Beats & Styles

Check out these fun shots I did with Jaakko of Beats & Styles from Finland - I guess you have to be European to rock out skin tight leggings without the blink of an eye.

My sister DJ Monique has remixed several of their songs and I've been a fan for years.

Mousa Kraish - Session 1

I just shot the very talented Palestinian-American actor and film maker Mousa Kraish.

Make sure to check out his blog and the beautiful photographs he took in Palestine.

His next big screen appearance will be in Fast & Furious 4 - in theaters April 3rd.

Eliza

On my last trip to London I shot a story with young british starter up models in a run down motel in Camden town - I prefer shooting people who either are new to modeling or no models at all.

One of them was Eliza from Select Models - her agent had called me the previous day and told me about this girl that had just walked in a few hours before. 

He sent me a polaroid that he just had snapped and needless to say, I had to shoot her.

A stunning kid. She looked like a scared little boy, resembling a female Elvis in a way, which she told me was the reason why the kids in school bullied her. One girl even had cut her face with a knife once, she told me, so she decided to leave school and try modeling. Getting beaten by kids in school surely wasn't what she had in mind for herself.

My shoot with her was the first she ever did.


Eliza, London December 2007

"You know, this will be the first and last time I'll ever get to shoot you", I told her. She gave me a startled look.

I had felt instantly that this girl was quite special inside and out, but telling her that she'll be one of those knockout supermodels in a matter of months was a bit too early to say to a girl who was always hated by the kids in school and didn't look like the kind of girl you'd expect on the cover of the world's most sought after magazines.

"It's OK to be different, because that's what makes you so special", I said , and smiled.

I could relate to her all too well. And it was a beautiful thing for me to photograph her, someone who felt so displaced and disconnected from the world, feeling unwanted and disliked, because she was judged by her mates, simply by being different.

Looks like I wasn't wrong about how I felt about this girl after all...

Eliza on the cover of ID Magazine, March 2009


Eliza on the cover of Dazed & Confused, March 2009


Eliza shot by Steven Meisel for W Magazine, March 2009

You can see the entire story with Eliza in W here.

I bet that the girl who cut Eliza's face back then, now wishes she never had. And it makes me sad that in a way that it takes being on the cover of a magazine to be considered desirable and beautiful.

But I think most people don't see real beauty simply because they just don't bother looking closely enough.

Shoot with DJ Loli

DJ Loli , originally from the Ukraine, came to LA via London - and is one of my fave up and coming artists here in LA.

You can check some of her DJ mixes here .

Here are a few shots from a promo shoot we did together. More to come .....

VH1 Ad Campaign for "Tough Love" - Cosmo March 2009

The first run of the ad campaign I shot for VH1's new show "Tough Love" is in the March 2009 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine - the show will premier March 15th on VH1.