January 2012
I'm not sure how many of you feel the same way, but I am SO ready to start a new year! I'm ready to wash away the old year and cast my Wish Lantern off into the beautiful magic-hour sky with hope and optimism.
Starting off on the right foot, I photographed a fashion editorial for Genlux Magazine. Coming in the February "Hollywood" issue, we had a lot of fun with this 1920s Prohibition story. Then off to Nashville to shoot and direct a new video for Johnny Reid and his latest single, "Fire it Up." Needless to say, we set a bunch of stuff on fire. This track is amazing and I can't wait to complete the editing. Fire it up!!
December 2011
Wrapping up the last of the year with a wonderfully dark and moody shoot for HarperCollins and author Patrick Carman for 2 new books, "Dark Eden." Made famous by the alluring app, the story follows a group of teens as they are made to face their fears. I usually like to consciously deny my fears and just explore them through my photography... You?
Happy holidays!
November 2011
I was blessed to travel to Vancouver and gorgeous Vancouver Island this month, shooting and directing a new video for the beautiful Jessie Farrell. And these circumstances were quite exceptional, with Jessie being 9 months pregnant! Yes, we embraced it and worked it entirely into the concept. The docu-style music video for "Everything to Me" shows the life of a busy singer-songwriter all through her pregnancy, complete with being on the road, performing, and growing this life inside her.
October 2011
I just wrapped shooting a 5th video for the lovely ladies of One More Girl. Exploring a grittier environment this time around, we shot downtown LA, letting the girls' beauty shine through. I also photographed a lovely fashion campaign for Electra Lang (Fashion is so much fun! Beautiful people, beautiful clothes, beautiful settings - how can you go wrong?). And yet another fashion shoot, but this time 1970s Cali-style with makeup and hair by Dee Daly, visiting all the way from Toronto. Check out my October newsletter here.
September 2011
With September comes my favourite time of year. My visit back to Canada, the extra yellow tint to the sunlight, the perfect temperatures... And my great pleasure to direct a video for The Stellas - a haunting piece about the energy of a couple that lives on in this house, even after they are long gone. Without actually going into my personal ghost stories here, I totally believe that energies of people live on in structures. I love all the old houses my aunts, uncles, and cousins in Italy have kept in tact, building their new houses next door on the same property, but cherishing and living with the old homes of generations past.
I was so excited that my video for Johnny Reid "Today I'm Gonna Try and Change The World" was named CMT Video of the Year at the CCMAs on September 12th. Thank you Johnny for having me direct this video!! This was truly an exceptional track.
August 2011
Little Brown UK has licensed some of my images for a series of 3 book covers. Thanks to the lovely and talented Lisa Kelley whose mysterious silhouette appears in these haunting images. Check out my August newsletter here.
July 2011
Nominees just announced today, and I'm honoured to have been nominated for 3 awards for the CCMAs this year: Video Director of the Year, CMT Video of the Year for Johnny Reid, and Album Design of the Year for Johnny Reid, with graphic designer Antoine Moonen. The awards are September 12, 2011.
I was happy to work with HarperCollins again this month, creating a surreal book cover for Elizabeth Norris' "Unraveling" - nothing like being brought back to life by a guy who has ended up on this earth by slipping through a worm hole!
June 2011
This month I directed a third video for Jessie Farrell (yay!). Shot in Toronto, Canada, it was great to be back in the motherland. Jessie is beautiful as ever - nothing like making my job easy - great skin, great hair, great legs! It was fun to explore a 60s/70s vintage look with this video (LOVE the wallpaper!). The concept for the video was 'communication breakdown.' Jessie reaches out through various forms of old-school communication and the lines just never seem to connect.
May 2011
At the end of April I was honored to be part of a group photo exhibit at the Broadway Art Space in Santa Monica, with proceeds going toward Heal the Bay. Being in great company with Tatiana Botton and Alison Dyer, the opening was top notch all the way, with 2 of LA’s greatest food trucks, wine flight tastings and stunning violinist/DJ Manifesto.
April 2011
Tara Oram is a beautiful person inside and out. I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting her, working with her, and photographing her. Directing her video for the song “1929,” I was struck with how
professional, personal, and magical this woman truly is. We had a glorious shoot day in Malibu with our gypsy ensemble.
March 2011
I’ve joined Pictures in a Row as one of their directors! This incredible production company, led by the talented Peter Lang and wonderful Electra Lang, is a great family to be a part of. Have a look at my blog for my latest personal projects, including “age” and “time waits”.
February 2011
Wonderful to work with the folks over at C2K again, this time creating ads for Toyota and their sponsorship of the IAAF games.
January 2011
This year was truly a beautiful holiday - now I know what people mean by "Christmas is for the kids!" It changes everything! I'll never forget it. Of course, quickly back to work the first week of January with a stills shoot for new artist Ryan Laird. Later in the month it was wonderful to see the project come full circle by directing his first video.
And, a great blessing to direct a video for the beautiful and talented Lindi Ortega, a truly fascinating Mexican Irish Canadian singer songwriter.
