Parish Kohanim: Paradise on Earth
Beautiful Monitor
Kohanim harnesses his Mac hardware to help clients follow along during a shoot. In the studio he displays shots on his 30-inch Apple Cinema Display. “That monitor is a work of art in itself,” he says. “We can look at the images in crisp, clear color and high detail — the way they should be represented. It’s an incredible advantage — especially since there can be ten people gathered around as I’m shooting, and on the big monitor it’s so much easier to see.”
No More Waiting
Kohanim recently completed eight spreads — using child models humorously dressed as adults - designed to help a national shopping mall developer entice retailers to lease his properties. “I love working with kids,” he says. “They’re so spontaneous, and they don’t have bad hair days!”
The twin ten-year-old boys hired for the shopping mall shoot were adorable, according to Kohanim, but after some trial shots, “one had the exact expression I wanted, and the other one didn’t. So I told him, ‘Come and look at this on the monitor — this is the mood and the action we want.’ He did, and he got it right away. You just can’t relate that detail with a little Polaroid.”
Kohanim remembers waiting for Polaroids to develop in order to adjust his lighting. “Now, I can instantly see on the monitor what’s going on, address the problem, and move forward,” says Kohanim. “The most important part of all this Apple technology, with photography, is that it saves us a ton of time.”
Savor This Moment
Though he was raised with an aesthete’s appreciation of the arts, Kohanim is anything but a snob. “What I admire is someone’s devotion and commitment to his or her craft,” he muses. “These are the winners in our society: the people who take pride in what they do. And it could be anything. Whatever you do, do it with 100 percent of yourself.”
The photographer recounts an experience that made an impression on him during a recent trip to Costco: “This young fellow waited on me, and he was so genuine and gracious. That’s something that comes from within. And it’s a reminder that it doesn’t matter what you do; if you do it well, it becomes art.”
Kohanim is modest about the impact of his own work. “What I do, photography, won’t change the world,” he reflects. “But images like the flowers or the Cirque acrobat [see sidebar on page 1] nurture my soul and create balance for me — and hopefully bring some pleasure to others as well.”
That’s what he wishes — to share the beauty he sees around him every day. Of course, even a world famous photographer is sometimes caught unawares. “Recently I was coming home from L.A.,” he recalls. “it was a perfect day to fly. The landscape kept changing, one gorgeous scene after another. All the patterns in the clouds, the fields, the mountains — it was like the most beautiful movie, for hours. And if I had had my camera, I would have shot gigabytes and gigabytes of pictures. But I didn’t. So I just had to surrender to it. I said to myself, There’s so much beauty out there, let me just stay in this moment and enjoy it.”
