A year from now you won’t remember if the zipper was stuck, the seating cards got shuffled, or the band played your song off key. What you will remember, and cherish, are the most subtle and fleeting of moments. Your best friend adjusting your veil. Your father’s tears as he walked you down the aisle. Your big sister’s speech. Your grandparents leading a conga line on the dance floor. A smile. A tear. A stolen kiss. Click…we got it. Forever.
Welcome to an evocative New York City and Los Angeles destination wedding and event photography studio. My name is Joshua Lawrence Kogan and I’m excited to share my passion for photo-driven documentary storytelling with you. By merging beautiful light, vibrant colors, and unexpected moments, I’ll capture the visual poetry, raw emotion, and charming humor that celebrates and defines your one of a kind love story…and I can’t wait!
I began this wonderful journey as a photograher shooting stills on film sets in Hollywood. Working closely with cutting edge directors and cinematographers, I learned to visualize and capture my photographs in a cinematic way. Since then I’ve always thought of my photographs as silent movie frames. Around the same time I began photographing emerging actors and entertainers for west coast magazines and music labels, eventually breaking into fashion and advertising with campaigns for brands like Guess Jeans and Reef Surfwear.
In 1999 I followed my own love story, moving to the city of lights, Paris. In the decade that followed I worked under the wing of many of Europe’s talented and influential Editors, Art Directors and Designers, exploring and refining my romantic vision of fashion, beauty, lifestyle and travel photography in Europe and across Asia. During that time I traveled to over 30 countries on a broad range of exciting and challenging assignments for magazines, Art Buyers, Fashion Designers, movie studios, boards of tourism, and destination wedding clients.
I discovered my passion for wedding and event photography in 2003, when the International Brand Ambassador for Valentino invited me to photograph the prolific designer’s Paris fashion show. I had never photographed an event before, but a few hours later I was backstage framing the likes of Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anna Wintour, a Duchess, a Prince, two dozen top models and of course Valentino. That evening I photographed the cocktail and dinner at the Designer’s apartment on the Quai d’Orsay. Thus began five inspiring years capturing Valentino’s Paris fashion shows and private parties. Discovering my love for “social photography” I soon found myself busy documenting the weddings and events of the colorful personalities in the Paris art and fashion scenes, and I was hooked.
Since then I’ve photographed weddings in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Newport, Marrakesh, St. Tropez, San Juan, Nice, St. Jean Cape Ferrat, Tulum, Acapulco, Bali, Tahiti, and many other magical places. Over the years, whether I’m shooting an intimate backyard wedding or a more elaborate black-tie invitation, my wedding clients and their families have become my friends, mentors, guides, surfing buddies, and inspirations. Their kids call me “Unky Josh,” a title I am quite proud of. Again and again my clients invite me to walk behind the veil, trusting me to share in and record their most wonderfully private moments. They take me on a roller coaster ride of beauty, excitement, movement, intimacy, fear, joy, glamour and romance…and I love them for it! They always give me so much more than they will ever know.
When I’m not running for a flight or behind the camera, you can spot me riding my vintage single speed track bike in Central Park, bodysurfing on the California coast, or cooking a new dish from one of my favorite food blogs.
If my artistic philosophy and photographic style tickle your fancy, please reach out and say hello! I’d love to know more about you and your vision for your wedding or event.
Find out more...
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+