Hi! I’m Elena, currently living in Los Angeles, with two kitties, amidst beautiful tall palm trees. I was introduced to photography when I began modeling at 18, and immediately gravitated toward being on the other side of the lens, where I truly found my passion. As a visual artist, I have worn many hats during my career, from styling, to production, to art direction, and directing. Much of my inspiration comes from my love for all things found in nature, especially flowers. After studying biology in Vancouver, I moved to Amsterdam, where I perfected the art of balancing multiple bags of groceries while riding a bicycle. This is where I continued to hone my craft as a photographer. Modeling provided an opportunity for me to travel throughout the EU, and presented the chance to assist Craig McDean in Paris. After departing Amsterdam, I landed beneath the rainbows of Hawaii where I learned to wield a machete to open fresh coconuts, and scuba dive with sea turtles. Happy to call Los Angeles my home for now, I would love to help your creative vision come to reality.
Current clients include Sephora, Foria, Ole Henriksen, Pepsi, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, BeautyCounter, Prima, MedMen, Interscope Records, Vice, and many other brands & musicians.
Thanks for visiting my website!  


Press:
Urban Outfitters Blog
Finding Immortality Society6
Beautiful Savage
C41 Magazine 
Design Collector Burning Man
Design Collector Eye Love to See You


ARTIST STATEMENT:
My photographs are my dreams and explorations— they are windows for the viewer into my world, which is a world of love, creativity, beauty, sensuality, visits to other realms, and personal discoveries of being human. My subjects are people, with their simple exteriors and infinitely complex interiors. I’m inspired by the depth of human beings, their and my personal inner transformation, self exploration in search of the divine. I am equally inspired by nature - it has always been my space for play, wonder, and fascination as a child which was lonely because my mom was strict and didn’t allow me to have many friends. The iridescence of butterflies fascinated me, flowers were my dolls to play with because we were poor, ladybugs were my pets, I wondered how rocks were made, and how all the ‘other’ creatures experienced this reality. Nature loves courage, and I often found myself in strange predicaments climbing high into trees or strange dark caves. Though nature is infinitely inspiring, my loneliness as a child developed hightened awareness to my surroundings, a depth of emotions, curious senses, internal investigations and a wild imagination. Later in my 20s I was introduced to psychedelics while living in Amsterdam and that opened my mind to a world of abstract transcendental dimensions. These experiences inform my photographic investigations and I want to share all these dreams, visions, memories and discoveries with you. “A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind."
Art helps me search for divine meaning, I am an explorer of my mind and this sublime earth, I love to share the magic I have found. Eric Cantona eloquently wrote “I am searching for abstract ways of expressing reality, abstract forms that will enlighten my own mystery,” and I too am searching for enlightenment through my artwork.
I love immersing my subjects, whether people or natural elements, in pools of colored light, finding different expressions of the form by altering the play of colors across bodies. I hope my art will create a dream-state, however small or momentary, for viewers to discover and witness something with a fresh perspective.


PROJECT STATEMENT for my series LOVERS:
“To Love Beauty is to See Light”
The expression of love between two people has been the focus of my recent photography. I am driven by love. Lovers have been my greatest muse thus far, in refining my vision to capture real moments that inspire me. They have appeared as my source for creativity, as teachers of new knowledge, as best friends, and as incredible collaborators. There are so many kinds of people, so many kinds of love, these images are my celebration of people in love and the lovely emotion that has brought me countless inspiration.
I bring lovers together in my studio and photograph them nude, with nothing between them. I seek vibrant and expressive color to dramatize the energy of the emotion flowing between them.


PROJECT STATEMENT for my series EYE LOVE TO SEE YOU:
When photographing eyes, there’s a deep and magical connection with the subject. It’s a very intimate and beautiful portrait to capture a human’s identity so delicately and to observe the details in large scale.I currently add mirrors inside the pupils when printing the eyes onto metal, I’m inspired by the thought of others seeing themselves in the eyes of another human being. Looking at the mirrored eyes results in a contemplative, introspective experience.