INTRODUCING a discovery of nearly a year ago, a modern day MATINEE IDOL, a mix of NEWMAN, MCQUEEN and ELMER FUDD….. this rugged beauty, 6′ redish blonde, blue eyed, 22 year old, with a profile like a ancient Roman statue, Markhollan Swientek , is a rising STAR from the Lone Star State. It was a bit of a culture shock for him last May on his arrival in Milan, his first time out of the USA, he was immediately dragged to the hair salon to be rid of his hockey player mop, ordered to loose bulk to fit the Italian fashions, he had never been in an underground subway before, nor taken public transportation but with map in hand, he mastered the Milanese transit system and also the Italian train system in no time. He never ceased to amaze me with his ‘no fear’ of the unknown, going about his daily castings with index cards in hand with various phrases written in English/Italian. He would give me daily breakdowns of the people he met while ‘Lost in Translation’ here. Although his Texan drawl & particular vocabulary all his own was difficult sometimes to understand, his freshness, his charm, winning sense of humor, self irony and quality performance in font of the camera has won him many fans …..

I have included here recent his sultry black & white editorial shot by the talented photographer Massimo Pamparana for the stylish Italian magazine SLURP(a special thanks to Matteo Polli ,the magazine’s director, who appreciated his RETRO good looks immediately), a few pics from a ‘On the Road in the American West’ photo essay by the multi-talented Benson and some random photos I shot of Markhollan during his sojourn here for his book , my art book project, and my fragrance editorial for the Austrian magazine GIB. Next month he will be in NYC for the first time, and the agencies there are already battling to represent him.

I predict a BIG, BIG future for MARKHOLLAN in both cinema & print, watch for this rising star, so get ready world for this model in VERNACULAR …..