Beauty photography and new gallery

Last year, Karan collaborated with makeup artist Nadira V Persaud on a personal project showcasing her makeup work (see this blog post). In April 2012, Karan once again worked with Nadira, and the resulting images play a central role in the new “Beauty” gallery on his website.

“I have been interested in this style of portraiture for a long time,” said Karan, “and have now given beauty photography a dedicated area on my website. Do take a look.”

The project began as a collaboration between Art Director Martin Yates and Nadira. Martin saw the previous beauty shoot and wanted to work together. He approached Karan and the project grew from there.

During the shoot, Karan and Nadira worked to a brief, concentrating on creating the three distinct looks you see here. “The three models each have their own brand of beauty and their own distinct style,” explained Karan, “and were perfectly suited to the three looks we worked towards. It was lovely working with Martin, who came up with come great ideas. The collaboration between myself, Martin and Nadira worked like a dream. We only had a few hours with each girl, but worked well together and managed to create some great stuff.”

The brief for the shoot included a “less is more” feel for skin and hair, with both Nadira and Karan working hard to create and capture luminosity and the natural beauty of skin.

Nadira V Persaud blogged about the shoot here. To see more of Karan’s beauty headshots and portraiture work, see his Beauty gallery on his website.

Art Director: Martin Yates
Makeup artist: Nadira V Persaud
Photographer: Karan Kapoor
Models: Cassandra at BMI, Keeley at nEVS, Shumi at Nevs
Retoucher: Sinisa Savic

Beauty photography and new gallery is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog. His main website is here.

Karan Kapoor selected for prestigious American Photography 27 award

This haunting and challenging image of an Indian boy, shot on location in Kerala, India, impressed the judges of the 2011 American Photography 27 award. Not only did it catch their eye, but led to two votes from the jury – an honour only given to 174 images of the 7,000+ submitted to the award panel.

The jury included industry luminaries Florian Bachleda (Creative Director, Fast Company), Craig Cohen (Executive Publisher, powerHouse Books), Chris Dougherty (Director of Photography, People magazine), Geraldine Hessler (Design Director, Glamour), Gail Marowitz (Creative Director, Roadrunner Records), Michele McNally (Assistant Managing Editor, The New York Times) and Jodi Peckman (Creative Director, Rolling Stone). The organisers said of the excellent collection of entries: “The selection is complete and…the collection of images looks great. Thanks everyone.”

The image is a great example of Karan’s reportage-style images of his native India. Take a look at a sample of them here – the muted colours and acutely-observed detail will draw you in as you catch a glimpse of some extraordinary characters living extraordinary lives.

The 2011 AP27 images can be viewed online at the American Photography website and more information can be found on their Facebook group.

Karan Kapoor selected for prestigious American Photography 27 award is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog.

Karan Kapoor 2010 update

2010 was a busy and successful year for Karan, with his innovative and energetic style of photography rewarded by several industry bodies.

Awards

Karan had 12 honourable mentions in eight different categories at the IPA Awards 2010 – an incredible achievement – and five nominations at the 2010 Photography Masters Cup. He was also recognised at the 26th annual American Photography Awards.

Advertising

Karan worked on a number of leading advertising campaigns during 2010, including commissions for Philip Morris (Murrati cigarettes), Sky, De Longhi (coffee), Pfizer (Relpax and Esting), the Netherlands Tourist Board and Olay (featuring Twiggy).

Editorial

His editorial work included shooting Felicity Kendal, Julie Walters and Davina McCall on separate occasions for the Daily Mail’s You magazine. See this blog post for Karan’s insights into the Davina McCall shoot.

Karan Kapoor 2010 update is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog.

Davina McCall shoot for Daily Mail magazine You

In November 2010, Karan shot a series of portrait images of TV’s Davina McCall for an editorial spread in the Daily Mail’s magazine You. Shot against a pale backdrop, Davina’s dark hair and striking features created a series of eye-catching portraits which convey the popular presenter’s warm personality. “Davina was great fun to work with and very good in front of the camera,” Karan says.

Karan was assisted on the shoot by Dan Brownsword and Harry Dutton. The stylist was Ellie Lines, hair by Michael Douglas and make up by Cheryl Phelps Gardiner.

Davina McCall shoot for Daily Mail magazine You is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog.

Julie Walters shoot for Weekend magazine

In January 2010, Karan was asked to shoot a series of images featuring iconic British actress Julie Walters to be used as part of the promotional tour for upcoming movie Gnomeo and Juliet. The images were used for editorial in the London Daily Mail’s magazine Weekend and one of the shots became the front cover image.

“In the cover shot, Julie is pictured sitting on a toadstool with a gnome to illustrate the film she was busy promoting,” explains Karan. “I have a real soft spot for Julie as an actress, I think she is a wonderful talent and she did not disappoint on the day of the shoot. She was such fun to work with. She was however a little concerned when she walked into the studio to see the bed we’d set up as part of the shoot!”

The stylist on this shoot was Alex Longmore and hair and make up were by Chrissie Baker.

Julie Walters shoot for Weekend magazine is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog.