Further Up and Further In

NEW BLOG HOME!

2011-12-07T16:52:00.001-05:00

I'm moving my blog to http://www.gsaphotoblog.com. Please head that way for new news. Thanks, Glynis

Cinematic

2011-11-23T18:06:00.001-05:00

New beauty story starring Kate Kosushkina at Ford. Makeup and Hair by Angela Di Carlo.

New Fashion Editorial for The National

2011-11-16T15:52:00.001-05:00

Wardrobe Lara Backmender

Makeup Blair Jaffer

Hair Marcos Diaz

Model Marine at 1

Mates of State in Spin

2011-09-18T16:25:00.003-04:00

Jason and Kori are the chillest band to shoot.

BBW Fall 2012

2011-09-15T16:54:00.002-04:00

New look book shots for new website launch. Looks great!

Nowness with Natalie Joos

2011-09-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/9/13/1628/natalie-joos-nyfw-diary

Charlotte Kemp for Vogue Japan

2011-08-31T19:15:00.002-04:00

Ahna O'Reilly of The Help

2011-08-21T01:02:00.002-04:00

The Belle Brigade

2011-08-21T00:19:00.000-04:00

I worked with Barbara and Ethan last year, and they are the nicest, coolest people, and I loooove their music. Go see them this fall on tour with GroupLove and then Blitzen Trapper.

Nikki Lane Vogue Artist of the Week!

2011-08-08T12:01:00.002-04:00

http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/artist-of-the-week-nikki-lane/

Maria K Single Cover

2011-07-21T15:47:00.002-04:00

Chiara Clemente for Lula

2011-07-19T14:47:00.000-04:00

Nikki Lane EP Cover

2011-07-19T14:33:00.004-04:00

Buy it! Nikki's amazing, a good friend of mine, and I took the photo.

Lindsey

2011-06-10T23:00:00.000-04:00

Outtake from Florence Welch Shoot

2011-06-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

With my dog, Argo. He's available for shoots. :)

Florence for the Cover of Bust

2011-06-02T09:14:00.000-04:00

I shot this cover of the very cool Florence Welch.

Winner in the PDN Photo Annual 2011!

2011-05-24T16:56:00.000-04:00

I am a winner in the Editorial Series category for my story of influential African American artists in L'Officiel Paris. This image is of Mickalene Thomas in her studio in front of one of her paintings.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Giorgio Martinoli
ART DIRECTOR: Adrien Pelletier
STYLIST: Brett Bailey

New Catalog for Midori Ribbon

2011-04-22T00:39:00.000-04:00

New Cover! Kat Dennings for Complex

2011-03-25T11:58:00.002-04:00

Star of 40 Year Old Virgin, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, and the upcoming blockbuster Thor with Natalie Portman.

Preview of New Fashion Shoot

2011-03-22T21:07:00.001-04:00

Marsha No. 1

2011-03-11T09:39:00.002-05:00

Number One Debut for Marsha Ambrosius. I shot the packaging and promo for this album.

A Couple Outtakes of Alexis Krauss

2011-03-09T11:09:00.001-05:00

Preview of New Catalog I Shot

2011-03-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

Most fun catalog ever.

My Agency's Rocking the Charts

2011-03-01T17:26:00.004-05:00

Lauren Dukoff took Adele's Record cover and I took Marsha's. Top of the iTunes charts!

A Few From Joshua Tree

2011-03-01T13:33:00.001-05:00

Esperanza Spalding Wins Best New Artist Grammy!

2011-02-14T17:45:00.002-05:00

I photographed her this fall at The Red Lion in NYC. Styling by Brett Bailey at Atelier and Hair & Makeup by Sheri Darlyn Terry.

More Marsha Ambrosius Record Covers

2011-02-13T23:17:00.001-05:00

Madelene Video

2011-02-09T15:28:00.002-05:00

Madelene Casting Photos

2011-02-08T15:15:00.003-05:00

Madelene at Marilyn NY

As They Were: Monika McCarrick

2011-01-28T15:01:00.001-05:00

Archived Shoot of Monika McCarrick at Trump.

Mexico

2011-01-27T09:58:00.004-05:00

Check out my pictures of Mexico, specifically Isla Mujeres, on my site.

Playground

2011-01-27T09:56:00.001-05:00

Denver, Colorado

Album Cover - Marsha Ambrosius

2010-12-01T14:09:00.002-05:00

For Sony/RCA. Marsha is awesome!

Giant Artists NOW Show December 17th in LA!

