K%C3%A4la Mandrake

Kla Scarlet Wynne Mandrake is an American photographer, author and producer. She is best known for her blackandwhite portraits of New Yorkers from various subcultures. She began photographing New York Citys avantgarde East Village scene atyears old. Her early subjects were squatters, punks, and homeless teenagers. She later focused on local musicians and performing artists . Mandrake began a professional photography career in 1999, providing services for musicians, actors and models to be published in magazines, newspapers, band album covers, and websites. In 2003, Mandrake went back to school and began her studies in writing, film and media, minoring in music. Although she continues her work in photography, these studies marked the beginning of a career path in writing, producing for TV and eventually the publication of her books.

Kla Mandrake was born on Marchto musician Kimball Mandrake and multimedia artist Jamie Mandrake in the village of Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island, New York. Shortly after her birth, her parents settled in on Manhattans Upper East Side. Klas mother is a native New Yorker and the first born of six children. Klas father was born in Ohio, while on the road with his show business parents. He is the third son of four children. The family name is a stage name created by Kimballs father, Leon Mandrake, who legally changed his last name after becoming an established performer. Kla Mandrake is the granddaughter of the stage magician, Mandrake the Magician. Contemporary to the 1930s comic superhero of the same name, Mandrake began his career in Vaudeville and went on to perform and invent magic acts on the road with his wife Velvet for over 50 years. Velvet Mandrakes parents, Klas greatgrandparents, were Vaudeville musicians.

Source: Wikipedia