That Dominique James touch

There are celebrity photographers and there are celebrity photographers. You know, photographers who take pictures of celebrities and who become celebrities themselves.

There’s Jun de Leon and there’s Richard Chen and there’s Raymund Isaac.

And then there’s Dominique James who, these past five years, has also been making a name for himself as "photographer of the stars."

Name the star and Dominique has shot – I mean, photographed – him or her.

"So far," said Dominique, "the only celebrities I have yet to photograph are Sharon Cuneta, Ai-Ai delas Alas and Charlene Gonzalez."

In the beginning, according to Dominique, he had to contend with inaminate models – yes, mannequins which he photographed for the Versace Vintage Collection.

"No," said Dominique, "not that ‘live’ models were not available; it’s just that the delicate couture pieces couldn’t be subjected to body oils and make-up stains. Even the production people were required to wear gloves when handling the clothes."

Since then, Dominique has been photographing not only "live" models, most of them product-endorsers, but also landscapes, food, architecture, consumer products, etc.

His versatility has been showcased in the more than 25 one-man exhibits he has mounted to date. Last year alone, Dominique had three solo photo exhibits of more than 200 celebrity pictures. The subjects of his shows range from botanical specimens, sweeping landscapes, erotic figures and "curiosity-arousing" objects.

A stylist once asked Dominique: "If people look at your celebrity portraits, do they see the person in the picture or do they see you? It’s strange, almost surreal, that I can tell it’s you who took the picture because I can somehow see you right through the image."

Dominique was puzzled. But he had to concede. "I can’t imagine taking a picture of someone and not be in that picture. Is there any other way to take great pictures of people?" American photographer Richard Avedon himself has been accused of projecting his personality into the photographic persona of his subject.

Here are samples bearing that distinct Dominique James touch:

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