2010-11-29T14:39:00.003-05:00

Come out and see the show! We will have a good time. :)

Black is Beautiful Story in L'Officiel

2010-11-16T12:10:00.004-05:00

Gabourey Sidibe

Thanks to stylist Brett Bailey, makeup artists (and hair!) Vincent Oquendo (Gabourey, Mickalene and Yaya) and Sheri Darlyn Terry (Esperanza).

Denim Daydream

2010-11-01T13:01:00.004-04:00

Full Story to be posted to my site soon. Hair by Eloise Cheung. Makeup by Diane da Silva. Stylist Kate Erwin. Model the most beautiful Chrishell at Supreme.

I'm enchanted by Kemp and Sean Lennon

2010-09-21T16:34:00.005-04:00

Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp outside his studio in Upstate New York! What an inspiring landscape, right? We are the first team ever to shoot there. They were amazing. Charlotte is brave and Sean is such a gentleman. Priscilla Polley styled and Angela DiCarlo did hair and makeup. Please go to my site to see the full story.

New Story / The National Magazine of Abu Dhabi

2010-08-12T20:28:00.004-04:00

One of My Favorites

2010-08-08T13:48:00.002-04:00

Why I Am Not a Painter

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
"Sit down and have a drink" he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. "You have SARDINES in it."
"Yes, it needed something there."
"Oh." I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. "Where's SARDINES?"
All that's left is just
letters, "It was too much," Mike says.

But me? One day I am thinking of
a color: orange. I write a line
about orange. Pretty soon it is a
whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, of how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven't mentioned
orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES.

- Frank O'Hara

New Earnshaw's Cover!

2010-08-02T06:21:00.001-04:00

Alexis Jordan for Roc Records

2010-04-26T18:18:00.009-04:00

Alexis is the nicest girl, and her music is awesome! Check out her myspace here.

Dawn is Mine: Lula Issue #10

2010-03-02T12:41:00.005-05:00

Marilyn Project published in Lula Issue 10! Never before seen edits of Eniko and new to the project, Taylor Kraemer, Melo Dagault, and Gracie Carvalho.

New Shoot of Sessilee Lopez for the cover of Trace Magazine

2010-01-20T16:06:00.004-05:00

Element Fall Campaign Shoot in Salton Sea Preview

2010-01-18T11:08:00.002-05:00

Dark Star Feature in Lula Issue 9

2009-10-05T14:28:00.004-04:00

I shot amazing artist Mercedes Helnwein in her LA studio for Lula's newest issue. Check out her work! It is beautiful.

Melo Abloom

2009-09-28T03:04:00.001-04:00

Boys in Cape Cod

2009-09-08T15:09:00.001-04:00

Eniko

2009-09-03T11:53:00.003-04:00

Lake Greenwood, South Carolina

2009-09-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

Random light appeared to shine on Shirin.

San Fran Mag Cover!

2009-06-11T14:28:00.001-04:00

Sophia, 12, Falls Church, Virginia

2009-05-04T14:09:00.002-04:00

Interview on Fashion Copious

2009-02-22T14:31:00.011-05:00

Original Post on Fashion Copious.

A Talk with Glynis Selina Arban.

Let's start with your childhood if I may. You're from Charleston SC, what type of environment did you grow up in, what or who inspired you as a child; and tell us a little about your grandmother, Millie Lewis, who was a top NY model back in the 40's. Did you know her and did she have an effect on you?

My mother is from one the oldest families in the South-- all the way back to the brother of Meriwether Lewis and including an officer who fought in the Revolution. An ancestor signed the cesession papers for South Carolina. My great, great grandfather fought in the Civil War, and my grandfather is a highly decorated WWII fighter pilot, one of the few left. My mother told me even as a very little girl, you come from a family of heroes, and it is your duty to honor them by championing the good in the world. I believe strongly in the concept of Honor.

I love being from the warm and vibrant South. It's rural landscapes and towns inspire me. My father is a doctor, so we moved around a good bit while he was finishing medical school, residency, then a few early jobs, so I've lived in Charleston, Savannah, Birmingham, rural North Carolina, and Atlanta. I love New York for what it offers me and for its energy, but I will also have a house somewhere in the South (within an easy drive of a major airport :) in the future.

My grandmother, Millie Lewis, is the most influential person in my life. She died when I was in college. She was a phenomenal Grace Kelly-esque beauty, a style icon, a business woman before it was okay (especially in the South) to be a woman in business, a civil rights leader, a wickedly funny sense of humor, a creative, an intellect, and my friend. Time I spent with her as a little girl makes up a lot of my favorite early memories. She thought when she was a little girl that she wanted to be an evangelist, then she married right out of high school a fighter pilot who died during the war, went to NY to visit a friend, got discovered by a photographer in a diner, and when she finished modeling she started the first modeling and finishing schools in the Southeast, when John Robert Powers was still just an agency in NY. It is hard to find someone who has lived for a while in Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA, who has not heard her name still. She always talked about taking me and my cousin to NY to visit, and we never got to go with her as she developed Parkinson's. I know she would be very proud of me!

