Levi Felix - San Francisco Magazine
Before the new year I was asked to shoot Levi Felix of Digital Detox for San Francisco Magazine. Digital detox is a company Levi founded to get people to disconnect from their technology and social media filled world. They do retreats to get people away from their normal hectic environment. They are literally run like a summer camp.
We had a great time with this shoot. The magazine had quite a few different ideas and Levi was willing to do pretty much anything. The Photo Editor Ilana Diamond was on set as well. At one point it was suggested that maybe Levi could be naked with only the banjo covering him, and he was up for it (well, actually he was pretty hesitant, but Ilana was a very good persuader... and he did have his underwear on). We started shooting and the images looked great and Levi was having fun with it; but after shooting for a few minutes he decided that he might not want these images in the magazine after all... I couldn't blame him, I know I wouldn't do it. The images were hilarious and I wish I could show them, but obviously I'll respect Levi's wishes... I'll just hold on to them for future blackmail opportunities.
At the last minute Levi showed us a shirt that said "You can't download a live musical experience". Everyone loved the shirt and it fit with the message of his digital detox retreats so we started shooting him in the shirt. As with everything we suggested for this shoot Levi was fully into it. Although at one point with the banjo I asked him to throw me the "rock on" devil sign, to which he refused. I think he felt it was too cliched... but as you can see in one of the outtakes, it's just too ingrained in our being not to "rock on" and he threw the sign subconsciously.
In the end the magazine loved all the photos but opted for one of the quieter images with the "live music" shirt.
Here are some of the outtakes:
