It’s quite interesting to get to know someone behind the lens. A photographer, a good one, sees beauty in some of the most ordinary situations and uses the elements around them to highlight a prospective different than the overall scene. I particularly thought this was true of photographer Jake Edmondson. He’s captured the most beautiful imagery I’ve seen of Los Angeles Fashion week. His photos take LA Fashion week to another level.
Jake, a Los Angeles based photographer, was born in the heart of Washington D.C. horse country. Over the past decade, his images have worked to capture the manifestations of human identity expressed through what they wear. This pursuit has led him to photograph people and places from the war-torn mountains of Lebanon, to the winding streets of Tokyo, and across the US from Boston to Los Angeles.
His passion leads him to collaborate with emerging and unusual artists under the notion that the polarizing effect fashion has is a manifestation of the changing world we live in. Below you will find some of my favorite image by him. The captions are by Jake, which offer the view a perspective of what was happening during that capture.
Enjoy!
XO
FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY INTERVIEW | JAKE EDMONDSON
“When I look at this photo, I see something simple built in color – and that’s in part what I like about it. The mix of color and exposure with sunbeam melting the center of the photo into white and on the periphery an exploration of a scene. The glasses wrapped in a bow, cocktail in hand, and the meandering hues of a blurred background. To me, she is Alice after her return from wonderland – a construction of elegance with eyes still lost in what she has seen.” ~Jake Edmondson
“The Ruins of Heliopolis – it was cold and rainy the day I explored the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter at the historic site of Heliopolis. What struck me first about this picture were the two splashes of color – the red of her hat and yellow of her shirt – followed by the detail that she put into her eye make-up. All around her is the crumbling decay of ornately carved stone opulence and the darkness of her clothes create a sort of vacuum that pulls to these little splashes of color and detail. This was the shot that I wanted – marveling at something just outside of frame, but with suggested historical context.” ~ Jake Edmondson
“This was actually one of the first runway shows I attended after moving to Los Angeles. It was shot at ACE Gallery, and was part of NAMI’s collection. Following runway shows, I spend a lot of time sorting through the images. Jessica stood out to me instantly. I loved the way she caught both the light and shadow in her eyes and projected a soft intensity about her expression. One of the many things I enjoy about NAMI is her ability to pair excellent models with her designs – and haven’t missed her LA shows since!” ~Jake Edmondson
“This photo was also shot at ACE Gallery during another designers presentation. The angularness of her bone structure cast such interesting facets of the light. At the time, I was thinking about light as it passes through a prism and accentuates colors. In some senses, models are a similar sort of prism for light.” ~Jake Edmondson
“This is actually one of my much older images. I took this back in 2010 in a dimly lit concrete room in the basement of the art building at the University of Colorado – Boulder. To me, it catches a feeling of whimsical falling. The detail of her dress and emotion in her face an island of activity in the simplicity of black and white. This was taken during a much different period in my life. I had just returned from Taiwan and, with my world having fallen away, was running from many things. At the time, I don’t think that was my intention to create this, but can – in hindsight – now see a touch of it in this picture.” ~ Jake Edmondson
