Asher Mendigorin | Just another photographer

Grassland – LYUN Cover

Cover, Curve, Fashion, Kirsty Barrett, LYUN Magazine January 20, 2020

Publication: LYUN Magazine
Photographer: Asher Mendigorin
Published: 17/1/2020
Editorial: Grassland
Model/Stylist: Kirsty Barrett

After a not so long hiatus the start of 2020 has come with another cover, this time with fashion magazine LYUN.

I had told myself leading into December that I would put down my camera and spend more time with my family as the kids were on holiday.

With the dry conditions and the recent bush fires my usual end of year road travel was cancelled, and for the most part I kept true to not shooting a frame. That was until the 27th.

Due to the lack of activities we were able to do and the extreme heat of the Australian summer, there was little I could do outside of sitting at home with the kids in air conditioning. That’s when I received a message from model Kirsty (from my editorial in 2019 All Eyes on Me), “I am feeling super creative and would love to do a shoot”. Why not, my shutter finger was feeling itchy and its hard for me to sit still without clicking a frame. We discussed makeup and wardrobe and by 1PM we were out in the harsh sun shooting away.

For me, it was a great opportunity to practice shooting more fashion and to get out of the studio where most of my shoots are geared towards beauty.

On completion of the shoot, we sent our submission and within the hour, the editorial had been accepted. It’s always a good sign when they are promptly accepted, it may not mean it is a cover but it does usually mean you’ll get some good coverage. This would be for their February Plus Size release.

On the morning of the release I woke to the email, and at first I didn’t read it correctly as I was a little groggy having only woken up. On clicking the link, I was greeted with Kirsty’s face on the front cover and I re-read the email “CONGRATULATION, your editorial has been published in LYUN magazine. And of course, you are on the LYUN Cover”.

I messaged Kirsty to give her the good news, I’m glad she asked me to shoot that morning her timing could not have been better. As there were many family events during that period, she managed to get me on my only free day.

Fragments – SALYSÉ Magazine

Cover, Del Woods, Magazine, SALYSÉ, Shiksha Matabadul January 8, 2020

Publication: SALYSÉ Magazine
Photographer: Asher Mendigorin
Published: 7/1/2020
Editorial: Fragments
Model: Shiksha Matabadul
MUA: Del Woods

It was April of 2019, I was at the time shooting a baby gender reveal and had basically been ignoring my phone the majority of the day to insure I had not missed a moment.

When I was finally able to attend to my phone, I was met with a shoot request by a UK model was was currently studying acting in Australia. The Model was Shiksha, a Mauritius model who had previously been crowned Miss Mauritius International in 2014.

As she offered variety to my portfolio and was happy to shoot one of my concepts, I advised that we would organise a shoot once I had come up with a concept we could shoot together.

After some discussions, we had agreed to do a glitter based look. We set a date, but due to Shiksha’s travels and the MUA’s availability the date would continue to push back. Shiksha, also expressed interest in a shoot I had done a couple months back and had dreamed we would get something special and that in her dream she would be red like the editorial “Immersion” (so I kept the red theme in the back of my mind).

After the original MUA became no longer available, I approached Del to see if there was interest in the glitter shoot. Del indeed was, but wanted to use bio-glitter which meant the date of the shoot would once again be pushed back to allow for the delivery (this time to the 9th of November).

During the shoot, I made sure I would shoot part of the set in a red theme. The cleanup from the shoot was ridiculous at times and even now I’m finding glitter here and there.

I sent my submission to Salyse as they were now accepting for their December glitter issue and was surprised when the submission was swiftly accepted.

In December, I received a notification I had been tagged into a post by the publication. The red themed portion of the shoot took the cover! My final editorial for the year, capping off the year on a high note. After 25 publications and 2 other covers, this was the perfect ending; in the end the wait to shoot together was worth it. Shiksha’s dream became a reality, just not in the shoot style she was expecting but still covered in red.

Prism

Cover, Like A Lion Magazine, Magazine, Paula Cuyugan December 2, 2019

Publication: Like A Lion
Photographer: Asher Mendigorin
Published: 1/12/2019
Editorial: Prism
Model: Paula Cuyugan

A few weeks back I wrote an article about my return to film which featured model Paula Cuyugan, during this shoot we shot an editorial which I titled “Prism”.

The editorial would be shot using coloured gels and lens filters to create unique in camera effects rather than post production to achieve the final looks.

Heading into Christmas I’ve limited the amount of shoots in order to spend more time with the family during my weekends, so waking up this morning I was surprised to find there would still be one more cover in-store before the end of the year.

Experimenting has always been a priority in my shoots and I’m always willing to fail in order to succeed. What is the point if you’re not learning something new right?

So when you’re rewarded, it feels so much more satisfying!

Post-OP Barbie

Abby Lee Cremonini, Alternative Model, Beauty, Inkd Australia, Xpressions Magazine November 20, 2019

Publication: Xpressions Magazine
Photographer: Asher Mendigorin
Published: 19/11/2019
Editorial: Post-OP Barbie
Model: Abby Cremonini
MUA: Abby Cremonini

Back in May of this year, was the first time I had shot with Abby. This was a collaboration shoot between myself, Ana Costa and Bridget Cure in which we published our editorial “Untamed“.

After the shoot, Abby and I discussed running a separate shoot as she herself was a self taught SPFX makeup artist. It wouldn’t be till about September when these discussions would continue.

We had planned a lingerie shoot, and although everything was up in the air and it wasn’t certain we would be able to fit it into Abby’s increasingly busy schedule. I was still disappointed when I was not contacted to confirm she would in fact be unable to make the shoot.

Abby since our initial shoot had branched out and become fearless, baring more skin was not for every model; she embraced it. I found Abby like me just had a passion for what she was doing and just enjoyed trying new things.

So when she eventually messaged me back with an idea for a reverse beauty shoot where she would do her own makeup, I said my peace and agreed to the shoot. I can always appreciate those who like to try and expand and better their portfolios and are willing to fail to get something different.

Her idea was to do a shoot where she would look like she had gone through plastic surgery but instead of being beautiful in the end she would look like a disaster.

Because I like to shoot with a story in mind I thought it would be fun to first shoot her looking her most beautiful on the ground, at her lowest point along with a chaotic background to show how she viewed herself before the operation. This would eventually become the post-OP look where she viewed herself being at her most beautiful where the background would be pretty but would emphasis her being less than her beautiful starting point.

The set was published in Xpressions Magazine with only the last look being printed. Xpressions Magazine was actually the very first publication for me with bodyscapes I did with model Daphine Darling but equally relevant, Abby actually competed in Miss Inkd Australia and was the finalist for NSW of which they sponsored.

D Minor performs on Australia’s Got Talent

Competition, DMinor, Musician, Rapper, Unpublished August 12, 2019

Big ups to D Minor for absolutely representing what he stands for on Australia’s Got Talent

I had the pleasure of shooting with him on a few occasions and what you see on stage is exactly who he is. Keep killing it, cheering you on from the side lines!

If you missed his performance, it’s certainly a must watch: https://7plus.com.au/australias-got-talent

To support his charity head to Musicians Making A Difference – MMAD for which DMinor represents.