iDKHOW GLOOM DIVISION

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Concord Records last summer to see if I’d be interested in shooting the album artwork as well as press photos for Dallon Weekes and his band I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME. I jumped onboard with little hesitation since music was my first love and form of creative expression prior to photography. I’m always excited to have the opportunity to combine the two mediums. Dallon’s vision for this project matched my aesthetic perfectly, it was a natural fit. I had a great time collaborating with everyone involved to bring Dallon’s vision to life. I recently got my hands on an actual physical copy of GLOOM DIVISION and was blown away by the the quality and execution of the packaging. Here are some snaps:

iDKHOW GLOOM DIVISION credits:
Photography: MANICPROJECT
Creative Direction: Dallon Weekes
Graphic Design: Sage LaMonica
Styling: Farasha
Hair&Makeup: Paula Dahlberg / Nikki Breedlove

Press photos and magazine covers that have come out recently:

2021 So Far...

Hi there. I wanted to share a few things that we’ve been up to in 2021. I don’t have to tell you about the crazy times we live in, but I can tell you how thankful we are whenever we are able to create and do what we love. We seem to forget all the troubles of the world when we find ourselves enthralled in a project. Luckily we’ve had a few that we’d like to highlight here.

Shades of Radiance Beauty:

Liz, the makeup artist, reached out to me on instagram and asked me to help her create some outstanding images for her portfolio. This was our first time working together, and it went just about as well as either one of us could have hoped for. The first image (leopard gloves) was actually the last look we spontaneously put together, and it is my favorite. Hair magic provided by Tenesha Luckett and the incredible model pictured is Kasemire Dieumerci. Shades of Radiance Beauty

Brickyard Bar:

Had a great time photographing this private lounge room along with the fantastic cocktails and delicious food at Brickyard Bar. Being able to taste everything was a major bonus for a foodie like myself. TheBrickyardBar.com

Dexterity Salon:

Yet another collaboration with my Dexterity family highlighting their new product “in:dex.” Makeup by Kristen Packard | Model: Sadie Olson. DexteritySalon.com

Anne Carr Design:

It’s always flattering to be approached by out-of-state clients. Anne is an incredibly talented interior designer based in Los Angeles, CA. This is a project she helped design in Victory Ranch, UT. See more photos here: annecarrdesign.com/victory-ranch

Khalm Skincare:

Rebecca and I love to combine business with pleasure and we were able to do just that while capturing some of the photos you see here. The environmental shots of the beautiful Khalm bottles above were captured along the stunning 17 mile drive in Monterey, CA. The studio shots were also a blast to create. We love having the freedom to experiment and improvise on our own time, it’s always a fun and educational experience. KhalmSkincare.com

Girls’ Life Magazine:

Sofia was such a pleasure to photograph. She’s obviously super comfortable in front of the camera. I love the soft and painterly quality of these images. Styled by Wilford Lenov. Hair by Angelina Panelli. Makeup by Mylah Morales for Six K L.A. Beauty copy by Erin Reimel. On-set prop styling by Whitney Brielle. Painted backdrop by Ultraviolet. GirlsLife.com

Julie Assenberg Design:

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I love being able to put my graphic design background to use. I was able to photograph and design this ad for Julie Assenberg, which appeared in the September 2021 issue of Architectural Digest. My style is always clean and simple with a pop of color. In this case, the pop of color comes from Julie’s vibrant designs. JulieAssenberg.com

Baranof Jewelers:

This shoot was a dream. I obviously LOVE having my love and partner Rebecca in front of the camera. Yes, I’m a little bias. Her beauty perfectly compliments and elevates the jewelry in my opinion. Major credit goes to Sophie Islip for her vision, direction, and styling. Hair by Nikki Breedlove. Baranofjewelers.com

Sascha Test Shoot

Rebecca and I spotted Sascha at one of our favorite restaurants while brunching. We both though she had a lovely face and my instinct was telling me that I should photograph her. We gave her our business card and hoped that she would reach out. Luckily she did. Sascha proved to be a natural just as I expected. She took direction extremely well, her natural beauty and softness was easy to capture. I’m not sure if Sascha is going to pursue modeling, but I certainly hope she does.

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"HOT LIGHTS" Fashion Editorial

I always get the itch to do a fashion shoot just for fun, just for me, if I haven’t done one in a while. This was one of those shoots. I love Hedi Slimane’s vision for SAINT LAURENT, his creative direction and photography for the mega fashion house was the main inspiration behind this shoot. Naturally I wanted harsh light and sleek wardrobe with a reflective quality to it. My partner, Rebecca, took charge of styling duties. We ended up getting all of the wardrobe (except for a pair of shoes and one accessory) at ZARA, which is always a great source for pulling looks. This was my first time working with Kylie (repped by NIYA Models) and she couldn’t have been more sweet or professional. It makes such a huge difference to have quality people on your team, those are the people I want to work with time and time again in the future. Yesinde Oyeneyin did a phenomenal job on makeup and Tenesha Luckett provided her expertise on hair.

Julie Assenberg Design

We photographed this interior design project by Julie Assenberg located at Bear Lake a couple of weeks ago. I love the mix of traditional and contemporary design displayed here. The marble used in the master bathroom as well as the kitchen really stands out for me. Rebecca and I love shooting interior design because we have a real appreciation for any discipline in which every detail matters. We can be as meticulous about our process as we need to be. Rebecca is excellent at being my second set of eyes when it comes to staging and Julie is the perfect client because she has full trust in what we do.

