Aniko Kiezel and I have something in common. We both hate to have our picture taken. But to Kiezel’s credit, I’ve never had more fun—or liked a photo of myself more—than when she photographed me for Inside Sacramento.
“Above all, I try to make the person I’m photographing feel comfortable,” says Kiezel, who photographs for Inside along with other publications and private clients. “I like to put them at ease and make them know I’m going to make them look good. If I’m having a good time, you’re going to have a good time.”
Kiezel photographs all kinds of people—artists, business owners, politicians, students, actors and more. She’s expert at striking up conversations with strangers.
“I get around and, as a result, I meet a lot of people,” Kiezel says. “It’s broadened my world. I meet people who under normal circumstances I would never meet. Nothing turns me on more than getting involved and storytelling about other people’s passions.”
Storytelling comes naturally to Kiezel, who grew up in Hungary, Belgium and Montreal. At age 6, she made a dinosaur from a coat hanger and steel wool. Her artistic talents blossomed as a teen when she studied classic films and went on to work in art direction for advertising agencies.
Her first job was at Sacramento Savings and Loan with its in-house agency. When she and several friends decided to try their luck in Los Angeles, she found work as a print producer for Vidal Sassoon. From there, she moved to a design firm in Santa Monica that connected her to the entertainment world.
She describes a surreal experience working on marketing materials for the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves.”
“I was doing a press check with the studio producer looking over the color (on the movie poster), making sure it looked good, and he signed off. But I didn’t like it. I said, ‘I’m here doing a job, I’m not going to sign off on something I don’t like.’
“Everyone questioned me, but it turned out that Kevin Costner saw it and hated what they’d signed off on. When he found out I hadn’t, he said all future posters for ‘Dances with Wolves’ must be signed off on by me.”
Word spread and Paramount Pictures came calling. Kiezel produced prints for 80 movies—a dream come true for a kid who grew up loving film.
That led to working on LA Workbook, an industry reference for photographers, illustrators and advertising professionals. The job took her to Hong Kong and Tokyo.
When the recession hit and her parents’ health declined, Kiezel returned to Sacramento and “had to start all over,” she says. She decided to step behind the camera as a freelance photographer.
“It was nerve-wracking for the first couple years,” Kiezel says. But persistence and talent brought gigs all over town.
She started photographing for Inside, became active on social media, participated in Open Studios through Verge Center for the Arts and set up a studio at Two Rivers Cider.
New opportunities came 10 years ago, when Kiezel photographed more than 80 businesses for Inside’s first two local guidebooks. “She did an amazing job,” Publisher Cecily Hastings says.
When she’s not on assignment or working with clients, she experiments with images and creates photo exhibitions, this month at PBS KVIE Gallery and in April at Twisted Track Gallery on R Street.
“There’s a freedom of expression to go out with my camera and flow with my ideas,” she says. “Nobody’s telling me what to do, so I’m pulling from all my skills and my aesthetics ability. I’m a happy camper.”
For information, find Kiezel on Instagram @anikophotos or online at anikophotos.com. Kiezel’s exhibition at PBS KVIE Gallery runs Feb. 4 to March 29.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
