Men’s Journal
Photo Director: Jennifer Santana
Deputy Photo Editor: Michele Ervin
Photographer: Dustin Aksland
Your bio mentions a few filmmakers, what type of impact have these creatives made on you?
Films have had a huge impact on my life. My Mother is a huge fan of films and I grew up going to the theatre and watching all genres of movies with her. To this day we talk about what films we are watching and review them. I believe watching films helped my visual vocabulary. I was the skater that stole my mom’s video camera and filmed everything my friends and I did and then would come home and edit the footage straight from the camera to vhs, pause, play, record, rewind, record etc.etc.
Were you familiar with David Gelb’s work prior to the shoot?
Yes I’d seen “Hiro Dreams of Sushi” and was a fan of the film. I had also seen the first season of “Chefs Table” and enjoyed that as well. I took the assignment because I was interested in talking with David about food and travel.
Why did you choose this location, was it about the food ( for the subject? ) and the location ( for you? )
I’m not sure if David or the magazine chose the location ( Ivan Ramen) but David was familiar with the restaurant and the food on the menu. The magazine wanted David to be holding food or eating. I’d never been to Ivan Ramen and did not have time before the shoot to scout so I figured I’d sort out the shooting location once I arrived. I settled for the counter and a front table near the window for the ramen slurping image ( used in TOC ).
What type of direction did you get from the magazine?
The magazine wanted the images to be loose rather than formal and like I mentioned above they wanted David to be eating or have food in his hand. It’s challenging to photograph people while they eat so I knew we would have to have fun with this shoot. Thankfully David was game and we ordered some ribs and ramen and he wasn’t afraid to get messy.
How if at all were you directing him during this portrait? What was happening at that moment?
I had a feeling going into this shoot that it would be a collaborative project considering David’s background shooting in kitchens / restaurants around the world. David asked what my ideas were and I gave him a quick rundown and he was game. The magazine wanted to David to eat a pork bun but the restaurant didn’t have one on the menu so we both thought ribs would be a great option. I asked David to sit sideways at the counter so we’d be able to see his face and then told him to chow down. David being a great director knew how to play it up for the camera and gave me the great “finger licking good” pose.