KDHamptons

KDHamptons: How long have you been coming to the Hamptons? Why do you love it so much, and do you come out all year round?
Sophie Elgort: I’ve been coming to the Hamptons since I was born. We came out every weekend and spent pretty much the entirety of each summer there. I love it because once you arrive you are in a completely different world – even the weather is so different: When it’s scorching hot in NYC it’s breezy and cool in the Hamptons. My favorite season is the summer because that’s when I get to spend the most time there.

KDH: Describe your Hamptons home, and decorating style?
SE: Well it’s my parents’ place and the home I grew up in. Actually it was a much smaller house until I was about 10 years old and then we renovated, but the best thing about the house is although it is bigger now it still has the same beach house feel as when it was small. White walls, lots of photographs on the walls (my dad’s), and nothing kept too perfectly, which invites guests to just plop down on one of the couches without giving it a second thought. With the spectacular view of the bay right out the windows, there isn’t need for a lot of fancy decor.

KDH: Personal style: do you have a Hamptons “uniform”? Got a favorite winter item?
SE: In the summer I usually wear a Calypso coverup over a bathing suit no matter what my plans for the day are, that way I can lay out or jump in the pool or ocean whenever the opportunity may arise. I worked at the Southampton Calypso store for the summer when I was 16, so I accumulated so much of their stuff that I have an endless supply. In the city my style is completely different- I wear a lot of Alexander Wang and Lyn Devon (a family friend who is also a Southamptonite). My favorite item this season is probably my new Yeohlee coat~ I wear it all the time!

KDH: What is your favorite Hamptons restaurant? Favorite dish?
SE: Favorite Hamptons restaurant is probably Suki Zuki in Watermill, we have been going there for years. My dad and his friends used to try to get me to get a summer job there as the hostess so I could seat them without waiting in line, but I never went for it. I love the Miso Black Cod, the Suki Zuki salad, and the sushi rolls. They also have great cocktails. For take out, I go to La Parmagiana- their marinara sauce is the best in the world.

KDH: Please describe your perfect Hamptons day in detail for KDHamptons readers?
SE: Wake up, drive into town to get an iced coffee and gluten free chocolate chip muffin at Tates (sometimes with one or both of my brothers, or my dad, or house guests if I have any). Then we head back to the house, maybe go in the pool or go across the street to the beach. Head back to the house for lunch or to the Bath and Tennis club to the restaurant there. Then maybe a little shopping in town with some friends who live nearby – Calypso and Norah’s are favorites. Then stop at the fudge company for some fat free chocolate peanut butter iced cream (it’s my absolute favorite) and then back home for dinner with the family. Later if I feel like it I might go out with some friends or have people over to play ping pong and watch movies at the house.

KDH: What is the greatest part about your job? If you could snap your fingers and instantly have another career~ what would be your dream job?
SE: I like meeting new people all the time and getting to spend the whole day (sometimes less, sometimes more) getting to know them and working with them. I also love the clothes that the stylists bring. I could look at them all day. If I could instantly have another career? Well I wouldn’t change careers, I like what I do too much for that, but another profession that appeals to me is opening restaurants. I love going out to eat probably more than any other social activity.

KDH: If you could photograph anyone in the world who would you desire?
SE: Probably Beyonce. I think she’s so talented and beautiful, and I like photographing performers because they know how to move well and are comfortable in front of the camera.

KDH: What is your favorite book?
SE: I don’t like to pick just one favorite in any category, there are so many different types of books that would be impossible to compare. I love the Harry Potter books (I read all of them) and I also love reading biographies. My mom gave me the Steve Jobs book for Christmas, which I have started to read and I love. It is so inspirational. I also have favorites from my time in school as a Comparative Literature major when I was reading all the time, like Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

KDH: Who is your favorite model right now?
SE: As far as models go, I’d have to say my brother, Ansel (pictured left), is a great model (although he’s actually an actor). He has been in lots of shoots for my dad since the time he was little and he’s amazing in front of the camera, plus he can dance. I recently photographed him for his school calendar to raise money for their student government at La Guardia High school. We had him in a different costume for each month – an Easter bunny costume for April, pink for Valentines day, you get the point. It was hysterical and sold tons of copies.

KDH: What do you admire most about your dads work?
SE: It looks effortless, like a natural moment captured, which much of the time it is. So much personality shows through in his photos and I love that quality and I aspire to capture that quality in my own work as well [Sophie is pictured left with her dad Arthur].

KDH: Does he go on shoots with you or give you tips?
SE: Dad is a great help with editing he has a good eye for which photo is best. I have also heard so many tips from him over the years that they are forever ingrained in my head, although when I first started I wrote a list of what I thought were the most important ones down on a note card and carried around in my camera bag. He has never gone on a shoot with me though, except for one time he came to a shoot that I was doing for the auction house, Phillips de Pury. I was doing “digital portraiture” of their auction-goers for their photo auction day and my whole family came to get their portraits taken! After I took his, he sat down in a chair behind where I was shooting and while I was shooting the next girl I kept hearing “move a little forward in the chair, no, not like that, yeah that’s better” and I realized that he was instructing the girl from behind me! I would have told him to get out of there and let me do my thing, but the fact is that he was right and they were all great suggestions! Sometimes when I shoot at this studio, he walks by and gives some advice and it’s always amazing. I’m really lucky to have him.

KDH: If you could shoot the cover of any mag, which would you choose?
SE: Right now I’m up for shooting a cover for any magazine! I don’t want to say just one and lose the opportunity to shoot for another. No job too big, no job too small! My first cover was of City Arts of artist Richard Dupont and it was the best feeling ever when I saw it in print.

KDH: Did you ever want to be anything other than a fashion photographer?
SE: Yes, many things. At one point I wanted to be a New York City Knicks Dancer. Then I realized I couldn’t dance.

KDH: Other than dad, whose photography inspires you most?
SE: I like looking at Richard Avedon’s work and also Henri Cartier-Bresson’s. I have books about both of them that I reference over and over. I also reference my dad’s book Model’s Manual all the time for inspiration (I know you said other than my dad, but had to say it because it’s true). As for other contemporary photographers, I am inspired by the work of Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Meisel.

KDH: Where do you love to shoot in the Hamptons? Why?
SE: I love to shoot at my house there because we are right on the bay and right across the street from the beach – it’s just so beautiful – can’t get a better location than that. There is also a pool, canoes and kayaks, and even an airstream trailer in the back yard – so many sets to work with! Sag Harbor is also charming.