Portfolio Review: Photographer Andi Elloway Shares Her Favorite Portraits

"This was a spontaneous shot at a friends pool. We were all lounging, I had my camera out, and these girls were sharing a cigarette. I thought this was a very 'Slim Aarons' moment."

"This photo is from the Spring/Summer 2012 look book for my friend Gabby Applegate's line. We shot at the Beverly Hills hotel, and were sneaking shots with the banana leaf wallpaper in the hallway because they're really strict unless you've got a permit or whatever. I like this photo because I think it inspires a lot of questions. Like who's the lucky dude she's drinking that Veuve with later..."

"This photo is from a personal shoot. My friends own Black Banditz (a salon/tattoo shop on Melrose), and there was an empty apartment above it they used to have access to. One of the walls was this weird yellow color. I used to shoot there a lot because my friend Dre would do hair for me and the girls always looked awesome."

"I took this shot of Kesh at The Cave a couple days before she had her first solo show in LA. She is a really inspiring person to be around and one of the most intelligent and driven young women I've met. I like this shot because it's just her at home and feels kind of intimate. The prints on the wall are photos she's taken of friends that have come to see her."

"I love this shot of Alex from Paris. This was probably the third party of the night and she's still wearing the corsage from the Jalouse prom. What blows me away is that it was 5 a.m. or something and this girl is still bringing her A-game model face. Beautiful inside and out day or night."

"A bunch of my friends and I stayed at this crazy house in Miami for Art Basel this year. We watched the sun come up every morning, made art together, got tattooed in the kitchen (I backed out of that one), and had a bunch of amazing people pop in and out. This shot is of my friend Chet pulling a smooth slide down the banister with a two story consequence. Beer in hand no less."

"One of my recent favorites: songstress Jessie Malakouti as Lolita. I've been doing an ongoing project with Purple Magazine for their online boutique that consists of fashion stories styled with instantly available pieces. I recently saw the Stanley Kubrick exhibit at the LACMA and have always loved his stuff. I thought it would be really fun to shoot a shoppable homage to him. My stylist, Rita Zebdi, really went above and beyond for this one."

"This shoot was so much fun. Some friends of mine had pet alligators and Jasmin, our model, was a good sport about letting us put them in the tub with her. They were fairly well behaved and seemed to enjoy the warm water."

"This photo is from a shoot my friend Janell and I did in LA at the bat cave up Bronson Canyon. I love when a model's movements appear effortless in shots, and Janell has a fantastic natural grace to her. I also really like the colors here and the contrast between her delicates and the rough walls."

"I took this picture in New York of my friend Sayer while we were sitting on a stoop in East Village. He's from California also, but was doing a summer film program at NYU. He let me take photos of him in exchange for my being in one of his films."

"This shot was from a project I did with the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas last year called 'Rude Photo.' We shot in their new penthouse suite and it had this huge gold tiled bathtub area in the middle of the space. The whole scenario was pretty insane. I love this shot because it captures what I think a lot of people envision when they hear what happens in vegas....'"

"These are my friends Omar and Chanel. This was a press shot I did for their musical collaboration, HeMetHer. They were great to shoot because they have an upbeat energy and a really strong sense of personal style. They're your quintessential LA cool kids."

"This is one of the first shots I took when I got my Leica X2. My friend Maria and I had an apartment in Paris for fashion week and Kenneth (Cappello) crashed with us a night on his way to London for a book tour he was doing with The Kills. Kenneth has been a really great mentor and friend to me so having him in Paris at the same time was really dope."

"This was from a personal project I did called Attention Deficit. It consisted mainly of my friend Aaron and I running around this frat party at MIT getting kids to make out. I had never been to a frat party before and was pretty thrilled with how wild and willing the participants were. The best part is that they were literally all rocket scientists and nuclear physicists."

"I took this photo of my friend Jessie shortly after we met. We had taken some other photos in the yard and then we moved to the car. She starts taking off her pants, looks at me and says, 'This is what you do right?' I guess she'd seen some other nudes on my blog. I'm glad she took the initiative because the shot wouldn't have been close to as good otherwise, and at that point in my career I was too shy to ask most people to strip."