Jeff Bridges © Jerry Avenaim Photography

No matter where you were in the world last week, practically everyone was talking about The Oscars last Sunday in Hollywood. Who won for which film, which nominee you think deserved it more, and who wore what and did they look good. When I think about this past Oscars, I reflect upon a recent session where one of that night’s big names was a winner to me before he collected his long overdue Oscar.

Fade In magazine had hired me to create a portrait of Jeff Bridges for their cover, along with images for the feature story in the upcoming issue. And with all the Oscar buzz in the air the pressure was on. Having been in the belly of the cinematic beast for many years, I still know it is a blessing to have an actor walk into my studio who has multiple Oscar nominations over a 40 year career and is the heavy favorite to land the big prize. However, with such a buzz around Bridges you have to wonder exactly how long he will be in the studio before he is whisked away to his next obligation.

This photo shoot was to be the last pre-Oscar photo session for Bridges. The studio was prepared with three different lighting set ups, but the weight of the situation was on the shoulders of me and my team to get the shots done, and get the shot. Since we were his last photo shoot before the Oscars, he was probably counting down the minutes for this circus to be over. It’s not like “The Dude” (Jeff Bridges character in “The Big Lebowski”) is going to walk into my studio and just hang out. He has places to go and people to see, right?

Opening image of Bridges © Jerry Avenaim Photography for Fade In 2010

The morning began with my crew and I ready to get this done the best way we know and as quickly as possible. Then in walked Bridges, but if you closed your eyes all you heard was “The Dude.” Normally celebrities with such a busy schedule like Bridges’ smiles and nods as they walk in with their entourage of publicists, representatives, and agents, and walk out just as quickly. But Jeff stopped and shook hands with everyone in the room. This was not a man who was counting down the minutes, he was cherishing each and every second of his experience!

Over the years I have photographed many celebrities and each shoot is impossible to describe in only a handful of words, but this session left me speechless. A man who is part of an acting legacy, who has been around this type of situation all his life, is sitting back and being genuine, polite, honest, and more importantly, seeming to enjoy each moment. We had in the studio a rare $20,000 Gibson guitar brought in as a prop for one of the shots, reflecting his nominated (now award winning) role in Crazy Heart. He picked it up and said, “Oh man that’s nice of you to get me this, I didn’t get you anything though.” An accomplished guitarist, Bridges knew it wasn’t a gift and was making a joke knowing how rare this guitar actually was. As the shoot progressed he would ask questions regarding my camera and the lighting, not for conversation but because he is also an accomplished photographer.

The bottle of Kahlua signed by "The Dude" Jeff Bridges

It’s simply amazing to meet someone in person that you have seen on screen for years and realize, “he really is that guy.” He seemed always down to earth, polite and kind, funny and curious, and humble, even more so considering being the odds on favorite for the Oscar this year.

I’m sure many reading this are wondering about the how the images were lit and the more technical aspects of the shoot. This is something I will get into next time I have a moment to sit down and write it out with helpful diagrams. You will  see that entry (along with additional images) both here and on the Profoto blog.

Lastly, I’ve always been a fan of the movie The Big Lebowski, I had a bottle of Kahlua (a key ingredient to the drink of choice of his character in the film) in the studio thinking that if there was time I would ask him to sign it on his way out. There was time. Upon handing Bridges the bottle, I saw him begin to scribble all over the label of the bottle. A moment later he handed me the bottle with his sketch “The Dude” over the phrase “Jerry abides” and his signature. Jeff Bridges was a true pleasure to work with. He’s a musician, a photographer, kind, and an artist in everything he does. . . . And now, he’s an Academy Award Winning actor to go along with it.

If you would like to see the entire shoot online, check out Fade In magazine!

Happy shooting,

Jerry Avenaim

Beverly in the 1970's

Photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders opted for “no retouching” in his 8×10 photographs of supermodels from the ’70s and ’80s for his show now on view at the Steven Kasher Gallery in New York City. “Some of these women have electively turned back ‘time,’” he writes. “In a sense, they arrived at the studio already ‘photo-shopped.’ And that’s beyond my control. But how I shoot, my lighting, my choice of camera and lens, that’s all my decision. Blame me if you think I should have retouched and retouched and retouched, but I think these women look beautiful just the way they are.”

Beverly Johnson made fashion history as the first black cover model of Vogue in August, 1974. Photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

You can read more about his techniques and decisions here.

