Photographer - Kenneth Willardt

Kenneth Willard was born in 1966 in Denmark and spent his childhood in a small town north of Copenhagen. His father was also fond of photography, but for Kenneth photography will become not only a hobby, but also a real profession.

According to Kenneth Willard, he first thought about composition at the age of 6-7 years, he and his brother were returning from the beach and he asked his father to photograph them against the background of a colored wall in the yard. At that moment he himself thought that it would be a good combination - tanned children against the background of a wall the color of water.

Kenneth Willard began his studies in the art of photography at the Danish School of Photography under the guidance of the photographer Torsten Graae. And in 1987 he moved to New York, in this city he will begin to professionally engage in photography.

So at 24 years old Kenneth Willard was named "Best Beginner Photographer" by PDN Magazine.

Kenneth Willard has long collaborated with the Maybelline brand, for which he has taken not only photographs, but also acted as a director of commercials. He also worked for Christian Dior, Nivea, L'Oreal. He has collaborated with such well-known magazines as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Glamor. In March 2012, his photographs appeared in the Russian issue of Glamor magazine.

Kenneth Willard has photographed celebrities such as Milla Jovovich, Keira Knightley, Beyonce Knowles, Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga and many others.

In January 2003, Kenneth Willard was named Best Photographer of the Year at the Pantene Pro-V Beauty Awards in London.

According to Kenneth Willard, the quality of photography depends not only on the photographer, but also on many other factors, on the team. Light, makeup, and simply the mood on the set are important here.

When asked what inspires him, Kenneth Willard invariably answers that "this is a very long list", because it is "this city" (New York), travel, happy people, his son, architecture, art, National Geographic , Brazil, any new environment and even moving to a new building.

One of his favorite projects, Kenneth Willard calls the work on the Maybelline calendar. And he advises novice photographers to never work for free, because this sets the wrong priorities, and you need to be able to appreciate your work.

Kenneth Willard also worked on this 2012 Maybelline calendar. In his calendar, model girls (Julia Stegner, Erin Wasson, Jessica White, Zhang Zii and Emily Didonato) embody the images of representatives of various professions: from veterinarian and chemistry teacher to president. The photographs themselves are very bright and life-affirming, although they are classic, if I may say so, Barbie-style photographs, fashion-style photographs.