360Photography

How Jimon Aframian is Living His Dream!

About a year ago, I found an email in my inbox from Jimon Aframian saying that he was starting a magazine here in Los Angeles and he’d like to feature some of my work from my Boys Collection. I have a soft spot for that body of work and am always eager and pleased that it continues to be highlighted and shown. I’m very proud of the body of work as it depicts to me a time in my life where I was dedicated to a certain project and it also is when I met my husband, David.

I wrote back and told Jimon, “sure, which images did he want”? At that point he had found my Blog and read where a certain editorial I had shot for another magazine didn’t run in the proper way and he asked if he could run that story. I was more than happy to find a good home for that shoot. So I told him yes! And the story came out in December in the  launch issue of the magazine aptly named JIMON.

I recently sat down to lunch with the owner and publisher of JIMON, Jimon Aframian. I was really moved by his story and want to share it with all of you. His passion for starting this magazine and the hard work he has put into it shows in spades. The magazine is large, the printing is beautiful and the work in it exceptional. He has now just launched the second issue in which features an editorial shot by myself.

Jimon’s life story reads like a fast paced novel. He escaped Tehran in 1984 and ended up in Los Angeles. He got his degree in Engineering from Cal State Northride in 1991 and took a job as a jet engineer. He went through a few engineering jobs, never really feeling that passionate about it. In 1995 he bought a film camera and like many of us, found his passion in photography! He threw himself into film making, even doing a commercial for Snapple! He took a class in AVID and explored as much as he could on the subject of film making. He veered away from engineering but still needed to eat so he took a job as a film engineer, working with the Quantel machine and living in London. April of 1999 marks a significant moment for him as he decided to quit working for other people and took up photography and film making full time.

A friend gave him a Hasselblad 500 CM as a gift which he turned around and sold so he could buy a Leica, a Contax 6.45 and a Canon. He shot non-stop, which led to his images being published in European Playboy and in high end nude books, one of which was Maxim’s “Erotica”.

In mid 2005 he took some classes at my Alma Mater, Art Center College of Design. He was still shooting, still honing his skills, exploring his vision and in 2008 made the decision to start his own magazine. He explained to me that the vision wasn’t exactly there in the beginning. At first he thought that he would use the magazine as a vehicle to get his own work published. I’m sure a few of you reading this have had the same thought. I know I have. But he worked on his vision for the magazine over the next one and a half years, contacting other photographers who’s work he admired and put the magazine together. He interviewed the illustrious David Rothschild and launched JIMON Magazine in December 2009.

The magazine has grown FAST. Every move he makes with the magazine is a success. Finding distributors was easier than he ever imagined. He made a mock up and he found a distributor that also distributes Numero, Vogue Paris and Purple. For Jimon, finding a printer proved to be the most difficult because he wanted it to be printed perfectly! He explains that JIMON is not a “7-11 Magazine”. But he did find one and I have to say the magazine is gorgeous! Every one I speak to about it who has seen my spread and complimented on it has exclaimed how impressed they are with the first issue. And of course, how impressed they are with it’s owner, Jimon.

For Jimon, his dream has finally come true. He told me how he gets goose bumps when he walks into a newsstand and sees JIMON Magazine sitting on the shelf next to Purple, Ten, Numero and Vogue Paris! I have to tell you, it makes me pretty proud myself that I am published in the magazine!

These images featured in this post were shot exclusively for JIMON Magazine. I worked with Yuliya from LA Models who gracefully danced in the late afternoon sun on my friend and occasional assistant Alex Vazquez’s property.  Iris Moreau did a fantastic job with hair and make up. And I pulled the clothes from Church, with Rodney Burns helping me with the looks. I used only natural, available, late afternoon magic hour light with the occasional bump from a white/gold reflector. ; ) Shot on my Nikon and using the 50mm and 85mm lenses. That’s simply it on the tech side. Tyler Mitchell was my 1st assistant on this shoot who can now add rattlesnake searching to his resume.He went out into the field in front of us all, carrying the camera bag and a long stick, pounding on the ground to scare off any sleeping, sunbathing rattlers.

The magazine is on the newsstands nationwide now and soon to be available throughout the world!  Once again I’ll just say that I’m glad I answered that first email a year ago and that I am now featured twice in this fabulous magazine! Try to find a copy so you can check out the quality of the paper and printing. One thing, though: You won’t find it at your local 7-11.

(All Images © Melissa Rodwell Photography 2010)

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