I was always interested in magazines, and models, and fashion, I'm sure because of my grandmother. I was the only young girl I personally knew who would shell out 20 bucks for Italian Vogue. I kept scrapbooks of images that I liked, the more magical the better. I cannot remember it ever crossing my mind to actually try to take the pictures though. I was more interested in painting, drawing, and writing.

You're now living and working in NYC. How long have you been here and how has the move been? Was NY a natural fit? How did photography come about? You're actually self taught if I'm not mistaken!

One interesting short story, when I was born, Eileen Ford, who was a friend of my grandmother's, sent me this lovely sterling silver baby spoon with a note that said, "I look forward to seeing Glynis in NY." I'm sure she meant as a model, but it is interesting that I ended up here and just on the other side of the camera. I shot the Ford Supermodel of the World contest last year, which I think was an interesting full circle.

I moved to New York a little under three years ago basically because of one model test. I was living in Atlanta after finishing college, and my friend was mother agenting this girl that I thought was beautiful, so I agreed to take her pictures just to see what would happen. Her NY agency basically said, "We like these pictures a lot. We might use you to test more of our girls." That was enough for me, so I gave it a shot. I moved with two suitcases, no bed, no furniture, just to try it. I have an adventurous soul, though looking back, I don't think I realized how extreme a move it was. I just had no doubt. I have a deep-rooted belief in my ability to understand and adapt to new situations and challenges. Thank you, Mom. :)

So, I delved all the way into photography. I have only been a photographer for three years, and full time for all of it. I tested a lot when I started, and I still do when I get sent a girl that is inspiring. I thought about assisting, and I still am not against it by any means if I could work with someone really spectacular, but I sort of like that to this point I've had to find my own way of doing things.

I’ve learned how to direct a shoot to make sure I get what I need from the model. It gave me an opportunity to teach myself all about lighting and cameras and the technical side of photography. I taught myself Photoshop. I was a one-woman show for a while, doing styling, hair, makeup, set-up, shooting, and editing. I still don't mind doing whatever is necessary, and I understand all aspects of a shoot pretty well. I also learned speed! I think pace of shoots is extremely important, and I like the energy to stay active.

And I am still learning on every shoot, and it inspires me. I LOVE this job, and I look forward to doing it for the rest of my life. It fits my personality and skill set to a tee.

Anyone else in your family working in the fashion or art fields?

My father was a regional fashion photographer in the Southeast on a brief hiatus from medical school in the early eighties. I was very young so I don't remember this time, but he took some pretty stellar shots. He worked a lot with the models at my grandmother's modeling schools.

My mother, sister, brother-in-law, aunt, uncle, and cousin! all work for the premier acting and talent development event in the country (www.amtcworld.com). It started as an opportunity for my grandmother's models to meet with agents in 1982, but it has become respected worldwide, and for the last 27 years has launched thousands of actors, singers, dancers and models into the industry. So, I sort of grew up not so much in the industry, but at least seeing people in the industry a couple of times a year.

In school you studied literature, what drew you to that instead of photography or art?

In college, I jumped around a good bit major-wise. I went in pre-med, then went to business, then art, then ended up in the English department. I still graduated in just four years, of which I am proud, as I was taking like five upper level lit classes all at once my last few semesters. I also nearly had a minor in Italian.

I had the opinion that college should be about finding and doing what you enjoy, and the career part of college courses only applies if you want to be, say, a doctor, or a physicist. So few people use their majors in their actual careers, and even those that do often feel pinned down. I decided definitely after my first year that I was happier in the creative side of my brain, which made me realize that it didn't really matter what I studied, as long as I enjoyed it. I didn't like the way the art department was run at my school, and I loved the professors that I had in the English department, especially my medieval lit professors, so that's how I ended up studying literature.

Besides photography, you also write and paint. Which do you see to be your first love? Or do they balance each other?

I think art, writing, and photography are completely complimentary for me. In my head, they all work together. I have a great knowledge of color, of lighting, of art and literature. I still oil paint when I can. I journal. I look forward to some day soon working on a book project combining the three, and I think it would be great fun to write for some of the magazines for which I would also like to shoot. I plan to write a book based on my grandmother's life whenever I get to the right point.

