Lose It.

By Aleksandr Karjaka
Letter from the Editor
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Grocery Store Standoff

The phrase is Yacht Rock. 

About three years ago I’m blasting 70’s classic rock in the studio, Chicago’s classic Saturday in the Park to be exact, and we’re styling the last bits before shooting some fashion line, and my 30 some year old stylist says to me snidely, “You play all the music my Dad likes. It’s like I’m in his Volvo. You know, Dad Rock.” Ahem, Yacht Rock.

What can I say? I love classic rock. A horn line, a killer beat and a groove to get me up when I need to be at my most up-est. My inner classical clarinetist yearning to play one of those cool instruments. Alas I digress. The kicker is every client, every mood/moment deserves the right music. Something to lose yourself in, to love, but not be distracted by.

Walking on Madison Avenue yesterday I’m jamming out to classic Aretha, Smokey and Stevie, and suddenly I’m on 57th and Madison stumbling upon the Calder. Struggling to find my composition as I was clearly far to close, New York passed me by. I was just another body in the crowd. Oldies DJ’ing the sound track of my life, I lost myself in waiting for that moment, or in this case how far I could get my body into traffic without being hit.

Meanwhile back in 2015 Brendan and I jam out to The Darkness in this week’s spread. Although not all that familiar with the group, we got lost in guitar riffs and made our way into some classic air guitar timeless classics. Regardless of what your jam is, getting lost in the moment is key in a Karjaka Portrait. There’s no formula and no way to explain it. You and I get to carry on and find our inner Heidegger, and just Be.

Heidegger Yatch Rock with Karjaka for timeless imagery.

Aleksandr Karjaka
Aleksandr Karjakahttp://karjaka.com
Aleksandr Karjaka came to New York for the music, but stayed for the visuals. As a classically trained musician, he’s had the honor of performing with some of the greatest musicians, and artistic houses, in the world. Often quoted as "Listening through his eyes." he's photographed the lives and stories of thousands of artists of all fields over the years. Here are their KARJAKA portraits.

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Grocery Store Standoff

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It's Friday night and the grocery store is abuzz. Couples bickering with each other on what to eat, Grandma looking at the Heinz ketchup label trying to decide what's the best ounce option to price ratio, lonely bachelors wandering the isles wondering why they came down that particular isle in the first place, and me, deciding what cereal to pick up. Designed like a Las Vegas style casino, I try not to get lost in the dimly lit glam that is C-Town. I'm strategic. Cereal, almond milk, register, home.
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If you haven't figured it out, I'm genuinely interested in people. Portrait photographers by nature are makeshift anthropologists, psychologist, sociologist and various other "-gists" all wrapped into one. Me? I'm more interested in who someone is on a global level. That's part of the secret of what shows up in my photographs.

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Karjaka Magazine

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Aleksandr Karjaka
Aleksandr Karjaka
Aleksandr Karjaka came to New York for the music, but stayed for the visuals. As a classically trained musician, he’s had the honor of performing with some of the greatest musicians, and artistic houses, in the world. Often quoted as "Listening through his eyes." he's photographed the lives and stories of thousands of artists of all fields over the years. Here are their KARJAKA portraits.

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