Since September 2007, alongside their main ad campaigns, Louis Vuitton have been running a series of images under their ‘Core Values‘ campaign. Featuring such luminaries as Mikhail Gorbachev, Catherine Deneuve, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Sean Connery, Francis Ford Coppola together with his daughter Sofia and most recently, with Sally Ride, Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell to highlight Louis Vuitton’s environmental commitments:-
“Louis Vuitton…has a long-standing commitment to environmental responsibility. The core-values campaign is therefore a perfect opportunity to promote this cause, and Al Gore’s Climate Project [which they will also support with donations] is a natural match, a truly worldwide initiative to fight global warming.”
Louis Vuitton.
The ads have been shot beautifully and atmospherically by Annie Liebovitz.
Annie Liebovitz’s ‘At Work’ book, describing her many experiences, including the last portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono before his tragic murder and the infamous shot of John Cleese hanging like a bat, is a must for any photography book collection and is available in the Focus Hub Shop.
How cool is this? The well-loved Leica M8 now comes in a Special Edition white leather finish. Only 275 will be made and “the special paint finish is particularly resistant to wear and is characterised by its dirt-repelling surface. This finish provides the pure white camera with long-term protection against unsightly marks.” Which is handy when everyone wants to touch your new beloved camera…
Olympus has finally released their eagerly anticipated PEN camera. Originally launched in 1959, the new Pen E-P1 doesn’t have a mirror box and is, therefore, as small as a compact camera but delivers SLR quality; it’s so good, it was even launched by David Bailey. With interchangeable lenses and HD film-making ability, what are you waiting for? Available to purchase here.
A great David Bailey book is available in the Focus Hub Shop.
After the previous post about naturism, here’s a quick post about, simply, nature. Richard Long, sculptor, photographer and Turner-prize winner is showing his inspirational sculptures and photographs at Tate Britain in ‘Heaven and Earth’, “a unique opportunity to understand afresh the artist’s radical rethinking of the relationship between art and landscape”.
On until 6 September 2009
His book ‘Heaven and Earth’ is now available in the Focus Hub Shop.
It is en vogue these days for editorial, and even advertising, shoots to be more risqué, by showing some nudity. An ordinary shoot suddenly becomes more edgy, even more arty. It’s a quite blasé attitude to fashion, where clothes are less important and it’s more about the mood and strength of the image. But how do you get the model to relax? One slightly unorthodox approach may be to get naked with your model, as shown below by the actions of established photographers Jurgen Teller, Mario Sorrenti and Terry Richardson (Kate Moss featuring in two of the images).
Of the Jurgen shoot, Charlotte Rampling says:
“The way he works is very free and easy, he puts you at ease really quickly…you have to trust someone to get to that stage. It’s important to feel released, and you can only do that when the photographer’s relaxed. It’s a lot of fun and it’s edgy.” The Guardian
Be aware though, that only very established photographers can get away with this!
The mood you create on set is important as you want to keep the energy up and the tempo dynamic. One easy way to do this is through music. Here are some great new albums which certainly keep the mood going on a shoot.
The May issue of i-D magazine featured a great fashion editorial by Vanina Sorrenti. Shot and then composited in Photoshop this is a successful example of how modern techniques can be used to enhance photography. These images are a combination of careful, well-thought-out art direction, beautiful photography and delicately-crafted image montaging. Fashion and art fused into one.
This young American photographer is a fine example of mixing art and fashion photography. Ryan McGinley started by documenting his friends, shooting on 35mm film using Yashica T4s and Leica R8s (both now classic cameras) and has now moved into the fashion editorial arena. One example of how his art concepts have transpired into editorials are shown below with his personal work reflected into images of Agyness Deyn freefalling from Manhattan buildings, featured in POP magazine AW 08.
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