to me as to how varied this single discipline can be.
I think one of the core things I want you to take away from this series is how another person interprets their subject into a photograph.
Sure you can simply reverse engineer the lighting or copy a pose of an image, but I hope you take away a lot more than simply the mechanics of a photograph.
Look at their style and see how that is impacting their work for the better. Look for similarities in pose, expression, subject, lighting, theme and colour. All of these things play a role in any image and by appreciating that in others work, we can be better equipped to express it in our own images.
Thank You
Thanks for checking out this article and spending a little bit of your day with me here. I hope you found it useful and that you left here a little more inspired than when you arrived. If you did, then this was worth it. As always, if you have any questions, then by all means fire-away in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Thanks again and I’ll see you in the next one.
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