From looking at your website, your interest seems to deal with the younger-female-model. Why that subject matter? What point of view and what do you try to capture and tell with your work?

This first question interests me because I have never thought about it from this perspective. I definitely prefer shooting women to men, though I really enjoy shooting male musicians and actors also. People with spirit. I understand feminine beauty, and I am not at all intimidated by it. I think too that women feel comfortable shooting with me. I am quite feminine, and I look young, and I am just using what God gave me to maximum effect.

I try to catch every subject at her or his most unguarded, which is certainly an ability that all the best photographers share. I have no desire to bring out the ugliness or the roughness of a subject. I don't think revealing the negative in a human being in the context of fashion does the photographer, the model, or the viewers of the shoot any good, on a grand scale, especially at this point in the timeline of society. The world, and the industry, need positivity.

I want all of my images to have either an air of magic or a force of positivity about them, in a deeply understandable way, and I am working toward being able to portray this abstract more and more clearly.

What's your take on nudity in fashion photography?

I have no problem with nudity in fashion, though I think sometimes it is overdone-- that is, the picture is not made more interesting by the nudity but less compelling by it. It can distract from the overall theme or mood of the picture or from the clothes. On the other hand, some of the most beautiful works of art are of nudes, and good fashion photography is art. For me, I will do a shoot with nudity if there is a obvious point to it.

I noticed the three-motions in one single photo, throughout your work. Tell us a little about that.

This triptych format was actually a request of the client, but I really enjoyed creating them! It was about showing a freshness of movement to echo the spring season.

Speaking fashion, any magazine, or designer you would like to shoot for? Or a model you have not worked with before?

-Lula
-Sonia Rykiel
-Constance again. What an amazing presence she has. So smart.

Your most recent work on the site included some nature scene and animals, are we seeing a transition?

I take photos anytime I see something that inspires me. Nature inspires me, as do animals, as do people, so I guess I just want to express that side of myself too. I do not feel limited to fashion, though I love it very much.

What photographers do you admire most your self?

-Tim Walker for every reason! Also because he doesn't sexualize his subjects, which I think is overdone.
-Mert and Marcus for color and lushness.
-Willy Vanderperre for lighting.
-Louise Dahl-Wolfe for color, shapes, and because her work reminds me of my grandmother's portfolio.
-Lillian Bassman for amazing exposures and balance.
-Annie Leibowitz when she's in fairy tale mode and also early in her career.
-Paolo Roversi for mood.
-Guy Aroch for color, action and composition.
-Ryan McGinley's for exceptional exploits in fashion.

Who are a few painters and writers you love?

Painters
Edmund Dulac
John Singer Sargeant
Andrew Wyeth
Francesco Clemente
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
John William Waterhouse

Writers
C.S. Lewis
Eudora Welty
Frank O'Hara
Billy Collins

What is next for you?
Upwards and inwards!

Favorite in the last 12 months:

Read book:
At some point in the fall, I realized I had stopped reading for a couple of years. Disturbed, I decided to start at the beginning of my affair with reading, so I've reread most of the books I loved as a child, so they are all favorites! The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, The Wrinkle in Time books. I also added the Harry Potter books for the first time, which I really enjoyed especially since I resisted reading any of them until now. I think next on the list is to reread some of the medieval texts I studied in college. And I'm working my way through the Bible.

Movie[s]:
Ratatouille. Forgetting Sarah Marshall. No Country for Old Men. In no particular order.

City:
L.A.! I just had the best week there. Went for work, and then I just stayed a few extra days. It was hard to leave as it was 80 degrees and sunny.

Magazine[s]:
Lula.
British Vogue.

Music genre or band:
Pete Molinari!

Escape:
My sister's house in Atlanta, or my mom's cabin in the mountains of Georgia. And music.

Inspiration: Edmund Dulac

2009-02-12T13:55:00.005-05:00

Yes please.

Nichola

2009-02-06T18:48:00.004-05:00

Stylist: Priscilla Polley
Hair: Mark Anthony @ EA Mgmt.
Makeup: Suzy Gerstein
Model: Nichola @ Supreme

Nikki Lane in Joshua Tree

2009-02-06T18:32:00.003-05:00

http://www.myspace.com/cannilyfreeload

Barbara Orbison

2009-02-06T18:30:00.003-05:00

Aurora

2009-02-02T19:34:00.008-05:00

Stylist: Priscilla Polley
Hair: Mark Anthony @ EA Mgmt.
Makeup: Suzy Gerstein
Model: Roza @ Elite

Weapons

2009-02-02T11:53:00.005-05:00

Instead I offer you
battle plans. Drawings with
black lines for movement. Blue crosses
where the people should be.
War does not go as we wish.
It goes as it goes and good
goes missing sometimes.