Interesting thoughts…?

Jerry Avenaim

Considering that shooting deliberately with intent was the theme of the previous two articles here on the blog, I felt that for this week’s entry, I’d wrap it up with, “The 36 Exposures Challenge.” When I stumbled upon this, I thought, what a great idea! With 16 and even 32GB memory cards becoming more and more popular, it’s like people are running around with their cameras loaded with full 20 roll bricks of film and seemingly unlimited exposures. What a great exercise this challenge is, to force a retooling of the speed at which you shoot, and to think about how and when you depress the shutter button, as in this case, you really do “only” have 36 frames, which really, is still a lot of frames to shoot if you think about it.

I’d love to hear from any of you who try this. How was it? How did it affect your approach to making an image? And perhaps even share one of the results.

“I once had a student at Bard College, where I teach, who was taking portraits. The results kept disappointing him, so each week he took more and more pictures. Still he was disappointed. Finally, I assigned him to make only one exposure the next week. The picture was excellent. His problem was that he substituted quantity when trying to come to terms with what he wanted in his pictures. If an artist doesn’t work with conscious intentionality, sometimes no amount of editing helps. There are other times when the lack of self-censorship that digital can engender communicates a more intuitive energy.”  -From the Pop Photo interview with Stephen Shore

Missing the challenge of taking photographs with “intent?” Perhaps shooting digital is pushing your mind to act too fast and not taking the time to think about the purpose of the image? File Magazine, Flak Photo and Coudal Partners have joined to create a very interesting challenge: “The 36 Exposure Challenge.”

We are asking photographers to use a film camera to explore Shore’s concept of “conscious intentionality.” Broadly speaking, we are challenging photographers to do two things: articulate a concept, project, or theme and then use a film camera to photograph the images to illustrate it. There are, then, two parts: creating the idea and then acting on it.

Give it a try, think about a mini-project, and take the challenge to think and plan the images to communicate the purpose and the intent you’d like to achieve. Photographing your images with such intent will make you think. It will make you plan. It will help you to focus and be selective, and it will make you a better photographer.

Happy shooting!

Jerry Avenaim

Before I get started with this week’s blog entry, I’d like to thank my good friend Jeff Berlin for following up his comments in last weeks entry as guest blogger this week.

Jerry Avenaim’s comments last week in this space, their theme of discipline with regard to photography struck such a note with me that I felt compelled to reply. That reply became this blog entry.

Photo © Jeff Berlin (click to enlarge)

Like Jerry, I worked as a photographer, shooting primarily beauty, in Milan and then Paris. Likewise, Jerry and I both shot with large format cameras for Italian Vogue when we were young photographers. It was an amazing and invaluable experience for a young photographer to work with, and be groomed by, some of the top fashion and beauty editors in the business.

Milan, and Paris, where the market and clients are more international, served as a sort of boot camp for aspiring fashion photographers. It was well known that if one had the desire to ascend the ranks and shoot for the Vogues, Elles and Harper’s Bazaars of the world, which would hopefully lead to lucrative advertising campaigns, spending time pounding the cobblestones in Milan and knocking on the doors of magazines and agents was de rigueur, for everyone knew then that the ticket to the brass ring of fashion photography was through obtaining practical work experience, and tearsheets, in Milan and Paris.

I can only imagine what it’s like now — going to Milan or Paris like we did back in the day and knocking on Vogue’s door. Can you imagine Franca Sozzani or Ariela Goggi saying back then, Send me your link and we’ll take a look.

How many of us would have even made it to Milan had that been the case? Technology’s definitely been a double-edged sword for photography, for there’s no doubt that the while web has brought the world to your laptop, it’s also changed the game of international photography.

Indeed, had we all had websites like today, how many photographers would have even ventured on spec to Milan or Paris or London or Munich or Sydney or Sao Paulo or Tokyo, hoping to meet with magazine editors and score real tearsheets? We would instead send editors a link to our site, and upon our first and second rejection, or after not hearing back at all, perhaps we would never have persevered, plunked for that ticket on Alitalia and made a commitment to working long term in a foreign land.

Jerry said last week, “In the end, the image is not determined by the equipment used but by the person who was using that equipment.”

