Once again
the internet has afforded me the pleasure of meeting someone who I consider to
be “a person of interest” when pertaining to the worlds of fashion,
photography, style and modeling in the 21st century. I am one of those
persons who actually read hashtags and captions on both Instagram and Facebook. The long story short is that by actually
reading rather than hitting a like or a heart, I came upon this devilishly handsome
… okay hot ... young man who more than holds up his end of a conversation in
words as well as with his visual
presence. In other words ... he is smart, sexy, with substance and I sensed
with a story to tell. The upshot is that you just never know what lies behind
an image which proving once again that social media can be much more than just
visual stimulation.
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In my
experience it is exceedingly difficult to engage a stranger in a conversation
which will amount to anything more than just idle chit chat but encountering
Luke was definitely the exception. He is charming, possibly disarming,
handsome, in a non-cookie cutter way, and speaks with great presence. This rarity
continued to reveal a young man with a story and a history and by that I mean
to say he is much more than just the sum of his images. As you will come to
find out he is both photographer and model and at times those two paths
intersect, if not totally overlap, to great effect …
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Think of this …. He has
elevated the art of selfie to actually translate to self-portraiture and possibly
an art form in its own right.
The point is
this: will you take him at face value and what he exudes through his images or
will you read about someone who defies popular norms and will, in my opinion,
be a FORCE TO RECKON WITH in the future.
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Jeffrey Felner: Can you give us
a brief personal history as to how you arrived at this juncture in your life?
Luke Gardiner: Way back when I was a hockey player
which I gave up to start skateboarding; I was also introduced to photography.
Shooting photos came to a standstill around 2012 when unfortunate things
happened and my alcoholism developed. I had always been curious about modeling,
but it wasn’t until I got sober that I started to make things happen. Upon
sobering up, I got back into photography full force and finally began my
modeling adventure to give it a shot. I couldn’t be more content with how
things are which is where I'm at now.
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JF: You are both photographer and model... which do you prefer and
why?
LG: Honestly, as much as I love doing the
modeling. My true love will always be shooting as a photographer and standing
behind the camera. The feeling I get when I'm able to capture my ideal photo is
rewarding beyond words, and that is what keeps me going.
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JF: If you can invite any 5 people to dinner... who would they be and
why?
LG: Well that’s kind of a tough question.
Being as how I also want to pursue acting, my list would be more actors and
directors. When it comes to actors I'd have to say Denzel Washington, Morgan
Freeman and Anthony Hopkins … those three because of their long history of
amazing movies and the personalities they capture. Basically I'd be asking them
how they got started and what drives and influences them to be the people they
are throughout their films. Another actor would be Brad Pitt for essentially
the same reasons, not to mention I feel like I see some of my qualities when I
see him acting. Finally would have to be Martin Scorsese, he's just incredibly
brilliant, and I'd want to talk to him about how he gets his visions.
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JF: In the course of our conversations, I sense that you are a
warrior in your pursuits can you explain some of the battles that you have
fought and continue to fight and why they are so important to you?
LG: Man ... So much to say when it comes to
this … really. Between becoming a drug dealer in my earlier years and the
problems and violence that I dealt with and overcoming that, to becoming an
alcoholic and the situations I got myself into, a fair amount of fights occurring
throughout all this time including being gang beaten in an alley way. Not to
mention the battles those come with being a skateboarder including all the
injuries. What I learned from all of it, is that no matter what, I have the
ability to overcome and rise up, that no matter how hard I get taken down I can
always stand back up, that I'd rather fail from trying rather than to never
have tried at all. Life does things to you to test your strength and will
power, and every obstacle you conquer makes you even more a warrior, I've been
told I'm a "different breed of human", and that’s because of all of
this. I wouldn’t have it any other way with the outcome of who I have been
molded into.
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JF: Now let’s talk about the
future and where do you see yourself in 5 years and what do you hope to accomplish
with your talents?
LG: I see myself with a residence on the
West Coast, but traveling all over the world; Pursuing acting, modeling, and
being a photographer always. I want to show the world what I can do, showing
how I can portray so many qualities and personae of people in films, showing
how even a straight male can bring such passion, beauty, sensuality, and
eroticism into photos, and being a photographer who can capture anything and
everything bringing to life true essence in any genre or subject of photo. I
want to do it all, and in the crazy way of thinking being someone who thinks
they can make difference and change the way people look at film and imagery and
even the world, well I guess you can call me crazy or maybe just a man with high
expectations and dreams.
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