Portrait & Lifestyle Photographer Steve Belkowitz joins forces with Warlord Beard Oil

For every new beard (and there’s a lot of them these days) there’s a man who needs to take care of that beard. Lifestyle photographer Steve Belkowitz recently partnered with agency Red Square and client Warlord Beard Oil to help groom the fuzzy-faced masses.

The agency had the basic concepts on paper but needed to finalize the look. “They wanted something bold and whimsical, with retouching that was natural but stylized,” Steve explains. With that in mind, Steve oversaw lighting concepts, casting, wardrobe and props and collaborated on conceptual detail.

“We used period photos from the early 1900s as reference,” says Steve. “It really helped get the talent on the same page with the idea. They were all real people, so we had to get them comfortable enough to be silly and have fun.” Rita Squitiere, an industry vet who designs her own costumes for theatre and regularly works on movies, brought her wardrobe magic to the project.

“We played good music to get them to be silly and act out the poses.”

But of course, the final retouching had to pull everything together. “PXL House really went above and beyond, putting in so much time and even hand drawing some of the beards,” says Steve. “It’s incredible.” The team shot the talents’ hands in several positions to give the retouchers options for final beard shapes.

Featured in the December issue of Archive, the photos will be used for Warlord’s website, posters and tradeshow materials. Meanwhile, Steve has also recently wrapped jobs for Western Health Advantage, California Association of Realtors and a portrait series of Paralympic swimmer Brad Snyder. You can keep up with the prolific portrait and lifestyle photographer (or try) here.

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