Artist Statement
I am fundamentally a photographer of what is precious because it won't last. Transitions, thresholds, the light that only exists for a few minutes, the smile that escapes before it can be contained, the mother and child before the child grows up. I photograph the moments people remember forever, right before they're gone.
The uncontainable smile. The pink hour before dark. The breath as the laugh breaks. The family that won't be exactly this way again after tonight. Everything I make is about finding the moment the performance drops and something real comes through.
The work begins with safety. Humanity. Patience. My job is to be attuned enough to the room that people forget to perform, and precise enough to catch what arrives when they do.
Creative Partnership. Reimagined.
After 20+ years shooting campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, from Super Bowl commercials to Times Square billboards, I understand what is at stake when you hand me a creative brief. There are four key shifts I bring to every job.
KEY SHIFT 1
Override the brief
Protect the creative integrity
Your team has spent months on this campaign. Hundreds of decisions, client approvals, and hard-won creative choices went into the brief. The last thing you need on shoot day is someone who thinks their instinct supersedes all of that. I protect what your team built.
KEY SHIFT 2
Underdelivers on the brief
Partner with you to elevate it
Every decision on set is made in service of the brief, not in spite of it. I look for the place where it can be elevated — delivering something so unexpected yet so right that it goes straight to the awards shelf.
KEY SHIFT 3
Exploding, overloaded shot lists
Smart prioritization. Maximum coverage.
Modern production briefs have exploded. The hero film. Campaign stills. Social content. Vertical formats. Platform-specific cutdowns. Behind-the-scenes. All from the same shoot day, the same talent, the same budget. The list keeps growing. The budget doesn't move. I bring a production brain to every shoot. The result is a shoot day where priorities are clear, resources are aligned, and every setup is working as hard as possible so the right things always get completed.
KEY SHIFT 4
Two vendors, two visions
One creative mind across photo and film
I work across photography and film with a single creative vision, which means no handoffs, no translation, no gap between the stills and the motion. One brief.
One partner to help you thrive and deliver the best work.
My Story
I studied economics and Spanish at Stanford. Then I worked as a consultant in São Paulo, quit my job, and came back to Los Angeles with a camera. It was the right move.
I started shooting editorial work. Then advertising. Then film. Twenty-five years later I've shot in over forty countries, directed a Super Bowl commercial, and made multiple long-form TV series. The clients have ranged from fashion houses to tech giants to documentary subjects who changed how I see the world.
I live in Los Angeles with my wife Domenica, our son, and our dog. I still wake up every morning genuinely excited to make more, and better, images
25 years of award-winning campaigns.
The briefs that land on our desk don't just get made, they get recognized.
Clios. Communication Arts. Graphis. AI-AP. Webbys. APA.
Multiple wins across all of them.
Not because awards are the goal, but because work that protects a brief and then elevates it tends to end up on the shortlist.
Testimonials
"I love working with Mark because he makes my job easier. He's thorough, captures incredible visuals, excels technically, and goes above and beyond to make sure the entire team is firing on all cylinders. I've spent weeks on the road with Mark filming TV shows and long-form campaigns, from Alaska to Hawaii to Brazil, and he's always the first one awake and ready with ideas to make the day a massive success. He delivers beautiful results every time, and the showrunners on our TV series love working with him just as much as I do."Christian Thompson,
Executive Producer, Radley Studios
"I love working with Mark because Mark nails it every time. He cares about all the nuanced, detailed points that a client cares about, while making the talent completely comfortable on set. He's a self-starter, has high agency, and is a problem solver. He makes it feel like a walk in the park as we're achieving every shot on the shot list. Mark is a really rare director, and there's nobody else I would rather work with, because honestly, I know that Mark is going to make me look good."Nathaniel Howe,
Founder & Executive Creative Director, Nathaniel Howe Studios
"Mark combines impeccable professionalism with disarming empathy and humor, creating an environment where people instantly relax and become fully themselves. His technical skills are world-class, but the true magic of his photography is his uncanny ability to evoke something deeply authentic from his subjects. What elevates his work further is the creative choreography behind each shoot: Mark has an extraordinary eye for composition and movement, and together with his creative partner, he builds custom environments and visual narratives that give every image a distinctive texture."Adrian James,
Co-Founder, Omada Health
"Mark saw our vision immediately and worked seamlessly with everyone involved to bring it to life. What struck me most was his ability to work with real people and draw out something genuine from them. He brings a joy to set that puts everyone at ease, and what came through on camera was something we couldn't have scripted. That's a rare thing."David Travers,
President, ZipRecruiter
Kristoffer Nelson,
Product Manager, Meta
“Working with Mark was a phenomenal experience because I came in with ideas, but Mark came in with vision. And there’s a difference. What stood out to me most was his ability to create space. He somehow found a way to disappear behind the camera enough that I could fully play, explore, and bring different emotions and states into the shoot. But then at the exact right moments, he’d step back in, directing, coaching, shifting music, offering an image, a thought, even guiding me almost meditatively into a different emotional place. It felt incredibly intuitive and holistic. I think Mark has a rare ability to capture not just how someone looks, but the truest essence of who they are when they feel most alive, grounded, expressive, and fully themselves.”
Adam Cobb,
Host, The Adam Cobb Show
Clients & Collaborators
ADT
Allure
Amazon
American Express
Apple TV
AT&T
Aveda
Bank of America
BBDO
Budweiser
Burrow
Cedars-Sinai
CFDA
Chase
Cisco
Condé Nast Traveler
Cosmopolitan
Dentsu
Deutsch
Discovery
Dove
Esquire
Estée Lauder
FCB
Fox Sports
Glamour
The Golden Globe Awards
Google Healthcare
GQ
Harman Kardon
HBO
Hollywood Reporter
Hulu
IBM
InStyle
JBL
KCRW
Kohl's
Lanvin
Lowe's
Marc Jacobs
Marie Claire
Media Monks
Merck
Merrell
MTV
National Geographic
Netflix
New York Magazine
Octagon
Ogilvy
P&G
Public Storage
RŌKA
Salesforce
SAP
Sephora
Stanford Hospital
Stanford University
State of California
Suave
Sunday Riley
TBWA\ChiatDay
The Honest Co.
The Row
Tom Ford
UFC
Urban Decay
Vera Wang
Veuve Clicquot
Visa
Vogue
Warner Brothers
Well Souled
Westfield
Wired
YouTube