I've never had so much in common with someone before - I swear we're like the same person!! Watch out for the video "Little Lie" showcasing this bad-ass femme fatale.
December 2010
Give me a minor key and I'll love the song hands-down. So when I first heard Josh Macumber's upcoming CD, filled with the saddest of all chords, it cut right through me. Photographing his upcoming CD package was a very cool stripped-down experience - simple location, simple art direction (very different for me!), just really focusing on the person and the portraiture. Lovely.
November 2010
Just finished a lovely trip to New York (great to be back!) and shooting a touching awareness campaign for Merck. Photographing mothers with their teenaged sons and daughters, it was beautiful to catch a glimpse of responsible, intelligent youth and their connections to mom.
October 2010
Guys, guns and military trucks. How much better can it get? Photographing a new ad campaign for USAA, an investment and retirement fund for vets and families of military personnel. Recreating Vietnam, Desert Storm and Afghanistan, I learned SO much about the lives and experiences (and the wardrobe!) of soldiers. Hats off to you!
September 2010
After directing 2 videos and photographing the CD package for Jimmy Rankin's "Edge of Day", it's so great to work with him again. The is a songwriter of truly exceptional talents. His music is full of inspiring beautiful melodies and touching romantic lyrics. While Jimmy was in LA this month putting the finishing touches on his album, we photographed his publicity and packaging shots in the heart of Hollywood!
August 2010
Nominees list has been released for the 2010 CCMA awards. I'm very honored to be nominated for two awards: 'Album Design of the Year' for One More Girl's "Big Sky" CD (in working with stellar designer Antoine Moonen www.antoinemoonen.com), and 'Video Director of the Year' (for Terri Clark's "Gypsy Boots" and One More Girl's three videos). The other nominees in these categories are very strong, and they are people I admire (congrats Garnet!). Thank you to the Association for the recognition!
July 2010
Johnny Reid video is released and is quickly climbing the charts! We have received beautiful feedback on www.canada.com from viewers. The CD package for Johnny Reid is yet another beautiful design by Antoine Moonen and I was thrilled with the outcome of all the photos. Johnny was truly a joy to work with!
Other news this month: Craig Morgan has a re-release Collector's Edition of his album "That's Why", featuring a new photo from Yours Truly.
June 2010
An upcoming stills shoot and video shoot for Johnny Reid brings me happily back to Canada, even though I was just there 2 weeks ago. I'm excited to work on another video that has a heart-felt concept, and feeling like I may do my part in "changing the world" in my small way. Bringing people together from all different walks of life, we start with one lone older gentleman, who is then accompanied by a little boy, and they told two friends and they told two friends. By the end of it we'll have 200 people walking hand in hand. "Today I'm gonna try and change the world. I'm gonna say hello to my neighbor, gonna greet him with a smile, shake the hand of a stranger, sit and talk with him for a while." ~Johnny Reid
May 2010
I had the great fortune of creating a video for Lamont, a modern-day abolitionist trying to raise awareness and get help for victims of abuse, slavery and child sex trafficking. I was astounded by the details I learned in the past couple of weeks. The average price of a girl being "bought" for trafficking purposes is only $150US. About a 100 years ago, the price of a slave was comparable to $44,000US. Is this how expendable these precious lives are now considered? We'll be posting the video next month.
April 2010
We step back into the boudoir for this beautiful shoot for Vincenza, aka "V". It's so lovely to know that people are still interested in romanticism. Imagery in the media tends to go through phases. One season they like "theatrical", next season they like "straight-up, real-world" look. Some of us with a distinct approach to our photography can only hope to be considered "timeless" and ride out those waves... and wait for wonderful opportunities where we can create something we really relate to.
March 2010
I often have to thank my lucky stars to have such a plentitude of amazing locations all within 90 minutes of Los Angeles. For our men's fashion editorial for Sharp Magazine this month, we wanted to play on the theme of "No Country For Old Men", shooting out in the desert. When weather systems seemed to block our way everywhere we wanted to go (Palmdale, Lancaster, Agua Dulce), we just had to look in a slightly different direction, load up in the car and head for Palm Springs. A huge thanks to our flexible crew and talent in helping create this moody story of a man on a journey.
February 2010
Photographing another book cover for Little, Brown and Company - a modern-day interpretation of Jane Eyre. How romantic!
John Keane's album now available on iTunes. The stills I shot for his album can be viewed here. We had so much fun creating such beautiful images for his album and publicity, I'm thrilled to work with this artistic, prolific Emmy-nominated composer.
New behind-the-scenes video clip posted from our Bailey Hats shoot with Tony Ward.
January 2010
Margaret is featured in the UK magazine f64. Download the story (pdf)
Sin City here we come! One more video for One More Girl. The beautiful girls paint the town red in their latest video, "Tumblin' Tears".
Takin' a bite out of the Big Apple. Beautiful new book covers for the trilogy "Prophecy of the Sisters". This one was soooooo up my alley!! And Little Elliott gets to hang out in Chelsea again!
