lev livnev

Heed this name, boys & girls, because you will be seeing it again, in the near future. A lot.

I met Lev at London Fashion Week, and he was one of the press photographers who really impressed me. Several did, but especially, Lev. He shoots in film, for one thing. He brought the digital for the blog he works with, the brilliant brains-and-beauty.com, which is run by, and for, students ('Girls that are always up-to-date in fashion but also score top marks in algebra…Fashion-nerd-as! as we like to say’), but I believe he still shoots only in film, which I envy. (I recently did my first fashion shoot - more about that soon - and shot in both. And I still say, there's nothing like shooting in film!)



I watched Lev watching the crowd for a while before I approached him to take his portrait. There's something about truly great photographers, you have the sense that they are the voice of wisdom, that their eye sees all. That they are truly 'bearing witness'. I haven't yet met the Photodiarist, but I bet she's got that presence. Well, young Lev has got it, in spades.



And he's got style. I love his copper curls, which look natural, and his brilliant blue eyes, and the way he combines bold colours with black and white, with such confidence. I'll be posting more, very soon, on the use of red. In hair. For drama.

UPDATE: Just heard from Lev. He's only 14. His eyes, however, are as old as the hills. I mean, take a look @ some of his work here. He shot EVERYTHING IN FILM. I used to do that, until July. I still want to, and still do, from time to time. It's expensive, and you can't be as free with the trigger finger, which means, you have to be really good. And he is.

What caught my eye is a shot of Rhiannon, who I've posted several times with Leila (so much so that Mr. Dot is asking don't I have any other pictures? Of course I do - but they had a new look every day, and kind of became my muses. They model, and I want to work with them again, they're so photogenic, and fun).

See his shot here. It was probably shot within seconds of mine, below.