In front of a camera for the first time, the soulful and remarkably talented Joe Song; hair by Angelica Bautista; photo assistant Satoshi Toda.

Before I start posting work shot at my new studio, I thought it would be a good idea to organize and post highlights of all of the sets I shot in Silverlake that I never posted, beginning with my very last test shoot.  Joe Song surprised us all – first, with his willingness to trade in his long braids for Angelica Bautista’s classic Vidal Sassoon precision cut; second, for morphing from shy teenager to seasoned performer over the course of 45 minutes.  Satoshi, in particular, was blown away by Joe’s potential…

All it took was one bottle of Veuve Clicquot (and a wind machine, naturally) to unleash Far East Fabio…

After more than half a decade in my Silverlake studio, I decided to decamp to a much larger space, with atrocious parking, in Hollywood Heights.  My last shoot in the studio was a gathering of a half dozen friends and a few bottles of champagne and a really good mix of Korean slow-jams.  And a lot of laughs.  Here are two sets of portraits from that night, starring Eugene and Leslie….

Niclas Gillis (DNA) & Nick Lacy (Next); styled by Eugene Ong; grooming by Alexis Swain @ Next Artists:  all clothes Native Son.

The last, and most irksome vanishing editorial from 2012, is this story,  shot on the fly for a brand-new Berlin-based mens fashion magazine.  The magazine approached me with their ne plus ultra media kit and a request for a story, which was then cast with the approval of their editor-in chief.  The images were destined to accompany an interview with Native Son designer Kyle Fitzgibbons for their inaugural issue.  The whole thing smacked of class and professionalism.

When the editor received the quick pulls an hour after the shoot, I got this as a reply:

“Hi Richard,

 The photos are AMAZING!

We are definitely going to run the story.

GREAT job… When you have your selects please send me the lo-res single images so that we can work them into a layout.

 Also my writer will get in touch with Native Son pr with some questions for an interview.

 I’m glad this worked out after all, and brilliantly.

 Regards”

Of course, such positivity made the 48 hour editing deadline more palatable.

The editor and I would go on to plan a few upcoming stories for future issues, the “Issue 0″ would appear on their website, the agencies would start to inquire as to when the story was running and eventually, crickets.

Not sure if the magazine is officially defunct, but that’s my bet.  In this last installment of Disappearing Act, I think it’s safe to finally release the shots.  A pity it never ran, because the guys and the team really turned it out over the course of our 90 minute shoot.

Thanks again to all involved.

special thanks to Mimi & Jillian at Next, and to Kyle at Native Son

DREAMS OF E.U.R.  -  Lucas Goossens (Wilhelmina NY);  stylist: Eugene Ong; grooming: Ernesto Casillas

“Lucas is coming.  Are you ready?” read the short email from Lucas Goossens’ L.A. agent.   Two days later, the whole team was bewitched by the astonishingly beautiful, intelligent and downright civilized Lucas, as we hustled out a story that combined location and studio set-ups.

I’ve had a longstanding romance with the Roman suburb of E.U.R. (a utopian urban planning project initiated by Benito Mussolini in 1935), and with Los Angeles’ uncanny physical resemblance to it; whole stretches of Wilshire Boulevard may as well be the Via Cristoforo Colombo.  Maybe it’s because I experienced E.U.R. before I arrived to L.A., but I can’t shake the similarities.  For this story, we mostly shot around Edward Durrell Stone’s Wilshire Collonade (1968) and Henry Kreis and Albert Stewart’s Fort Moore Pioneer Monument (1957).  Benito would be proud.

Lucas, with his Roman ringlets, seemed the perfect vehicle for creating a story that would play out my obsession.  Turning in the shots, the magazine wrote back “Richard this story is so beautiful! So happy you’re publishing it in ________. Amazing! Thank you again!”

After waiting six months, I realized that not only would the story never run, the issue itself would never materialize….and within a few months of our shoot, Wilhelmina would put the kibosh on Lucas’ curls, giving him a very polished, grown-up cut.  It was just never meant to be……I’m just happy that Lucas’ career seem to be progressing nicely.

At any rate, I just remembered that I shot this group of photos, and so here are the pictures in the sequence they were meant to appear.  Many thanks and condolences to all involved – at least it was a super-fun day…

Just one sip, and you will vanish forever:  Satoshi  (New York Models) & Lisa Marie (Ford); hair – Caroline Ramos; makeup: Thea Istenes;  photo Assistant: Kacie Tomita

Sometime in the Spring of 2012, Kacie Tomita and I decided to collaborate on a story – we’d shoot the same two models and style and assist for each other, in wildly different settings.  My set was shot in the studio, whereas Kacie traipsed the entire team up to a hidden canyon, shrouded in thick fog, for her magical set.  Fun (and to some, extent, terror) was had by all.  Unfortunately, this two-fold story, while commissioned by a magazine, disappeared without a trace.

Over the course of 2012, this happened three times.  Discouraging, to say the least, mostly because of the time and effort spent by the models, artists, crew and agents.   In the intervening months, many of the models have completely new looks, and so the images are pretty outdated.  I decided to start posting these missing stories, one at a time….

Thanks again to all involved.  Hopefully, for this story, Kacie will post her set as well….

special thanks to Lisa Tarlow, and to Monica at Ford

The incredible Armando Cabral (Wilhelmina NY) in an homage to Schiaparelli. Fashion Editor Carl Barnett. Order the latest issue of Fashionisto Magazine here.

Armando Cabral, has always been my favorite model since he first appeared on the scene, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to shoot him for Carl at The Fashionisto. The beautiful shoes are from Armando’s line, but the clothes arrived an hour late, which gave us time to chat with Armando about his career, past present and future…

special thanks to Carl…

Australia’s And Men Magazine Number 16 is on newsstands, featuring this editorial that stars Satoshi Toda  (New York Models / Marilyn MGM Paris); hair by Jill O’Neil

A simple, monochromatic set of Satoshi Toda (New York Models / Marilyn MGM Paris); hair by Angelica Bautista; all clothes – Alexander McQueen & Maison Martin Margiela.

A quick, early morning portrait series of Satoshi Toda (New York Models), shot for The Fashionisto.   See the entire set on The Fashionisto Daily Digest here.

special thanks to Carl at The Fashionisto

The four models pictured here (in throw-away shots from separate editorials) have become the four faces that most inspire me, and I would pretty much drop everything to shoot any of them, at any time.  As bad luck would have it, none of them currently call Los Angeles home, so I will take what I can get, when I can get it.  Satoshi is in the middle of a brief, hectic stint in L.A., and he’s staying a stone’s throw away from my studio, so you can expect to see a handful of upcoming collaborations…

At any rate, all four of these models have everything a photographer could ask for; great bones, great eyes, great skin, great bodies, great personalities. And most importantly, great generosity.

[Editorial outtake]:  Niclas Gillis & Erika Linder (Next); styling by Jamie Lauren Salazar; hair by Kali (Celestine); makeup by Heather Currie (Cloutier Remix)

[Editorial outtake]: Satoshi Toda (New York Models) & Lisa Marie (Ford); hair by Caroline Ramos (Next Artists); makeup by Thea Istenes (Next Artists)

special thanks to the teams, and to Monica at Ford and Mimi and Jillian at Next