American Photography 28: Kwaku Alston

. During a portrait session with First Lady Michelle Obama for Essence magazine last July, Kwaku Alston shot some photographs for his personal portfolio, including the one above, which was selected for American Photography 28. Below, a slideshow of Kwaku’s work from the pages of previous editions of the photo annual. .

Kehinde Wiley by Kwaku Alston

Superstar artist Kehinde Wiley sat for a portrait by Kwaku Alston that’s now being used to promote the painter’s debut show at Sean Kelly Gallery, titled “An Economy of Grace,” here in New York… . . Wiley—whose work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Los [...]

RIT’s Distinguished Alumni Awards to honor Kwaku Alston

Kwaku Alston is being honored at Rochester Institute of Technology‘s Distinguished Alumni Awards and will be giving a presentation on his career and his work this Thursday evening at 6. Congratulations, Kwaku! More details below and at RIT’s website. . . Kwaku Alston, known for his creative photographic portraits of celebrities, is returning to his [...]

“For Artists, Even Paid Jobs Should Be ‘Personal’” (excerpt)

. In a new column for Agency Access‘ The Lab, creative consultant Louisa Curtis of Chatterbox Enterprises talks about the importance of personal work to a photographer’s growth, success, and happiness. “I think it’s a shame that photographers have separated what they love from what they do for a living,” she writes. “I met a [...]

Slideshow: Happy Valentine’s Day!

. Let’s hear it for love, people! . .

Kwaku Alston shoots The Hollywood Reporter’s “Rule Breakers”

The Hollywood Reporter has just published a 22-page special issue dedicated to “Rule Breakers 2011″—”a year-end celebration of the people who successfully rocked and rattled the status quo in Hollywood.” The editors note that the issue was nine months in the making and features “a who’s who of Hollywood,” including Kim Kardashian, whom Kwaku Alston [...]

The New York Times profiles Kwaku Alston

. The New York Times Lens blog yesterday featured an interview with Kwaku Alston that looks at the award-winning editorial and advertising photographer’s quest to rekindle his personal passion for photography—specifically, by shooting images on his own in his Venice, California, neighborhood. “The Venice community is a remarkable mix of people and cultures,” Kwaku explained [...]

There’s nothing quite like family

With the holiday season upon us, we’ve been thinking a lot about family. Here, we celebrate it in its many forms, forever grateful for the ties that bind us together. .

Show me the Monae

Kwaku Alston photographed the stunning singer Janelle Monae—whose refreshingly individual sense of style is part dapper, part classic glamor, part sister from another planet—for the November issue of Essence. Here’s a look. (I’ll update this post next week with a link to a behind-the-scenes post that Kwaku is putting together for his blog, Art of [...]

“Princess Bride” and “Romy and Michele” reunion photos by Art Streiber. Plus: Kwaku Alston’s “227″ reunion photo.

As part of its special double “Reunions Issue,” Entertainment Weekly reunited the cast of the cultishly adored 1987 fantasy flick The Princess Bride, and senior associate photo editor Rachael Lieberman commissioned Art Streiber to shoot the accompanying photos. Art shot portraits of the film’s stars—Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Carol Kane, Chris Sarandon, Wallace [...]

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