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Kevin Ou

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Kevin Christopher Ou
Born
Kevin Christopher Ou

(1979-03-04) March 4, 1979 (age 45)
Singapore
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPhotographer
Years active1997–present
Websiteimkevinou.com

Kevin Christopher Ou (born March 4, 1979) is an American celebrity, director, photographer, entrepreneur, and investor. He is originally from Singapore. He is the sole founder of KEVINOU INC., the co-founder of Modern Home + Living (MH+L), and founder of The Lumenere Group and LIVMO.[1][2] His photographs have been published in Rolling Stone, Nylon, Elle, DUB, People, Surface, Vogue, and Entertainment Weekly with clients like Levi’s, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Maserati, SONY, Universal Music, Hermes, H&M, Uniqlo, Lego, BMW and General Motors.[3][4]

Early life

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Kevin Ou was born in Singapore, on March 4th, 1979. He attended St. Joseph's Institution International High-School and graduated in 1991, and then attended Catholic Junior College in 1997. He attended Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Mass Communications) in 1999.[5] Ou left Singapore after being "turned away" from a photography class.[4] He moved to Los Angeles in 2000 after obtaining a mass communications diploma from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. He studied photography and art at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and graduated in 2004.[6] After graduation, Kevin worked as a photographer on national advertising campaigns for a number of automobile manufacturers.[5][6] After the automobile industry's shift of the to CGI-based work, he began to accumulate celebrities, politicians, music artists and actors as clients.[6] Since then, he has photographed Tom Cruise, Barack Obama, Nick Cannon, Ludacris, Mariah Carey, P Diddy, Elijah Wood and Johnny Depp.[4][7] Kevin began as an intern for Los Angeles-based photographers David LaChapelle and Jill Greenberg. Ou then co-founded the celebrity home and lifestyle brand magazine, Modern Home + Living.[4][8] Ou was later named one of the top 10 most influential U.S. photographers in 2009 by Creative USA.[3][9]

Education

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Ou has given educational talks on behalf of Canon and Leica.[10] He is also in demand as a guest lecturer at the Art Institutions Globally. He actively supports the mentorship program under the National Arts Council (Singapore), taking young Photographers under his wing. Ou is also an educational judge at CMYK Magazine (United States).[11][12] In 2014, Kevin mentored an entrepreneur circle in his talk for CREATIVEMORNINGS in Singapore.[1][2]

Professional career

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2002 – Founded KEVINOU, INC. in Hollywood, California.[4] A production company shooting a mixture of actors, musicians, entertainers, and athletes, including Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Alice Cooper, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Miss Universe 2012, David Guetta, Chris Brown, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Nick Cannon, Ludacris, Elijah Wood, and 50 Cent.[7][13][14]

2005 – Co-Founded Four9Seven Creatives with fellow photographer, Stephen Dummit in Pasadena, California. A talent management company representing commercial photographers and designers. Ou's shares of Four9Seven was eventually sold off for an undisclosed sum in 2008.[15]

2008 – Co-Founded The Forum Agency, a strategic marketing agency for celebrity branding.[3]

2009 – Co-founded the celebrity home and lifestyle magazine, Modern Home + Living with the founder of DUB Magazine, Herman Flores and Creative Director of WeAreAnyone, Stephen Chavez[16] Modern Home + Living was later acquired for an undisclosed sum.

2012 – Kevin was an early cryptocurrency investor, moving into bitcoin at $55. Kevin started, THE LUMENERE GROUP, a development consulting firm with offices in the United States and Asia.[17] Specializing strategic development in the areas of Entertainment and Technology. THE LUMENERE GROUP's Venture Division finances Hollywood Blockbuster films[18] and the development of internal portfolio companies.

2013 – Kevin started publishing cryptocurrency advisory through the now defunct, The Bitcoinian.

2014 – Kevin was part of class-action lawsuit against Mt. Gox for its US$460 Million security breach.[19] Personal losses up to US$3. The lawsuit is still ongoing. Shortly after, Kevin participated as a founding investor in the Ethereum Blockchain.

