The July 09 issue of Italian Vogue sees the return of Kristen McMenamy, one of the 90s supermodels. Shot by Steven Meisel, it’s incredible to see “The Legend” working it once again.
And here is the shoot brought to life…
Archive for the 'Models, Actresses + Icons' Category
The weather has cooled down in London but here are some hot images to heat us up. These are the latest shots of Victoria and David Beckham for Emporio Armani, photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot. This season brings a Japanese influence in Victoria’s hairstyles, mixed with oiled bodies and symbolic rope for lots of sexual tension between the famed couple.
Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, Turkish and Welsh photographers, met in England in 1994 and became a creative tour de force. They have merged high-glamour, colour and sometimes dynamic landscapes with a fair amount of image manipulation to create amazing images in fashion, portraiture and advertising. They always seem to get something new out of models and actresses (as shown in the hot-off-the-press images of Cameron Diaz for V Magazine, below) and create unconventional images.
PORTRAITURE
FASHION
ADVERTISING
Following on our previous post about the work of Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and in particular their work for Yves Saint Laurent’s Manifesto series, here is AW 2009, featuring the fabulous Christy Turlington. Christy was one of my favourites of the original supermodels and it’s great to see her still looking amazing.
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02
Jul
Why We Love Lara Stone
Lara Stone, has now been a firm favourite on the fashion scene since 2006. She has graced the covers of many magazines and catwalks, culminating in French Vogue dedicating its entire Feb 09 issue to her. And why is she so popular? One reason is certainly her versatility and ability to adapt to any shoot; from sexy and seductive, to young and innocent, to primped and preened. Much like her supermodel predecessors such as Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss, Lara has a chameleon-like talent; more actress than mere model.
And here she is as Karl Lagerfeld’s muse in a short film for Chanel’s Preview Fall 09 collection…
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.
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 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.
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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.
Dutch photographers, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, have been partners in every sense, since meeting in 1986. They mixed their separate fashion design and art backgrounds to create a new wave in fashion/art photography and pushed boundaries using image manipulation, quirky compositions and humour to produce images which have changed the perception of typical fashion photography.
Quirky ‘fashion’ editorial shoot.
Yohji Yamamoto
Their first foray into advertising was the now iconic Yohji Yamamoto 98 campaign with M/M Paris with Maggie Rizer.
YSL Manifestos
And they are now working, amongst other advertising, on the unique YSL Manifesto seasonal campaigns. These are great ad campaigns with the image book, behind-the-scenes video and free gift, all released simultaneously in major cities on the streets, and on the YSL website. Campaigns have featured some of fashion’s most iconic models such as Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer.
SS08 with Kate Moss
AW08 with Naomi Campbell
SS09 with Claudia Schiffer
Images via Avantgarde, Beautiful Decay, Vogue and Style Frizz
