LA Photographer Magazine

The Best Photographers from Los Angeles and around the World

LA PHOTOGRAPHER magazine

Issue no. 1 • Winter 2016

LOLA MITCHELL KREMER-JOHNSON JEAN-CHRISTOPHE DICK TAMAR LEVINE HUGH KRETSCHMER CRAIG SEMETKO GREGORY MOORE 1

IN THIS ISSUE

04 HUGH KRETSCHMER 12 KREMER-JOHNSON 20 LOLA MITCHELL 28 GREGORY MOORE 36 JEAN-CHRISTOPHE DICK 44 CRAIG SEMETKO 52 TAMAR LEVINE

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FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the inaugural issue of LA Photographer Magazine! This magazine has been a labor of love of ours for several years. While we had conceived of this idea years ago it wasn’t until recently that we were able to pull together the right resources to make it a reality.

Why did we want to create this magazine? Because while you can search on the internet for any photo imaginable, peruse photo sharing sites, and be fed daily images by online social media sites the photos get lost in all the other noise on the internet.

This magazine is about taking the time to enjoy the art being produced by many fine photographers in the Los Angeles area and around the world. The photographers in this issue all share something in common; they deliver a narrative that is fresh, unique and compelling.

COVER PHOTO “SHOE ENVY” BY HUGH KRETSCHMER

As you read through their stories you will learn about their process of discovery, developing and maturing into the artists they are today. Many started with a camera in their hands at an early age. Some went to college for art and photography. While others discovered their talents later in life and made a mid-life career change. Regardless of their histories, all of the photographers exhibited in this issue share one thing in common - their passion for creating great art.

Editor In Chief Paul Granese

So welcome to the magazine. We hope you like what you see and look forward to many more issues in the future. And all of you unique, budding, artistic photographers out there who would like a chance to be seen outside of the chatter, contact us for consideration for future editions.

Copyright LA Photographer Magazine 2016

Associate Editor Natalie Lytvak LA Photographer Magazine

Print Version available on MagCloud.com

Enjoy!

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HUGH KRETSCHMER

Hugh Kretschmer was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1960. At the age of 13 Hugh’s father, himself a photographer, taught him how to develop and process his very first black and white photograph in a darkroom that was housed in a freestanding concrete brick bomb shelter. Hugh was instantly hooked and went on to major in photography in high school, subsequently receiving his BFA in photography from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. After college Hugh’s first attempts as a commercial photographer failed and he arrived at the first of several crossroads in his career being forced to redirect his work in order to make a living.

Hugh traveled to Asia for a three-month journey documenting indigenous peoples, and entered the work into the National Geographic Internship Program. He was chosen as one of seven finalists for the three positions offered at the magazine.

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Kretschmer regrouped and developed a portfolio of still life, collage assemblages that were influenced by his love of 20th Century fine art movements, particularly Dadaism, Russian Constructivism and Cubism.

Over the course of two years working in this style, he managed to secure a steady flow of editorial clients, illustrating fiction and nonfiction stories, and several design and advertising commissions.

Kretschmer then decided to change course once moved to New York City in 1995 where he embarked on a year long personal project, titled Gastronolpolis - a visual story about a beautiful alien being who materializes on shores of the Hudson River, and trying to assimilate to her new surroundings, ends up eating Manhattan. The Fritz Lang silent film Metropolis, and his love of the Art Deco design movement heavily influenced the production design of that series, and primarily creating the props and sets himself, helped hone his handcraft skillset that he would carry forward in his career.

In 2006, Kretschmer moved his family back to Los Angeles, where he now continues creating commissioned work for advertisements and editorial clients, while pursuing his own personal still shoots and films.

Hugh also teaches photography at UCLA and Santa Monica Colleges.

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I cannot tell you where my ideas come from, or inspiration for that matter, but most certainly they are likely from all my years observing and taking in life experiences.

If something comes to mind that initially excites me, I usually don’t run out and starting putting it together right away, but rather let it sit with me for a period of time and let it percolate.

Case in point is the image, “Untitled”. In this example, I had an idea of this “other-worldly” creature for about a year or so before brining it to fruition. The look and content of the finished image is quite different from what I first imagined it would be, and there are so many other details I added to the finished image that weren’t part of the initial idea.

When I reached that point where I was ready create the image, I started by sketching the idea out rather than running to my camera.

