I recently had the pleasure of meeting international fashion photographer Mike Ruiz, who's worked with an impressive list of clients and celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj to name a few. His work has been featured by editors at Elle, Vanity Fair, L'Officiel, Paper, Flaunt, Interview, Brazilian Vogue, Prestige and many more.

Also a  humanitarian who has devoted his life to bettering the world he has worked for dozens of  causes and is an advocate for Pit Bulls and Buddies an L.A. Pit Bull rescue organization. 

In the Middle East he is represented by us at Wilhelmina Dubai. 

Mike what are some of your greatest inspirations or influences?

I draw inspiration from so many different sources ranging from film and art to different time periods in history such as the 40's and the 80's. I also am hugely influenced by different cultures.  

Most interesting or memorable shoot so far?

I would have to say that my most memorable shoot was with Prince. I idolized him through my teens and 20's and  to have a legend of his stature defer to me for my creative opinion was mind boggling. Our shoot culminated with him and his band doing a private concert for me and a writer from Rolling Stone Magazine at Paisley Park. 

Favorite websites, publications or social media handles?

I can't say that I have a go to publication, website or social media handle. I feel like I'm so invested in the stuff that I do that my Instagram account is what I enjoy curating the most. I do reference Vogue Italia and French Vogue regularly since I feel that they are on the forefront of what is happening in fashion and pop culture. 

Interesting creatives we should know about?

There is a woman on Instagram that I think so cool. Her name is Gina Harrison @ginaharrison. She is part model, part creative director, part performance artist. I love what she does. 

Challenges of the industry? 

The new challenges of this industry have developed with the advent of social media. The way in which people conduct business these days is largely dependant on social media presence. Back in the day, all I had to do was good pix and the rest was handled by my agent. Now, I am required to constantly create content for the various social media platforms. I've come to enjoy it but it certainly doubles the workload load required to stay relevant.

Anything else you would like to share? 

I'm a huge animal advocate, specifically animal rescue. Whenever I have the opportunity, I always encourage people to adopt a pet as opposed to buying one from a breeder. There are so many amazing animals that are discarded every day that could use some love and in return give so much more.