New Work Wednesday - Karen Epstein
I have decided to create a new column here on Breed to encourage our members and non-members to submit their work to be showcased on Wednesdays!
Thus the new title, New Work Wednesday!
Today we feature New Work from photographer Karen Epstein. Here is a short bio and explanation about this shoot!
I moved to New York City in January of 2001 fully intending to shoot cool edgy fashion for magazines. While I did and do accomplish that goal regularly I found out real fast that starting out in NYC shooting indie editorial fashion was not going to pay the bills! At least not for a while. So I started shooting still life products and accessories for commercial clients as well as catalog fashion. As time went by I started to get retouching jobs, despite being self-taught, and learned more and more on the job. I enjoy the dichotomies of photography and retouching: photography is usually quite dynamic, fast-paced, social, and team-based. Retouching on the other hand can be relaxing requiring zen-like focus. I am a problem solver and enjoy challenges in both worlds. Throughout the years I have added video, editing, gif-making, production, casting, mood boards, and even a dash of copywriting to my list of skills. Today I produce, shoot, edit and retouch for a variety of clients including MTV, Coach, Paravel, Ampere Handbags, Mark Henry Jewelry, Endurance Athletics among many others.
Another repeat client is On Makeup Magazine for which I shot this editorial. It is a makeup industry magazine presented by The Powder Group which is a major name in the professional beauty industry. I shot with MUA Ahbi Nishman who also came up with the black and white concept. We shot right before the pandemic shut us all down last spring with model ZuZu at State Management. Ahbi is a team member at The Powder Group so this beauty story was conceived with publishing in OMM in mind. It is Ahbi’s and my 2nd beauty story for OMM. I really love the direction it went in—while I never shy from dramatic looks I have primarily shot in color my whole life so doing the graphic black and white edit was exciting and presented new challenges. Though since we knew it would be monochromatic I shot tethered to Capture One so that we could see it in grayscale and I could tweak the contrast as we went as well as cropping square which is the magazine’s format.
This editorial for On Makeup Magazine was shot with a Canon 5D Mark III using my 105mm 2.8 AF lens.
To See More of Karen Epstein’s Work:
Website: eekphoto.com
Instagram: @eekphotonyc
If you have a test or an editorial that you have recently shot, please submit to The Breed Team at hello@jointhebreed.com We will randomly select New Work Wednesday submissions to go out in our weekly newsletters so it is a great opportunity for you to get your name and work out there!