Life & Work with Ken Pivak

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Pivak.

Hi Ken, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My life and passion as an artist began in the streets of NYC, in the Bronx, as a graffiti artist. Perhaps more as a teenage delinquent with an artistic conscience could be a better description of those days. It was thrilling, colorful and dangerous at times. I took chances. I never left this attitude, just changed my medium. My love for the photographic image became a natural progression. I turned my visions from walls and trains to creating with a camera. The immediacy of the photographic image was not far from the idea of spraying a wall. There is a vision, a concept and in a way, to express something of myself. It leads me to search out other artists, and to learn about the great masters of art, leading me to graduate with a Fine Arts degree in photography from SVA in NYC.

I believe in ingenuity and teamwork. I enjoy collaborative conceptual challenges, where visions come together and visual destinations creatively produce something beyond what I can do alone. As a seasoned pro, I’ve had the opportunities to bring all these elements into my journey of unconventional imagery and to have shared those experiences with some amazing creative talents in this industry.

I reside in Los Angeles and have made it my home for quite some time now, yet when you meet me, you’d think I just got off the plane from NYC. I embraced Los Angeles and it’s culture. I’ve called it home since 1994.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It would be wonderful to just simply say, “It’s mine to lose.” Yet the photo industry has had its share of hiccups. We can discuss political events, pandemic, 911, etc. But to make myself a victim of these anymore is not really the issue, rather how do we move on or get up from it all. At this point, I’m recreating a new path with my agent. Re-editing recent shoots and giving those shoots the attention I had hoped to produce; all created just prior to the pandemic. New personal works and jobs, and keeping focused on a positive future.

And yes, there are many other things to consider. Finances, relationships, kids, etc. My wife and I have no children, simply a decision we made years ago. We support each other fully. So perhaps the time I spend helping my wife’s career, as we both freelance and an actor; she does take time away from my path. But I don’t see it this way, as an obstacle or challenge, but more because I care and love her. We get to spend time together. We bounce ideas off each other quite often and her thoughts are true. It’s a great base to work from and live. But doing for others can often become the issue within itself. And I’ve learned enough about myself over the years, and with my loving wife, to become aware and have learned to make corrections. Realizing this and letting go more often has made a difference in how our careers are going. Better – is what we can call it.

Industry-wise, perhaps AI is creating a “hurdle” for a bit, but it will become another tool that creatives will have available. Its climb up that mountain may take a bit longer than it did for the use of a computer for artists, yet I feel like all else, we’ll be able to get past the fears and once again embrace something more.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I try not to compare myself to other artists. I simply create, because I have to. It’s a feeling, an urge to say something in a different way of speaking. It’s truthful. My goal with anyone in front of my camera is to lead them to feeling proud of the work we create together. What I love to do, is to create a concept around a personality. To tell a story within a split second. Women have and will forever be my favorite subject to photograph. I admire their gestures and forms I see within the space we both occupy. I guess I’m known for my ability to creating anything we conjure up. Meaning, as one creative director puts it.

“Ken is like a having a best friend who can do just about anything with a camera”.

I’m not known for the same lighting or “look”. Or a style, yet some say I have one. I tend to create more cinematic and maybe because I’m married to an actress. I love old Hollywood and even love using my older lighting equipment. I have a refurbished 1K studio light, and something I was able to purchase from a company who did the work of fixing them up. Owning an old Bardwell McCallister studio light from the 1920’s silent movie days that works, is wonderful. Also an old stand from the same time period, I found at Sony studios in their garbage and told I can have it by security. That was a magical day.

To say I’m proud of shooting the ad campaign for Siegfried and Roy and beat Annie Leibowitz for the gig is a moment to share. But in truth, it’s the small stories of past clients sharing how my images over time still hang in their homes or are being used for their businesses. Years ago, I guess I could say this senior creative director discovered me and gave me my first ever big ad campaign shooting a series of ads for a global hair company. He particularly liked an image I had recently created at the time to which he also had purchased a very large print of it, and had it hanging for years in the lobby of the company headquarters back East. It’s a Black and White close-up of a women wearing a veil with two wisps of hair over her face. I connected with him many years later and had already been shooting in LA for years. In our correspondence, he added this note to me…

“Remember that photo you did for me of that beautiful model with the two wisps of hair over her face? You made a huge print of it and signed it. It was for Ban de Terre. Well, it was in the box since 1990. Jane preferred I not frame and hang it. Joyce however thinks it’s beautiful and sensuous and it is beautifully framed and hanging in front of our bed. We see it morning and evening. I want to thank you again for this magnificent photo. My deepest regards and affection – Allan”

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Best – Light

Least – Not sure I have one.

As a photographer who grew up in NYC, the light out here is magnificent. I also love being around the history of Hollywood, and although much of the landscape has been altered, I feel it.

I’m not a big fan of talking down about something. LA has its shit. So does every other city and town across the world. But to point out what is bad… eh. I’d rather say that LA does offer a great sense of entrepreneurship. In NY, one gets about a foot of free space, perhaps less these days. In LA you get about an acre to play with – and it did take me a couple of years to figure this out, but once I had, I realized how relaxing that can be. I think those who grew up here knew this early on, in the same way I was taught to keep my eyes behind my head in the Bronx as a child.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kenpivak.com
• Instagram: @kenpivak
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenpivak/ 

Image Credits
©KenPivak