The visions that pervade Evelyn Sanchez‘s photography are renowned for being surreal and ethereal. Hailing from Los Angeles, her sensuous and inspiring depictions of women and various other creatives have captivated the attention of the industry. With a focus on digital and film photography, it’s safe to say that she’s always ahead of the curve.
“I love creating things that are fairytale or Sci-Fi-like, which I think attracts a certain crowd of people. I tend to accept working with models and people who align with the same vision and style as me,” she shares.
Currently based in New York, the photographer continues to build out a universe of her own with various nods to the future and world around her. The works reflect an interest in science fiction and emotion, ranging in tone from soft and dreamy to intriguing and futuristic. Her ability to capture raw but alluring photographs and convert them into something otherworldly propelled her career as a photographer, enabling Sanchez to work with models like Gigi Rich, Anita Jane, and Tomie Mar, among others.
“I enjoy not having a car here. I think living in the city has taught me to be more independent which I love. I’ve learned to appreciate things I have never had before so I thank NY for that,” Evelyn tells us. “Another personal difference for me was how photographers/other artists are, I feel like a lot of them are more genuine and willing to help you learn. They don’t see you as competition.”
Ahead, Evelyn Sanchez walks us through some of her favorite photographs in recent years. Continue scrolling to get a glimpse of the stunning projects she’s created.
1. Nesly
Model/Styling/Makeup: Nesly
So this is the photoshoot that really put me out there. It was my senior year in college, I was there for commercial photography thinking I would never do portrait shoots. My professor asked me to update my portfolio, add some portraits but new ones! I made a post on Instagram, “Hey I just need three models for a class assignment!” and shared some of my old portrait work.
I had about five people agree, that was good enough for me. Nesly was the first model I shot shortly after that post. Euphoria was really big during that time so that was our inspo. Nesly did all the styling and makeup on herself. I was glad that she felt very comfortable during our shoot because I think it might’ve been her first shoot as well! While living in Palmdale, I really did not have a space to shoot in besides my boyfriend’s garage. I did like 90% of all my photoshoots there.
2. Andrea & Diana
Model/Styling/Makeup: Andrea & Diana
After a month or so of doing portraits, I started getting more paid opportunities. I started to meet more people from my city that were bringing amazing ideas to the table such as Andrea who is an amazing makeup artist and model! She reached out wanting to do a Halloween photoshoot of an angel and devil concept. I had accepted not knowing she would show up in red body paint and cool spooky makeup. I was super thrilled seeing them when they arrived at my house.
One thing as a photographer is I love photographing fun makeup looks! I loved working with her and Diana together, they both had great energy and were willing to try poses during the shoot which is always fun! I always try to encourage models to get out of their comfort zone when posing. Some people may feel awkward but I think funky or “crazy” poses are the best and you capture another side of that person during that.
3. The Planet Moon
Modeling: Kitty
Makeup: Bianca
Styling: Helena
Assisting & Prop: Lidia
My best friend and I were planning on working on a photoshoot for a while. We had made a couple of concepts to bring to life. The one we ended up shooting was this one, a futuristic alien vibe. I had reached out to Kitty on Twitter after seeing they posted they were going to be in L.A. I got my friend Bianca for makeup because she is the only person I have full trust in when bringing my makeup visions to life. Helena was the amazing stylist I got for this shoot, she really has the best style and knows how to execute any look.
One thing about this team is that all of us are from the same hometown so I felt really good knowing all the people on my team are people like me! We shot this at the abandoned zoo in Los Angeles. It was a last-minute location change but it honestly worked perfectly and I’m glad I ended up picking this spot. The lighting setup for this to create the green glow I had was a green gel strobe behind Kitty and one main light in front of them. I felt very comfortable at that time using strobes, this was after a few months of shooting so taking my studio knowledge to the outdoors was a fun transition.
4. En Mi Fantasia
Model/Styling/Makeup: Kitty
Moving to New York, I was kind of scared I would not get back into shooting as how I was in LA. In LA, I made my living off doing shoots. I really wanted and still want that for NYC. One of my only friends in New York was Kitty. I got to do two shoots with them while they were still here in the city before they went back to LA. Thanks to Kitty, I got a few model followers from NY that reached out to me for shoots. This was my second photoshoot with Kitty. We experimented with the lighting and props in the studio. During that time I was testing out shooting with film. I did a few shots with my film camera which led me to want to shoot more with film during shoots! Now I mainly only shoot film versus digital.
5. Selena
Makeup/Concept: Forty
Modeling: Selena
After a few months of living in NYC, I got to meet more people in the photography community. One person I feel lucky to have met is Forty. She is a makeup and creative director I met during a photoshoot I was assisting with. For this photoshoot, Forty had a vision of a medusa-like red girl. We shot this inside my living room, where I now host a lot of my photoshoots nowadays. I edited the smoke and fire during editing the final images but the water-like effect was done in person using foil paper on the ground! I think that for sure has become one of my favorite props to use.
6. Luguma
Styling/Makeup & Hair/CD: Elizabeth
Modeling: Luguma
One of my most recent +*~favorite~*+ photoshoots is this one I did with Elizabeth and Luguma. Elizabeth has become one of my favorite creatives to work with so far in NYC. She is a great director and has a vision for everything. She styled and did hair and makeup on Luguma and for each look, she really did that. I love when I work with someone who knows what they want and what they want to shoot. I think this was Luguma’s first modeling photo shoot so she did amazing and I could see she was comfortable and willing to pose the way Elizabeth and I directed.
For this shoot, I really wanted to practice doing something very editorial and see if I have any potential on that side of photography. I submitted the photos and got us featured in two magazines. This was a very fun shoot, even though in photos you can’t see or hear…my dog was in the background barking at us the whole time. Anyways Luguma, Elizabeth and I will be working on something special soon so be on the lookout for that!
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