All Images ©2009 David Anthony

I have had the great fortune of becoming friends with fashion photographer David Leslie Anthony. I have to say, during the journey of my career as a professional fashion photographer, making friends with other photographers in this business hasn’t been easy. Last year, David and I signed with the same agent and he made contact with me, which kind of surprised me, to be honest. From our first phone conversation, though, we hit it off. His honesty and integrity really impressed me and I’ve sort of been “hooked” on him since that first call. I have known of David and his work since the early ’90’s when we both emerged as working fashion photographers and I’ve always admired David’s eye. I truly believe his work is evidence of his incredible vision. But as I’ve gotten to know David over the past year, I have discovered that our friendship has been a gift. He is a top-notch businessman. He’s also very funny and has great stories! Aside from being amused by his sense of humour, I always learn something that helps me understand the business side of the industry. A few weeks ago, during one of our marathon phone conversations, we talked about me interviewing him for my blog and he kindly agreed. I think it’s important for my readers to learn about other photographers and how they got started and how they stay on top of the ever-competitive and quickly becoming overly-saturated market of Fashion Photography. I put together 20 questions and emailed them to him, also asking for him to submit some of his work. He replied with his answers and images and I quickly opened the zip file to dive in and read his replies. I have a feeling you’ll get why I am so taken with him. He’s the Real Deal. He’s been doing this a long time, he is a master at his craft and he thoroughly understands the business side as well. I am a huge fan of his work, a deep admirer of his work ethics and I’m grateful to call him my friend. So without further ado, let me introduce you to David Leslie Anthony!

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(4.96 stars, 23 ratings)

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All Images © 2009 Melissa Rodwell Photography

When asked to shoot an editorial for Genlux Magazine, Stephen Kamifuji, the creative director, gave me two choices: I could shoot a beauty story based on a man and woman kissing or a fashion story based on the famous love story of Romeo and Juliet. I chose the fashion story. The theme for Genlux’s fall fashion magazine is Love, so obviously kissing and Romeo and Juliet are story ideas that depict the theme. Honestly I would have liked to have shot a beauty story for Genlux because it’s been a few years since I’ve done one for them but when Stephen presented both ideas to me, for some reason I felt more inclined to do the fashion story. I worked with stylist George Blodwell again because I like his work and I like working with him. Whether George’s website showcases more celebrity dressing/red carpet styling rather than editorial, one has to remember we are based here in Los Angeles and our market is celebrity driven. Many talented stylists ( wardrobe, hair and make up included ) market themselves towards the celebrity market when they are based out of Los Angeles. If you click on the artists name that has a hyper link and actually check out the agency site and more importantly, the artist’s link, you will see that most agencies have a celebrity section along with the editorial and advertising sections on their artists.

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(4.83 stars, 23 ratings)

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The Truth. “Unveiled”

The reason I started this blog was to do something I’d always wished someone in my industry would do: pull back the veil of mystery shrouding professional fashion photography. I wanted to write about things that could be useful to other photographers, whether they were just getting started or already established. I wanted to present an honest, no-holds-barred account of what it’s like to work as a photographer in the hyper-competitive world of fashion. And I wanted to include it all: The good. The bad. The ugly.

Not long after I published my first post, however, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to write quite as freely and openly about everything as I’d first imagined. In other words, while I can be brutally honest and truthful about  most of the facets of my job, there are certain subjects I need to stay away from for the sake of professionalism. I’m a working photographer, and I need to maintain good relationships in the industry I work in. It quickly became obvious that not only students and other photographers were reading my blog. The Industry was reading it. Clients, potential clients, agents, colleagues, contacts, etc. were on here reading my words. So I’ve been careful about what I’ve presented here, and I’ve censored myself to maintain a certain level of decorum.

Until now.

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(4.56 stars, 66 ratings)

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The Movie that Lets Us Inside the Coveted Domain of MY Favorite Diva

Photo by Lori Hawkins - The September Issue

Everyone has their heroes, people you look up to and draw inspiration from, and Anna Wintour is definitely one of mine. I’m sure it’s obvious why. Anyone who knows anything about the fashion industry knows Anna Wintour. Over 20 years ago she rescued American Vogue from the brink of obscurity and restored it to its Diana Vreeland-era glory days, and she’s remained one of the most important figures in the fashion industry ever since. Her eye for style is unsurpassed, her taste is impeccable, and her power and influence in this industry cannot be overstated.

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(4.67 stars, 36 ratings)

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Continuing on with YOUR Questions!

Kevin Pohl Says:

Ok so, I seem to have a trump card opportunity with this weeks blog request. And I’m sure you are tired of me nagging you with this question, but you did say that you were gonna blog about this, and you still haven’t written me your thoughts on this so here it goes. I would like you to blog about: “How does a photographer go about defining his/her creative vision? Is it something that you just have or do you need to develop it? And, if a photographer struggles with finding his/her own voice as an artist with a vision, can that photographer take certain steps to develop and define that creative vision? ” Hope you’ll blog about this soon, as it’s an important question on everyone’s lips. Everybody says, create your vision!, build your portfolio!, and market like crazy! But nobody tells us HOW to create that VISION part of the equation. Love your work, and this Blog! It’s Awesome!

Poor Kevin! He’s right…….he’s written to me personally a few times with his question. And I kept writing back to him promising I will blog about it soon. I don’t know why I keep putting it off…it sort of hits a nerve, I guess. He asks, “How does a photographer go about defining his/her creative vision?” Is he asking, how do you define your vision or your Photography STYLE? Your style is the look and feel of your work as a definitive and continuing stream. Is your work moody and surreal? Is it bright happy? Is it colorful and smiley? Or is it dark and thoughtful? These are words that would be used to describe the look or STYLE of your work. And yes, as a photographer that wants to compete in the market, a style is something that art directors and editors look for when they look at your work.

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(4.63 stars, 24 ratings)

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