Meet Lesley Pedraza

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesley Pedraza.

Lesley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Sometimes I feel like a cat of many lives and I wonder which one I’m living now. I’ve been a model, actress, plus-size model, modeling agent, commercial agent and, in a brief aside, an office manager in an occupational health and safety company. The life of a photographer that I’m leading now is my greatest passion.

I grew up in Canada, and nothing in my growing-up years would have predicted where I am now. I attended an academic high school and was a competitive synchronized swimmer. Clothing trends were very foreign to me. It was one summer when family was traveling in Europe that my fashion career began. I walked into an agency in Paris with a photoshoot from Canada and a lot of strawberry blonde hair and was asked to come back.

I moved to Paris after that, but the beginnings of my career were slow. For one thing, the agency that had encouraged me did not take me on. I found another within a week and started to build my portfolio. After about a year, I moved to Italy, and that’s where I found success. The Italians liked my tall exotic blonde look and I started booking a lot more jobs with the clients and magazines there. I loved Italy, the Italians and the language, and I miss it all to this day.

Working with all the creative magazines, photographers and designers in Europe changed my world. I walked the runway for Thierry Mugler, Versace, Missoni, Pierre Cardin, Yohji Yamamoto and more, and booked print for designers including Yves St Laurent, Armani and Jean-Charles de Castlebajac. I appreciated every moment.

Those formative years gave me a profound understanding of fashion. I saw how the best models in the world moved, how they interpreted the pieces they wore, how much detail and talent goes into a properly designed garment, and how much collaboration matters in creating an image.

After three years in Europe I moved to New York City. After some time it was there that I began plus-size modeling. Suddenly all my liabilities – broad shoulders, curves, height – became assets. I was so proud to represent women like me. During that time I decided I should learn a new skill – for most of us modeling doesn’t last forever – so I took acting lessons, and dance classes with The American Dance Machine.

I felt so lucky when I booked a six-month tour of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” with headliner Mickey Rooney. The tour traveled all over the eastern seaboard before arriving on the west coast. It rained in every city we played in for the first five months, but California had endless days of sunshine and fresh weather. I was hooked. I packed my bags for the next adventure.

Working as a plus-size model in Los Angeles was very rewarding. My agent encouraged me and eventually offered to have me take over his modeling agency. I ran the agency on my own successfully until Ford models opened a branch in Los Angeles. The juggernaut agency proved to be too much competition for my small independent business and eventually I closed its doors. Shortly after I accepted a job at LA Models in one of its print divisions, where I worked for six years. LA Models is a top-of-the-line agency and I learned so much there.

My next step was a complete turnaround: I got married, and my husband owned an occupational health and safety company. I joined him in the company and over the next few years helped build its success.

When the time came to start my photography business, I chose to locate it in San Dimas, where I lived while I was married. I liked the fact that there were trees and horses in the town and that I could see the foothills. It has great locations nearby, and it is an easy place to live and run a business.

Has it been a smooth road?
In case this short-hand version of my story makes it look easy – it wasn’t. None of it was.

I started modeling in the ’80s and I struggled to be thin enough to meet the expectations of the industry. I had an athlete’s body, which was not appreciated by the fashion world back then. There was no body positive movement like there is now and young women like me found the industry a harsh place to live and work.

It was a month after my 18th birthday when I moved to Europe, and I was quite alone. I spoke French, which helped, but it took time to make friends – it was tricky for me, as I was very shy. The internet and smartphones were years away, so contact with my family was limited.

People hearing my story tell me I was courageous, moving halfway across the world at such a young age, but sometimes I feel like I was just unaware. I didn’t know what I was getting into. My ethics – instilled by my family – really helped here. A lot of girls lost themselves when they went to Europe at that age – they fell in with bad crowds or drugs, and they didn’t make it. What got me through? Chocolate. Maybe that’s how I ended up as a plus-size model? I’ll take it. There were paths I could have taken that would have resulted in a much less favorable outcome and my path led me to where I am now. I believe all my experiences make me a better photographer. Understanding people is key to creating great images.

Since those early days in Europe, my health has been a constant challenge. I rarely speak of it, but I have fibromyalgia and a mild form of scleroderma. I have experienced abdominal pain most of my life – I’m pretty sure I had endometriosis, ovarian cysts and chlamydia. Without health coverage, I believe I was not properly diagnosed, resulting in a life of constant pain and an inability to have children. Having lived in Canada for my childhood and seeing the health care my family who still live there receive, I truly hope that this country can see its way to offering real and complete health coverage for its citizens, so that they don’t have to experience the kind of pain and sadness I have had to go through.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lesley Pedraza Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Ultimately my business is about helping my clients to achieve success – with their business or acting headshots, with their modeling portfolios and with their clothing lines, social media content and online stores.

I’m so grateful for my clientele, and I love it when they come back and tell me how much they love the images we shot together, or how well the images worked for them, or when they refer their friends. My clients trust me and I appreciate their trust. Everything we create together matters to me. And we have a lot of fun together.

My strength as a photographer comes from my years of experience in the business, both in front of and behind the camera, as well as in the agent’s office. All those years in the industry I paid attention because I felt the experience was so important and such a rare gift. Now I really like giving it back and having other people benefit from what I was given and what I learned. It brings me great joy to give a little bit of instruction and see a big change.

The foundation of my business started as model and actor photography – I specialized in portfolio-building photos for models and acting headshots. My portfolio has grown to include photography for businesses including fashion and jewelry designers from the US and Canada. With years of experience modeling for the industry, I also specialize in photography for plus-size apparel companies and their stores. I’m very pleased to be working with Makeup Designory in Burbank, helping students learning about makeup and hair build their portfolios. And I shoot beauty, portraits for business professionals, social media content and product photography.

I love capturing the motion of the moment. I get a visceral reaction when everything aligns – for me that is the real magic. It is exciting and transformative!

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Los Angeles is an enormously varied city, with so much to offer. It is astonishing to me that although I have lived here many years there is always more to discover. I applaud how creative people are with introducing their foods, their passions and their pastime loves to others in this city. There is literally everything anyone would want here.

Having said that, the one thing that absolutely breaks my heart is the homelessness in the city. I have been a step away from living like that, and I daydream about how I can help – offering some kind of shelter or opportunity. I think rents have gone completely crazy. I get that the demand has exploded and the rents have risen accordingly, but my fairness meter is screaming off the charts. My dream is to be able to offer something helpful in the future. I keep thinking that if everyone does a little bit it will go an awful long way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lesleypedraza.com
• Email: lp@lesleypedraza.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesleypedraza/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lesley-Pedraza-Photography-216539965048035/?ref=bookmarks

Image Credit:
Blonde Model – Makeup: Francesca-Maria Houlbrooke, Hair: Valeria Montano, Model: Hailey West shot for Makeup Designory. BTS and Model in black dress: Makeup and Hair: Claudia Rivas, Model: Jacqueline DePaul, Designer: Miriam Grunhaus of Mikah Fashion. Theatre shot: with Mickey Rooney for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Photographer unknown. Black and white: back of comp card for Zoli Management in the 80s. Fabrizio Ferri, Tom Wool, Avi Meroz. Cosmopolitan cover: German Cosmo.

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