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

Pulp to Print: My Tour of Hahnemühle Paper

September 20, 2014 by kwakualston

While touring Germany to visit my wife’s family, we stopped by the world famous Hahnemühle paper mill.   I have been using Hahnemühle’s fine art papers over the past several years to print my photography portfolios, so it was my pleasure to be invited to tour the headquarters in the Relliehausen district of Dassel, Germany.  Our scenic ride took us through a beautiful landscape filled with pastoral farmlands and fields, old medieval castles, and speeding Supercars driving past us with such force and […]

Categories: Behind the Scenes, travel • Tags: Dassel, factory, fine art, fine art photography, Germany, Hahnemühle, Hahnemühle Paper, papermaking, photography, portfolio, print portfolio, Relliehausen

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

Menotti’s Coffee Shop, Venice Beach

March 5, 2014 by kwakualston

Venice is making way for a new coffee shop with a lot of history.  Although Menotti’s has just opened at 56 Windward, its Venice roots are strong-as is the head Barista’s, Christopher “nicely” Abel Alameda.  Alameda was a force working in Intelligentsia followed by Handsome Roasters, and has won the title Coffee Fest World Latte Art Champion three times.  His passion and love of coffee is apparent through not just his intense decisive pours, but also through his 4 tattoos […]

Categories: Venice • Tags: abbot kinney, coffee shop, kwaku alston, leica, leica m9, menottis, photography, venice, venice beach

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

TOMS in Nepal Throwback

October 24, 2013 by kwakualston

Just got this TOMS magazine in my mailbox with my photograph on the cover from our Nepal adventures.  Enjoy these film images from our travels around Nepal!

Categories: Behind the Scenes, Uncategorized • Tags: asia, blake mycoskie, culture, film, film photography, himalayas, kwaku alston, life, nepal, photography, throwback thursday, toms, toms shoes, travel, travel photography

Farewell, Sweet Summer

October 22, 2013 by kwakualston

Double Rainbow in Kauai before Flossie hits. My son’s first time in Hawaii. Flying over Arizona Sedona New York City The end of summer always seems to come later in LA.  Although it’s already October, I still can’t let go of the summer season, despite the looming chill that slowly creeps in.  Here are some of my favorite images this past summer: from Hawaii to Sedona to  quintessential Venice moments.  This past summer has been even more special having my […]

Categories: Personal, Uncategorized • Tags: arizona, beach, california, flossie, hawaii, Kauai, la, life, life photography, Los Angeles, photography, sedona, summer, travel, tropical storm, trvel photography, venice, venice beach, venice california