Photographer and HFX Mentor Mark Arbeit (above, left) captures something soft and sensual in every picture, whether it’s a work of portraiture, fashion, experimental, studio work, landscape or documentary.
At the beginning of Arbeit’s more than 40-year career, he worked as an assistant, to fashion photography icons Helmut Newton and Irving Penn. As he matured into his work, Arbeit’s stunning editorial images showed up in nearly every major fashion magazine, including Vogue, Marie Claire, and Vanity Fair, and many others.
Now based in Honolulu, Arbeitis still busy raising his family, experimenting with photograms, and shooting for clients such as HONOLULU Shops, Ala Moana Magazine, and HILuxury.
Arbeit’s participation as an HFX Mentor evidences his generosity and shared commitment to community-building and elevating Hawaii fashion. On August 30, 2014, Arbeit will offer a live photo shoot workshop for HFX Members (photographers and other professionals alike) to demonstrate the elements involved in creating a dramatic editorial fashion shoot (details are below).
It started in California, when a boutique owner let Arbeit, a burgeoning photographer, practice shooting her and her clothes for her promotional use. She would send him to London and Germany to shoot the fashion shows there.
“I first lived in Hawaii in 1969 and went to McKinley High School,” Arbeit says. “But I left to go to the Art Center College of Design in LA [after attending the University of Hawaii]. I really started out in fashion. We had an assignment in school to pick an industry; I picked fashion. I met this woman in Beverly Hills, asked if I could borrow her clothes and take pictures of her. We had a 10-year working relationship.”
“My first three-to-four years in Europe, she kept me on a retainer. I would just travel to London and Germany, shoot all the fashion shows. She had pics of every outfit. This was before the magazines were even doing it. We would do ads in LA magazines, ads for her boutique. She got me started; she’s the one who said to me, Helmut Newton is coming to the store. He’s in town from Europe. And so a friend of mine waited since the morning. We met him because of her. He invited us to show our books, then to a shoot, and we slowly became friends for the next 30 years.”
In his beautiful monograph, titled Work, Arbeit writes about a time assisting Newton:
“I assisted Helmut photographing Egon Von Furstenberg for GQ magazine. In the third and last shot, Helmut was photographing Igon in a full-length fur coat under the Manhattan Pier in LA. After shooting one roll of film for about an hour, Helmut said, ‘We’ve got it!’ I opened the camera to unload the film but there was no film inside. I’d forgotten to load the camera after the last shot. I thought Helmut would kill me, but he said nothing and started all over again. Later that night Helmut said to me, ‘Mark, there are assistants and there are photographers, and you are not an assistant.’ I took that as a compliment.”
HIFI’s Hawaii Fashion Exchange (HFX) hosts its second HFX Mentor Workshop with Arbeit, who will host a very special hands-on workshop on the theory and practice of editorial fashion photography.
Suitable for aspiring to experienced photographers as well as designers, stylists, and others interested in learning how to set up and capture a dramatic fashion image, the workshop will include a live photo shoot with opportunities for participants to take their own photos.
Registration is FREE for current HIFI/HFX Professional and Premier members (log into your profile to view the free option), and $50 for non-members (the full fee can be applied toward an HFX Membership). Space is very limited, and participants provide their own cameras (lighting and other equipment provided).
Most of the class will take place on location — participants should come prepared to walk a short distance from the HIFI COOP. The class will take place mostly indoors.
Editorial Fashion Photography Workshop with Mark Arbeit
Saturday, August 30, 2014
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Click here to register and for more information.
All photos courtesy Mark Arbeit