L'Oreal © Jeff Berlin (click to enlarge)

I have always strived, as a photographer, to find strength in my pictures by what was in front of my camera when I was shooting, and not rely on elaborate post production to whip an image into shape, and I definitely never “spray and pray” and hope for the best. This I learned back in my formative days in Milan, when there was no Photoshop or world wide web, and what I shot, on each single sheet of film, after careful, deliberate and collaborative composition, was what I got, and what I turned in to the magazine. Jerry mentions, “There is a very different feeling in hoping one shot out of 10 is the one you want as opposed to knowing the one shot you took is exactly what you wanted.” Shooting only a handful of sheets of large format film per shot, I had to know that each time I clicked the shutter, I was getting an image that I potentially could turn in to the client with confidence. Things don’t happen fast in large format, so the deliberative process is inherent to the medium. Obviously, one never gets the shot every time, but with experience and patience, I pulled a high percentage of good images from few sheets of film.

I should also mention that at this time, Italian Vogue limited the amount of sheets, or rolls of film that we could shoot per shot. We weren’t allowed many. And getting the shot came down to discipline. Spray and pray just wasn’t an option; it didn’t exist.

It would seem to me that the photographer who employs the spray and pray method would probably never reach the consistent level in their work necessary to warrant a trip to Europe for work. Hell, they might not even have the patience it takes to work, and live, in Italy, where things happen in their own time. This photographer might also be the same person who never shot a roll of film nor learned how to use a hand-held light meter, like a Sekonic, and instead ballparks their initial camera setting and fine tunes their exposure by chimping and the histogram. How would they ever consistently produce an image of quality. Or in other words, how would their work be repeatable.

And to consistently produce images worthy of world-class magazines takes a lot more than effective SEO, cool web design, and mad Photoshop skillz. (deliberate “z”)

Polaroid © Jeff Berlin (click to enlarge)

That’s not to say that all of that isn’t important. It is, and digital technology has exponentially improved photography in so many ways. It’s brought so many more into the fray, which is great, but it’s also oversaturated the photo market, but that’s a whole ‘nother conversation. Now, though every serious photographer has a website and maybe even a blog, and it’s never been easier to promote oneself to a wide audience and get seen way beyond the horizon, we’ve also learned that technology is still not a substitute for meeting with clients, and potential clients, in person. Jerry and I would never have shot for Italian Vogue had we never knocked on their door, in person, and shown to the editors that gave us our break commitment, dedication, and a bit of humor and talent. No matter how fantastic a website, it doesn’t replace interpersonal dynamics, which go far in sealing the deal.

In the end, I’m still a bit old school and love to shoot film, which of course I then digitize. But I have embraced the vanguard of digital, love just as much to shoot with my 5D Mark II and manual focus Zeiss lenses, tethered cord-free with a Pocket Wizard. I marvel at the quality of the images I produce right from the camera. Though I do still try to use my DSLR much like I do my film cameras, by using lower capacity cards to approximate a roll or two of film, and by sometimes turning off the camera body’s LCD screen and waiting to see my images at the lab, in Lightroom.

Would love to hear your thoughts,

Jeff Berlin

Polaroid (type 59) shot for Italian Vogue 1987 © Jerry Avenaim

“Jerry Avenaim’s images of supermodels and celebrities have captivated readers of almost every major magazine. Combining mastery of lighting techniques, the ability to guide his subjects to the limits of their expressiveness, endless energy, and abundant chutzpah, the L.A.-based shooter has attracted so much press coverage that when we asked him to dig deeper into some of the famous stories about his career, he replied. ‘I don’t know what else I can add. If you dig any deeper, I’ll be buried.’” -Excerpt from American Photo Interview by Mark Lapin.

During this interview I surprised myself, realizing what I could have witnessed firsthand during my years in photography world. This decade has seen a great evolution in how we create photographs, most notably film vs. digital. Photographers state they are “going back to film” while others sing the praises of digital and what can be done in post production. At times I feel like I am straddling the 38th parallel in this debate because I am, and always will be, a double agent.

To this day, I don’t regret stepping forward into digital. Nor do I lament not being able to step back into film, because I still have a variety of equipment to choose from in both avenues of image capture. Each camera I own is a tool, one that serves a purpose of capturing what I’m trying to convey in my photographs. By having all of these options at my disposal I am never compromising my photography, or my vision, by restrictions inherent to technology or available films.

In the end, the image is not determined by the equipment used but by the person who was using that equipment.  If given a pinhole camera, many photographers I know would be able to make a photographic essay shooting with only that. Of course, knowing your equipment and maximizing its potential is what will make you the photographer you are, not a visit to the camera shop and buying the most megapixels or the top shelf films.

Polaroid (type 55 negative) shot for Italian Vogue 1987 © Jerry Avenaim

I started shooting large format at a very early stage in my career. This gave me the discipline that I feel photography requires. To study my subject, compose my image, and when the moment comes, to capture it. This practice has carried over into every format and medium I shoot today.  The patience, precision-all my images were born from mastering the properties of large format film cameras.  By today’s standards a large format camera is neither portable nor frugal, but to me the discipline I learned from using it is priceless and I carry it with me everywhere.

However that’s just me, many photographers, it seems, were out sick and missed the class on discipline and patience. In my fashion photography workshops I see photographers use what I affectionately call the “spray and pray” method of shooting which is simply holding down the shutter on their camera and PRAY a good shot comes out.  Many forget there is a person on the other side of their lens and to make a great photograph both sides need to work together.  A photographer can’t simply accept what is in front of them and take a  picture, that’s not being a photographer, that’s not even being a photo journalist, that’s paparazzi at best.  There is a very different feeling in hoping one shot out of 10 is the one you want as opposed to knowing the one shot you took is exactly what you wanted.

Polaroid 8x10 (type 84 and 89) shot for L'uomo Vogue 2003 © Jerry Avenaim

Digital technology has really increased “spray and pray” shooting, and many forget that the original purpose of digital technology was to eliminate the limited exposures presented by rolls of film.  Today, digital photography is much more than just “film-less shooting.” It has changed photography for the better in so many ways that I would need another blog (with sequels) to detail how.  The only downside I can really acknowledge is that I feel digital-only photographers have not learned the discipline of photography like I did with my first steps in large format.

Go out and take pictures of anything, as many shots as you want, just don’t shoot longer than 5-10 minutes.  Next pick up your digital camera and disable your LCD screen by covering it with a piece of 2 inch paper tape (this is LCD safe) and prepare to take the same images again.  However, this time, instead of limiting your time shooting we are now limiting your images- do not shoot more than 10 – 15 images (up to 30 if you were shooting medium format), but take all of the time in the world.  And finally, do not look at them until you go home or to your studio (you could even wait a day). Treat those files as though they were film.

With only so many chances, each shot is now more valuable than the last. Odds are, moving forward, you’re not going to just push the shutter without thinking first.  Engage your subject and instruct them on posing; convey the expressions you like.  You can’t wait for them to naturally give you that spray and pray shot, after all, you now only have 10 to 30 shots at most.  Was it a landscape? Has the lighting changed or will it be changing?  Will the patience and discipline of waiting a few minutes or even over an hour present the golden hour light and make the image that much better?

Having the knowledge and the equipment is a valued attribute in the photographic community. However, it is all nothing without patience and discipline.  A photograph is made by what is on both sides of the lens, and in a photographic world full of quantity it is wise to distinguish yourself by the quality of your images.

Happy shooting!

Jerry Avenaim

Directing international Commercial for XX by Mexx

As we approach a new year and a new decade, I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a joyous, healthy and very prosperous future. I look forward to sharing many photography tips, tricks and observations in the new year. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite articles from 2009.

1.) Fellowship in Photography

2.) Photography Lighting – White on White

3.) Fine Art Nude Photography

4.) Celebrity Portrait Photography

5.) Dynamic Lighting on Location

Honorable Mentions:

My Voyage of Self Discovery

Fashion Photography on Life in the Fab Lane

10 Must Read Copyright Articles for Photographers

My Favorite Assignment of 2009?

Photographer, Director and guest judge on Germany’s Next Top Model!

Happy New Year!

Jerry Avenaim

24~70 Zoom for Flaunt Magazine

Fashion photography is a unique combination of all types of photography. Fashion often includes portrait photography, environmental photography, product photography, macro photography, and sometimes even landscape photography are all included under the required knowledge umbrella to be successful in fashion photography.

In order to deliver a successful fashion photography shoot, you’re going to need lenses that allow you to capture each of these aspects with artistry and creativity. In a perfect world, we’d have the finances and manpower to haul every available lens to the venue; but in reality, we’re limited to a handful of accessible, high-quality, and versatile lenses.

