Exhibition: Tim Walker

 

Given that this exhibiton has been open for a month, this is nothing that hasn’t been said before probably a million times and more eloquently and definitely more ebulliently.  However. Tim Walker’s exhibition in Somerset House is a must see in my book because….

He is dead good at colour – pink and blue are his thing. He like totally owns them. Like the way Jeurgen is a bit yellow. Cool colours, cold, dream like and a bit weird.

His use of light is also great. It is his own, and though much copied, rarely equalled. It’s fresh, but stifled. Diffused isn’t the right way of describing it, it’s like a dead sort of floating thing. I guess dreamlike, which is good, because that what he goes for most of the time, like a weird film full of broken dolly models or something. That’s it, his work is cinematic, not just two dimensional, but really visceral and imaginative and evocative. Yeah.

Walker really goes for exaggeration. He likes hammering his point home, making everything larger than life. Scale is for emphasis with him, like block caps “this is really important”. Again with the dreams thing I guess. Sometimes it might be fun if that was possible in real life. Like you know when you are really hungry and you want a MASSIVE sandwich??  But then I guess it would suck if you were really afraid of something and it was gigantic because it was a big deal…hmmmm. Digression aside, his scale plays with his love of fantasy and creating dreamy scenes. And he totally rocks it.
Anyway. He’s great. And the images are great. In fact, the only thing that wasn’t great were the little stickers accompanying the work – they looked so last minute and out of place (the typeface didn’t even match the blurb on the walls – morto). But that’s me being pedantic. Here are some of my favourite bits, snapped on my iPhone.

 

 

 

 

 

Jeurgen Teller. Hero #1.

 

I am guilty of a serious omission. I have completely forgotten to tell the internet how much I love Juergen Teller. And I love him. Loads. Now is probably a good time to bring him up, as he has a new book, Pictures and Words, out May 30th.

From his Go Sees series to his iconic Marc Jacobs campaigns, everything Juergen touches turns to bleached out gold. He is a man who has spawned a thousand imitators, myself included. His vision is honest and raw, yet grandiose and decadent. The way he lights his shots is instantly recognisable – the slight overexposure, bleach out effect. Actually, I always think he and Terry Richardson have a similar way with lighting, but Juergen is the understated French sexy to Terry’s full on LA dripping sex. With Juergen it’s more vulnerable, naive, honest. There’s an awkwardness, an oddity. It’s the Marc Jacobs to Terry, Manolo et al’s Gucci. No wonder the two make such an awesome pairing.

 

 

Also, let’s talk bout how successful Teller is as a commercial photographer. He has managed to merge his distinctive style with that of mega brands to create campaigns that become more than just ads, they convey a complete aesthetic, a story, a fantasy. And let’s be honest, who else could put Victoria Beckham in a bag. I like how he takes famous people and creates documentary style fashion photos. Like Helmut Newton’s philosophy of making fashion imagery look like anything but a fashion image, Juergen’s work often obscures the clothes with the personality, or the colour, or the composition of the shot. Almost. That’s his skill. His shots often look like snapshots taken at various stages of decadent parties, evoking something more than just a beautiful dress on a beautiful girl. Which is what all the best pictures look like.

 

 

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Meet your New God: Helmut Newton

*If you like unbiased reporting, turn away now. I am about to go mega-enthusiastic on all y’all*

Helmut Newton

Last weekend, I went to Paris, and saw the Helmut Newton retrospective in the Grand Palais. It is a stunning building, fitting for such an incredible show. A good exhibition not only makes you oooh and aaaaah at the pretty pictures, it challenges how you think and this one left my head spinning. I got that feeling of awe you get when you read an amazing book and it messes with how you see things. Hyperbole? Only probably. Helmut’s work is at once elegant, refined, honest, brash, sexy and delicate. He elicits all kinds of emotions in his imagery – sometimes they are playful, sometimes they are full of humour, other times they are just the epitomy of chic and dripping with beauty. He didn’t retouch, instead he said “he photographed what he saw”.  He never took two photos when he could take one, which is a lesson all of us in the digital age could learn.

Helmut Newton

Oh, did I mention Helmut Newton was a prolific photographer of nudes? Yea, he’s really famous for taking pictures of naked ladies. However, one of the things that struck me throughout the exhibition was how normal the nudes seemed, like flesh was just another outfit. They were purposeful, not purely titillating. Provocative, erotic, certainly, but not skeezy. Each image was an investigation, a comment. The male gaze is omnipresent in most art, and it is really hard to discuss the female form without assuming overt sexualisation, and certainly in his work it is sexualised. But I don’t know, it’s almost as if the sexualisation is a consequence rather than the motive. There is something empowering about the images. They are images of female nudity that don’t make other females isolated. He photographed all kinds of women, from supermodels to Californian policewomen and lots of shapes and sizes in between. They are all strong poses, confrontational almost. Sometimes fashion poses just with no clothes on. It seems that for Newton, nude and fashion photography are interchangeable and the two inform each other.

