Biography
Laura Arwen Berg currently resides in Montreal, Quebec. She grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, with several years of Waldorf schooling. Completing high school in Toronto, Ontario and two years of university arts credit at Vancouver’s Capilano University, she traveled and worked in the UK, Europe, Egypt, and East Africa. Her travel photos brought professional recommendations, and Laura enrolled in Montreal’s Dawson College Professional Digital Photography program, completed in 2006, voted top portfolio by her peers.
Laura has since lived and worked in Toronto, Ottawa / Gatineau and Montreal as a digital still photographer, both fine art and commercial. She contracts through her Quebec business Arwenberg Photography, and for several years was co-owner of a full service photography and fashion studio in Ottawa, Ontario. She took up digital video camera and editing in 2014. Her video short “Deja Vu” was festival-nominated for Best Canadian Fashion Film at CANIFFF (Calgary) 2017, and for Best Editing, Creative Concept, and Art Direction at the prestigious IFFA (La Jolla) 2017, and screened at FFF Istanbul 2017.
Fashion, Portrait, Event and Product Photography
Laura has a strong background in fashion photography, and is familiar with business operations and fashion campaigns from initial concept to hiring models, stylists, hair, makeup, photography and post-production for various media. Laura’s look book images have been used on modeling agency websites such as Next, Ford, Spot6, Dulcedo. Editorials have been published in French Vogue, Italian Vogue website, Turkish Maxim, and Ottawa’s Press The Fashion. From 2009 to 2012 Laura co-owned a “one stop” photo and modeling studio providing a space for personal assignments as well as renting to other agencies and photographers. She was involved in marketing, advertising, social networks, financial planning, scheduling and teaching workshops. Other commercial projects range from portraits, music photography and album art, live events and weddings to restaurant interiors, food and product advertising. Recently Laura has shot a Montreal designer’s collection, album art for several musicians, and look books for Massardo Model Management in Toronto.
Art Photography, Music and Gallery Documentation
Laura has made personal art prints of urban objects and landscapes. Her beautifully composed images often show glossy or gritty textures set against natural life or human presence, even harsh subjects treated with care and fondness. In 2012 three of Laura’s urban prints were jury-selected for the Montreal Photographic Exhibition (CLC), as an emerging local talent.
Laura has come to know members of the Montreal music and visual arts communities. While in college she began working with Turkish musician and artist Mercan Dede (Arkin Ilicali) on album photos and promotional material published in French Vogue and Turkish Maxim, Documentation of preproduction for Arkin and Carlito Delgado’s six-floor exhibition of paintings in Istanbul, entitled Revolution Revelation, culminated in a coffee table book. Recently, Laura has documented exhibition openings (vernissages) for artists at Galerie COA, including Miss Me and Sandra Chevrier.
Video
Laura began shooting and editing video in 2014. Her first assignments were backstage at Ottawa fashion events and interviews of local fashion professionals for a documentary. Growing skills soon gained the attention of Montreal musicians, for live performance and then shooting and editing scripted music videos.
Laura did the studio camera work and all editing for Deja Vu, an experimental short fashion video produced in Toronto in 2016. It has been juried as Official Selection and then as finalist in two fashion film festivals: finalist for Best Canadian video in the Canadian International Fashion Film Festival and then finalist in three categories, including best editing, at the prestigious La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival.
Recently, Laura has shot music videos with Geoffrey Pye (“Yellow Jacket Avenger”) and is collaborating on music video and gallery installation projects with Montreal-based musician Wiklow.
ONLINE LINKS
-
Arwenberg Photography / Video: www.arwenberg.com
-
ImageKind (art prints): https://goo.gl/j5EBsB
-
Google Image Search: https://goo.gl/upaXLj
-
JPEG Mag (early art photos): https://goo.gl/nntJo3
-
“Revolution/Revelation” (photo montage) https://goo.gl/yyPs5Y
-
Montreal Photographic Exhibition CLC (juried vernissage) https://goo.gl/ObjZBr
-
INK361 (Smartphone - Instagram) https://goo.gl/r6Qm6o
-
Organic Salon Reno - Lucas Nault (Ottawa) https://goo.gl/PjY8wP
-
“Put the Sun” by Yellow Jacket Avenger (music video) https://goo.gl/HtHlaO
-
“Deja Vu” (festival-juried short video): https://goo.gl/7QxeHZ
-
Galerie COA - Sandra Chevrier Vernissage: https://goo.gl/afk5nk
Further Information and References available on request.