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TBT: Til Death Do Us Part

A few years ago I wanted to create a gothic wedding fantasy. My aspiration was to get it published in one of the Utah wedding magazines. In hindsight, perhaps that was too ambitious of a thought. Turns out Utah wedding publications are only interested in publishing bright and happy editorials, where everything looks like everything you’ve seen before. This story ended up finding a home at HUF magazine, a publication with a much larger viewership than any of the Utah wedding magazines. So, in the end, you have to do what you feel is the right thing for you, follow your creative calling, and let the chips fall where they may.

Girls' Life magazine "FIRE & ICE" fashion editorial

This is the second issue of Girls’ Life magazine that I’ve had the pleasure of shooting for. I actually photographed the cover story of Jayden Bartels as well. I was so happy to bring on my go-to crew of frequent collaborators and friends on this shoot (see credits) who always make the time spent together extremely fun and enjoyable. The shoot took place at one of Utah’s main attractions for any photo or video production - the epic Salt Flats. It was a fantastic day of shooting, laughing and improvising along the way.

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Hair: Jeff Martin / Randi Hieb (Dexterity Salon) | Makeup: Carissa Deppe | Styling: Rachael Domingo | Models: Apio & Aria (NIYA MGMT)

La Vie Boheme jewelry shoot

I loved the minimal nature of this shoot. The jewelry designer really wanted a soft, feminine, and organic feel. This was another collaboration with my friends at Farasha. A tiny crew including myself, the model, and two stylists. That's it. Natural light throughout. 

Jewelry designer: La Vie Boheme | Styling: Farasha | Model: Lianna Michelle

TWOISM

At this point in my career I really want to challenge myself by doing something different as much as I can. I tend to carefully plan out all of my shoots in advance, putting a lot of thought and effort into the pre-production process. With this particular editorial I challenged myself to be less organized and more spontaneous. I had a general idea of the direction of the shoot, but I didn't have all of my exact locations scouted or specific scenes in mind. I also wanted to be more free with the way I lit my subjects, trying out new techniques and being less careful. The editorial was mainly an opportunity for Samantha Furden to get some wardrobe styling experience, I think she did a fine job. My dear friends and frequent collaborators Paula J Dahlberg was once again on makeup duties and Chad Seale provided his magic touch on hair. I couldn't be happier with the models we chose for this project. This was my first time shooting Allie Jo Holman, who proved to be not only experienced but mesmerizing, and Mitch Allen was the perfect brother / lover /  ambiguous relationship partner in crime. A huge shout out to the young and talented designer David Hong for lending us a big chunk of his collection for the shoot. I also challenged myself by spending A LONG TIME putting the editorial together as far as post photo processing layering goes. I really wanted to give the photos a dirty, grungy, punk vibe, very New York 1970's. I hope you enjoy TWOISM.

The Aftermath

I love doing personal, meaningful work. This shoot is so special due to the circumstances surrounding it. This is Travis. Travis has been wanting to do a portrait session with me for some time now. A couple of months ago Travis found out that he has cancer, and just like that, everything changed. Luckily Travis has a 95% chance of beating this awful disease, but this news has given our shoot a sense of urgency. Travis wanted me to capture him before all of his hair started to fall out, well, his hair started coming out in clumps in the shower the night before the shoot. Travis has never been in front of the camera, his state was nervous and uncertain. I wanted to capture the raw emotion of what he was feeling, but I also wanted to create some GQ-style images and make him feel his best. Travis was really wanting to get some light & shadow stuff as well, which I'm always happy to do. I'm very proud of these images and our experience doing this shoot is a memory I'll never forget. Photography is such an intimate, vulnerable experience at its best. Putting the subject at ease, establishing a trust and creating something they will cherish forever is what I strive to do each time I step behind the camera.

Emergency Call

I've been focusing more on coming up with singular image concepts lately. Film has always been a huge influence on me, so naturally a lot of my images have a cinematic quality to them. The challenge is to create a story with just one still. My friends at Dexterity Salon wanted to do a color and style on Lex so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to collaborate. I took some behind the scenes video of Jeff and Randi working on hair along with Kristen Packard doing the makeup. A big Thank You goes out to Ron Green at The Green Ant for being so kind and accommodating in letting us use his shop for the shoot. Here's the video along with a few stills from the shoot.

Emergency Call

SAN DIEGO

WHY I DO THIS.

I've always been a creative person. It all started with music for me, that was my first love. Then I discovered and fell in love with design around the time I was attending college. Photography was part of the mix, but I didn't really devote all of my energy to it until after I was laid off from my job as a graphic designer at an advertising agency. Lots of people lost their jobs in 2010 when the economy tanked. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to really focus on photography and see if I can turn it into a living, a career. The first couple of years were devoted to just getting my feet wet and trying to learn what it takes to create a descent image that actually says something. I quickly realized that I wanted to stand out from other Utah photographers, especially in this day and age when so many people are trying to get into the business. To me, the way to do it is to create interesting visuals that tell a story. I wanted to make sure that I didn't go for the very first idea that popped into my head. I alway ask myself: "Has this been done? Is this cliché? Is this just a pretty picture?" It had to be more than that, it had to be different. Off course everything has been done, but could I put my own spin on it? Absolutely. So I worked hard on creating stories, coming up with concepts, location, interesting wardrobe, hair, makeup, etc. There are so many elements that go into making an impactful image, and you can really create multiple levels of viewership and different dimensions by combining those into one picture. I always ask myself: "Who is this character? What are they doing in this picture?" I want the viewer to feel like something has just happened or something is about to happen when they look at my work. I want to build a sense of anticipation and anxiety. I'm much more interested in raising questions than giving you the answers. After all, isn't that what art is all about?

- Phillip Istomin


MANICPROJECT iPhone6 Wallpaper

I thought it would be fun to create some iPhone wallpaper using MANICPROJECT imagery.
Feel free to download it and share it with your friends. Cheers!