December 2009
Lovely to work with Johnny Reid again after all these years - this time meeting up in Nashville. New photos for the release of his live DVD. View the DVD cover (pdf)
Very cool new artist with lyric street records, Tyler Dickerson. Great photo shoot in Springfield, TN. View his new promo video with behind-the scenes from the stills shoot.
September 2009
Margaret is gearing up for a 3-week trip back to glorious New York to film and photograph fashion promos for Twin Hill and Freeman Formals.
August 2009
Incredible punk-ska-rock-reggae band ill Scarlett and Sony Music have Margaret photograph the guys for their upcoming album. Check out their website: www.illscarlett.com.
July 2009
One more time for One More Girl. Thrilled to team up with these beauties again, Margaret directs their video for "When it Ain't Rainin'", creating a modern-day Price Charming tale. View Margaret's photos of the girls on their Myspace page: www.myspace.com/onemoregirlmusic.
Margaret photographs celebrity chef Alex Chen, executive chef of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Oh, I could hang around that pool all day!
June 2009
Margaret's getting back to work after a short-lived maternity leave, working on the combination of motion picture and still photography for Terri Clark. The stills shoot took place in always fabulous downtown LA, and the music video for Gypsy Boots was shot out in El Mirage dry-lake bed in scorching 107 degree temperatures. Kudos to Terri for pulling off a great performance in such inhospitable conditions.
May 2009
Baby Elliott is growing FAST!!! Almost 3 weeks old!
Little Baby Elliott Roman Malandruccolo Nussbaum was born today in Los Angeles. 7 lbs., 10 oz., 20 inches long. Baby, Mom and Dad are all healthy, happy and loving the miracle of life. Photos: [one, two]
March 2009
Margaret wraps up still photography and music video for beautiful young duo One More Girl with EMI Music. Here's a preview but also check the MOTION and STILLS sections for the latest.
February 2009
Margaret creates images for Credit Unions of Washington.
January 2009
Happy New Year to everyone. Margaret has moved back to California! Yes, it's true! We never thought it would happen. LA lady once again! Missing New York, but come shoot out in lovely California!
Margaret completes images from a new creative shoot based on the concept of a Ballerina Puppet. Here's a quick preview. View the whole spread in the STILLS section of the site.
November 2008
Colin Linden teams up with Margaret once again to photograph images for his upcoming CD release "From The Water". Colin also just released a beautiful box set "The Columbia Years" - see the box set cover featuring Margaret's photo.
October 2008
Canon releases their new ads with Canadian Rock Star Avril Lavigne, photographed by Margaret. Also... beautiful creative shoot based on the theme of "Chocolate". Here's a preview.
September 2008
Margaret just completed shooting a rocking video for incredible talent, Luke Doucet. Check out "Blood's Too Rich" in the MOTION section.
Two videos by Margaret accepted into Festival ViMus, the International Music Video Festival. Alpha Galates "Standing" and David Usher "Ugly is Beautiful" will be shown at the festival in Povoa de Varzim, Portugal Sept. 4th thru 7th.
August 2008
Lovely recording artist Jessie Farrell and Margaret team up to shoot a second music video together - watch "I Guess" in the MOTION section.
Margaret receives FOUR nominations for the CCMA awards! See the INFO section of the site, under Awards, for more details.
July 2008
Canon Camera hires Margaret to photograph a secret celebrity who will endorse their Rebel digital SLR and Elph compact cameras. Stay tuned to find out who it is and see the pics!
June 2008
Margaret photographs an exciting NYC travel story for CAA magazine - incredible to see this grand city through fresh eyes once again. Also just finishing post-production, Margaret's second video for Beverley Mahood features a surreal romantic journey into majestic sand dunes with a wild grey wolf.
May 2008
Fresh back from the honeymoon, Margaret embarks upon photo shoots for Bailey Western Hats in the Central Valley of California and Nashville recording artist Craig Morgan along with directing videos for Beverley Mahood and Paul. Photo: Bryan Helm.
March 2008
The most exciting production of Margaret's career thus far! Margaret's getting married on March 30th!
Lizz Wright "My Heart" accepted at BETJ and VH1 Soul this week! BET World Premiere of the video on "Soul Sessions". VH1 rotation of Lizz Wright video March 19.
February 2008
Trip to Costa Rica a great pleasure! Stay tuned for the new images from our romantic fashion story "Pura Vida". Also, Alpha Galates video on heavy rotation at Much Loud, and gets added to Much Music.
January 2008
The start of a busy new year. Margaret directs music video for Alpha Galates / EMI Music. A haunting dark piece, this will soon be expanded to be Margaret's latest short film. Margaret also shoots 5th book cover for HarperCollins ("Switch"), and two music videos for wonderful singer songwriters, Jessie Farrell (Universal Music) and Crystal Shawanda (Sony BMG). And coming up in February, a trip to Costa Rica to shoot fashion editorial for BPM magazine.