Kailas
Interview • July 27, 2020 by Scott Marlin
“When I look back it was so obvious, I should have been pursuing art more seriously in high school and into college. The problem was all the forces that led me astray.”
Kailas is ready to start creating again. The New York-based commercial and beauty photographer has weathered the pandemic’s shuttering of the American fashion capital. Now, with the city’s cautious reopening, Kailas is sizing up the changed fashion industry and planning his next steps carefully.
We recently caught up with Kailas to hear his take on the state of the post-lock down fashion industry, and connect about his background and some of the lessons he’s learned the hard way on his creative journey.
To start at a kind of beginning, you’re not just a photographer, but a skater-turned-photographer. When did you make the switch?
Skating and photography have both been a part of my life for a long time. I was in what should have been my senior year in college when photography began to take up more of my time. It was a combination of a car accident and getting more serious about career that catalyzed the change.
What forces led you down the path of photography and visual art?
When I look back it was so obvious, I should have been pursuing art more seriously in high school and into college. The problem was all the forces that led me astray. I was being pushed to earn a degree in business and didn’t know art was a career option until my senior year of college.
“It blows my mind that camera manufacturers keep developing sharper, higher pixel cameras that render a hyper real version of reality, but they don’t produce a digital that looks beautiful.”
Skating has such a distinct culture. How has that part of your background informed your approach to photography?
It’s huge. That is why there are so many ’90s skate rats in the photography industry. Nowadays everyone has a camera in their hands because of smart phones, but back then skateboarding was the reason for a lot of cameras and camcorders ending up in kids’ hands. That’s just getting the tool in your hand, then there is the fashion aspect.
Skateboarding is all about fashion and style. There are lots of professional skateboarders whose street style is as iconic as their boarding. The fashion industry has borrowed so much from skateboarding. In some cases, blatantly ripping off skateboarding apparel designs. I still get a kick out of the Chanel shoe line that ripped off all the ’90s and early 2000 DC Shoe designs. DC’s logo seems somewhat inspired by Chanel’s to begin with. There is a back-and-fourth between those two labels in particular.
I think I know your answer to this next question, but I have to ask: film or digital?
Film. It blows my mind that camera manufacturers keep developing sharper, higher pixel cameras that render a hyper real version of reality, but they don’t produce a digital that looks beautiful.
Old-fashioned gelatin emulsion film has returned in force with amateurs and enthusiasts recently. But what about the professional scene? How does analog photography fit into your process on a commercial job?
Film has definitely had a resurgence, and many of the fashion industry’s new top photographers are exclusively shooting film. For me it is often something art directors discuss in preproduction, but they usually settle for digital as a way to expedite the process. I have a lot of tricks to get my digital to have more of a film feel that I implement.
I promise not to dwell on COVID, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to give an example or two from your experience. How has the pandemic shifted your creative focus?
It has been like any loss. I’m going through different stages. In the beginning I was still really motivated, then I could barely get out of bed. As NYC is getting closer to reopening I’ve been productive again and looking forward to the next hustle.
I think it’s going to be a slow recovery. I’ve seen production companies completely disassemble with the owners and employees leaving NYC. I’ve had clients file for bankruptcy. Art directors and producers that hire me for different brands have been furloughed with no indication of a return. A lot of people have left their leases and headed back to their hometowns. I sent out a promotional emailer last week and got a lot of automated responses that people are no longer with the companies.
“That is the scary thing about being a creative. The inspiration isn’t always something you can just summon. I feel lucky when it hits and try to run with it.”
I’m planning on taking the opportunity to create personal and editorial projects over the next year. Dip into savings if I have to. I don’t want to further ruin the industry by taking low rates. I’m expecting companies to do what they did after the 2008 crisis and go into a kind of austerity mode. I’d love to not be so doom and gloom, but it’s really not looking good.
How have you stayed inspired?
I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of staying inspired throughout the past several months. That is the scary thing about being a creative. The inspiration isn’t always something you can just summon. I feel lucky when it hits and try to run with it. I shot several projects between October and January that I was too busy with commissions to work on. Now that I’m feeling inspired I’ve been scanning in the film and coming up with edits. That has really helped me ease back into the process without putting together a production with COVID still looming. The best thing I’ve done is quit thinking about money loss and instead focus on the imagery.
Back to the fun stuff: A time-traveling DeLorean blasts into your living room, and Doc Brown swings open the gull-wing doors, offering you a chance to photograph any muse past or future, but you have to act fast. What camera, lens, and film combo do you grab? And who do you travel back (or forward) to photograph?
My first choice is to play it safe and just grab the digital SLR with a fixed 50mm. And I think I would go back and photograph Einstein. He’s synonymous with genius and he takes a great picture. Especially as he got older with the long crazy gray hair. He looks great in photos.
For readers looking to pursue careers as fashion photographers, what are one or two pieces of advice you wish you would have had when you were starting out?
Assist!!! Assisting different photographers is so important. You learn so much, even if you’re learning what not to do.
I assisted for 7 years and for easily over 150 photographers, with everyone from top dogs to people who were only a couple years into the industry. You start to really identify who is an exceptional photographer and artist, and who is sliding by because they know the right people.
More often than not, those sliding by didn’t pay their assisting dues. Or didn’t assist a wide variety of photographers. Of course there are exceptions, really great photographers who themselves barely assisted. But even with those photographers you can see deficiencies in their workflow from skipping that step.
Aside from the process and technical stuff, you also start to learn their stories and career paths. It can really help you identify opportunities in your career as you’re navigating your own path. I was still assisting even when I had a handful of my own shooting clients. I had initially tried to rush the transition to decent paying shoots without success and was forced to dial back and take a slower approach
In the end it was a really great learning process for me, and those photographers have become close friends and allies in the industry. I can’t thank some of them enough. A four-year bachelors degree in photography is worth about a month of getting out there on set assisting different photographers.
About Kailas
Kailas is a New York-based commercial and beauty photographer represented by South James Agency. He shoots for international editions of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, L’Officiel, Nylon, and Vogue magazines along with a long list of independent art and fashion magazines. See more of his photography at kailasphotography.com and follow his work on Instagram @kailasmichael.
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