Mark de Paola was literally born into a photo studio on Cahuenga Blvd in Los Angeles and grew up splitting time between Los Angeles and New York. Mark's earliest recollections are of watching photoshoots and being completely immersed in the fashion books and periodicals of the time, Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Mark's photographic foundation is the works of his father Alessio, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Bert Stern, and Art Kane.