Charismatic. Talented. Inspired by speed. Dean Avisar went to art school straight after the army at the age of 21, still wasn’t sure if photography was his thing. Avisar began his photography career at the age of 23 and took on an assistant role to a renown Israeli photographer, where he improved his technical skills for the following 18 months. Following this, he focused on refining as a professional photographer and worked on several commercial campaigns, which were featured in Israel’s major publications.
“It was a decision to search for myself, it was a chance for me to step up a game and follow my interest and spirit. And in art school, I learnt a lot, especially the essence of photography; I was very inspired and art school opened my eyes to my conscious, especially film photography and playing in the dark rooms. The first year was very interesting and I learnt a lot of new things and had the opportunity to build the basic skills of photography and style. However, I started to be more interested in the fashion world and grew my hunger to go into the real world. I had an opportunity to work with an establish Israeli photographer and the decision to leave art school had given me the time to gain hands-on experience,” Dean explains.
In 2013 at the age of 25, Avisar moved to London to work with music bands such as Warpaint, Swim Deep and Wolf Alice as well as Europe’s leading model agencies – Models 1, Elite, M+P, Nevs and Storm. His signature black and white shots were seen and featured in publications like NME, the Sunday Times Magazine, i-D Magazine, Wonderland, The Ones2Watch.
When shooting, Dean uses PhaseOne medium format with a 80mm Schneider lens for most of his shoots. Yet, for someone who dreams to become a photographer he suggests to start with a film camera such as Nikon F3 because it trains a photographer to become more connected to the scene and to the lighting because you are more focused on the outcome. Photographer’s sense become more sharp and alert.
“When I started shooting with film, it made me really understand how to shoot, what is good and emphasis my mistakes. Digital gives you an easy path of shooting because you can shoot for hours but with film and the journey of using a film camera you want to make the best out of each frame and you take time to adjust things and by that you are more determine to make the best out of each frame. Like this, it will train you in the long run to ensure your photography is more confident,” says Dean.
He gets inspired by a very fast paced environment with lots of movements. Countries that are very happening and constantly changing and moving. People, style, culture, rock and roll are his things. What is also important for Dean it that when he catch an inspiration by someone he is shooting, his photography approach is much deeper. The shoot will have much more layer and depth.
“It’s not about the clothes. It’s like when you meet someone interesting you want the conversation to last longer and most importantly you are learning something from the person – and that’s what I seek for. Being beautiful and looking great in front of a camera is not enough. Personality and attitude are very important – edge, darkness, lightness, mysterious. And eyes, the eyes never lie. If I see someone on the streets in London, hmm I will walk up to the person and start a conversation and invite them for a chat in the studio but not to shoot right away- when I do a casting for a shoot I have to get the vibe and their energy and not just the first impression of their portfolio. I often prefer to get to know the person I am shooting before the day of the shoot as it is important for me to get to know the person first then I will know exactly how I want to shoot him/her,” he explains.
Dean’s black and white pictures bring something edgy and mysterious to the photography.
“Black and white photography make people think and wonder. If this is shoot in colour, the vibe is still there because of the eyes of the person but I feel like it will be in a lighter way. Black and white for me brings sex appeal to my photographs and some darkness to the person I am shooting,” he explains.
If you will have one day a photoshoot together with Dean Avisar — be ready that you will have a lot of fun with him and that you’ll be one of those special ones for him!
