Hanneli's Obsession

by The Daily Front Row

(NEW YORK) Norwegian model-turned-photographer Hanneli Mustaparta has spent the past year shooting behind-the-scenes at Calvin Klein. Wondering what makes her click?
BY PAIGE REDDINGER 

How did you get involved with Calvin Klein’s Tumblr?
Everything just happened very naturally. We had dinners and conversations and finally they said, ‘How about we do something digital?’ We had a lot of meetings about it.

You started out as a street-style blogger, right?
That’s how I started in the business, yes. I was mostly doing personal blogging at first, but after half a year of just me, I got so many readers. I got an e-mail from American Vogue and they wanted to do a collaboration. I’ve been collaborating with them ever since, and all of these other projects just snowballed.

Does modeling inform your photography skills?
I don’t know how it would have been if I hadn’t modeled. I know what it’s like to have a photographer that communicates well, and also one that communicates poorly. I’m very aware of that.

What kind of camera do you use?
Normally during Fashion Week, I shoot with a Nikon D800 with a 5mm lens, and then I have the Lumix that I use in the evenings. It’s always good to have a smaller camera, because I’m not an event photographer. I just capture moods.

What’s it like getting to photograph Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli? Do you guys hang out?
It’s really nice, because we go on trips together. We went to Beijing. I just came back from Milan men’s Fashion Week where Italo showed his collection, and there’s always a dinner or I see them backstage. The funny thing about Francisco is when I used to model, I worked for him in-house at Calvin Klein. I did all of the presentations, lookbooks, and fittings. It’s kind of funny to have seen them then and to come back here now from such a different angle than I did before. It’s like a fun circle.

You may also like