May Mask shot and entered the Forbes list: how a Kazakh photographer conquered New York

The success stories of immigrants in New York are always interesting. Probably every immigrant has his own. Roman Varlamov is a famous New York photographer, originally from Kazakhstan. He has shot for major publications such as Elle, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Edition Forbes.kz told his story.

Roman became the youngest cover photographer for Harper's Bazaar. He was born in Petropavlovsk (Russia) and had no intention of leaving there. After leaving school, I planned to enter SPbGIK. But life brought him to New York, but let's talk about everything in order.

Interest in photography from a young age

His sister awakened his interest in photography. When Roman was a child, his sister came home for the holidays from Tomsk. She brought with her a camera, in which Roman was of great interest. The sister did not allow to touch the camera, but he still took pictures, waiting until she fell asleep.

He built the light himself, took household items and photographed. By the time he entered the university, Roman already had one victory in a photography competition. He was quite serious about photography by that time.

“I think my sense of composition has developed thanks to dancing, which I have been doing for 14 years, from early childhood. I still feel well how to arrange the models during filming, I understand the plastic. "

In 2013, Roman was seriously preparing to enter the university and move to St. Petersburg. Mom supported the 17-year-old boy, knowing how important the choice of profession is.

He had tremendous success in the Russian language and literature. He received many awards in the Olympiads. One day he saw an advertisement for a competition for the Faculty of Electronic Journalism at the Almaty International University of Information Technologies (IITU). For the sake of interest, he sent his essay there, and went on to the next round. Having successfully passed the competition, I won a full grant for training.

Roman himself recalls that the training was expensive for his family. About a million tenge. But most of all he was delighted with the material gift - it was an “iPad”.

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He still goes to St. Petersburg, where he takes part in exams. At that time, it seems to him that the exams were triumphant. When the parents call to find out the results, he will tell them not to worry. In the evening, he learns that out of the required 200 points, his still life and interview scored only 20 points. Roman says that the girl who passed the exams with him, who was not distinguished by special talent, scored 200 points. He learns later that the grants were very few. And students who took paid courses at the university were a priority.

Now Roman was expected to move to Almaty and study at MUIT.

Ambitions and success in Almaty

Roman initially had huge ambitions and plans. In 2015, he met Olga Trefilova, the then publisher of Cosmopolitan Kazakhstan. He decides on a desperate act - to ask her to work in the publication. “My friends thought I was crazy, but I was always sure that nothing was impossible,” says Roman.

I came and said, “Give me one chance. I'll screw it up - to hell with him. " With these words Olga silently left the room. When she returned, she answered: okay. "

This will mark the beginning of his career in glossy magazines. At the beginning of his career, he was entrusted with the role of second photographer. Over time, he will be involved in the work of the Partners Media Group publishing house (Kazakh versions of the magazines Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Robb Report, Domashny Ochag, Men's Health, Esquire).

Career advancement

A year later, the vacancy of the chief photographer was unexpectedly vacated: the former moved to Italy. The novel proved itself so well in a short time that he, an 18-year-old student, was offered to take the place of his predecessor.

He will now be responsible for 6 editions. For each monthly magazine, he will shoot approximately 12 photos a week. And at night he will process them.

“Reports, beauty sessions, photos for the food section. At night you sit and process. I couldn't even dream of that, ”he recalls.

He had little knowledge of filming. When he didn’t know how to arrange the light, he asked the studio staff to help him and paid extra from his own pocket. While they were exposing the light, he learned from them the intricacies of their work.

Roman quite quickly got used to the role of the main photographer and even took off the first Kazakh cover of the Robb Report in honor of the opening of the library at The St. Regis Astana. The first year of work at Partners Media Group passed in an enthusiastic mood, the second - in an elated one. On the third, he felt that he needed to move on. “When you work as a full-time photographer, you quickly realize that events and themes are repeated,” explains the source. "I liked everything very much, but I wanted something new."

