Vintage Glamour Photography with Chandler Love at Delilah West Hollywood

Some locations do not need much help. Delilah in West Hollywood is one of them.

The moment you walk through the door the place tells you exactly what kind of photographs you are going to make. Deep red walls, velvet booths, gold everywhere, Art Deco details that make every hallway feel like a film set. Delilah has been a Hollywood institution since it opened and it shows in every surface.

I had the pleasure of working with Chandler Love (@chandler__love) for a vintage glamour shoot that felt like it belonged in a different era entirely. Chandler brought exactly the right energy to a location like this — warm, easy to direct and completely at home in front of the camera regardless of what you asked her to do.

The Styling

None of this happens without the right wardrobe. Geena Lorenzo from Genuinely Engaging Entertainment handled all the styling for the shoot and delivered something extraordinary. The gold corset, the crimson velvet, the feathered headdress — every piece was chosen to work with Delilah's interior rather than compete with it.

When the styling is this strong the photographer's job is to stay out of the way and let the light and the location do what they do.

The Shoot

Chandler is the kind of person who makes a difficult location feel effortless. Delilah is not a photography studio — the lighting is moody and inconsistent, the spaces are tight and the ambient light shifts constantly. None of that fazed her. She moved through the space like she had been shooting there for years.

We worked the hallways, the booths, the bar area. Every corner of Delilah has its own personality and Chandler matched each one without missing a beat.

The headdress shots in the corridor are some of the most dramatic images I have made in any location. The warm amber light coming from above, the deep red walls closing in on both sides, Chandler holding that gaze like she owns the entire building. That is not something you can manufacture. That is a model who understands exactly what a moment requires.

The Booth

The one that stopped me during the edit. Chandler reclined across the velvet booth, legs stretched across the table, staring directly into the lens with an expression that dares you to look away. The crimson walls and gold place settings frame her perfectly. It is a photograph that belongs in a different decade and somehow feels completely modern at the same time.

That is what Delilah does. It makes everything feel timeless.

If a styled glamour shoot at an iconic Los Angeles location sounds like something you want to experience, let's talk. Schedule your free consultation and let's create something extraordinary together. 909-234-2711

Helmut Newton and the Photographer Who Cannot Look Away | Black Kat Studios Los Angeles

Helmut Newton and the Photographer Who Cannot Look Away

There are photographers whose work you study and photographers whose work stops you cold. Helmut Newton stopped me cold.

I came to his work the way most photographers do — through the images themselves before I knew anything about the man behind them. Hard light cutting across a woman's face. Deep shadow pooling in architectural space. Subjects who looked like they owned every room they were ever photographed in.

I did not know what to call what I was seeing. I just knew I could not stop looking.

The Light

Newton's lighting is what gets me first every time. Bold, hard, unforgiving and completely intentional. He was not interested in flattering light that smoothed everything out and made everyone look comfortable. He wanted light that revealed. Light that created structure. Light that said something.

There is a minimalism to how he used light that I find endlessly compelling. He was not filling shadows to make the image easier to look at. He was letting the shadows do the work. The contrast between what he lit and what he left dark is where the tension lives in his images and tension is what makes a photograph worth looking at twice.

That philosophy is deeply embedded in how I shoot. I am not trying to create images that are easy. I am trying to create images that are true.

The Subjects

Newton's women are never victims of the camera. They are never passive. They look directly into the lens with an expression that makes very clear who is actually in control of the situation.

I have read the debates about his work. The conversations about the male gaze, about power, about what it means for a man to photograph women the way he did. I understand those conversations.

What I always come back to is the subjects themselves. They look powerful. They look confident. They look like women who knew exactly what they were doing and chose to be there. That reads differently to me than images where the subject looks like something is being taken from them.

Whether that was Newton's intention or the women's own presence asserting itself through the lens I cannot say. Probably both. But the result is images that have lasted decades and still feel modern because confidence does not age.

The Commercial Work

Newton shot for Vogue, for Yves Saint Laurent, for every major fashion house of his era. And somehow none of it feels like advertising. It feels like art that happened to be paid for.

