From Playboy to Charlie’s Angels, Stephanie Vovas conjures 70s California

One look at Stephanie Vovas’ golden-hued photographs of 70s-inspired California bombshells is all you need you get a feel for her artful storytelling and style. The LA photographer has shot covers for Playboy and got behind the camera for a spate of evocative, self-initiated series, finding inspiration in Charlie’s Angels, the sexual revolution and the meticulous set design of shows like Mad Men, but California is the real star. “I grew up on the East Coast, and California is radically different. I love the Mid-Century Modern and 70s architecture here, the interior design, the plants and trees, and the effect sunshine has,” says Stephanie. “I treat my shoots as if we are making a movie.” That theatricality definitely translates.

All big hair and bedroom eyes, Stephanie’s style lends itself well to magazines like Playboy, where she most recently shot a ten-page layout and cover for the January issue. “It’s a dream job,” she says. Her dressed-up, slightly undone photographs look like Hollywood’s answer to 70s French pin-ups like Catherine Deneuve and her ongoing collaboration with her muse, Diora Baird – whom she has described as her modern-day Bardot – is something she is working into a book for release next year. “She’s just the perfect woman for me. Something magical happens when we shoot together, it was clear from the first time. We have a few more shoots to do and then I will put it all in book form to complete the project with her.” From what we’ve seen, it’s one to watch out for.