Lauren Bess Berley was born in New York but was transplanted to Los
Angeles at age seven, where she grew up with the film business in her
home and all around her.
At the age of 19, Lauren set off to her beloved New York as a model.
Within a short time, she discovered that modeling was not the lifestyle
for her, and she returned to Los Angeles to study photography.
Photography and Lauren got on like a house on fire, and she built a
career in fashion and portraiture quickly and with great commitment.
Her body of work includes celebrity portraits, magazine editorials,
advertisements, catalogs, and calendars. Her personal work also
includes travel and journalism. But this was not nearly enough to keep
the ambitious Lauren busy.
Inspired by her experiences as Los Angeles photographer, Lauren stepped
away to write a short film "Shoot My Head" that became a 20-minute
comedy film, shot on 16mm film at Panavision stages in Los Angeles.
This mockumentary surrounds a typical day in the life of a Hollywood
head shot photographer, and her trials with the fragile personae of her
actor clientèle. Through this, Lauren became enthralled with directing.
"Shoot My Head" caught the attention of film industry peers and Lauren
signed with a management company that immediately kept her busy with
meetings at television production companies while she continued
photographing and writing for television.
The September 11th attacks on New York City impacted Lauren's life
profoundly, as she came to New York alone to find a volunteering
endeavor. An acquaintance introduced her to Nino's Restaurant 9/11, a
haven for the uniformed rescue and relief personnel. This restaurant
was open only to those in service of the WTC disaster, and free meals
were offered 24-hours per day throughout the entire cleanup process.
5,000 meals per day and smiles on the stoic faces of those whose
reality was grim piqued Lauren's interest. She discovered that no
government funding was granted to this effort, and public awareness had
to be heightened. Lauren committed to making a PSA for the fund and set
out to pull a crew together and seek donations of materials,
facilities, and post-production. The success of the PSA earned it
national airtime on the major networks, and Lauren became the in-house
photographer for the Fund. At that point, Lauren made a short jaunt
back to Los Angeles, packed and shipped, then boarded a plane to her
new home, New York City.
The documentation of the daily relief efforts at Ground Zero and the
respite offered at Nino's Restaurant demonstrated how in the face of
great loss, humanity came forward to offer something positive. This
mission by the spirit of the New Yorkers caught the interest of the
media and several institutions and museums, with whom Lauren worked
closely in the area of preservation. The New York Historical Society,
New York State Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and several others
have included Lauren's material in their permanent collections.
Lauren has recently settled in the city of her origin, Upstate New
York. As she is getting involved in her own new community, she commutes
to Manhattan for work as needed.
