Jasper Johal is a leading photographer of yoga and fitness in the country.
When Los Angeles Times decided to do a story on super star yoga teachers, they came to his studio to shoot teachers
like Shiva Rea and Duncan Wong. There is hardly a major yoga teacher of national renown who has not traveled to have their photograph taken at his studio. For over five years, every month his advertising and editorial photographs have appeared in the pages of top yoga and Pilates magazines: Yoga Journal, Yoga + Joyful Living, Fit Yoga, Pilates Style, Yogitimes and LA Yoga.
Besides his astonishingly busy schedule of commercial work, Jasper has been taking time to create an eclectic collection of fine art images called "The Body as Temple". This work is based on the ancient yogic philosophy of "Atman" and "Paramatma".
According to this philosophy each of us carries within us the spirit that makes us alive, called the "Atman". This spirit is a continuous and inseparable part of the universal divine spirit called the "Paramatman". Since our body is where this divine spirit resides, our body is literally a temple. Just as we spend the effort taking care of any house of worship, such as a church, synagogue or mosque, we are required to respect and take care of our bodies. This is the basis for practicing the physical rigors of yoga; to design a body that is worthy of holding the divine within it.
Jasper's "The Body as Temple" is a collection of classic black and white photographs of yogis, dancers and athletes. Dramatic lighting serves to sculpt every nuance of muscles in motion, capturing the exquisite poetry of the human form. During the last four years there have been over a dozen exhibits of "The Body as Temple" across the country from New York to San Francisco. Every year prints from this series have been sold to raise money for charities serving Aids, diabetes and breast cancer.
Joe Patterson of Toe Sox has been an ardent admirer of Jasper's photography since he first saw an exhibit of "The Body as Temple" four years ago. Joe has always thought that more people should be made aware of this beautiful art. In the time tested tradition of Absolut partnering with artists to create eye catching ads that bring attention to both the art and the product, Joe has teamed up with Jasper to create a special series of national ads to bring attention to "The Body as Temple" collection.
The ads will be appearing every month in Yoga Journal and Pilates Style magazines. For the yoga ads Jasper worked with the renowned yoga teacher Kathryn Budig, whose slender figure surprises you with its incredible strength. In the Pilates ads Carrie Macy, a respected Pilates studio owner from Los Angeles, uses her exquisite dancer figure to shows off Pilates positions with grace and precision.
Jasper grew up in India. He now works out of a studio located near the colorful Venice Beach in southern California. More examples of his art can be seen on his web site. Please visit www.jasperphoto.com to view his online art gallery "Body As Temple" series.
Kathryn Budig - Yoga Teacher
Kathryn Budig grew up in both Lawrence, Kansas and in Princeton, New Jersey. She received her BA in English and Drama @ The University of Virginia where she discovered yoga. Her acting and new found love of yoga led her to Los Angeles where she completed the YogaWorks teacher training with Chuck Miller and her mentor, Maty Ezraty. With a strong background in Ashtanga, she was one of the youngest teachers when put on the schedule at Yogaworks. Her goal as a yogi and instructor grew into teaching creative sequences that make arm balances and inversions accessible to everyone in the room. She teaches a playful approach to the practice and wants every student who passes through the room to learn the importance and ease of laughter.
She has been featured in Yoga Journal, Yogi Times, LA Metro, E! Entertainment, The Food Network, Self, The Elephant, LA2DAY, ‘Y Yoga’ a documentary film, and is the health expert for Quarterlife.com as well as a teacher/writer for Gaiam’s Yogamates.com and a Southern California Ambassador for Nike’s 2008/2009 yoga line. She is the co-founder with Jesse Schein of ‘Poses for Paws’, an organization dedicated towards raising money for animal shelters through yoga. You can experience her class at Yogaworks Santa Monica or watch her soon on Yoga Journal’s new DVD, “Yoga For Wellbeing”.
Please visit kathrynbudig.com for more information.
Carrie Macy - Pilates Instructor
Carrie Macy graduated cum laude from UCLA (’97) with a BA in Communication Studies. A dancer since age three, Carrie danced professionally upon graduation, appearing in such movies as The Big Lebowski. She began practicing Pilates in 1996 after a serious hamstring injury. Certified by Romana Krysanowska (Pilates, Inc.) in New York City, Carrie went on to train private clients at multiple locations in Los Angeles, including Winsor Pilates. In 2003, Carrie was asked to guest teach at the NY Pilates Studio in London, England, where she was a resident trainer for six months. The next year, Carrie received a second certification from Power Pilates and joined the Power Pilates Teacher Training team, traveling around the United States conducting seminars to aspiring instructors. In conjunction, she successfully managed two Power Pilates studios located inside Equinox Fitness Clubs in Los Angeles and became part of the Equinox group fitness team.
The exclusive environment of Equinox gave Carrie the opportunity to train high profile clients and garnered her access to cutting edge fitness trends and classes. It was at Equinox that Carrie began taking Budokon (a mixed martial art) and received her certification (red belt) to teach Budokon. Empowered by her exposure to many new movement forms, Carrie naturally carried what she was learning into her Pilates teaching. Carrie began to collaborate with Alex Estornel, also a dancer and a personal trainer at Equinox. They combined their talents and zest for empowered movement to create the newest, most complete fitness form -- combining Pilates, yoga, and cardio strength training and creating BACE Pilates.
In March of 2008, they opened their first studio, a 4,000 square foot loft space in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. Carrie and Alex are hard at work on their goals of growing the class offerings at their diverse studio, developing a classically-based and progressively-minded Pilates teacher training program, and developing and marketing their Dance ‘n Pilates program for young dancers.
Please visit bacepilates.com for more information.
