It's OBVIOUS! Maya Guez for Obvious Magazine

Check out this Interview I gave to OBVIOUS Magazine "Sexy Issue". Obvious magazine is a fresh fashion and life style magazine that has beautiful fashion, beauty and modeling spreads, special thanks to the multi talented magazine founder Jerris Madison and Interviewer Leon Christian for the opportunity and continued support, more collaborations will be coming soon...!
Check out the Interview on the Obvious Mag web site: OBVIOUS MAYA GUEZ STORY or simply click on the images bellow and read the full Interview.

NFL Bret Lockett InTouch Magazine Controversy

So imagine my surprise when I saw NFL Player Bret Lockett on the cover of "In Touch Weekly" Magazine allegedly involved in sexting "affair" with the beautiful Kim Kardashian. My agent was contacted last week and informed me some of the images of Bret lockett are being considered to be purchased for use in InTouch magazine for a feature... I really thought nothing of it since this happens alot when photographers are contacted by publications to use celebs/pro athletes images. Inside the magazine story was the cover I ones shot of Bret for KRAVE FIT a few months back comparing it to Reggie Bush Man's Health cover...
According to the story in In Touch Weekly Bret and Kim Kardashian were talking on the phone and sexting for a few months in the early stages of her current Kris Humphries relationship. Kim Kardashian has responded on her site saying allegations are false and is threatening legal actions.
So is this true? Honestly I'm not in high school anymore and according to the story they never actually met in person! "sexting" to me is nothing, its far from cheating and who hasn't sent out a sexy cell picture out ones in a while ( I dare one of you to stand up!! lol) So whats the big deal even if it was? Mr. Locket is a nice guy and hard worker and conducted him self very professionally on set, and Kim is gorgeous and great buissnis woman, hopefully they will both continue doing their thing and be successful in there proffsional and personal life.

Here are more of the pictures from KRAVE FIT magazine of Bret Lockett shirtless workout.


Bret Lockett photographed by Maya Guez , All images are copyrighted and cannot be used or published without permission or direct link to this blog and photo credit. CLICK ON IMAGES TO VIEW LARGER

Maya Guez shoots NFL player Devin Thomas

I have recently had the opportunity to shoot another handsome NFL player by the name of Devin Thomas from NY Giants, you might remember Mr Thomas as the wide receiver for the Washington Redskins team but even for some of us who dont follow football he is equally known for his appearance in a hot spread Vibe magazine published combining hottest R&B female singers with NFL stars and Fantasia video Bittersweet as her love interest:

Devin Thomas has now made NY his new home and will be playing for the NY Giants this upcoming season (if all goes well with this lockout situation!).

NFL player Devin Thomas shot by Photographer Maya Guez

I have worked with several NBA , NFL and pro boxers before but I, as well many other pepole that have met Mr Thomas, can say they were not only impressed by his unique features and 6'3 athletic good looks but also by how down to earth and naturally happy he is, he was like a big kid on set playing music and cracking jokes.... Devin kept the enrgy up and kept his agent as well as the rest of the staff on set entertained... Quite a character! I definitely see the entertainment world in his future including TV and Radio
The Internet has caught up a storm with these few images that have been released from the shoot and it seems Mr Thomas has a growing base of admirers that will follow him in and out of the football field... More to come, but for now enjoy Devin Thomas shirtless shots!

NFL player Devin Thomas shot by Photographer Maya Guez

Click on any of the images to see larger!

*UPDATE 1/23/2012: Check out Devin Thomas continue his great season with the NY Giants on 2012 Super Bowl XLVI playing against the Patriots! Here he is on the Wendy Williams show showing off the images we shot... poor Wendy almost chocked on her tea...:

Congrats to Devin Thomas and NY GIANTS for winning the Super Bowl, due to many fan requests here is a Devin Thomas Wallpaper for Giants fans:


NFL player Devin Thomas shot by Photographer Maya Guez.

click on image to see high res desktop wallpaper Devin Thomas Giants

Maya Guez photographs GADI 21 Minerals campaign

Here is yet another successful beauty and skin care campaign I was commissioned to shoot that has just been released. This company "GADI 21 minerals" is based in London where it has 6 flagship stores, it offers a line of luxury skin care products based on 21 essential minerals to enhance and improve your skin. Gadi 21 minerals also distributes to high end department stores in Europe and the UK.
Check out the web site: http://www.gadi21.com/

Gadi 21 minerals Campaign photography and art direction by Maya Guez, Hair by Leo Eley featuring model Anelisa Durham. Here are some more shots from this campaign click on image to view larger :

You can see the advertising featured in Magazines Internationaly and in Media posters in London

Maya Guez in Dirty Show Art Expo.

I have recently joined a group of prominent female artists by the name of S.W.E.A.T( www.sweatartists.com/ ) in an effort to give a stage and draw attention to female point of view in Arts and erotic art and expression. This group is not a feminist group who fights against objectifying woman, equal opportunity and pay by picketing outside a government office, its a group that has a new age idea of what it means to be empowered threw the Arts, expression and examination of sexuality from a female point of view.... No one is objectifying you when YOU are the one expressing, creating, directing and selling yourself. Yes, many times we feel that woman artists don't get the same stage they deserve compared to fellow male artists and are on average paid 15% less for same type assignments... Yes, woman are very visible in media and entertainment but many time the feeling is behind every sexy cover girl there's some man sitting in an office counting the dollars he is making of her ass... lol There for in my eyes no matter how explicit or sexual an image of a woman is as long as it comes from a position of power, choice and business minded it can never be "degrading" or "exploitative"....

