Photographer Diana King has joined ContagiousLA (CLA) for representation on fashion lifestyle and advertising projects. Relatively new to the scene, King has garnered attention for a style that is quirky and colorful with a touch of cinematic flair. Recent subjects include actresses Jamie Chung and Natalie Morales, comedian/actress Mindy Kaling and Transparent creator Jill Soloway. That work is complemented by editorial spreads and ad campaigns for Samsung and Wet Seal. King’s first assignment with CLA is the print component for a multi-platform client-direct Alphaeon campaign; CLA’s Andrew Laurich wrote/directed the broadcast work, airing now.
“Diana’s photographs are a colorful celebration of beauty and diversity, they’re inspiring,” said CLA owner/executive producer Natalie Sakai, who met King almost a decade ago when they were working together at Anonymous Content. “I’ve been fortunate to witness Diana’s photography grow and blossom over the years. In addition, it’s a happy coincidence that she’s in line with the diversification of our roster. She certainly empowers other female artists, as well as myself.”
Born and bred in the Bay Area, King migrated down to Los Angeles to study film production and cinematography at Chapman University. Upon graduation, she worked in commercial production and assisted commercial director Nicolai Fuglsig. Transitioning to photography, King assisted British fashion photographer Kayt Jones before branching out on her own.
“Growing up in an Asian family, the only goal in life was to go to college, get a good job, and buy a house,” King recalled. “At the same time, I was artistic and not great at math. I couldn’t study art because it was impractical. So I dabbled in art classes and photography on the side. When I worked on my first film shoot, I thought, ‘Hey this is an industry!’” King worked in film production, but “I always had photography in the back of my mind,” she said. “Shooting on film was expensive and the process felt further from creating. Photography removed some of the obstacles–crew, scope–yet allowed me to still reflect my identity.”
King set her sights on assisting internationally renowned photographer Jones. “Somehow, I had the balls to email Kayt and to offer my help for free,” she said. After a period of alternating between the internship and paid PA gigs, King was hired by Jones. Two years later, King was testing with modeling agencies, freelance assisting, doing production work for photo shoots, and eventually submitting to magazines for editorial assignments.
King’s latest projects include a bridal story for the Summer issue of California Wedding Day and a fashion lifestyle spread in Family Circle. Of her educational and work experiences in photography and film, King concluded, “When you come from filmmaking, you’re story-driven. With fashion and portraits, I see the whole story in that one image.”
King joins an ensemble of talent at CLA which includes writer/directors Laurich, Jeff Jenkins, Ben Ketai and Andrew Renzi.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More