Paul Tocatlian · Kisau Photography

Dive into the world of Kisau Photography, where the mantra guiding every click and pose whispers, “Be Bolder. Dream Bigger.” Here, creativity is ever-present, and each snapshot tells a story waiting to unfold. Allow me to introduce you to the souls behind the lens and the magic: Paul Tocatlian, our photographer who paints with light, drawing out the essence of every subject; Hannah Do, the wardrobe stylist who weaves narratives through fabric and fashion; and Pia Gould, the magazine consultant, who secures features for our stories in the pages of magazines. Our journey spans the vibrant streets and studios of the San Francisco Bay Area, the dynamic buzz of Los Angeles, the urban vibrance of New York City, to the romantic heart of Paris and beyond. Each location serves as a backdrop to the tales we’re eager to tell. If our work resonates with you, we invite you to join us on our journey. Visit us at . Don’t hesitate to show us your love, share it with others, follow our journey, and reach out with any questions or proposals. Because when it comes to Kisau Photography, your voice is the most valued element of our collective story. Let’s create, explore, and inspire together. #kisauphotography #bayareaphotography #bayareaphotographer #sanfranciscophotography #sanfranciscophotographer #sanjosephotography #sanjosephotographer

Are you looking to build a model portfolio that captures your unique essence and showcases your potential to the world? Let’s embark on this creative journey together. From digitals and comp cards to lookbooks, test shoots, magazine submissions, and designer collaborations, we offer a comprehensive suite of photographic services tailored to bring your vision to life. Whether you prefer the energy of location photoshoots or the controlled environment of a studio, we work with an array of fashion designers, jewelry artists, and hair and makeup artists to enrich your experience. Dive into our Kisau Clothing Collection, boasting over 200 garments waiting to complement your style. For those with a passion for the dynamic world of runway fashion shows, we share your enthusiasm. We’re also here to get your photos featured in a magazine. Let’s come up with a project that speaks to you. Schedule your complimentary consultation today on and take the first step towards a portfolio that not only showcases your talent but tells your unique story. #kisauphotography #bayareaphotography #bayareaphotographer #sanfranciscophotography #sanfranciscophotographer #sanjosephotography #sanjosephotographer

Are you looking to elevate your brand? Allow Kisau Photography to partner with you on this journey. From personal branding and business imagery that articulate your unique message to lifestyle product showcases that narrate your story, our photographic services are designed to help tell who you are and what you do. Immerse yourself in campaign visuals that capture the imagination, editorial content that strikes a chord, and environmental photography that fosters connection. We can’t wait to showcase your customer experiences, events, and important milestones through evocative imagery. See your brand come to life in professional headshots, team portraits that convey professionalism, and an international product showcase that expands your reach. We invite you to schedule a complimentary consultation on at your convenience to begin crafting something truly memorable. #kisauphotography #bayareaphotographer #bayareaphotography #sanfranciscophotographer #sanfranciscophotography #sanjosephotographer #sanjosephotography

What happens when beauty steps into a place shaped by memory? This series with Chow at Kowloon Walled City Park in Hong Kong stayed with me for that reason. There was such a strong sense of harmony between the person, the clothing, and the location. Nothing felt forced. Nothing felt separate. It all belonged together. Kowloon Walled City Park carries so much history. Today it feels quiet, reflective, and carefully held, but you can still sense the weight of what came before. That made it a powerful place to photograph. Not just because it is visually beautiful, but because it brings memory into the image in a way that feels subtle and real. Chow brought exactly the kind of presence this setting asked for. Quiet strength. Grace. A natural elegance that never needed to be pushed. The cheongsam added even more harmony, echoing the atmosphere of the park and helping everything come together with a sense of ease. What I love about this editorial is how it holds history, beauty, and presence side by side. Soft, grounded, and deeply felt. The kind of story that reveals itself slowly. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: morethanb.od.y Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #HasselbladPhotography #HongKongModel #HongKongPhotoshoot

