Miguel Starcevich
Miguel Starcevich-born in Chicago-began taking pictures after becoming fascinated with his uncle's photo lenses while accompanying him on a photo shoot more than twenty years ago. Miguel's first photos were portraits-they caught the eye of a modeling agency-and he was hired to do the test shots of talent. It was this portfolio that launched his career; his work was selected to be included in a group exhibit at Soho Gallery in New York; his first published collection "Pipes", a limited edition, sold out and from there he was off to Berlin, Amsterdam, London and Paris to shoot. Completely self-taught, Starcevich was greatly inspired by the works of Picasso, Magritte, Warhol and Helmut Newton to help him develop, hone and define his visual esthetic. "It's all about composition in a photo," Starcevich says, "you either have a good eye, or you don't. Once you realize you have it, you develop raw talent through experience." Without any formal education, not even as an assistant on a single shoot with a pro, Starcevich's work has been shown in fine fashion mags, including VOGUE ITALIA, FIASCO, PENTHOUSE and many others. He has shot talent and stars for most of the giant music houses including CAPITOL RECORDS, UNIVERSAL, XIX ENTERTAINMENT, COLUMBIA, SONY, MOTOWN, DEF JAM, CASH MONEY RECORDS and INTERSCOPE. He loves shooting beauty and fashion, celebrity portraits and really enjoys the rawness and vulnerability of nudes. "It's you and the person," he says, "there's nothing between you; nothing that hides." And Starcevich doesn't take a lot of shots. "It's something you feel," he says. "Some guys need three thousand to get two good ones; they over-compensate for lack of confidence; when I strongly feel it, it's done in far less time." The power and nature of his portraits of females as goddesses in physical form transferred easily in his first shoot of male nudes rendered as mythological gods in his about to be released collection DRY. "The straight male models had never posed nude, and I had never shot nude males; it was brazen masculinity all around!" Photos from DRY, shot in the steamy desert of Palm Springs, can be previewed online. Starcevich resides in Los Angeles, California.