Greetings, friends! My name is “DJ Jarak” Wysocki and I am a Buffalo, NY based editorial photographer, specializing in portrait photography, most prom ...more Greetings, friends! My name is “DJ Jarak” Wysocki and I am a Buffalo, NY based editorial photographer, specializing in portrait photography, most prominently, head shots, fashion (mainstream and alternative), glamour and fitness. I also enjoy combining and twisting genres. I’m currently toying with avant-grunge and fit-glam. I am most well known for my high proficiency in photo manipulation. I tend to favor dark fantasy and science fiction, but can do just about anything within reason. We all have our limits. PHOTOGRAPHY/ARTIST HISTORY I have been a photographer, jumping between hobbyist and professional status for about 20 years now. I was a graphic designer and photo manipulator for 3 years before taking up photography. Most of my artwork was created using stock and contributed photos, which I found very limiting, so I decided to get a decent camera and begin setting up shoots with all sorts of people. It changed my hobby into what would become a semi-career. Not long after beginning photography to feed my need for creative control over my own work, I began receiving offers (trade and paid) to shoot models of all levels of experience as well as some local businesses, one of which was the first Jared the Galleria of Jewelry location in the region. They had another photographer lined up to shoot their grand opening, but for some reason, they chose me instead. I never found out why, but it was a wonderful experience. They offered to pay me in advanced, which allowed me to get my first professional camera, a Canon EOS Rebel Ti. And for a time, for about 3 years or so, I was a well known event photographer within the WNY alternative club scene. I rarely ever had to pay event cover charges nor for drinks. I met some amazing people and some I wish I never met. It was all a valuable experience. It was great fun while it lasted, but all things must come to an end. Over the years, I jumped from one label to another as my style and quality of work evolved. I can’t remember them all, but the most recent were Nephilim Creations and Aperture Star Creations. Now, I’m DJ Jarak Photography. The name DJ Jarak comes from a short story I wrote years ago. In my 2 decades as a photographer and photo manipulator, I have had the honor of working with and for so many fantastic talents, some of which I never actually had a chance to meet in person. Let me explain. Many of the photo manipulations I’ve done were made from photos provided by clients, some as far as Australia. Thanks to search engine optimization and social networking skills I’ve developed over the years, I really do get around… digitally speaking. Just Google “DJ Jarak” and you’ll see what I mean. If it wasn’t for Skype sessions, I might not have known for sure who I was working for. That’s both the value and the price of technological evolution. INSPIRATION There are quite a few amazing people who inspired me to begin this journey and encourage me to evolve with their work. Among these are Zhang Jinga, Jill Greenberg, Lara Jade, Allan Amato, Tony Mauro, Michael “Michaelo” Oswald and Ilona D. Veresk. REPRESENTATION After many years of seeking representation, I gave up only to be sought out by The Twisted Agency. TTA began as an international listing for alternative models and photographers, but now, under new management, it has been re-licensed as an actual agency. They are based out of Scotland in the UK, but are expanding throughout Europe and the Americas. PUBLISHED WORK I have been published by Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Culture Asylum Magazine, Dark Parlour Magazine, Freque Magazine, Artvoice, LA Weekly, Surreal Beauty Magazine, Gorgeous Freaks Magazine, Obscure Magazine and a few others. My first published work was a photo of Jean Bardot I retouched for Von Gutenberg Magazine, which was used for the cover of their 5th issue. I was later tapped to design one of their ads for a big annual event they threw in London. I just love repeat customers, especially popular ones who know how to circulate my work. MAGAZINE CAREER & THE AZ TRAGEDY About 2 years ago, I founded Strange Beauty Magazine, a beauty/fashion/art publication, which featured mainstream and alternative (mostly alternative) content from all over the world. We published via MagCloud and were in talks with Barnes & Noble about a 3-month trial period on their shelves when my computer, an Alienware M17X, and camera, a Nikon D60, were stolen during an extended visit to Arizona, which was supposed to be a permanent move. They also made off with my lens and external hard drive, which had 20 years of work on it. I was in the process of transferring all my files to a new cloud service, when it was pulled. I’m not sure how, but all the files which has been uploaded up to that point were removed. With 5 half-completed projects I had already been paid to do, now gone, I had no choice but to sell the rights to the magazine in order to survive the month I had to wait for my return trip home so I could start over. It broke my heart. I was thinking about calling it quits when a man I had never before met contacted me on Facebook, offering me his extra camera, which had never even been removed from the box after it’s purchase. A brand new Canon EOS Rebel T5. Edward Kristopher saved me. I only wish he lived long enough to see what I was able to do with his gift. He passed away shortly after. Another great help was Jessica VanGaalen. She organized a photography workshop for me, getting local models to pay for a few photos each. It made a huge difference. About 2 months after the sale of Strange Beauty was finalized, I founded Beautivation Magazine, which is much like Strange Beauty, but more balanced between mainstream and alternative in both content and design. Like Strange Beauty, we publish online, offering PDF downloads and printed issues delivered by mail. We publish bi-monthly. I co-own it with my friend, the stunning Australian, androgynous model, Dylan Peck. We also have lots of help from talented people from all over the world, such as Purrversia Riot, our Film Editor (reviewer) and our high-end photo retoucher, Salden Eltagonde, both who also promote. I am in charge of reviewing contributed content for acceptance or rejection, and I design the graphics and layouts under my smaller label, Optimized Branding, which I use to promote logo, advertisement and editorial design services. We have many ideas for expansion. For example, we’re putting together a web-based talent index for models from all over the world. All ages, shapes, sizes and styles. hide