2015 – Kevin was involved in the merger of CATLYST/TV as part of a co-venture with BlinkAsia. CATLYST/TV was an independent Consulting & Development agency focused on entertainment formats in both traditional and digital media sectors.[20] In the same year Kevin founded SparkkSpace.[21] A co-working studio aimed at Photographers, Filmmakers and visual creatives.[22][23] Sparkkspace was later acquired in 2017, by the Chinese conglomerate, MVR.[24]

2016: Kevin expands The Lumenere Group to focus on advisory and development of global ICO / Blockchain based projects. The group and global partners emphasize on capital funding and industry insights.[25]

2018 – Kevin launches the Global Experience Marketplace, LIVMO. Focusing on the connection of brands, consumers and communities through unique experiences.[26]

Articles Published

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  • 9 Smart Habits of Millionaire Entrepreneurs[27]
  • Scene Asia[28]
  • Hayo Magazine[29]

Awards

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  • 2005 – American Photographers Association (APA) National Award[3][30]
  • 2006 – Microsoft ProPhotographer award[31]
  • 2006 – ALTPICK Awards[32][33]
  • 2007 – American Photo "Images of the Year" Award 2007[34]
  • 2007 – ASMP IMAGE07 Award[35][36]
  • 2008 – Luezer's Archive Featurette[37]
  • 2009 – CreativeUSA: 10 most influential photographers in the United States Distributed in over 70 countries and in 6 languages.[38]
  • 2014 – Grey Goose Guild – Visionary Award[39][40]

Exhibitions

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Kevin has also had 12 gallery shows in New York, Los Angeles, Singapore and Thailand. One of them was A Leica Photography Exhibition.[41] His Art Pieces traditionally fetch around US$25,000 – $60,000 on the open market.

Television

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In 2008, Kevin ventured into the world of TV. Kevin has been featured in several TV shows including:

Philanthropy/Charity

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Kevin is known as one of the biggest philanthropists of media/ photography because he gave time, skills and money to help others. Kevin has partnered with several causes and celebrities over the years.

