Arline Malakian - International Fashion Photographer

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Beautiful dreamer: Date With Arline Malakian July 30, 2005 22:04:39National Post (Canada)July 30, 2005 Saturday Toronto EditionBeautiful dreamer: Date With Arline MalakianSusanne Hiller, Weekend PostArline Malakian thinks about beauty all the time. Over the past twodecades, the elfin fashion photographer has taken thousands of photosfor glossy magazines and high-end retail clients such as Alfred Sung,Nygard and Holt Renfrew."I live and create beauty but I fight it, too," said Malakian, 45,over lunch this week at the Pure Spirits Oyster House and Grill inToronto's funky Distillery District. "For me, there is always thatbattle to fight what beauty can become, that idea that beauty has tobe perfect." Despite a power outage downtown, the restaurant is one of the few inthe area that has remained open. They have produced a hastilyimprovised barbeque menu. For Malakian, who is pretty much a healthfreak, it is just good karma."That means the calamari will be grilled, right?" Malakian asks thewaitress. "Oh good, that is exactly the way I like it. You have torespect your body."Malakian chose this spot to meet not only because she loves seafoodbut also because she frequents the nearby photo lab. And even thoughshe works at the other end of town, she likes hanging out here,poking around the art studios and galleries. She knows the districtwell: She had lots of suggestions for the National Post photographerabout pleasing corners with decent lighting.She is slightly nervous because after our lunch she is attending thefirst screening of Beauty Quest, a documentary in which she is thesubject. The film focuses on her attempts to shoot "the definingpicture of beauty" over the course of two months on the streets ofToronto, an interesting assignment for a woman who is used to workingwith models, beauty teams, elaborate sets and big budgets."And also I was not used to being filmed," says Malakian, who lookslike a model herself in her skinny jeans and huge wedge heels. "I hadto learn to forget and allow the moment to be. I was surrounded byfilm crew and I had to learn to let myself become one body witheveryone around me."This is how Malakian talks. She is all about "true essences" and"windows to the soul" and watching educational TV. But she is sosweet and friendly that her earnestness doesn't come across ascontrived or annoying.Born in Beirut of Armenian descent, she moved to Toronto with herfamily and went to the Ontario College of Art and Design. She tooktwo photography courses and opened her own studio when she was 25.She moved to Paris soon after to find her "own language and freeherself of constraints." It was only then that she could return tothe commercial world with some peace of mind."The responsibility," she sighs, sipping on her sparkling water andpicking at her organic greens, "it weighs on my shoulders. I do notwant women to be inspired by a beauty that is unachievable.Hopefully, I am not imposing. In that glossy world, my pictures arefantasies, not norms."For this doc, however, she photographed ordinary women of all agesand backgrounds, everyone from veteran journalist June Callwood tocard-playing seniors. Malakian eventually decided she needed to do aself-portrait."I felt in order to undress others I had to undress myself. I had tothink 'what glasses do I wear when looking at myself.' At the end, Ihad to ask the question: 'Can I be completely detached from my ownreflection?' I found that even if we do believe that beauty is aninner thing, it is difficult not to judge yourself. So, for me,personally, the beauty quest continues."And what photo did she choose as defining beauty?After much deliberation, she selected an image of a 22-year-old womanwearing a hooded sweatshirt on a streetcar. The photo will befeatured in the Dove Real Beauty Photography Exhibit, which istouring Canada in August. It features the work of other well-knownfemale photographers such as Annie Leibovitz."I don't know much about that girl I met on the streetcar. She wasunemployed and she was worried she hadn't washed her hair. But wemade a real connection. She allowed me to see her beauty and Iallowed her to feel beautiful. She skipped her stop so I couldphotograph her and we had this magical moment."Malakian asked the women she photographed to share their thoughts onself-image and beauty. A design assistant who sews for the Comragsclothing line, for example, defined beauty as the ability to "jugglereal life and not look like a hobo." An 84-year-old woman toldMalakian she didn't consider herself beautiful, but felt she was "nothard to look at.""One person said 'God made me the way I am and I have to honour it,'" she says. "That was beautiful. It was refreshing. I thought therewould be more stereotypes."GRAPHIC: Black & White Photo: Yvonne Berg for National Post; Accustomed to being behind thecamera lens, Arline Malakian found herself the subject of adocumentary about finding beauty.