Up & Comers: LA-Based Celebrity Photographer Angelo Kritikos Talks Life After ‘W’ Magazine Contest Win

Photo: Courtesy of Andersen PR

Life seemed to fall perfectly into place after world renowned publication W Magazine announced that photographer Angelo Kritikos would be named it’s “Top Upcoming Photographer” in 2010. He beat out hundreds of thousands of contestants, and with his newfound acclaim he graduated early from the Illinois School of Art-Schaumburg and packed up to move to LA where he would start his career in photography.

“I feel like I’m still riding that wave,” said Kritikos, “That contest was over 3 years ago and it still gets brought up all the time because it was such a prestigious contest. It’s amazing. It was really life changing.”

The photographer has since gone on to shoot with the likes of Charli XCX, Ian Somerhalder and Keke Palmer and his work has appeared in Allure, GQ and Cosmopolitan, among others. While enjoying his adoped west coast home of LA, we had a chance to speak with the up & coming photographer about his journey, what influences his personal style, and his favorite subjects thus far.

Photo: Courtesy of Andersen PR

StyleBlazer: What’s your favorite area in LA to shoot?

Angelo Kritikos: I absolutely love the Melrose area. It is a reflection of my personal life so often times, the places I like to shoot at are the places where my friends and I like to hang out. There are a couple bars off of Melrose that we’ll go to or the cool vintage boutiques that I like or even my little coffee shop. I’m just so inspired over there. But it’s always changing, as I change my photography tends to change as well.

SB: Would you say the Melrose area has inspired your fashion sense as well?

AK: Absolutely. There are certain brands that I’m super into right now, and what I like to wear is what I like to put the celebrities in as well. Right now I’m absolutely in love with the brand UNIF, Drop Dead, and Thick Skin. There are so many funky brands that I’ve been wearing and I have been pushing on my editorial shoots. Yeah so my photography always revolves around my world and what I’m currently into.

SB: How would you describe your aesthetic. I noticed your photos are very high contrast.

AK: Again it depends on my mood, the past couple of months I’ve been shooting more vibrantly with and pops of color and everything has a sharpness and a richness to it, but a year or two ago I was shooting darker stuff and more punk influenced stuff. A year before that I was really into Miami lifestyle so swimwear and beachy photos. It ultimately comes down to creating a cool energy on set and having a great connection with whoever I’m shooting.

SB: Between celebrity, street style and nmsuic – do you have a preference towards what you like to shoot most?

AK: Right now, I have to say I am really digging shooting musicians just because my personal style has become a bit more eccentric and bold in the past year. I was really fortunate to work with one of my favorite recording artists, Charli XCX, and she was super dope!  I’m really into the music world and I’ve been meeting really talented and strong individuals.

SB: How did you start getting into music videos?

AK: I had shot a musician or two and then this music manager scouted me after seeing my work on Perez Hilton. He called me in to shoot with his emerging artists. We got along great and then he asked me to direct her music video and I literally took on the job without even knowing what I was doing. He was like do you do videos and I was like ‘uh huh!’ It was so good because I ended up loving it and that video became such a special thing to me. So Perez ended up posting the video and then I had three other people hitting me up to direct three other videos. I would never imagine shooting this many videos in such a short amount of time.

SB: Who have been your top 5 favorite people to shoot?

AK: Pennybirdrabbit, Charli XCX, Ian Somerhalder, July 2012′s cover photo for Cosmopolitan, Giuliana Rancic. Luckily, I just get along with creative people.

SB: What’s next?

AK: As far as upcoming projects, I’m working with Jessica Sutta from the Pussycat Dolls. She’s doing amazing solo music and we’re going to be working on a video together. I’m also working with a new artist his name is Evan Mellows who has sick, sick style! And I’m shooting a video for Kitten from Atlantic Records. I had a little Teen Vogue feature come out recently which is exciting, so I’m just taking it from shoot to shoot! I’m always open to working with creative people.

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