  • 2008 – American Red Cross.[51]
  • 2009 – James Cameron Foundation (MUSE Elementary)[52]
  • 2010 – David Lynch's Music Foundation.[53]
  • 2011 – Founded the Because we are One campaign with the Red Cross, which benefits victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Ou photographed popular Asian's celebrities for a photography driven fund raiser. Resulting images were printed on limited edition EZ Link train-cards that were released nationwide.[4][7][54]
  • WeareoneSG (Fundraiser):[55]
  • WeareoneSG (EZ Link Cards):[56]
  • WeareoneSG: Singapore Red Cross:[18]
  • 2012 – Global Clinic[17]
  • 2014: Photographer in Chief of ANCHORA, a fair-trade Jewelry company.[57]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kevin Ou The Lumenere Group". Creative Mornings. May 24, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Singapore with Kevin Ou". Peatix. March 21, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e Neuman, Chad. "Supermodel Me". Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Ang, Kristiano (May 11, 2011). "Why Luck Matters in Photography". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  5. ^ a b "What's In Kevin Ou's Canon EOS 5D MK III". The Sunday Times. October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Soh, Joanne (March 17, 2011). "Made it in America". Asia One. Archived from the original on March 22, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Soh, Joanne (April 22, 2011). "Fiona Xie models for charity campaign". The New Paper. Archived from the original on April 26, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  8. ^ Modern Home + Living Magazine. "MHL Magazine Bio & Position". MHL Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  9. ^ "A Day with Singapore Celebrity Photographer Kevin Ou". Hayo Magazine. August 18, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  10. ^ "Eos-X—perience". Canon. January 6, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  11. ^ "Meet the Judges". CMYK Magazine. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  12. ^ "Judges Wall". Broderick Design. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  13. ^ Ang, Kristiano (May 11, 2011). "Why Luck Matters in Photography". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  14. ^ Tay, Alice (June 22, 2011). "Kevin Ou,Los Angeles". Feature Shoot. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  15. ^ "CMYK Volume 50 Judges Wall". Broderick Design. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  16. ^ "Stephen Chavez:Biography". We Are Any One. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Global Clinic". The Lumenere Foundation. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Singapore Red Cross". The Lumenere Foundation. March 14, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  19. ^ Robert McMillan (March 3, 2014). "The Inside Story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin's $460 Million Disaster". Wired. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  20. ^ "Catlyst TV". Catlyst TV. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  21. ^ "We Have Been Acquired". July 9, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  22. ^ "SparkkSpace". SG Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  23. ^ "Sparkk-Space". Co Working. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  24. ^ "SPARKKSPACE Is Acquired By Chinese Conglomerate, MVR (Cinematics)". Online PR News. July 9, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  25. ^ "Ico Alert". Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  26. ^ "LIVMO-Live More. Be more". Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  27. ^ "9 Smart Habits of Real Millionaire Entrepreneurs". Mr Tycoon. October 28, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  28. ^ "Why Luck Matters In Photography". Wall Street Journal. May 11, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  29. ^ "A Day in Singapore with a Celebrity Photographer". Hayo Magazine. August 18, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  30. ^ "An Interview with Kevin Ou". Chad Neuman. May 15, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  31. ^ "Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest Winners". Nepal Photography. April 28, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  32. ^ "2005 Altpick Awards Entries – "Amber Podratz Portrait"". Altpick. December 18, 2005. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  33. ^ "2007 Altpick Awards Entries – "Irresistable"". Altpick. December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  34. ^ "Images of the Year Award 2007". American Photo Special Issue. February 19, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  35. ^ "American Society of Media Photographers Award" (PDF). American Society of Media Photographers. January 26, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  36. ^ "IMAGE07 WINNERS: Student Category". American Society of Media Photographers. January 26, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  37. ^ "Luezer's Archive Featurette". Art Center College Of Design, Pasadena. October 12, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  38. ^ Clyde Smith (May 1, 2009). "Kevin Ou Appears On Bravo TV". Hip Hop Press. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  39. ^ Sara Jane Ong (November 19, 2013). "Be part of the Grey Goose Guild Iconoclass and Gala events". Her World Plus. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  40. ^ "The Grey Goose Guild Visionary Programme". Esquire Singapore. November 20, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  41. ^ Geoff Ang (April 15, 2013). ""REDred" by Geoff Ang, a Leica photography exhibition". Artitute. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  42. ^ "Life of Ryan". MTV. December 19, 2007. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  43. ^ "kat-von-d-high-voltage-tattoo". Kat Von D High Voltage Tattoo. December 23, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  44. ^ Kristie Bertucci (April 22, 2008). "The Girl Next Door". Dub Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  45. ^ "The Millionaire Matchmaker – Season 2". Blogspot. February 17, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  46. ^ "Episode 11: Farrah & Kevin". Bravo. April 30, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  47. ^ "Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker". Hollywood. January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  48. ^ James Fuller (May 1, 2009). "Kevin Ou appears on Bravo Tvs". Global Grind. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  49. ^ "The Big Shot". Facebook. November 1, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  50. ^ "History Asia Shows". History Asia. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  51. ^ "American Red Cross". The Lumenere Foundation. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  52. ^ "Muse James Cameron". The Lumenere Foundation. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  53. ^ "David Lynch's Music Foundation". The Lumenere Foundation. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  54. ^ "Because We are One". Juice Singapore. April 14, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  55. ^ "Falconiere-x-Carte-Blanche-x". Carteblanche-x. April 14, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  56. ^ "MCM Alumni fundraiser for Japan". NGEE ANN Polytechnic. October 17, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  57. ^ "Photographer Kevin Ou". Anchora Team. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
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