From Women, Lilia, North Hollywood, Los Angeles | Images courtesy of Nadia Lee Cohen Studios
Ever the visual chameleon, British photographer Nadia Lee Cohen certainly understands the importance of transformation, whether it’s behind the lens capturing Kim Kardashian’s latest SKIMS campaign or Cohen herself starring in surrealist images for Schiaparelli and Savage x Fenty. Released at the top of this year her second monograph, Hello, My Name Is builds a narrative around 33 different characters inspired by abandoned name tags collected over the years. Cohen takes a cinematic approach to portraiture, morphing her visage into a long list of characters and forming her made-up subjects with flea market finds she’s acquired. As she takes on the different guises, Cohen is sometimes unrecognizable, yet the creative freedom allows the avid storyteller to craft a multiverse of her own making. “There are no feelings of self-consciousness, I don’t care about what I look like, I care about what they look like.” The book was then converted into a solo exhibition of Cohen’s past work that just finished up at the Jeffrey Deitch gallery in Los Angeles. When she’s not creating doppelgängers, the photographer’s work schedule is as vast as it is major, adding to her modeling work shooting campaigns for Balenciaga, and music videos for A$AP Rocky, Kali Uchis, and Tyler The Creator. Models.com spoke to the visual artist and filmmaker about how she started, her thoughts on commercial success, and some of her most memorable projects.
How did you first get your start in photography? Did you assist anyone early in your career?
I actually never ‘assisted’ a photographer. Looking back I probably should have done as now I’d be a lot more technically capable. I had a few unrelated jobs like hair-washing in a salon, flipping burgers at a festival, and measuring the inside legs of strangers in a department store.
When you’re working on stories, do you think of commercial success? Is that a focal point, or is it more important to nurture your artistic point-of-view?
If I’m working for a brand, then I have to consider it out of respect; but they usually dictate what’s necessary in order to make it a “commercial success,” and then I’ll try to integrate that as elegantly as possible into my initial idea. If it’s my own stuff, then it’s 100% the latter; If I were personally passionate about commercial success, my work would look quite different.
Where do you go to source inspiration or find references? What drives you creatively?
Mostly through film, but when I’m working, I hardly have the time to watch them, so I tend to revisit the ones that shaped me in the first place and attempt to extract something new.
You step in front of your camera often, morphing yourself with wigs, makeup, and even prosthetics like in your Hello, My Name Is… monograph. What is the power of beauty in terms of transformation and creating characters?
There are no feelings of self-consciousness, I don’t care about what I look like, I care about what they look like.
Images courtesy of Nadia Lee Cohen Studios
You recently opened your first solo exhibition at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Los Angeles, how was the process of curation and what do you want audiences to take away from it?
The majority of the work that filled the space already existed and was created with the intention of being seen in a gallery space. It was the production of the new work and general execution of the show that was so difficult, I can imagine it’s almost like giving birth; in the sense that once the baby exists, the person forgets how hard the labor was.
I had a conversation with Jeffrey very early on about the importance of the exhibition ‘not feeling like a photo show’. This was the first opportunity I had to show the work in a three-dimensional way, where people could experience isolated physical forms of the objects, characters, and Los Angeles architecture that influenced me in the first place. I spoke with my art director Brittany Porter about the viewer being able to exist in that fictional yet familiar world. The idea was to be able to look at the characters, hear them speak, and see the textures of Los Angeles like the La Brea Motel, the white breeze block wall from The Valley, or the dirty cinema seats sticky with chewing gum.
How do you challenge yourself in your artistry?
I want everything to be better than what came before.
Bella Hadid for Balenciaga Fall 2022 | Images courtesy of Nadia Lee Cohen Studios
You just recently shot the Balenciaga Fall 2022 campaign with Aya Nakamura, Bella Hadid, Kit Butler, and more. How was the experience and energy on set?
Zero drama! Demna is so sure of what he wants so all the tiny details are previously figured out, which makes the actual shoot day incredibly smooth and easy.
You have worked for some of the biggest creatives in the business. What have been some of the most memorable projects for you?
I remember the ones that were tough to create, like the pig-police video I made with A$AP Rocky. It was released as he was freed from Swedish prison; you can’t get more serendipitous than that.
What is your advice for women who want to make a career as a photographer?
To photograph what you love, not what you think other people will love.
You’ve done so much but is there anything else that you’re dying to do? Places that you would love to shoot next?
I need a break, I need a holiday!