The drawing is my blueprint, and allows me a preview of the composition, where I can gauge proportions, plan color, and decide on props and treatment of the models, etc. Once the sketch was complete, I realized I needed a prop fabricator for the model’s headpiece and a scenic artist for the painting inside the shadow box because those elements were beyond my skillset. I found a photo of a South African snail shell, and referenced the scenic background from a few Maxfield Parrish illustrations. For my part of the pre-production I had to create the miniature scenic elements of little trees and hillsides, and the shadow box itself. I wanted to make sure I could get this all in-camera and designed the box and the set to have a hole large enough for the model to pop her head and shoulders through. I chose a very simple, two element lighting scheme, and worked with a 4x5 view camera and color negative film.

I hired a special effects make-up artist for the day, and we worked together to develop a look that was consistent with my vision.

An important point I want to make about my collaborative process,is when I hire talent to help me with my vision, I allow them to do their job and make the whole part include their vision as well.

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KREMER JOHNSON = NEIL KREMER + CORY JOHNSON

Their journey began with the manuals of their new DSLR’s - The letters M, P, A and S on the camera dial caused mass confusion...

Kremer Johnson is a photography team specializing in environmental, studio, and narrative portraiture. Their images are both stylized and authentic, showcasing their subjects in engaging & impactful ways.

Cory grew up in a small town in Iowa, Neil started in Rochester, NY. They both now live at the beach in Los Angeles. They both owned businesses that fell apart in 2009 as the economy crashed. Separately they found themselves spending time with their cameras.

Neither of them had experience other than very much appreciating and collecting photography. Their journey began with the manuals of their new DSLR’s - the letters M, P, A and S on the camera dial caused mass confusion!

In the beginning, their influences came from photographers that sell tutorials on the Internet. Once they attended their first portfolio review, they realized that they had a lot to learn. They quickly broadened their vision as they looked to more successful photographers such as Art Streiber, Martin Schoeller, Dan Winters and Stan Musilek for inspiration.

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In 2012 they decided to try and make a living as a commercial photography duo. True collaborators at heart, they formed Kremer Johnson Photography to explore their combined creative vision where they now both share in all duties from ideation & pre-production through shooting & post. Together they create images for editorial, corporate, and advertising clients nationwide.

Neil and Cory collaborate on everything from ideation to retouching. Typically Neil handles the photography and Cory is in charge of the lighting team. There’s often a bit of humor mixed in with their narrative work, that wasn’t planned but came naturally from their personalities. Kremer Johnson’s goal is always to convey an emotion and for them that always comes from the eyes and the expression of the subjects.

In the last 2 years, Kremer Johnson has shot advertising campaigns for Braun, Hulu, CBS, Kong, California Energy, Southern Nevada Water, Irvine Cancer Research and others.

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There are three reasons we start the process of developing a new project: someone hires us, we’re targeting a client and we believe the series will speak to them or (this is our favorite) we have a vision and can’t rest until it’s been realized.

In the event that a client hires us, there’s typically little room for ideation unless it’s a celebrity for editorial use, then they let us do our thing. We receive a brief from the agency or the brand and we execute it. We love working this way as we can put all of our resources and energy into making the images perfect.

In the event that we’re developing personal work, we’re constantly worried about the creative decision because we’re spending our money and there’s no guarantee that it will be well received and lead to work.

When we develop work to get the attention of potential clients, it’s well thought out but we still don’t know if we’re wasting our time.

Most of our portfolio falls into the “we just have to make this” category.

Typically, one of us will have an idea that they have to make happen.

Sometimes it means selling the other person on the idea but for the most part, we both get on board rather quickly.

From that point, we have to weigh our options for location which is always the most difficult variable. We typically build sets if it’s an interior. Then comes casting, We cast first for a body type that fits the vision and then the most important part, the facial expressions. Next is wardrobe, set-styling and finally, lighting.

Lighting is a HUGE part of our work.

We light to convey a mood. We always try to shape faces with light and that often lends to the concept.

The most exciting part of getting an assignment or campaign is contacting the team to schedule because we know how happy they are to get the call. We believe in a fun set with great food. Food makes people happy.

Happy people make great work.

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LOLA MITCHELL

Lola switched to a DSLR and Photoshop when she began pursuing underwater photography. She found she was ready to graduate to Photoshop once she had cemented the idea of what she wanted to create.

