APA Lecture @ Apple – October 14

October 5, 2014 by kwakualston

Join me October 14th from 730-830 PM at the Apple Store on the Third St Promenade in Santa Monica as writer Adam Kulakow and myself share images from my newest project: Fatherhood. Apple Store | Third Street Promenade 1415 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401 FREE ADMISSION This event is first come seating but you can also register for this event directly on the Apple Store, Third Street Promenade:  www.apple.com/thirdstreetpromenade Photographer Kwaku Alston documented the first three years of his […]

Categories: Events • Tags: apa, apa lecture, apple store, art of studio, kwaku alston, photography, photography lecture, thirs street promenade, venice

Celebrity On White Portrait Series on display at E! Entertainment Network

April 26, 2014 by kwakualston

Kwaku’s career as a commercial and celebrity photographer began in New York where he worked for clients such as The New York Times Magazine, Sony Music, Rolling Stone and Miramax Films. Since opening his own studio in the pop culture hub of Venice Beach, California, he’s shot for top publications, film studios and TV networks as well as taken portraits of celebrities ranging from Tiger Woods, Samuel Jackson, Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher and Heath Ledger to Michelle Obama, Halle Berry, […]

Categories: Behind the Scenes, Inspiration, Personal, Uncategorized • Tags: art of studio, behind the scenes, Celebrity, fine art, hollywood, life photography, Los Angeles, photography, time lapse

Art of Studio featured by PDN

March 1, 2014 by kwakualston

Almost every photographer dreams of their own studio–a special private space to freely create and brainstorm, where inspiration and its precise execution is the only thing that matters.  A place where you walk in, and are warmly greeted by light as it splays across decorated walls, books new and old, and your unique tools of the trade.  At least, this was one of my many dreams: to own and operate my very own studio.  An artist’s studio is a reflection […]

Categories: Behind the Scenes, Features, Inspiration, Uncategorized, Venice • Tags: abbot kinney, american photo, art of studio, art of studio space, CA, kwaku alston, pdn, pdn february 2014, pdn magazine, pdn studio, venice, venice art gallery

Happy New Year

January 12, 2014 by kwakualston

  Cheers to the end of a wonderful year and the beginning of a new one!  I’m excited to launch the new year with my lecture at Imaging USA in Phoenix, Arizona on January 13. Come say hello and listen in on my lecture at 10 AM: Access Granted: The Business of Photographing Icons.  Register for the convention here.

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: 2014, art of studio, happy new yea, happy new year, imaging usa, photography, PPA

Five Minutes with Nelson Mandela

December 15, 2013 by kwakualston

Last Friday, I was lost in the endless to-dos of production for an upcoming photo shoot. I’ve been there many times before. I enjoy what I do and the countless responsibilities that go with it. But in the past year, I began a new important job: being a dad.  So, amid all the preparation and paperwork for the shoot, I was also preoccupied photo-shopping images of Kaveh’s favorite toys to print and decorate the walls of our living room for […]

Categories: Inspiration, Personal, Uncategorized • Tags: 8x10, 8x10 deardorff, 8x10 film photography, 8x10Deardorff, art of studio, black aids institute, deardorff, film photography, history, Johannesburg, kwaku alston, kwaku alston nelson mandela, Large format, mandela, Mandiba, nelson mandela, photography, President of South Africa, south africa

Professional Photographer Magazine Feature

November 10, 2013 by kwakualston

It was an honor to be featured by Professional Photographer Magazine as their cover story this month and have their support.  Read the article here.  Also in collaboration with Professional Photographer Magazine is my participation in the Imaging USA event in Phoenix, Arizona January 12-14.  You can find me lecturing on Monday, January 13th from 10-1130 AM about the art of photographing icons.  See the full schedule boasting a wide range of talent on their website. —       […]

Categories: Events, Features • Tags: art of studio, behind the scenes, celebrity photography, imaging usa, iusa, jennifer aniston, kwaku alston, lecture, photography, professional photographer, professional photographer magazine

Ghostagrams by Kathy Ryan

November 6, 2013 by kwakualston

Kathy Ryan’s Instagram feed is one of my favorites.  Witnessing the subtle beauty in the New York Times building and the way lights falls around the structure is wonderful. So for Halloween, Ryan harnessed the eerie spirits of light and captures ghostly shadows and other lit phenomena. In her words, “People passing by disintegrate into shadow selves, sometimes completely disappearing into the walls. The light along the stairs bookending the southwest and northwest sides of the building swelters at the […]

Categories: Fellow Creatives, Inspiration • Tags: art of studio, ghost, ghostagram, halloween, halloween photography, inspiration, instagram, kathy ryan, new york times

Art of Studio open Today 11-6!

October 12, 2013 by kwakualston

Off the presses, fresh from Japan Art of Studio is open Saturdays 11-6, so stop by and check out our current exhibit on view, In Between & Outside,  fine art books on view, including special work by Japanese photographer Shingo Wakagi, Venice: A Village by the Sea, and #handadventures prints and books!  Find us at 1346 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 Phone us 310 392 9957 ext 4

Categories: Venice • Tags: abbot kinney, art gallery, art of studio, fine art, fine art prints, gender, gender bender, handadventures, kwaku alston, Los Angeles, los angeles art opening, los angeles events, sara swaty, venice, venice art, venice art gallery, venice beach, venice california

Volkslivin’ Featured on Next Avenue

September 30, 2013 by kwakualston

  “The VW Bus Rolls Into the Sunset” Volkwagen vans hold a special place in my heart; it was our family vehicle for many years, and when I made my big move to Venice, California they appeared everywhere.  Whether a Westfalia, Kombi, or a Samba, these adventure wagons have a characteristic unique beauty that I am constantly inspired to capture.  So when news came that in December of this year, the company will shut down it’s last factory, I felt […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: adventurewagen, art of studio, kwaku alston, kwakushop, life photography, lifestyle, Los Angeles, love, photography, venice, venice beach, volkslivin, Volkswagen