That is the standard I hold myself to. Every session I shoot is commissioned. Someone is paying me to create something. But the images I am most proud of are the ones where you cannot tell. Where the result feels inevitable rather than manufactured. Where the subject and the light and the moment came together into something that would exist whether anyone was paying for it or not.

Newton understood that commercial work and fine art are not opposites. They are the same thing when you refuse to lower your standards for either one.

What He Left Behind

Helmut Newton died in 2004 but his visual vocabulary is everywhere. The hard light. The strong female subject. The architectural use of space. The refusal to be soft when sharp serves better.

Photographers working today whether they know his name or not are working in a language he helped create.

I know his name. I know his work. And I am grateful for both.

The Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin preserves his archive and continues to exhibit his work. If you have never spent time with his images properly visit helmut-newton-foundation.org and give yourself an hour. It is worth it.

If bold light, strong contrast and images that do not apologize for themselves sound like what you are looking for, let's talk. Schedule your free consultation and let's create something that lasts. 909-234-2711

Helmut Newton inspired photos taken by Rick Feldman at Black Kat Studios

Helmut Newton inspired fine art glamour portrait by Rick Feldman at Black Kat Studios Los Angeles

Hard light fine art portrait session by Rick Feldman at Black Kat Studios inspired by Helmut Newton

Black and white fine art glamour photography by Rick Feldman at Black Kat Studios Los Angeles

Glamour Photography with a Burlesque Performer | Black Kat Studios Los Angeles

What Happens When a Showgirl Walks Into Your Studio

Some sessions surprise you.

The moment Cherie Gwendolyn walked through the door I knew this was going to be one of those sessions.

Cherie

Cherie is a Los Angeles showgirl, pinup performer and burlesque artist who has performed alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Chris Brown, Don Toliver, Anderson Paak and more. She is the kind of performer who has spent years learning exactly what her body can do and exactly how to use it in front of an audience.

What I did not fully anticipate was how completely that translates to the camera.

Follow her at @cherie.gwendolyn on Instagram.

Want to see the session in action? Watch the behind the scenes below.

Dancers Are a Different Experience

I have said before that the women who are most hesitant going in are often the ones who walk out the most transformed. Cherie was the opposite of hesitant. She walked in professional, warm, ready and completely at ease.

Performers know their bodies. They understand line, angle, expression and presence in a way that takes most people years to develop. Cherie did not need to be taught how to pose. She needed to be pointed in a direction and given the creative freedom to inhabit it.

What that means for a photographer is that you stop directing and start collaborating. The session becomes a conversation rather than an instruction. That is when the most interesting work happens.

When Glamour Becomes Vintage Glamour

Some sessions have a direction before you ever pick up a camera. This was one of them.

Cherie is a burlesque performer. That means the old Hollywood sensibility, the deliberate femininity, the theatrical confidence — that is not a style she puts on. It is who she is. The moment she walked in it was clear that this was never going to be a standard glamour shoot. It was always going to be vintage. It was always going to be cinematic. It was always going to have that pin-up edge.

I did not redirect the session. I just followed where she was already going.

The result is images that feel like they belong in a different era while still being completely, unmistakably her.

What This Session Taught Me

Shooting Cherie reminded me why I love this work. When a woman walks in already comfortable in her skin, already fluent in her own beauty, the camera becomes almost secondary. You are not creating confidence. You are just documenting it.

The result is images that feel effortless even though they are not. Every frame has intention behind it. Every pose tells you something about who she is.

That is what separates a great session from a good one. Not the equipment, not the location, not even the lighting. The person in front of the lens.

Glamour and Vintage Boudoir Photography in Los Angeles

If you are a performer, dancer, burlesque artist or entertainer who has been thinking about creating images that document who you are at this point in your career, I would love to talk.

Sessions are available at my private studio in Upland and at select premium locations throughout Los Angeles and Southern California. Professional hair and makeup available as an add-on.

No session brief required. Just show up and let's see what we make together.

Ready to start the conversation? Schedule your free consultation and let's talk about your vision. 909-234-2711

Glamour Photo Session with Cherry Gwendolyn at Black Kat Studios Upland CA by Rick Feldman Photography.