Helmut Newton

He clearly loved women, and not in a lairy, gross way, but genuinely loved female beauty and the female form. Is it weird that I’m talking about naked lady photos? Possibly, but this exhibition provoked me to think about a subject I would normally totally shy away from. While I accept that fashion boob is everywhere – just have a look at Tumblr – I never really consider it, or the impact it can have on self image, which is a not particularly feminist thing to do. I think what Newton’s work did was encourage me to be more comfortable with myself, because the images were not vulnerable, nor did they seem like they were to purely to entertain men – they were sexy, but in an empowered way. It was all very French. They seem a lot more comfortable with themselves than us. And really really chic. I reckon the two must go together somehow.

Helmut Newton’s impressive Polaroids

Enough about birds in the buff though, let’s talk about his fashion imagery. It continues to influence what we do today. Helmut Newton was a master of his craft. The exhibition incorporated a documentary by his wife June - Helmut by June (2007) . It was so inspiring to see him work. As with all masters, he was a complete perfectionist. But he also had a very natural and beautiful way of shooting. He had a wonderful awareness of what he was doing at all times. One of the quotes on the walls of the Grand Palais, taken from Helmut by June was “a good fashion photograph must resemble anything but a fashion photograph. A portrait, a souvenir, a paparazzi photograph”. This is an inspiring approach to FASHUN. Instead of making facsimile’s of fashion imagery, create a new story.

Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton

So, go to Paris and see this exhibition. It is so beautiful it will make you want to cry and will fill you full of joy so much so you will feel it bursting in your throat and then you will come out of it and be standing on the steps of the Grand Palais and you might actually burst because it is one of the most beautiful places ever.

*End of gushing*

Helmut Newton

This image basically describes what happened to us the entire time we were in Paris – never wear colour there. Ever. Even a bit.

Irving Penn Changed my life

Irving Penn changed my life. His work captures the spirit of the thing he is photographing. And, clearly, turns me into a hyperbolic, blubbering stock-phrase-toting mess. Although, I’m not even sure that I’m being hyperbolic. I think he might actually be that good. His work is  beyond iconic. He almost never worked on location, using instead his consistent studio backdrop to create intimate and vast imagery. I say vast as the range of emotion and feeling within his photos is immense, they are laden with knowing and with life. And not just the portraiture, the fashion photography too contains a lithe elegance, a knowingness that captures the spirit of the garments of the model and of the times. A triple threat, if you will.

I love the light in his images. There is something askew in them. Any photograph is made up more the photographer than the subject, and I feel that if I knew Irving, he’d be a bit off the wall. I’d defo want to go for a drink with him, but I imagine him to have a very beautiful, dark mind. It would be one hell of a night out!

Also, he was so bang on-trend with his fascination with all things tribal. Like, soooo on-trend. We love you Irving!

 

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Blur basically lied to me. Fact.

It was David Bowie’s birthday just there at the weekend. I don’t really care that much if I’m honest but I heard Boys Keep Swinging on the radio and it reminded me of one of my favourite Blur songs. Turns out, that is because Blur sampled the Bowie song, but I only found that out today…I am sad that:

a) Blur aren’t responsible for one of my favourite Blur songs

b) I have such a terrible knowledge of Bowie, like how did I miss such a great song???? Especially given what an ENORMOUS Bowie fan my flatmate is.

c) I don’t own Ziggy’s wardrobe

images via fashiononrock.blogspot.com

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Housesitter

I have a lil crush on Goldie Hawn. She’s a megababe. She’s funny AND hot. Birds aren’t supposed to have both. She’s up with Marilyn Munroe and Pamela Anderson for women who play up the bimbo thing to make themselves funnier. Genius.

Anyway I do have a point here – I watched Housesitter last night. Amazing. The OUTFITS. OH, the OUTFITS. Mom jeans and bodysuits with cropped animal print furry jackets and the best cowboy boots of all time ever (see above). Crochet dresses over full length body suits. The cutest black dress. And one of those curtain tie-back things as a necklace…..GAH! I love the 90′s.

The decor in the house too…Bit of an aztec rug in the living room. And that super cute little floral print chair 1992, 2012….20 years for things to come back into fashion. Just sayin.

And here is Goldie in walking talking full blown awesomeness….

