The Model The Purse The Mosh

It was around 2011. I was just getting back into photography after a long hiatus, as I was consumed with making a feature film that I couldn't seem to finish, a three-year-long process. I needed new inspiration. I was leaning towards a more experimental approach to my photographic style, something that allowed the freedom to be more creatively impulsive, and the film really inhibited that.

When Mosh first came to my studio, it was awkward. I was awkward. The building, the surroundings, that haunting roar of downtown Los Angeles. I was living in an art colony at the time, not really myself, stuck in the mindset of what I thought an artist was supposed to be.

A bit incoherent and disheveled, I sat down with her at this old, glossy black mirror dining table, rambling about some future projects I wanted to work on. She was attentive and mindful. Most people in that industry just want to hear the sound of their own voice, and I was one of them. She was different, extremely grounded, and it caught me off guard. It made me think maybe my creative ideas made sense after all. We ended up shooting together pretty regularly after that.

Just recently, I was going through the photos for this memoir and I asked her what her favorite photo was from everything we've shot together over the years. She said it was from that very first session, the one in the full-body latex suit.

I remember being very young, maybe eight or nine, at my grandpa's beach rental one summer. There was a black and white photograph in the guest bathroom of a nude woman in a rather dominant stance. I didn't know what I was looking at, but I remember being in awe. It had to have been the work of famed photographer Helmut Newton. That might have been the first seed planted that led me into photography. That trip is so clear to me. It's one of those vivid memories where I can still hear the ocean while falling asleep with the window open.

That photograph stayed with me longer than I realized. Helmut Newton's world was so inspiring. Once I actually picked up a camera and began shooting, that was a style I wanted to recreate, fashion photography with elements of the fetish world. The way he made women look so powerful in front of a lens was a gift.

So when I was working with Mosh, it was such a pleasure to feel close to that world. She already lived that persona, that aesthetic I'd been chasing. She needed no direction. The way she moved and held physically demanding poses was extremely impressive. With a background in gymnastics, her talents are a rarity. Always confident, independent, and unafraid of critique. She owns the stage.

The bag itself is the sculpture of these memories. Stitched together in leather.

Years passed. I hadn't spoken to Mosh in a long time. Spring of 2025, I had finished a handbag I named the Marilyn, after Marilyn Monroe. It has an old Hollywood charm to it. Mosh carries that same iconic presence as Marilyn did, and it occurred to me that she is worthy of having a bag named after her as well.

Reaching out felt strange. After living in LA for so long, you get tired of people always wanting something from you, and here I was doing exactly that after fourteen years of silence. "Hi Mosh, I started making bags. Want to do another photoshoot? Oh, and by the way, how are you? What else is new?" I was nervous hitting send.

She was intrigued and genuinely liked the Marilyn. Having her acknowledge my work that wasn't a photo of her felt very good. As soon as the idea came to me to make a bag based on her identity, it was exciting. There's nothing quite like the burst of inspiration when designing a new bag, especially one made for someone I spent so much time photographing. When you are behind the lens, everything looks different. It's better. It's a window and an escape from reality, and to stitch the past to the present is something unique.

After making the Mosh out of pure inspiration and memory, I neglected to ask her if she had any input on the bag. I was in the creative zone, hyper-focused on completing the bag. Now when I look at this handbag, I can't see it being named anything else or looking any other way. It is in fact THE MOSH. When I finally finished it, I reached back out to her and had to know what her actual dream bag would be if she were to design one. She said an equestrian grooming tote. She expressed some ideas that I will use to create yet another Mosh-inspired bag. This process is extremely personal and very rewarding.

Each bag is hand-stitched and time-intensive, which naturally keeps the quantities low. It isn't a fixed limited edition yet, but with my eagerness to stay creative on new projects, I can't imagine I will make too many. I hope one day for this to be a collector's item. In my heart, it deserves that.

So check back regularly. A goal of mine is to set up another shoot with Mosh, this time with the Mosh itself, if we are both in the same city and the timing works out. There may be a whole other story once the equestrian tote is revealed. Going through the archives of all our shoots, I chose a more modest photo gallery. She has an amazing body of work and has worked with some extremely talented photographers and creatives along the way, so please check out more of her work and follow her, @officiallymosh.

This memoir was hard to finish, the same way any of my projects are hard to finish as they near completion. I kept circling back, rewriting, trying to get it right. When you are a perfectionist, it's hard to stop. Maybe some things are truly never meant to be finished.

Mosh's professionalism and passion gave me so many photographic experiences over the years, and it made it easy for me to just be part of the process rather than having to direct it. Her passion, energy, and endless talent doing her own hair, makeup, and wardrobe styling let me just be a photographer. I have a deep appreciation and gratitude for the amount of work she entrusted me with.

Time moves faster than we'd like it to, reflecting back to that moment in the studio with that old black mirror table, that old Los Angeles studio, a studio now occupied by some other artist with some other aspirations. It's just one big loop. The stories keep going. So does she.