We just wrapped up our fall ARTIST SESSION, MODERN’s 2-day photo shoot workshop. It was, as always, an exciting, inspiring and fun event, resulting in gorgeous images to be published in MODERN over the next several months.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION:

We always make an effort to hold the session in a special place – sometimes a traditional photo studio, an academy or even an event space. This time we tried something different, and it turned out to be spectacular. Takara Belmont, the iconic equipment manufacturer, has a five story townhouse in midtown Manhattan around the corner from Trump Tower and just 3 blocks from Central Park. Takara Belmont offered MODERN 2 full floors for our session, but we decided to all stick together and took over the 4th floor, looking over the garden of MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art.) It was fantastic.

IN ATTENDANCE:

Rusty Phillips: Owner of Belle Epoque, Kansas City, Missouri, attending for the 8th time.

Gay Dering: Owner of Beauty Kasbah, Santa Rosa, California, attending for the 6th time.

Amy Ramos: First timer Amy Ramos is the owner of Pink Nouveau and earned her spot at ARTIST SESSION as the winner of the Colortrak competition.

Jennifer Horter (and Sydney Scherr): Jennifer Horter, owner of Bombshell Salon, Ellicott City, Maryland, has attended 7 times. Joining Horter was Sydney Scherr, attending for the first time.

Fran Peterson: First timer Fran Peterson is an artist at Salon Karma, Bluffton, South Carolina

Nanci Lee Randolph: Although Nanci Lee is no stranger to photoshoots (she is a top educator for Great Lengths) the B2V, Beverly Hills, California, based artist was attending ARTIST SESSION for the first time.

Kayla Stewart: Winner of Keune's Blonde's Best Friend competition, Kayla Stewart of Rose and Mae Hair, Atlanta, Georgia, was a first time attendee to ARTIST SESSION.

NAILS! 

For the first time we opened the session to nail artists and it turned out to be the right decision. Joining us for the session was Joanne Sorbello of Stone Ridge Salon, Stone Ridge, NY, who said working as an editorial nail artist was a "dream come true." On her Instagram she wrote: "Today has changed my life." In a separate post she added: "The most AMAZING day in my 18 year nail career. Inspiring. Crazy. Eye opening. Beyond." Thank YOU Joanne for taking a leap of faith and joining us as our first ever ARTIST SESSION nail artist.

OUR SPEAKERS: 

Day one is chock full of inspiration and education. In addition to presentations from make-up artist David Maderich (on the freelance world) and photographer Roberto Ligresti (how to create a beautiful photograph) attendees were treated to presentations from: 

-PHIL RING (@Phildoeshair and @Phildoeseverything),  who chatted about social media with a focus on Instagram and videos.

-HELEN OPPENHEIM, the US correspondent of Peluquerias, who told artists how to get published internationally.

-LUIS ALVAREZ – Vice President of Marketing, Creative and Education for BabylissPRO chatted about imagery, high and low contrast and photo balance while sharing some of his favorite photographs. He then demonstrated how to get the most out of the Prima3000, the “Bentley of Flat Irons” that he gave to each attendee.

-BETH LIVESAY: The Editor in Chief of Nails Magazine shared details about how-to get maximum exposure by cross-posting work.

-KELLY COOK: As a producer, Kelly Cook is constantly looking for talented hairdressers, makeup and nail artists. She shared details about how to break in to the business. 

-JENNIFER DANIELS: Daniels is, if not the top hair model, at least one of the top 3. This sought after cover, stage, editorial and advertising model chatted about how to work with a model to maximize your photographs.

THAT GOODY BAG:

One of the best parts of ARTIST SESSION is the goody bag handed out at the end of day one. The goody bag is curated by MODERN’s Maggie Mulhern with top items from some of our favorite brands. This bag contained these FABULOUS products and tools:

-The Curlbar Set from Hot Tools

-The BabylissPRO Prima3000, described as the “Bentley of flat irons”

-The Panasonic Professional Series Clipper with an Advanced Cutting System

-The Epic Professional Wet Brush collection – a set of 4 round brushes great for styling and finishing

-The Sam Villa Artist Series Professional Blow Dryer

-Oribe Cote D’Azur Hair Refreshers 

THE CASTING: 

One of the highlights of ARTIST SESSION is the casting. 90 top models showed up for the 7 spots making the decision difficult for some of the artists. In the end we think everyone selected the right girl for the job. 

THE IMAGES: 

While we cannot show the finished images yet (we will update this site as the images are published), check out these behind the scenes shots and videos.

THE NEXT ONE: 

The next ARTIST SESSION will be held in NYC April 9-10, 2018. 6 hairdressers and 3 nail artists are invited to attend. And big news!!!! For the next one we are inviting 2 make-up artists to assist David Maderich to learn the insider tricks and techniques to editorial make-up, including the difference between salon and photography make-up.

Please join us! Sign up here