What does transformation look like when style, history, and presence come together? This editorial in Hong Kong began with that question. At Kowloon Walled City Park, Chow brought a quiet poise and an untamed spirit that made every image feel alive. There is softness in the way she carries herself, but also strength, freedom, and a sense of individuality that cannot be contained. That balance became central to the story. Smaranika Sarangi’s design was the perfect counterpart. Rich in color, movement, and texture, it carries a strong point of view while drawing from textile tradition and craftsmanship. What I love about this look is the way it feels rooted and forward moving at the same time. Heritage is there, but not as something fixed. Something living. Something being reshaped. That made Kowloon Walled City Park the right setting. A place marked by reinvention, memory, and contrast. Once one of Hong Kong’s most complex spaces, now a garden shaped by reflection and atmosphere. That history gave the editorial another layer, allowing fashion and place to speak to one another. For me, this shoot became a story about carrying the past forward while making it visible in a new way. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @morethanb.od.y Fashion Designer: @drape.dead.elegance Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #HasselbladPhotography #HongKongModel #HongKongPhotoshoot

Roselye brings Bach Mai into the heart of Saigon, where elegance meets rust, softness meets steel, and the journey to the location becomes part of the story. This was one of three sets we captured that day, with three designers, three locations, and three very different moods. For this one, I had already noticed the bridge as a possible place to shoot, drawn to its faded structure, river views, and sense of history. But Roselye turned that idea into something more. She led us to the other side of the river and found an abandoned path that gave us access, and suddenly getting there became part of the narrative. That spirit of discovery shaped everything. What made this set feel especially meaningful to me was photographing a Bach Mai design in Vietnam for the first time. I have photographed his work on the runway and in other countries, but creating these images in a place connected to his Vietnamese heritage gave the story a different kind of weight. The contrast is what stayed with me most. A luminous, sculptural dress against rusted metal, peeling paint, and open sky. In color, the images feel immediate and electric. In monotone, they feel quieter, older, and more reflective. Together, they tell a story about adventure, heritage, mood, and the beauty that can happen when tension gives an image depth. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @roselye222_ Designer: @BachMai Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #VietnameseModel #VietnamModel #VietnamPhotoshoot

Saigon gave us history and soft light. Roselye brought the attitude. Smaranika Sarangi brought the look. This was one of three sets we shot that day in Ho Chi Minh City, and it quickly became one of my favorites. There was something about the balance of it all. The faded elegance of the Grand Saigon. The color and shape of Smaranika’s design. And Roselye, stepping into the space with that mix of playfulness, confidence, and presence that made everything click. What I loved most was how natural it all felt. Nothing forced. Nothing overdone. Just the right mix of fashion, personality, and atmosphere coming together in a way that felt real. Roselye has that rare ability to bring energy to a space while still letting the setting breathe. She can be soft in one moment, direct in the next, and somehow make both feel part of the same story. This is the kind of editorial work I keep chasing. Different people. Different places. Different creative voices. All meeting in one set of images that feels connected and real. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @roselye222_ Designer: @drape_dead_elegance Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #VietnameseModel #VietnamModel #VietnamPhotoshoot

Some places do not need to be cleaned up or made beautiful for a story to happen. Sometimes they already hold everything. Texture. Energy. Surprise. A little mystery too. That is how this part of Saigon felt when Roselye brought me there. It was a corner of the city I had never seen before, full of life, character, and the kind of details that make you want to keep looking. It felt honest. A little forgotten. A little adventurous. Very real. Roselye moved through that space in a BRAXTON dress styled with pieces from her own wardrobe, and that made all the difference. Nothing felt forced. Nothing felt overly polished. It felt personal. Like the clothes belonged to her story, not the other way around. That is what I love about this series, My Style. My City. My Story. It starts with the person. Their style. Their city. Their story. The fashion and the location help bring that into focus. With Roselye, the whole shoot carried the energy of someone changing on her own terms. Someone not waiting for permission to become. Playful, instinctive, and fully herself. Visit for the full spread and interview. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @roselye222_ Designer: @dressed_by_s Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #VietnameseModel #VietnamModel #VietnamPhotoshoot

