Luke Gilford (born 1986) is a director, writer, and photographer based in
New York City, NY
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. He has directed several award-winning short films, including ''The Future of Flesh'', which showcased
Prada
Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...
collection narrated by
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
, and ''Connected'', starring
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997).
Anders ...
and
Dree Hemingway
Dree Louise Crisman Hemingway (born December 4, 1987) is an American fashion model and actress. She gained attention playing the lead in American director Sean Baker's feature '' Starlet'' (2012). She has since become known for her high-profile ...
. Gilford has directed music videos for
Blood Orange
The blood orange is a variety of orange ( ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'') (also referred to as raspberry orange) with crimson, almost blood-colored flesh.
The distinctive dark flesh color is due to the presence of anthocyanins, a family of polyp ...
,
Troye Sivan
Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...
,
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...
, and
Kesha
Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...
and has collaborated with
Mercedes Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and
Maison Martin Margiela. Gilford's first monograph, ''National Anthem America’s Queer Rodeo'', documents America’s queer rodeo and members of the
(IGRA).
Early life and education
Gilford was born in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and raised in
Evergreen, Colorado
Evergreen is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Jefferson County, Colorado, U.S. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Everg ...
. His father is a former rodeo champion and judge, and Gilford recollects growing up surrounded by an extensive collection of snakeskin boots, Stetson hats, and giant silver and gold champion belt buckles.
He studied fine art and photography under
Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist and collagist associated with the Pictures Generation. She is most known for her collage style that consists of black-and-white photographs, overlaid with declarative captio ...
at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
Work
Gilford has documented and photographed a breadth of Americana and beauty from the
Miss America pageant
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...
and to model
Hari Nef
Hari Nef (born October 21, 1992) is an American actress, model, and writer. Nef's breakthrough role was Gittel in the Amazon original series ''Transparent'', for which she was nominated for a SAG award in 2016. She made her runway debut at New Y ...
to queer rodeos and R&B stars. In 2013, Gilford released ''The Future of Flesh'', a short featuring Prada-clad models, a voice-over from Jane Fonda, and an original score by
Jake Shears
Jake Shears (born October 3, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the male lead singer of pop-rock band Scissor Sisters.
Early life
Shears was born in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an entrepreneur father and a Baptist moth ...
to launch Prada's F/W 2013 collection. His second short released in 2015, titled ''Connected'', is a 10-minute film starring Pamela Anderson , features as “a woman grappling with aging, self-perception and transformation in a technologically optimized world.”
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilford, Luke
Living people
1986 births
American film directors
American photographers