CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHTS Laura Dark / Instagram @lauradarkphoto Laura Dark is a long-time contributor to Auxiliary having shot many beauty and fashion editorials for issues over the years and a cover in 2017. She has shot an editorial for almost every fall issue including this one, having photographed our Blood beauty editorial. It wouldn’t feel like Halloween at Auxiliary without an editorial by Laura Dark! A conceptual portrait, fashion, and beauty photographer, she is based in Columbus, Ohio. “Photography, modeling, and music,” are passions. “I can’t play instruments or sing but I draw so much inspiration from music. It’s been hard over the past nine months not being able to attend live shows.” She has been keeping busy saying, “Right now I’m working on catching up on some education. I always try to take at least one class from a different photographer every once in a while. This last class I took was from photographer Chris Knight on Rembrandt lighting and painterly editing.” Continuing, “My studio shut down for three months during the pandemic for state mandated lockdown, but once we opened up we got super busy. We are now booked out till January 2021.” Laura has years of experience, explaining, “Fifteen years ago I opened my own brick and mortar studio.” “I went to art school, but I didn’t stay long. I felt like I was being pushed into a box and it just wasn’t for me. I did apprenticeship under a local portrait photographer for two years.” To help her keep a good mindset she said, “Honestly, it’s crazy, and hear me out... Little House on the Prairie. It’s like the least goth thing possible and I should probably have my goth card pulled.”
hair and photo by Cat Monster for La
ura Dark Photogra
phy
Wil Foster / Instagram @rockcandyphoto
photo by Luci Foster ) ghter during lockdown (Wil’s 14-year-old dau
This issue features two fashion editorials by Wil Foster aka Rock Candy Photo, Feel and Bombay. He’s an Australian photographer living in the US represented by Aesthetic Artist Agency. He explains, “I grew up in Melbourne [and] was fascinated by the Detroit and Chicago DJ techno scenes. I came to the US in 1990 as a wide eyed rave kid, and moved to Chicago and discovered Wax Trax, Ministry, Medusa’s, Berlin, and the thriving EBM and Industrial movement that consumed Chicago in the 90s. I quickly ditched my rave whistle and the rest was… my future. I stayed in the US by going to art school, graduating with a degree in Illustration. Illustration evolved into graphic design and about fifteen years ago I added photography.” He continues, “Pre-Covid I was a traveling photographer, working out of LA, Chicago, NY, and wherever the job was. Not many people know that I actually live and own a home in a tiny country town with my wife and kids and our four cats and three dogs. In rural Indiana, our family is like that scene from The Craft, we are the weirdos. You should see high school football games, here comes the Fosters, the only family in town that is always dressed in black. So 2020 has been beyond interesting.” When the pandemic hit, he explains, “Once I got over the shock of losing all my contracts and clients within a three-day period, I realized this was one of the biggest kicks in the arse that I personally needed. I had become over booked, over worked, I was gone more than I was home. I think if I was honest, as an artist in some weird way this is what we had all been wishing for… I wish I could have three plus months to do nothing but write, paint, create, and finish that song I started writing five years ago. I started shooting things I loved, with no expectations. We are far from where this world needs to be, although I have become grateful for the time it has given me to reset and refresh.”
Andrea Hunter / Instagram @andreahunterphotography This issue features a fashion editorial by Andrea Hunter, Water & Air. She’s a photographer based in the Greater Toronto Area of Canada that specializes in bands and live music, fashion editorials, and dark ethereal photography. Her passion is photography and she explains, “A lot of my photography is on the darker fantasy side and it truly makes me so happy to be able to bring these visions to life!” “Currently I’m in my busiest time of year with Halloween approaching! We’re creating vampires, witches, and bringing nightmares to life! I also am currently working on a project with a brand from LA that has been really fun creatively and has given me a chance to work with some new faces in the industry.” Her love of photography goes back, “I actually started photography in high school working with film and developing in the dark room. I then went to Humber College for a couple years where I attained my degree in creative photography. Not too long after college I got a job at a photography studio where I worked for a few years. I then decided I was ready to go on my own and focus on my own business Andrea Hunter Photography, shooting what truly made me happy and I never looked back!” Talking about this year she says, “2020, oh man what a wild ride! Not being able to shoot was really heart breaking for me.” Continuing, “It’s a bit different with all the Covid rules but I’m so happy and lucky to be able to be working again!”
photo by Andrea Hunter (self-portrait)
AUXILIARY fall 2020
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