Bending Orchid

With over four decades of experience in the industry, Mark Arbeit has established himself as a master of fashion, portraiture, and fine art photography. While studying at Art Center College of Design in California, he met Helmut Newton, which was the beginning of a 25-year mentorship and friendship. Upon finishing his studies, Arbeit moved to New York where he worked in the studio of Irving Penn. Arbeit began his own career in Milano in 1981, photographing fashion and beauty editorial for Linea Italiana, Donna, Amica and Vogue Bellezza magazine. In 1985 he moved to Paris to further his career as well as expand his artistic boundaries. During this period, he launched ‘In & Out of Focus’, a series were in the foreground Arbeit focuses sharply on a flower and in the background, an out-of-focus female nude, playing against the shape of the bloom. Arbeit continued to work editorially, splitting his time between Paris and New York, shooting fashion for French Vogue and Marie Claire, and portraits for In Style, People and Forbes. In 1991, he launched a second series, 'Artist Atelier,' a series of female nudes in painter/ sculpture studios in Paris. In 2004 move to Hawaii and continues shooting fashion and celebrity editorial for local and national magazine while continuing to experiment with new personal art projects. Arbeit’s photographs can be seen in galleries around the world and his works are in the permanent collection of the Helmut Newton Foundation.