Here is a list (from my camera bag) of must have lenses for any given fashion or advertising assignment. I’m listing Canon lenses since I primarily shoot with 5D Mark II’s when it comes to my DSLR choice, but each lens listed should have an equivalent for other brand name DSLR producers.

Variable Zoom Lenses
1. 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Zoom Lens
This is my favorite lenses. it’s fast and versatile, it allows for quick shooting and it’s razor sharp. I can use this lens while shooting a portrait and pull out wider with it to include the environment when on location.

2. 70-200mm f/2.8L Zoom Lens
This lens creates a beautiful bokeh (blur) at f2.8, and the compression you get when you’re zoomed in from 150-200mm gives your image a look that’s hard to achieve with any other lens. It also allows you to get in close on the subject without disrupting the moment you are trying to capture.

3. 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Sometimes the 24-70mm lens just isn’t wide enough to capture everything you want. The ultra wide angle helps you capture your surroundings, such as in reportage on the street or in tight spaces.

Prime Lenses
4. 50mm f1.2 L USM Prime Lens
This is another one of my favorite lenses. It can save the day when the light starts to drop and allow you to bring out the backgrounds. It also, makes you less reliant on your flash, creating a softer, more natural look for your subjects. The 50mm also allows you to create stunning portraits, as the low aperture creates the shallow depth of field that makes your subject pop off the page and softens your subject’s skin.

5. 85mm f1.2L II USM Prime Lens
This is a great lens, but not a necessity if you’re happy with the results from your 70-200mm. The nice thing is it is the perfect portrait lens and carries a fraction of the weight of the aforementioned variable zoom.

6. 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
If your shooting beauty and are not able to back up enough to gain the compression you would with a 200mm here is the solution. With the 100mm Macro, you can capture detailed shots with the same quality and detail as product advertisements in magazines. because t is a macro lens, it is a bit flatter, thus giving you the feel of the 200mm compression. In addition, if you want to come in tight for a detail shot such as the lips or an eye, this is your baby.

What are your favorite lenses?

Jerry Avenaim

Jerry Avenaim for Diesel

In photography, we the photographers are often asked to shoot on a white seamless background (or a cove). One of the most challenging shots in fashion, advertising, and catalog photography is to photograph a subject wearing white clothing on a white cove with perfect separation.  In images I have seen by others, there is often no separation between the white clothing or material and the white background. Over the years, I have heard so many photographers explain how they are able to achieve this in such a clean manner leaving no spill of light on the clothes or subject.

Some have said they have to be a certain distance from the background so their is no flair or wrap around of light. Rubbish! Some have these complex equations that I think require the photographer to have a doctorate to even comprehend. For instance some believe that if the background meters at F32 and the main light reads F11, and they are 16.5 feet away, they will get the perfect separation. Rubbish!

Advertising Photography for Diesel

Now remember, to keep this consistent, they keep running to the wall to take a meter reading then back the subject to take another meter reading until that formula has been achieved. Okay, well what if you don’t have 16.5 feet or 20 feet or what ever your magic formula thinks it has to be?  Some photographers have a studio, others a garage, the formula works under conditions.  But nobody wants to run back and forth and you are not going to call Home Makeover just so that you can shoot white on white images.

Here is a simple tip to make you life easy, your white background photos consistent and flawless with no wrap, spill or flair of studio strobe lighting.

Light the white background (however you like, preferably with studio strobes). I happen to use two Profoto umbrellas stacked on each side, so you have four lights total facing the white seamless background (or cove). Then light the subject however you prefer. This brings us to the one stop rule. Take a reading of your subject, place the meter under the chin, point it at the camera and pop the flash. Let’s say the light on the face and body reads F11. Simply place the meter on the persons backside now facing the white seamless or cove and pop the flash again. You want the light traveling back to the subject to be no more than one stop less than the previous main reading on the key (front) lights. So therefore in this case, your reading on the face as I said earlier was F11 and the reading on the persons back should read F8 giving you a perfect separation between subject and and background!

Reading one stop under whatever the main light reads is the key to a consistent clean white background image. Even if the subject is wearing white clothes!

Voila, the one stop rule! And no more Rubbish!

To see more samples, visit my main web site here.

Happy shooting!

