What is your creative process like as a team?
Pedro works as art director. He comes up with a concept, direction and mood for the photos. I work more on the actual photography by working out the lighting and more technical aspects. In the end, it is a total collaboration as we both give input to each other during the planning process, during the shoot itself and also doing any postproduction work.

Makeup and hair are pretty strong elements in so much of your work. What is the process of working with other creatives like for you?
We seek out real talent to collaborate with. It’s a joy to work with those that give us inspiration. We like to give the artists a chance to show their best work so after giving them direction on what we want in the end, we like to give them freedom to show their strengths and allow their creativity to flourish as well. When you show an artist respect and appreciation, they will want to give you their best work.

You have been working together for 25 years. What makes you such great collaborators?
What makes our collaboration work is we have the same aesthetic but combine our complementary strengths.

Your work has a strong sense of reality but also is highly perfected — how do you achieve that balance?
That is an important observation because it’s fully intentional to be very polished but at the same time real. We want them to be photographs, not paintings, and to also bear a real resemblance to the subject, not just a pure fantasy. We love perfecting and making the photos aspirational, but not to the point of complete distortion. It’s a delicate balance that we try and adhere to.

There is a brilliant balance of hair, makeup, wardrobe and photographic composition in your images. Is there a formula for this balance or is it dictated by the situation?
There isn’t a formula other than we are super aware of all these elements and do our best to harmonize everything either before we shoot in the planning stage or while we are shooting as you have to open to the moment. We try to create a certain mood and feel in the original concept and then choreograph all the elements together to achieve the desired effect. Then in post-production, it is all refined and composition is the added element that is also carefully considered. Composition is as essential as all the other visual elements.

Do you approach working with a celebrity differently than working on a model?Celebrities usually aren’t just canvases you can play with. We tend to have a respect for them, for their work and talent. Models can be much more malleable and open to experimentation.

What is the key to capturing the personality of a celebrity for your work?
Having a conversation with them and making them feel comfortable. Doing homework if necessary and being familiar with their work. Finding commonalities to make them feel you get who they are and want to bring out the best in them.

You have been working with some clients for many years What is it about working with you that keeps them returning?
Having an understanding of them and their aesthetic. This happens when we share that aesthetic and know how to achieve it together. When you try your best to consistently give them great work they usually will come back for more. You should make every job as important as all the prior ones.

With the sheer amount of work you have done over the years, how do you stay fresh and keep each shoot unique?
Keeping aware of what is happening in the world of fashion, beauty and culture in general. We like to try new things and experiment, but also remain true to what we do best, which in the end is a sense of glamour but still human. Pedro is especially adept at being aware of interesting currents in the culture.

Is there a shoot that you found especially satisfying artistically?
Violet Chachki for V Magazine.

Your social media is curated in a way that celebrates the range of your work beautifully. How do you choose what to include and how to curate your social?Pedro is the social media curator and he likes to keep a good balance of what we put out. Diversity in subjects is very important. Pedro is great at being conscious of a visual rhythm and making certain we cover the bases of diversity of subject matter, as we like to shine a light on all aspects of beauty be it ethnicity, body type, age or gender variance, to name a few.

How much of your work is done in post-production ?
Post-production is very important for most shoots. I especially enjoy that part of it. I see it as an opportunity to really refine what we had envisioned or been surprised by from the shoot. Pedro and I work together on this. He’s strong with color correction, composition and overall mood, and my strength is the actual beauty retouching.

For our photography geeks who are reading — what is your equipment of choice?
A Canon 5DS. For beauty, I use a Canon 100mm macro lens.

Words Michael DeVellis
Photos Albert Sanchez @sanchezzalba
Photos and Art Direction Pedro Zalba @sanchezzalba