@ryanperdz // H E A V Y E Y E S // Official Music Video
When I heard the song and spoke to Ryan about its meaning it immediately evoked feelings of a dark and dysfunctional codependent relationship. We’ve all seen the classic music videos of a couple fighting or falling in love and I didn’t want to fall into that trap and make something that had been seen hundreds of times before. That inspired me to come up with the concept that Ryan and Destiny were in a broken relationship where Ryan is so in love with Destiny that he completely ignores the fact that she is a disengaged, drug addicted alcoholic. We decided to also include shots of the same moments but in a world before Destiny had fallen into this world of drugs and alcohol to really show the contrast between their love and happiness together and the hopelessness and sadness of the darker and more depressing moments. I wanted the viewer to experience years of a degrading relationship over the course of the song. I wanted to evoke feelings of hope then immediately pull that feeling away and contrast it with complete hopelessness. If I had to sum it up in a sentence it would be that love may conquer all but our time is short and nothing should be taken for granted. Love the people close to you unapologetically and don’t wait til tomorrow to tell them because you never know when they’ll be gone.
Director - Matt Akana
Director of Photography - Andres A Ramirez @ramirez.dop
Editor x VFX - Grant Bozigian @ziggybeez
Assistant Director - Mara Shepherd @optimisticvoid
Production Designer - Job Jaime @thewolfman_in_venice
Gaffer - Katsuyuki Nakanishi @nakanishikatsuyuki5928
Dolly Grip - Luigi Cortez @gripjedi
AC - Matty Von Arx @matty_va
Makeup Artist - Morissa Peña @sooletsnim
Girlfriend - Destiny Gebbia @destinygebbia
When you look past the darkness, magic happens. What is initially unseen finds its light…
This caption describes the mood of this photo, but it also exemplifies the process behind the capture; its hidden qualities, and the synergy between subject and artist (photographer Mara Shepherd).
In the studio, we operate under the conditions of “controlled lighting“. This story is partially about when the light does not submit to our control…leading to something amazing, but at first glance, invisible.
I was connecting Mara’s camera to my computer for tethered shooting in my photo studio. It took a bit of trial and error. In the process of discovery, a couple of test shots did not trigger the strobes. We had to use a wired connection to a strobe to get things working - the cam shutter triggering the synchronized strobes. Since the camera was still tethered to the computer, two cables extended from the camera body and restricted Mara’s movements a touch. We finally got it all working.
The wired connection was short so occasionally, the strobe’s cable would come unplugged. This shot was one of those moments when the camera disconnected from the strobe. In this photograph, the strobes did not fire. The frame on first inspection looked completely black. Totally underexposed. But we kept the frame. It was not deleted. We continued working; Mara directing me and we finished that first photographic journey.
While browsing the photos, something inspired me to stop on this totally black frame and look further…deeper. Some modest adjustments in PS and a B&W aesthetic applied…and here we are. The final image above.
Synergy, mood, experimentation, looking deeper; past the obvious, revealing the intersection of flow: a moment of introspection and pause in me, and seeing/understanding that brief moment to engage the shutter from Mara.
And there is the lesson. Look beyond the surface before you dismiss. Engage the instinct to see the story unfolding; to peer further and uncover what is not always obvious.
Thank you, Mara for capturing this moment. Such a gift in knowing not to abandon this frame that started out in darkness; then becoming luminous in its burgeoning light.
Anti-ICE protest, 01/31/26
If we don’t laugh, we’ll cry.
Also, please notice how welcoming and even silly a protest can be when ICE and the cops leave us alone!!! We are not the violent ones.
#protestphotos #dtla #laphotography #laphotographer #acab
Anti-ICE protest, 01/31/26
Proud to be on the right side of history.
#losangelesphotography #fightback #standwithminnesota #peopleoflosangeles #photography
