Suzy Menkes in Seoul (Day 1)

I was referred to Suzy Menkes’ team through a former client. Given the notoriety of Suzy in the fashion world, I was both excited and nervous about the opportunity to capture her pictures in Seoul. She’s an Editor for 19 international editions of Vogue and known as one of the best fashion journalists in the world. I was tasked as an event photographer to capture some of her most important moments in Seoul. The first day consisted of her visit to the DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza) where she had a personalized tour of the Christian Dior exhibit, followed by a high-profile meeting with the Seoul Mayor, Park Won-Soon. After finishing up the official meeting, the Mayor and Suzy Menkes walked over to Doota, to have a conversation about the fashion industry with young, up-and-coming fashion designers. The last stop of the day was in the fabric section of Dongdaemun Market. The whole day was a bit of a circus with all the media frenzy that follows any public appearance made by the Seoul Mayor. I stayed true to my photography philosophy of trying to be as unintrusive as possible, but not sure how much it mattered with all the other photographers strobing their flashes non-stop and shooting 10 fps. There were a couple of times some of them yelled at me to move out of the way so they could continue their obnoxious flashing and picture-taking. As annoying as it was at times, I understand that they also have a job to do for their respective media companies – whether I agree with the approach is another matter…haha. The craziness aside, I had a fantastic time being the event photographer and working with Suzy Menkes’ team. My second day with Suzy Menkes can be seen here: Suzy Menkes Day 2