| Kike San Martín | |
|---|---|
Kike San Martín in Miami, Florida. |
|
| Born | Posadas, Misiones, Argentina |
| Nationality | American Argentine |
| Field | Photography |
Kike San Martín (born 1969 in Posadas, Misiones Province, Argentina) is a celebrity photographer. He has developed most of his photographic career in Miami, Florida, where he currently resides since 1995. He started his professional career in the early 90s in Argentina.[1][2]
Kike began his career studying marketing and advertising. Working in a fashion boutique, he developed a marketing strategy that included photographing regular people wearing the boutique's clothing out in Argentina's night scene. Kike's earliest work attracted tremendous popular attention, so much that the spontaneous and creative images caught the interest of a regional newspaper. As a result, he developed a section in the Sunday supplement dedicated to capture the spontaneous heart and spirit of Argentinas' nightlife. Since this first job, Kike's work in the editorial industry has included a freelance job in the newspaper El Nuevo Herald; assignments for soap opera posters and TV networks like Telemundo, Univisión, Mega TV [3], and América Tevé; and some of his photographs have been featured in the cover of magazines such as People en Español, Vanidades, Maxim, Selecta, Men's Health, H Magazine, Kena, Santo Domingo Times, and Venue, among others.
At the beginning he was assigned to cover social events and the glamorous life of Miami. One of the opportunities that were presented to Kike was to become paparazzi for Spanish photography agencies. During that period, San Martin achieved several exclusives. These photos gained him popularity by being invited to television programs and articles in magazines. Kike felt that his time as a paparazzi photographer came to an end and it was time to explore new areas as a professional; in searches for stability to form a family. He changed his priorities and decided to take a turn on his career and start as a commercial and celebrity portrait photographer, without a doubt a period where he had much to discover. He perfects his skill by taking lighting and dramatic portraiture classes in Hollywood, Florida and editorial photography classes in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Following his branding in the entertainment industry, San Martin begins to take more important assignments every time like soap opera posters and shows for international TV networks like Telemundo, Univisión, Mega TV[4] and América Tevé and his powerful magazine covers for People En Español, Vanidades, Maxim, Selecta, Men's Health, H Magazine, Kena, Santo Domingo Times and Venue, among others.
There have been numerous celebrities that have posed in front of San Martin’s lens including: the popular MTV presenter Mario Lopez[5]; the lead actress of "Rush Hour 2" Roselyn Sanchez; Miss Universe Dayanara Torres; the singers Gloria Trevi and Fanny Lú; the actor Eduardo Verástegui; and the singer Luis Fonsi; soap opera actors Mauricio Islas, Miguel Varoni, Catherine Siachoque, Aylín Mújica, William Levy[6], Jencarlos Canela, Mauricio Ochmann and Gabriela Spanic and the Latin American Idol winner, Margarita Henríquez, among others.
In the music world he photographed several album covers for Ricardo Montaner, José Feliciano, “El Puma” José Luis Rodríguez, Willy Chirino, Karime Lozano, "El Baby de la Salsa" Jerry Rivera, Alvaro Torres, Russian “Pop” singer Slava and the pianist Yanni, in addition to the book cover of music producer Kike Santander.
Considered a guru of digital Photography; along with his team, San Martin produces complex photo compositions of quality beyond measure. Among his selective clientele are Sony Music, Universal Music Group, NBC, Telemundo, Univisión, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Wannado City, Direct TV, Coors, Rafael Cennamo, Big Ox, Wonderfund and Avon.
Additionally, Kike is active in the media, he collaborates intensely as a special visitor and judge for the popular Univision show “Sabado Gigante” hosted by the legendary television host Don Francisco, in a segment titled “Academia de Reinas.” He also appeared on several occasions in television shows for Cristina, Maité and Alexis Valdés, in other channels of the small screen.
Today, he is a member of "The Recording Academy" and since 2008 he was a judge for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Packaging.