Not many things rhyme with Steichen…

I stumbled across the work of Edward Steichen a little while ago, I think while looking for images for a 30′s wave hairstyle…Anyway, I was struck by incredibly lighting and mood of his photography, as well as the way he captured the stunning beauty and strength of his subjects. I have done a bit of reading on him and it seems that he was a pretty big deal at the turn of the century, in terms of getting photography recognised as an art form, and making waves in fashion photography. But, truth be told, I havn’t done that much reading, and I don’t trust Wikipedia as a reputable source, so all I’m going to say is that his work, most of which was done in the early part of the twentieth century, remains strong and fresh today. His ability to capture a mood in monochrome is inspiring. And LOOOOOOOONG before the days of unlimited digital frames, he absolutely NAILS the composition, as well as the character of his subjects. Or perhaps he’s projecting his own character?

Norma Shearer by Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

This image is SOOOOO amazing!! And the next one too!

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

I ADORE this!

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

Images via flickr, dailydesigndiscoveries.com, lorilangille.blogspot.com,

metmeuseum.org, thedirtythirties.tumblr.com, things-and-ther-stuff.com

Apologies for the different size photos, I dunno how to make them all the same size!!!

xx

You only turn 100 Once

So this is my 100th post. I’m not going to make a big deal of it, but I felt the need to acknowledge it.

So with that out of the way, let’s talk about Steven Meisel. He has a pretty impressive track record, if you’re impressed by things like shooting every cover of Vogue Italia since 1988. And doing what can only be described as SHIT loads of advertising campaigns and editorials out the wazoo. And given that such things impress me greatly, I want the world to know that I love Steven Meisel.

Every.Single.Cover.    Since 1988.

Every SINGLE cover, for twenty two years.

When you think about how many photographers would kill to get the cover of Vogue, to have more than 300 of the things is really a monumental achievement. And that’s just Vogue Italia. There’s actually a book of them, if you are so inclined…

Instead of getting jaded or repetitive, Meisel always finds fresh ways to see things and is constantly coming up with amazing images. His advertising work is as regular as his editorial stuff, and of the same amazing quality. His is the kind of campaign that makes you buy magazines FOR the ads.

So what else?

Oh yea, he’s responsible for THAT grunge shoot in Vogue the ’90′s that made the look huge back then, so in a way he’s kind of responsible for the revival we’re having now. And I know, I know that Kurt and underground, and music and blah blah blah, but Meisel’s shoot brought the aesthetic to the clothes buying mainstream, so he IS responsible (along with the stylist), alright?! Interestingly, his work is often a lot sexier and elegant than that shoot, which was quite naive and fresh, even with the massive boots and plum lipstick. But again with the versatility and general deadly.

His work also sometimes a little bit reminds me of Guy Bourdin’s colour. He has supreme control over it, making his images striking and captivating. But you can gush over him for yourselves, here comes the good stuff….

That Guy’s colourful

Full Disclosure: I am doing a series on favourite photographers. I kinda forgot to mention that when I started, but I am, and here’s another one.

I was going to tell you a long story about how I’m obsessed with colour and how to get certain colours in photography through film and shutter speed and lighting and blah blah blah, but it’s not that interesting. What IS interesting is when people get it right. Guy Bourdin gets it right all the time. He’s good like that. No, he’s unreal. Guy’s work is pretty iconic. He was born in 1928 and his work was first published in Vogue in 1955. Not that you would really be able to tell by looking at his photographs. His work remains fresh and relevant today. And SEXY. Very Very Very sexy. But for me, apart from the sex and the composition and the other amazing elements to his work (and it’s all pretty much perfect), my favourite part is the colour.

My Knight in Shining Armour….

I really wanted to do a post on Nick Knight and his general awesomeness for a while but I don’t know where to start. He is constantly pushing boundaries in fashion imagery, always embracing new technologies and processes. His award winning website, showstudio.com features a whole bunch of amazing films and images and visual treats. I love the way he embraces digital manipulation in the creation of fashion imagery, in a way that adds to the image rather than just for the sake of it. I love that his work can be really weird. I love the movement in his images. And if it’s not enough that I love him, he was asked to do the WHOLE of the i-D’s recent 30th birthday issue. As in, he took every image in the entire bumper magazine. And they are spectacular images. Here are a bunch of other awesome Nick Knight images, including one of my favourite campaigns of his (the Dior kungfu crazy one) and one of my favourite editorials (British Vogue April 03 – it’s actually inspired me and my aesthetic more than I sometime realise!). Enjoy!

American Vogue, September 2001

Vogue April 2003

Vogue April 2003

Vogue March 2007