New things soon turned up

In 2017, Roman's colleague at the publishing house created his own company and called him a photographer for large clients from the jewelry and fashion industry. Among them were such big names as Saks Fifth Avenue and VILED Group, which represented Tiffany & Co, Chopard, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and other houses. Roman gladly took up jewelry and object photography, which was unusual for him, and photographed interiors. Thanks to this work, he gained experience of working with major players.

New York, New York

Recalling his move, Roman switches to a philosophical tone. After the first lecture on sociology at MUIT, he called his mother in tears in Petropavlovsk. Classes were held in English, which Roman understood very roughly. Mom answered: “You are smart, you’ll figure it out” - and hung up.

By the end of the first semester, Roman not only passed all the subjects perfectly, but also seriously improved his English. He graduated from the university with honors in 2018. Knowledge of English will help him move to New York. Roman himself rather sparingly replies that he wanted to be in the center of events. And when you think about fashion and creativity, the first thing that comes to mind is New York, Roman added.

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America warmly received the Kazakh photographer. In November 2020, Roman became the youngest photographer in the history of Harper's Bazaar to shoot the main cover of a magazine with supermodel Daphne Greeneveld.

When asked if he felt like a New Yorker, he replied that he did not.

In May 2021, he managed to work with Elon Musk's mother, May Musk.

Roman currently works at Blonde Studio, where May Musk was filmed, reports “Currently,".

“I'm lucky with people,” says Roman. - Many acquaintances, starting by chance, turned out to be very useful. The first week after my arrival, I met a man who finds models for the leading modeling agency Wilhelmina. The second week, while I was eating a croissant in a cafe, a woman from Vogue sat down at my table. "

An example of how New York provides opportunities was his meeting with Madonna. “Imagine, yesterday I was walking with the dog, and Madonna came up to me with a guard to pet her! I didn't even realize right away that it was her. Then I went to her on Instagram - and for sure, she is! "

Meet May Musk

Roman's acquaintance, May Musk's personal make-up artist, was imbued with Roman's works. She invited May to cooperate with Roman. May agreed. The novel decided not to shackle her with the theme and image and gave her the opportunity to be herself.

It remained to find a publication that would publish this shooting. Roman contacted the editors of Elle Kazakhstan and the next day received the go-ahead for the cover for the May issue from the magazine.

“She signed and gave me a copy of her book and recorded a broadcast for Instagram with me,” Roman says enthusiastically. Once, out of the corner of his ear at one event, he heard his colleagues in the fashion department praising the May cover of Elle Kazakhstan. All this, the photographer believes, is the best advertisement not only for him, but also for Kazakhstan.

“And the manicurist that I had on the set is now May Musk's personal manicurist. She moved and became May Musk's personal nail artist, ”says Roman.

“Where May Musk is, there's a breeze of scale. She said, “If I knew that you were so young, I would never agree to act in my life,” he added.

My style is constantly evolving

The novel tells about itself enthusiastically, but does not give the impression of a smug person. I am just getting to know myself, my style is constantly evolving, ”Roman says.

He says the pandemic made him understand what the value is. And here he was helped by the skills he got in Almaty. She said that he was moonlighting as a retoucher, adding that in the United States it is not customary to be a multi-writer. You need to have a specific and rather narrow profile of work. Dozens of people are involved in the filming, each of whom has his own area of ​​work.

The Kazakhstani invests more than half of his earnings in the development of his new projects. In the USA, you can rent equipment for shooting. And this is the best solution according to many photographers. The work of a photographer in New York is associated with high costs: one photo shoot costs an average of $ 7 thousand.

“New York gave me the opportunity to learn how a huge fashion industry is created,” he says. “But I never thought that my move here would be forever. I worked in Kazakhstan with pleasure. Actually, in a sense, I continue to be at home, because the most famous shootings here, in the United States, I did for Kazakh publications. " He believes that for a person working in the fashion industry, New York is the best place.