Lola loves the editing process and now that she shoots with a DSLR, expanding the idea in Photoshop she can focus more in refining the details of her vision Lola strives to create beautiful pieces that inspire an emotional response from the viewer. Her technique is to create images that blur the line between photography and fine art painting. She just recently started exploring this blur further by actually painting accents with acrylics on her prints. Lola’s creative pulse is moving her to start experimenting into video as well.

Lola derives inspiration from many sources including classical paintings, music, photography, books, movies and simply abstract shapes she sees on the street.

Lola’s work has been featured on the My Modern Met website, on Saatchi as artist of the day, awarded Discovery of the Year 2015 at the Neutral Density Photography Awards, received 3rd Place in the fine art category at the Moscow Awards as well as honorable mention at the International Photo Awards 2015.

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Lola was born in Paris France. Her parents and uncle were from Argentina and had moved to Paris to pursue their artistic careers. Her father was a fashion photographer and Her mother was a contemporary dancer, Her uncle was a playwright and actor.

Growing up,

Lola was surrounded by artists from many different fields and countries.

Lola speaks French, Spanish, Italian and English. She finds traveling to be wildly inspiring and mind opening.

Lola moved to New Jersey in 1999 and then to Los Angeles in 2001. She did mostly odd jobs for years and settled on being a coordinator for documentary television before having children. She had a son and stayed home to raise him.

Her creative journey started when she started creating images on her IPhone and IPad using all the amazing apps available on ITunes. One of Lola’s friends was creating amazing collages on her iPhone and Lola was inspired to want expand her creative photography.

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Trying to explain how I work is always a challenge for me because. I try to avoid developing a process.

I find experimenting to be part of what I love about photography and if I were to repeat the same process over and over I would lose the spark. It is actually hard not to repeat the same process again and again but to me the art of serendipity is very important. I try to shoot a lot and to keep my mind open. To me editing and shooting are both equally part of the process. I have had times where an idea for a series has come to mind and I have used photos from previous shoots to supplement it.

My ideas usually emerge based on a fabric I have found, a dress I discovered; but sometimes it is an emotion I am trying to explore or a specific pose I am trying to achieve. I work with a few models that I have now known for a while so I know what I can expect from them underwater. When I do work with someone new I always let them swim for me until I get an idea of what they are capable of and what I want to shoot with them.

Because I always try to capture movement, more than how a person looks what I try to capture is how they move. I find that I try to not rationalize my process because at the end of the day when the image is complete I find that it resonates with me in so many ways.

As far as a message behind my images, I like the viewer experience to be an interpretive one. My personal feelings and ideas guide the creative process but in the end the viewer will derive their own interpretation.

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GREGORY MOORE

Gregory Moore was actually born on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California! However, he grew up in the coastal suburbs. His photography career began as a 10 year old, when his father gave me a little film camera to record his car trip around the United States with his uncle and his family - only taking about one shot every two days because he only had 24 exposures.

Gregory bought increasingly betters SLR’s in college, and shot mostly landscapes and architecture.

Loyola Marymount University published a coffee table book featuring his photography back then. He also had a number of images published in calendars.

After a several-year hiatus, Gregory returned to his camera and started shooting people as opposed to places.

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He shot a variety of people, styles and settings constantly experimenting with gear and techniques. In 2010, he thought it might be fun to shoot actual models, and soon after sought professional hair, makeup and wardrobe.

Gregory has now shot over 100 models delving into a great variety of ideas. His fashion and beauty images have been published in a dozen magazines.

He has also done commercial photography for electronics, jewelry, fashion, etc -

...and you can now see his images in national magazines like The Knot, and on headphone packaging in your local Fry’s.

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It’s really exhilarating but also very stressful to make a shoot happen. Its not just being technically proficient and creative, but to also go from 0 to 60 mph instantaneously and make snap decisions that are hopefully brilliant.

Even when there is a pretty clear plan in advance for a shoot, it seems that the actual shoot never turns out as I imagined. I need to absorb the overall feeling that I am getting from the model, styling, and possibly the location, and come up with some concept that makes it all work and then translate that into trying to make it work technically and artistically.

On one hand, I am trying to focus on the big picture - is the overall image powerful and dramatic? Does it tell a story? On the other hand, there are many technical things going through my mind such as ISO, focus, depth of field, pose, composition, etc. Often I use complicated lighting scenarios, which take a lot of fine-tuning. All the while I am attending to the technical components of the shoot

If I back up to change angle is there a light stand I am going to trip over, or a MUA taking cellphone shots?

There is a lot that can be done in post to change the direction of the original. In some cases, I shoot on location and in others I shoot in studio and Photoshop in a new background. But more subtle changes can be made too - changing the lighting a slight bit, altering the makeup, the hairstyle. I don’t feel the slightest hesitation to improve someone in Photoshop - because the entire process is one of fantasy. All of fashion is an illusion to create a vision of a human being which is stylized and extreme.

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JEAN-CHRISTOPHE DICK

From a young age, Jean-Christophe was fascinated with aviation. Being from a multi-cultural family meant that his first flight occurred when he was only a couple of months old, departing from Brooklyn to visit family in France and then the Philippines.

These first flights instilled in him a sense of adventure and a longing for travel.

After graduating from college, Jean-Christophe joined an International Aviation Organization that fed into his love of flying and allowed him to take his first steps in flying aircraft himself. After flight training in Montreal and Santa Monica, Jean-Christophe obtained his Pilot Certificate and was inspired to expand his creative photography.

Since childhood Jean-Christophe has always had a camera in his hand but it wasn’t until later in his life that he realized what was creatively possible with a camera. The rigor, training and exploration he learned in aviation he applied to Photography.

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He discovered a niche form of photography in shooting the Infrared Spectrum.

Using specially modified camera equipment, Infrared light can be captured, and worked to the point where the captured image becomes visible to the human eye.

Additionally, having access to aircraft and restricted areas of an airport have allowed Jean-Christophe to capture what it is like to be an aviator from ground, from the skies and somewhere in between.

Jean-Christophe has traveled to 6 continents in search of a different perspective on the familiar. His photographs have been on public display at the LA Fine Arts Building, Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts and ArtShare, Art House Productions in Jersey City, The Museum of Flight in Seattle and the Flying Museum in Santa Monica and Digital Arts California.

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I first heard about Infrared Photography from one of my professors as he mentioned it as more of a side note that infrared photography existed. The idea is to capture infrared light that cannot be seen by the human eye. When 35mm film was prevalent, infrared film was available from Kodak in different wavelengths for different colors combinations. Used mostly for aerial cartographic or scientific purposes,

Infrared film found a cult following among a small number of photographers.

Kodak stopped producing infrared film alongside many of its mainstay films after digital photography came to dominate the market.

The only way moving forward to capture infrared photos is to take an existing digital camera and modifying the sensor assembly to remove the ultraviolet and infrared cut filter, which removes ultraviolet and infrared light from regular photos, and to replace it with a filter that lets in infrared light.

The resulting image if viewed directly without any modifications is completely washed in red. Cameras and computer software were all designed to deal with visible light photography. Simply put, the hardware and the software could not handle infrared photos in a way that humans can appreciate. Part of the fun is to find your own way to hack through the software to get the image that you want from the infrared capture. It took a lot of experimentation to be able to obtain the look and feel consistently that I wanted from these images, though sometimes there are unexpected surprises - as what you see is not always what you get.

Therein lies some of the attraction of Infrared Photography. In essence what you are capturing in the infrared camera is not the same light that you are seeing. Objects reflect infrared light in a different way, the visible color spectrum has no bearing on the infrared image. And focusing with infrared light requires a different technique than what would normally have been used with standard photography. At the end of the day, the resulting image is that of a parallel universe, one that surrounds us but that we cannot see. I take great pleasure in showing what is hiding in plain sight, showing a scene in a way that cannot be experienced with the naked eye.

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CRAIG SEMETKO

None of my photographs are staged. They are all taken spontaneously–some with the subjects’ knowledge, most without.

When I see something that amuses me or moves me, I just ‘click.’ I’m trying to provide the elements of an interesting story in a single well-composed frame, but of course I’m not consciously thinking of that when I take the picture. In fact, I try not to think at all.

Thinking constipates things.”