In Vienna, I met with model Rachel Mosser and fashion designer Petia Zasheva by the Theseustempel to create this editorial together. The setting gave us something calm and clear to work with. White columns, pale stone, soft light. It felt like the right place to photograph clothing shaped by renewal. The two looks featured in this shoot were created through @re.imagine.at , Petia’s project focused on sustainability, craftsmanship, and community. Using secondhand clothing and vintage materials, she transforms discarded pieces through embroidery, bobbin lace, and hand printing into work that feels thoughtful, expressive, and deeply personal. The two looks were visually striking, but they also held something more. Re.Imagine supports local artisans, promotes environmental awareness, and creates workshops for young girls and unemployed women to help them learn practical skills and build confidence through making. It is also meant to support women in smaller regions and cities, emigrants, and survivors of domestic violence, where opportunities are often limited. Rachel brought a grounded, natural presence to the images. Petia brought vision and meaning through the clothing. Together, they helped shape a story about fashion that feels human, intentional, and alive. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @oi_delia 
Fashion Designer: @petiazasheva 
Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #SustanableFashion #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #ViennaModel #ViennaPhotoshoot

Some people do not just walk into a photoshoot. They bring a whole story with them. That is what I felt with Michael in Hong Kong. We started on the track, with movement, discipline, strength, and focus. The city rose behind him. The lines pulled forward beneath him. @FLEXER8.HK active streetwear felt connected to the body, the training, and the story behind it. Then we moved into the streets. A quieter kind of presence. Yellow stairs, passing trams, glass, concrete, and the rhythm of Hong Kong around him. Michael shifted from athlete to model, but the story stayed connected. It was still about style. Still about identity. Still about the person inside the frame. What I loved most about this photoshoot was how personal it felt. FLEXER8 is part of what Michael is building, along with his creative ventures @ZENSUS.HK and @B604_STUDIO . Each one reflects a different side of his work, but together they point back to the same thing, movement, storytelling, and self direction. My Style. My City. My Story. With Michael, that idea became physical. The track gave us motion. The city gave us texture. Michael brought the center. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @micchung_rush Active Streetwear: @FLEXER8.HK Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #HongKongModel #HongKongPersonalTrainer #HongKongPhotoshoot

In the streets of Hong Kong, Merry Cheung turned calligraphy into something alive, personal, and quietly powerful. This second chapter of our photoshoot moved from holding artwork to creating it. In a narrow urban passage filled with worn walls, pipes, signs, soft yellow light, and the layered texture of the city after dark, Merry brought ink, movement, and fashion into the same frame. Her red dress became the visual heartbeat of the series, cutting through the muted city palette while still feeling completely connected to the space. The calligraphy scroll carried four ideas: 自由 freedom 自愛 self love 自省 introspection 自在 carefree Together, they became more than words. They became a personal statement. What I love about these images is the balance between elegance and grit, stillness and action, softness and confidence. Merry was not simply posing beside her art. She was making it in real time, turning the street into a hidden stage and the brush into part of her presence. This shoot felt like a ceremony of self expression, written in ink and framed by Hong Kong. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model & Calligrapher: @merryislovely 
Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #HongKongModel #HongKongPhotoshoot #HongKongCalligraphy

In a small alley in Central, Hong Kong, Merry Cheung brought stillness, color, and quiet power into the frame. Merry is a calligrapher, performing artist, teacher, and model, and for this shoot, she carried those worlds with her. She wore her own cheongsam and held a fan painted with her own calligraphy. The fan became more than a detail. It became part of her gesture, her presence, and the story. What I loved most was how each background changed the mood. Purple shutters made the images feel darker and more cinematic. Orange brought warmth and intensity. Turquoise made everything feel sharper and more graphic. The location was small, but it kept transforming with her. This is the first in a series featuring Merry, and it felt like a portrait in conversation with Hong Kong. Not just a model in a city, but a person bringing culture, confidence, and self expression into the streets around her. Stillness holds power. Merry reminded me of that. Visit for the full spread and article. Link in bio. Photoshoot Credits Model: @merryislovely Photographer: Paul @Tocatlian For brands, designers, models, and other creatives looking to create inspiring imagery, let’s connect. From fashion editorials to runway coverage to publishing your work, let’s explore how fashion and storytelling intersect, and where your next project might lead. © Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved. #FashionPhotography #EditorialPhotography #HasselbladPhotography #HongKongModel #HongKongPhotoshoot