California Apparel News

Crystal Ramirez was inspired by cosplay’s costumed characters and role-playing and sought to capture that subculture in her photography. Her images had a moody and somewhat seductive beauty about them. She gave out 5x7 limited-numbered prints of one of her mysterious beauties to us as a parting gift.

Christina Mia grew up with older parents—her dad was 65 when she was born. Mia’s work had a vintage, era-from-the-past feeling to it. She collected clothing and accessories from her mom, grandmom, aunts and older relatives and used them as the inspiration when styling her images. She said she feels she was born a little too late on life!

Christopher Stolz joined the Navy at age 18. As a result, his first works in photography had a military feel to it. His current collection of images captures his subjects in everyday life situations. He said he loves using everyday people, including blue-collar workers and people who are relatable. His works can be compared to that of one of his idols, Bruce Weber.

Elizabeth Gonzales was originally a Nissan contract clerk. She switched to studying photography because she yearned to do something more creative. Her eye for beauty and color are evident in her retro-inspired photographs. She uses food and plants as props with her subjects to add color and play off the clean and vivid imagery of her beautiful work.

Natalie Chen left Taiwan alone at the age of 17. Her work defines her life’s experiences through what she says is like poetry. Chen considers herself a conceptual still life photographer. She uses food in her images to tell her story in a more deep-rooted manner. Her images are stunning and beautiful yet still have a small grotesque feel to it. That’s what she tries to achieve to make the viewer create their own conclusion.

L.A. native Talia Dekel achieved a unique way of using beauty products for her images. Her work is inspired by American abstract expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler. Dekel’s mix of lipsticks, colored blushes, nail polishes and many other beauty products create the textures, layers and vibrancy of color as seen in Frankenthaler’s paintings.

Madison Krieger said she is obsessed with the process of darkroom photography. Her self-styled images are reminiscent of those powerful bad girls of the early ’60s and models of the ’90s. Her grainy, texturized images capture that vintage feel beautifully. She handed out 5x7-size canvas prints to us to be sewn on a favorite jean jacket or tote bag.

Megan Elmassian uses her personal life’s experience of sexual assault as a big inspiration of her work. Calling it her “Eyes Wide Open” project, Elmassian said she pulls her emotions and feeds it to her subject matters. Elmassian’s photos of people and locations are peaceful and calming yet slightly intense.

Photographer and storyteller James Lee considers himself as a cinematic character type creator. Lee’s editorial images are strong and attention-getting. His “Land Escape” food series is a unique way of showing earth’s landscape using food to create scenery, shapes and textures. He really did an amazing, successful job in telling this story as well.

Portland, Ore.–born Christian Veillet’s obsession with science and technology is evident in his photography and video series. Using light with electricity as a base, he work is classified as light augmented reality. A couple of his images came to life when you passed your iPhone across it, making go from flat to the vibrancy of 3D

The theme of Lisa Kim’s work was woman in a man’s world. She took expected spaces that would be considered masculine like a pool table or woodwork shop and replaces typical objects with feminine items like a strappy stiletto instead of a hammer or cosmetic compacts in place of billiard balls. It was a clever way to address woman power in a new way!