Semetko was one of 10 photographers chosen worldwide by Leica Camera to be a part of its “10x10” exhibition celebrating 100 years of Leica photography. He spent three months in the fall of 2013 traveling throughout India for the project and the resulting work was exhibited at the grand opening of the new Leica headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany, in 2014. His second book, INDIA UNPOSED, was also born of this project, and was published by StreetView Press in the spring of 2014.

Mr. Semetko currently resides in Los Angeles. He regularly teaches workshops for the Leica Akademie worldwide and his photographs can be found in private collections in Europe, Asia and the United States.

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Craig Semetko is an American photographer focused on documenting the authentic human experience.

Born and raised near Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Semetko attended and graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After college, Mr. Semetko became a professional comedy writer and performer. Years later he discovered photography as another means of storytelling. His comedic background has afforded Mr. Semetko a highly developed sense of the absurd and ironic, resulting in a strong theme of humor throughout his work.

In his foreword for Mr. Semetko’s book “UNPOSED,” Magnum Photos photographer Elliott Erwitt writes,

Good photographs are tough enough to shoot. Really funny ones are even harder.

Good and funny photographs observed in nature not arranged or manipulated but simply observed in real time with amazing consistency, constitute a minor miracle now presented in Mr. Semetko’s book...In my book he is the essential photographer. That is, the one who sees what others could not have seen.”

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Eight years after I began photographing, my first gallery show was “Street Photography—From Classic to Contemporary: Henri Cartier-Bresson and Craig Semetko” at the Open Shutter Gallery in Durango, Colorado. Two years after that my first book was published. After the book came out, everyone wanted to know what I was going to do next, so I came up with my first project, photographing the United States for over a year and a half during the 2012 presidential election. About half of the photos in this piece are from that project, which I hope to have published as a book this year.

Early on I discovered the work of the great Elliott Erwitt and immediately related to his humor. I see the world in a similar way and try to capture life’s absurdity in my pictures along with the geometry of Cartier-Bresson. But not all my pictures are strictly funny; I hope they convey something else in addition.

I don’t consciously think of a message when I make photographs, but one can read a lot of symbolism in many of them. To paraphrase a quote by Elliott,

I’d like my photos to help people see serious things not seriously, and not serious things seriously.

Having discovered photography later in life while in the middle of another career, I began shooting purely as a hobby without any specific projects in mind. I had always appreciated photographs but the passion to actually take them didn’t ignite in me until I by chance discovered the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. His photos were of every day life, and I marveled at the geometry in his compositions.

Instead of telling stories through photo-essays, I wanted to do what he did, which was to tell a story in a single frame.

I saw he shot with a Leica, a camera I hadn’t even heard of, but I researched them and bought one for myself.

I began wandering around with my Leica without a real goal or purpose other than to shoot what I thought was interesting in a well-composed frame.

Technically, I use Leica rangefinders, both film and digital, and primarily 35 and 50mm lenses.

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TAMAR LEVINE

Tamar was born in New York City, and raised by storytellers. From the day she was born, her mother (a writer) and her father (a director) incubated her creativity, immersed her in art, in culture, in classic films and music. Her dad gave Tamar his photo and film cameras to play with. Her mom helped her write stories.

I don’t believe I could have become anything other than an artist who tells stories. It’s who I am.

Tamar started with photography about 18 years ago, when she was 14. Her high school interest in still photography led her to community college photo classes, which led her to Art Center, where she graduated with a degree in photography. In the ten-plus years since, She has been working as a professional photographer and as a director for fashion magazines, ad agencies, and entertainment campaigns, while taking every opportunity she can to grow via personal projects. After learning visuals and becoming a professional photographer, she did videos, look books and music videos. Currently she is working on her first feature, a web series, and a couple of commercials. Her first short, “Twenty-two Date Palm Way”, was selected to screen at LACMA for their Young Directors Night and her second film, “It’s Okay”, is currently being shown in festivals.

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For inspiration, I look all over...I love directors Stanley Kubrick and Samuel Fuller...I draw inspiration from people around me, from films, from photographs, from experiences.

I work strongly with narratives, often focusing on female characters and their relationship to themselves, to others, to the world around them.

I like to explore the line between our interior - how we see ourselves, and our exteror - as we are seen by others.

In the past few years I’ve worked more with moving images (short films, music videos, video lookbooks). Since realizing that I have a yearning to tell longer stories, to work with actors, to develop characters and to explore ideas and emotions, I started working more with video. I absolutely love it.

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