In the Dirty Show Art expo in Detroit you will see a whole section dedicated to the The "Society for Women in Erotic Art Today"(S.W.E.A.T.) female artists... a wall full of beautiful images of completely different styles all representing what we all love to celebrate: sexuality and the expression of love in the physical aspect.... sometime subtle and underlined and in other blunt and provocative. Not every piece is political or feminist in its context that is NOT the intention. We are presenting a diverse female point of view of sexuality and artistic expression, the viewer enjoys a wide range of styles knowing all the work presented was created by different woman in different ages from all over the world.

a few of my art works are featured in the show:

The show has been extended because of overwhelming demand and attendance and has been getting great reviews... 11-26th of FEB. dirtydetroit.com/
S.W.E.A.T is scheduled to have exhibitions in other shows and art institutes and i will keep you updates!

We Are The CURE

Charity Art campaign to raise HIV awareness in Africa shot by Photographer Maya Guez

Today is World AIDS Day, 1 Dec 2010. I wanted to do a special post about this topic from a slightly different angle... This is a close subject to my heart because it has touched my life knowing young people that has contracted HIV. Some of these individuals decided to go public to raise awareness despite the heavy cost to their personal life and privacy.

I was born in Israel in a small town, my mother was and still is a nurse that works in pediatrics. We lived in the workers dorms of the hospital and often after school I would visit her at work, Mom takes care of children with conditions such as HIV Aids, cancer and hepatitis... from my wonderful mother I learned the meaning of compassion and always admired her strength. Many of this Innocent children lost there struggle to HIV or cancer... I didn't understand how could she continue to work that job day in and day out with the mental ware it puts on a person. Many of the children with Aids were Ethiopian origin since Africa is the most affected part of the world with HIV, latley many celebrities have joined the fight to bring better health care and contribute to the education in that part of the world for HIV prevention.

Today, knowing people with this condition I can only do my small part with this blog to promote awareness and safe sex practice, please notice that I referred to HIV as a condition not a disease. At this day and age you can maintain a healthy living for many years with the right medical care, while there is no cure its impotent people know it is not a death sentence... its no different then any other serious illness that can be manged and lived with. I am IN NO WAY saying go out and have unprotected sex cause its "no big deal"... If you contract HIV it is still going to change your life.... its a permanent life style change-taking medications every day, being more sensitive to other illness/infections and outbreaks, choosing a sexual or romantic partner and letting them know and the possibility of never being able to have children of your own, these are all things someone with HIV has to deal with, But like everyone else people with HIV are entitled to LOVE that means giving and receiving love, sex, relationship, and acceptance... I have herd friends that have ignorantly referred to the condition as "The Monster" or other ignorant terms when speaking of someone with HIV. Saying they can never date someone who has it or that "these people" should immediately reveal their HIV status... Let me tell you one thing: LOVE CONCURS ALL. Even the risks of HIV. I have been a witness to this with a couple I know in which only one side has this condition. Anyone that uses such terms or in some way implies that theses HUMAN BEINGS are not entitled to anything and everything a human should enjoy in there life including Sex and Love is basically condemning themselves.... You never know where you will be tomorrow and you cant understand the challenges and tribulations of a person with HIV until you walk a mile in their shoes. And God said: "As you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me" Matthew 25. If you exclude people out of your life out of fear you are the one loosing out in the end of the day.

The fear campaign tactics that were launched since the 90is have done good on one hand promoting people to take resposiblity for their own bodies and practice safe sex but at the same time making it very difficult for people with this condition to live openly because of fear of being discriminated and isolated... Think carefully if you had this condition would you be telling it to every individual that approaches you knowing society perception of HIV? NO you would not because us as a society have made them wear this as a badge of shame. Individuals with HIV have to take the responsibility on themselves to practice only safe sex, maintain their viral load low and then also inform their partners of the risk and that is not an easy task when your afraid the minute you do so- your partner will be runing to the hills or violate your privacy. So today I am left with these tow messages:

Educate, promote and practice safe sex no matter what your partner say or how "healthy" or "honest" they look until you are both in a monogamous committed relationship and repeatedly got tested keep the condom on.

Secondly we must embrace love and accept the people who have this condition understand their situation and not let fear or ignorance be our guide.... Treat others the way you want to be treated and you will find that ALL of us deserve happiness and fulfillment and the human heart can overcome even the biggest physical challenges.

Charity Art campaign to raise HIV awareness in Africa shot by Photographer Maya Guez



Charity Art campaign to raise HIV awareness in Africa shot by Photographer Maya Guez

I have shot this Series a few years back, at the time I was asked to donate some of my work to be auctioned in an HIV art benefit I gladly offered one of theses pieces... it was meant to symbolically portray the pains of Africa... so much Beauty trapped inside so much Pain. The organizers rejected the piece for being too controversial and feared it will make people feel uncomfortable in what was supposed to be a light and fun event.... they wanted a fluff piece that would not be as disturbing. While I understood their point of view I think making people uncomfortable is what I want to do...! Make them think and take a minute out of their day to examine something beyond their daily life spectrum. Africa is the region of the world most affected by HIV and that is only one of the problems the continent has with poverty, education, corruption and hunger. This series fell back to the depth of my hard drive and I think now after all these years its time to bring it out for this blog. In these images I used Khadim who I met in Harlem "a real right of the boat proud African" lol not an experienced model. I was impressed with his painting like features and he agreed to model for me and let me tell you, every single image of his film was beautiful he could have given some tips to the pros. You can view the series on my site "personal" gallery or click on images.

Charity Art campaign to raise HIV awareness in Africa shot by Photographer Maya Guez

Working on these images brought me to tears a few times as I did the research to get the exact statistics I wanted to place regarding Africa. I also listed non profit organizations you might want to donate to or be active with.