Jerry Avenaim
This post is for my friend and comrade Gerry Hanan
PS. Yes, ask questions as I’m sure there are some

Fashion and Beauty Photography Demonstration

Earlier this year, I was giving a lecture and conducting a live cover photo shoot at Samy’s Camera here in Los Angeles for photographers of all levels. I began the lecture with a statement that was so simple, so earnest, you would expect to hear it from your own mother.  I asked each attendee to look at those sitting to each side of them, to see them not as their competitors but rather as their comrades. If they could see that, they would succeed. How do I know this? Because it’s how I have treated other photographers since I began my photographic journey over 20 years ago. And it was because of those comrades that I met at a cafe in Milan I began shooting for Italian Vogue and other Conde Nast publications. This simple lesson has remained with me over the years and it appears the lesson resonates still.  My friend and former assistant Jason Christopher was in the audience and I later found out that my message resonated with him as he passed it on as well in his blog.

As comrades you help each other and experience far more success than you will failure because you are brothers and sisters in arms. To support and help or guide one another is how we not only survive, but thrive in these difficult times! It is beyond me how many photographers today can’t get along with other photographers for reasons so trivial that I wonder when our mothers are going to shout at us  “Play Nice!”

The photographic industry is as competitive as ever with many trying to break in while others are simply trying to survive. I’ll say it again, change your path and perspective and not only will you survive but you shall thrive.  With the tug of war and popularity contest going on nobody will make any progress.

Explaining the Light

Over 20 years ago when I was breaking into this industry, I had access to and was able to soak in information and experience first hand the work ethic of many established photographers, none more so than the legendary Patrick Demarchelier.  From my years with him I learned everything from loading cameras with film, to how to handle my business, and above all, how to treat my clients and my peers. I once owned a book titled, “Seven in New York.”  It was about seven French photographers (of which one was Demarchelier) who went to New York and helped one another establish themselves in the photographic community. The book had a huge impact on my life and I wish I had it while I was working for Patrick.  Not only could I have had him sign it,  but can you imagine what it would be like to read a book about someone who was in the same situation you are currently going through and that person also happens to be your boss?  Think of the water cooler conversation possibilities on that one!

The time spent, and lessons learned from those days with Patrick, to this very day affect who I am as a photographer and a person. If you ask me how to do something, I will not only tell you but I’ll draw you a map!  Your body of work is not just the images you create over the years, but the images you help to create even if you are not the one pushing the shutter.  Another photographer is not your enemy, another photographer is your brother/sister in arms.  Just as you can help them grow they can help you.  As Mom says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Jerry Avenaim

Celebrity fashion photographer Jerry Avenaim gives Kimora Lee Simmons a crash course in high-end advertising fashion photography so she can shoot her men’s fall campaign Phat Premium. So, will she sink or swim?

Fashion is one of the most critiqued form of genres in photography, advertising is one of the most financially funded types of photography, when combined the weight of the world has been added to the photographers shoulders.  One would think the responsibility and repercussions of your work could not increase with this already potent combination, but that is exactly what happens when you are the first to photograph a new clothing line.

This was the situation for me when I was asked to photograph Kimora Lee Simmons for Phat Farm’s first ever advertising campaign.  Now over a decade later Phat Farm has called on me again, except this time Kimora will be wearing my shoes as the photographer. In addition to being a Model, a Mogul, and a Mom, Kimora was ready to take the weight on her shoulders and create and capture images for the brand new advertising campaign for Phat Premium.

The pressure of being the first photographer for a new clothing line is intense.  The photographs are laying the foundation of what will become the style and brand of that company for years to come.  My work on the first ad campaign with Phat Farm did exactly that reflecting the style and shape the future advertising campaigns, now it was Kimora’s turn to do the same for Phat Premium.

Enjoy the video, and I hope you get the message, it’s never to late to learn new skills!

Kimora had already expanded Phat Farm and today it’s clothing line to include Baby Phat, Phat Classics, and the Phat Premium clothing line she was going to photograph the launch of.  Having been in front of the lens Kimora knew what poses to do, and now being the photographer she knew exactky the images and style Phat Premium required.

The images shot at Griffith park had traces of the original Phat Farm campaign, however these had a refinement and style that was pure Kimora. Before my very eyes I could see how the images I had photographed years ago continue to shape and influence the current advertising campaign.  Working from the foundation laid down by the original Phat Farm advertisements, Kimora was able to incorporate the past into the future with her images for Phat Premium.

Have fun shooting and feel free to post any questions!

Jerry Avenaim