On this night
If you pass Our Lady
of the Snow, move quietly
up the lines of fences and cross
by an ash tree, you might see why
this bed will be the death of me.

I have fought my whole life.
I was raised the
warring kind.
Your blood is the blood of heroes
I was told. 'You cannot sink behind my skirts,'
my mother said. 'You must do what
you must do and you must do
more than most.'

Warriors know that war has its place.
Militia leave with their muskets
and then return them to their cupboards
and return to their fields
to lay under rustling trees to
watch the night sky.

We are on the same side, but
you would not have me speak to you like
an ally. You would
not have me joke or offer
you a pinup picture
or a smoke. You might lose any body

next to you to any wild fire, so better
to be soldier. To be gun. To be grenade
before man or name or friend.

Still I cannot see you
in the trench looking wild
and forlorn and help but
drop you a scribbled note
that reads, 'The sky's still there.
Lie on your back and see.
It is so.'

Preview of New Shoot with Rose @ Supreme

2009-01-17T00:43:00.006-05:00

Featured as Photographer To Watch in 2009

2009-01-06T16:51:00.004-05:00

Just found out I am listed in the top six Photographers to Watch in 2009 along with Sebastian Kim and Bruna Kazinoti. Cool! :)

http://www.theones2watch.com/newwave/1103/

Site Update!

2008-12-05T21:44:00.013-05:00

This story and more posted in "NEW WORK" on my site.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T21:27:00.011-05:00

In Vermont with my boyfriend's fam.

V Magazine / Supreme Finalists and Winner

2008-12-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

Addison, the winner.

Bronwyn Keenan in Her Home for Nylon

2008-12-01T16:48:00.001-05:00

Fun shoot! Her man, Michael Powers, is in the band Beastheart. They recently played with my boyfriend's band, The Weight, at Union Pool. :) Jan/Dec issue.

Constance

2008-11-15T17:57:00.005-05:00

as Helga.

Hat It Up to Here

2008-11-15T17:54:00.016-05:00

The Midnight Prayers new album cover shoot. Rock and roll should be fun.

New Shoot with Anya K

2008-11-05T15:04:00.002-05:00

Here's a preview. :)

Patrick in the Practice Space

2008-09-12T13:21:00.002-04:00

Meg on Fire

2008-09-12T13:11:00.003-04:00

Reviews of the Marilyn Show Package

2008-09-11T13:28:00.017-04:00

Here is some press about the Marilyn Show Book :)

NY Post

Models.com

The Imagist

Citified

View on Fashion

NY Magazine

Marilyn Show Package SS09

2008-09-10T19:09:00.013-04:00

The Marilyn Agency's show book I shot over the summer in New York and Paris. Trentini, Eniko, Iekeliene were highlights. I love the way Valeria Garcia moves. Nathalie and Tabea are sweethearts. Overall, it was such an inspiring project. I shot it in natural light, with natural hair and no makeup. I dreamed it up, art directed, and did all of the post. Just me and each model and about a half an hour. Thanks also to my rad assistant Murat, to The Garment Room for all of the clothes, and to Kwok, Peter, and Michael V for the support and lovely girls. Here are some outtakes from the shoot:

Trentini

Masha N.

Iekeliene

Patricia Schmidt

Who Is She?

2008-08-30T19:13:00.039-04:00

So, I suppose I will start with my start. My grandmother, Millie Lewis, is my role model. She was a successful model in New York in the late 1940's. She was a business woman before it was alright to be a woman in business. She hosted several radio shows, taught at universities, and started the first modeling schools in the Southeast, five of them, in Southern strongholds Columbia, Greenville, Charleston, Albany, and Savannah when JRP was still just a New York Agency. She was in fact a "Powers Girl." She was a civil rights leader. Her schools were among the first to integrate white and black students. Millie the Model, a Marvel comic that ran from 1945 until 1973, was partially based on her.

She was smart, driven, charismatic and wickedly funny. She grew up on a farm in small town South Carolina. She wanted to be an evangelist. She married right out of high school in wartime fashion. Her first husband, a fighter pilot, died just months after they married, and her mother thought it would be distracting for her to visit a friend in New York. She was "discovered" in a diner by a photographer. She met my grandfather, a twice decorated fighter pilot, at an Air Show where she was modeling the newest fashions on the newest planes. They eventually moved back to South Carolina and married.

My grandmother and her friend Wilhelmina.

The lucrative cosmetic campaign. ;)

My grandparents in a NYC parade.