Kevin Ou

Kevin Ou
Born	(1979-03-04) 4 March 1979
Occupation(s)	Photographer, Co-Founder of Modern Home + Living, TV Presenter
Known for	Photography, Entrepreneur, TV Judge

Kevin Ou (born Kevin Christopher Ou on the 4th March 1979) is a photographer & entrepreneur based in the USA. Kevin started life as a photographer, working with numerous stars in Hollywood.

His career achievements in photography have been acknowledged with several photography awards from across the globe. The awards he has won have given Kevin an excellent reputation in the field of photography. This was demonstrated in 2009 when the Industry Bible Creative USA, named him one of the top 10 influential photographers in the US.

This reputation has allowed his work to be featured in some of the largest magazines in the world. His work has been included in the likes of Rolling Stone & Vogue Magazines.

Kevin’s work isn’t just based in the photography industry. He also launched a number of companies based in Los Angeles, California & is also a Co-Founder of Modern Home + Living.

Kevin has links to numerous charities, and has himself been quoted saying he would like to leave a lasting legacy. This includes setting up foundations to help aspiring photographers. Aside from Photography, Kevin has also worked on several TV shows as a talent judge.

Early life and education=

Kevin spent much of his younger life travelling the world with his parents. His mother worked for a number of large oil conglomerates, while his father specialized in Intelligence & Military Weaponry. This period of his life showed Kevin a number of different countries and cultures. Prior to his 18th Birthday he had either lived in or visited New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, France, Italy, Singapore, Austria, Czech Republic, Tokyo, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Milan, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and New York. Later in his life he would settle in Los Angeles firstly at college and then begin his career there.

Due to the amount of travelling while he was young with his parents, Kevin’s first noticeable education took place in Ngee Ann University in Singapore. Here he studied for a degree in Mass Communications & Advertising, graduating in the year 2000. After this Kevin moved to Pasadena in California for further study, where he studied at the Art Center College of Design. In 2006 he graduated from the college, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Photography & Advertising.

Photography

Once graduating with a Photography & Advertising degree, Kevin spent much of his time in Los Angeles and New York, attempting to establish himself as a digital photography. In 2005 his work was honored by winning the APA National Award. After winning his first award, Kevin’s portfolio as a professional photographer grew and over the years he went onto win a number of awards for his work as a photographer.

Since 2005 he has worked with a number actors/actresses and music artists. Some of these have included, Christina Millian, Justin Bieber, Elijah Wood, Chris Brown, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg to name a few.

Ou isn’t only known for his work with individuals, he has also worked with a number of large corporations. Much of this work with these companies was as a photographer for their marketing campaigns. Some of the companies he has worked for include Lego, Proctor & Gamble, BMW, Maserati, General Motors, Budweiser, Nestle, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Dreamworks & Poloroid.

Kevin himself confirmed that this journey wasn’t easy, and spent a lot of time working in order to establish himself.Kevin himself confirmed that this journey wasn’t easy, and spent a lot of time working in order to establish himself.

Photographic Awards

As previously mentioned over the years Kevin has won a number awards for his work in the photography industry. Following his initial award in 2005, this was then followed up with an award from Microsoft for their ProPhotographer competition in 2006. These two awards were achieved while Kevin was still studying, at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In the same year he went onto win a Communications Arts Annual Award.

After Kevin’s first few years in the photography industry came Kevin’s most successful year in terms of awards. Over the space of the year in 2007 he won 5 in total. This began with the APA CameraWorks Award, from APA National, the same organization that awarded him the National Photographic Award in 2005. He was honoured twice by the ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers). His first award was for the Image 07 Photo Contest & his second was for the “Top images of the Year”. Following these two awards came Kevin’s first International Photo Award (IPA). This award was for the Zymol “Irresistible” Campaign, for an automotive advertisement. Following this award came his final award of 2007, from American Photo under their “Images of the Year” Award. Kevin’s next award came in 2010 from IPA with an honorary mention at the International Photo Awards.

Future in Photography

Kevin has worked hard over the years to build his reputation as a photographer. In 2011 an article was published about Kevin in the Wall Street Journal Blog about his career. The article about him was described as “truly inspiring”.

Kevin himself admits that due to his successes & position in the industry he hopes he can help mentor & influence other photographers to become professional photographers.

Kevin is currently expanding his photography ventures into Asia. He is currently represented in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and China. He plans to dedicate more of his time educating aspiring photographers while balancing his career on his own photography projects.

Business Accolades

While Kevin focused on photography, the degree he studied in Singapore gave him a good business knowledge. Kevin has used this to setup a number of businesses since 2005.

Agencies & Other Businesses

In 2005 he started his first agency Four9Seven. This was a talent agency representing young & worthy talent. This later led to Kevin beginning his second agency, called The Forum Agency. His second agency was a joint project, aiming to improve & develop strategic marketing for celebrity brands. Due to Kevin’s interests in helping others, he recently began a venture called Lumenere Inc.

Lumenere Inc

Lumenere Inc is closely linked to Kevin’s work with Charities. It is a partner & advocate for the United Nations Global Compact. This UN foundation is founded on a number of principles aimed at improving business across the globe. The Lumenere Inc foundation aims to improve sustainability across the globe by offering a creative solution.

In 2011 it began an Education & Fundraising Initiative for a campaign in South Africa. The aim of this Initiative is to establish a photography-education driven program, due to Kevin’s expertise in photography. This education program is aimed at youths in South Africa in order to create a sustainable education program.

MHL Magazine

The MHL Magazine was Co-Founded by Kevin in 2008, along with Herman Flores, Jacqueline Mananquil & Stephen Chavez. As Co-Founder he took up the position as Visual Media Director, due to his background in photography. The magazine focuses on the lives of the rich & famous, showing how they live their lives. In his role as Visual Media Director, he undertook a number of projects for the magazine, including photographing numerous homes & products. Some of these homes included the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Christian Audigier & Floyd Mayweather.

Other Work

TV Shows

In more recent years Ou has moved into TV work, as a photographer and talent judge. In 2009 he appeared on the Bravo TV Show, The Millionaire Matchmaker. In the same year Kevin appeared on the MTV Show, Starmaker. On the show he appeared as a guest photographer.

He also appears as a talent Judge on two different TV shows. The first is The Big Shot, where amateur & semi-professional photographers compete for $20,000. The second show Kevin appeared as a Guest Judge on Supermodel Me, which aired in Singapore, Hong Kong & Indonesia.

Charity Work

In numerous articles Kevin has suggested he would like to really help the environment and leave a lasting legacy. Over the past few years he has been working on this area of his career. His foundation of Lumenere Inc is one example of this. After the Japanese 2011 Disaster, the Red Cross in Singapore looked at ways of raising money for those affected. They did so with the Because we are One campaign, which Kevin played a direct part in. He produced images of local celebrities for the main images of the campaign.