Straulino is an extraordinary
photographer.
He creates his own story.
When you view his work you see fantasy
and beauty.
He has a vision that only he can see and
make it into an oasis. The 36 year old has
turned his career from being one that no one
has heard of; to becoming the beauty photographer
in
high demand.
His 15 year career all began in Hamburg, Germany. Straulino says that he was limited to
shooting fashion and decided to shoot without
fashion.
He began to work with models and makeup
teams. “That's how I knew that I wanted to be in
the beauty business.
Now, from year to year, I come back with
more fashion, because I know that I can get the
fashion that I want and really enjoy, but still
would say, I'm more into the beauty department
than the fashion.”
Model Ann-Christin
Straulino's work is intriguing and very
appealing to the eyes.
He built his entire career by working
with talented models and makeup artists.
One particular model that comes to mind
is Ann-Christin, whose interview will appear in
EFM in
August.
You will find, in the fashion industry,
that it is a very tight-knit community and that
somehow everyone knows someone.
Straulino enlightens me on the shoot with
Ann-Christin.
“All the pictures turned out being shot
as a series of 10 models shot together.
I was like really bored doing a one to
one beauty shoot.
I called the agency on a Sunday and told
them that I needed 10 models and it turned out to
be this mass model project.
I was really into it and I've been doing
this a few times now and out of this series I
did like single shots, but it was coming out
like a group shot theme, I really liked it.
From time to time, you need to improve your
thinking.
That's why I said it can become boring
after awhile, because with beauty, you try to use
the same angel, you have different sizes of
noses, faces, and lips.
You have to prove your style.
We did this 'Color Explosion', it turned
out really nice.”
Straulino adds; “Destroyed the whole
studio,” he says with a laugh.
'Classic' is what Straulino describes his work
as; a beauty photographer.
“That's what I prefer with beauty.
It's like with fashion, it's season to
season, you see it for a few weeks or for a few
months and it’s a whole new fashion coming out.
What I like to do with my pictures is a
bit more classic.
I try to do pictures that are sometimes
timeless where you can see them in five to ten
years.
It's not always happening, but most of
the time I am quite happy with it because it's
more lasting.”
I have never seen a photographer that really
thinks outside the box and has complete control
of the vision for a shoot.
I asked Straulino, how would he describe,
as what I would call it, paper mask photo-shoot?
“The newspaper”, he replied.
How long ago was the shoot?
I asked.
“A few months ago,” he laughs and says;
“It was like a really great Russian hairdresser.
We figured out that it was not working
out the way we planned it to.
We took the newspaper and made a mask and
started to put it around the model.
It turned out really nice and we loved it
and we did a few more shots like this.”
Straulino says; “That's actually how I
work.
Sometimes I have ideas and then I come to
the studio and want to do the idea and once I
see that it's not working out for me, I would
totally switch it. Before I would go with the
idea.”
Straulino says to me that he prefers to see
women without makeup.
“In private, I
prefer a woman to be without makeup,” he laughs.
No but it's really funny, because in my
pictures it's like it's totally different from
what I'm really into.
Girls I see, I don't like them with a lot
of makeup.
It's quite opposite to what I shoot.”
When Straulino first began shooting, he always
shot on location.
Things slowed down for him where he
couldn't travel much anymore, so he decided to
shoot in the studio where he has been in the
past few years.
Now he is able to do more traveling and
one of his favorite locations is Marrakech,
Morocco.
“Marrakech, it's so beautiful.”
Straulino gives advice to up and coming
photographers.
“Come up with your own ideas and do not
care what everyone else is doing.
That's the most important advice.
Not asking people, what they want to see,
but show them what you want them to see.”
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