Larry Clark

Larry Clack is American documentary photograph and film director. He is known for the film ‘Kids’ and his book ‘Tulas’. This book documents the aimless drug use, violence and sex activities of his friends. The photographs bin the book were taken between 1963 to 1971 and they combine documentary style photograph with intimacy and a raw edge to them. Most of all the photographs in the book have been taking in very low light and are all in black and white. The photos themselves are very grainy which I really adds to the hard edge of the subjects of the photos.

As I looked through the book the photographs seem to look so normal of young men and women jacking up and help each other with it. The photographs really like the viewer look at their lives and how they were living it. The image which really stands out for me is of a young girl jacking up. At first glance it shows the sunlight from the window in the room hitting the young pregnant girl, the light makes her look so beautiful and angelic, but as you look closer the young women is shooting up. The photograph which looked so innocent doesn’t any more.

This is what I really liked about Clarks images the stark contract between two ideas. All his images portray a harsh reality in yet such a beautiful way.

The House of Viktor & Rolf.

This book is an exploration of the designer duo Viktor and Rolf’s work to date. It features style shots by fashion photographers, catwalk images and exclusive sketches and snap shots that are from behind the scenes of the fashion house and previously ‘unseen’ documenting collections and backstage preparations at the catwalk show.

I feel in to the book not only works as a celebration of the duos work but also makes a chance for the viewer to get to know the designers more. They are invited into their private world in which readers are ensured to get lost in. Reading the book you get to understand the style and technique of the designers and you feel as through a previously private and hidden world have been opened up and revealed to you. The sketches are personal photography collections within the book add a sentimental, personal edge to the beautiful book.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

http://frillr.com/?q=taxonomy/term/143
http://searchingforstyle.com/archives/4450

The house of Viktor & Rolf by Viktor Horsting & Rolf Snoeren

Glen Luchford.

Glen Luchford is known for creating seductive and imageries photography in a rich and dramatic style. His images span to fashion, portraiture and contemporary art recreated in an intense cinematic style. Luchford has created advertising campaigns for Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein as well as portraits for Madonna, and Tilda Swinton. His editorial work is frequently featured in Italian French & American Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Another Magazine and W.

What really attracted me to Glen Luchfords work was the amount of depth and richness each image has. They all seem to carry an air of mystery and in a sense almost appear like the stills from a film, as through the models are characters whose motivation and story line must be told to the viewer. I feel this strongly an influence of Luchford’s love of cinema. He prefers to work in the studio rather than on location as he can use elaborate high lighting techniques to create his evocative film like images. His images often have a romantic, softness about them, where models appear in a dream like state inviting viewers in to the Glen Luchford fantasy. He is known for using up to 50 tungsten lights and rarely shot in daytime which means Luchford style is so different from others. He also directed his first feature film – ‘Moch Documentry’ in 2001.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Luchford

http://www.showstudio.com/contributors/430

Glen Luchford by Glen Luchford.

Jenny Saville and Glen Luchford: Closed Contact by Katherine Dunn

Juergen Teller

Juergen Teller is a highly influential figure with in the world of fashion. He is associated with the ‘Grunge heroin chic’ movement in fashion and is known for his open style. It was a stylist and photographer Vinetia Scott that encouraged Teller to get into fashion and the duo produced images that challenged the ideas of fashion, photography throughout the late 1980’s and 1990’s.

His images are never too polished and perfect and appear untouched digitally. There are usually shot within ‘Real’ locations whether it is on the street, back garden or the longue of the sitter. Teller was one of the first in a group of photographers including Connrie Day to introduce the aesthetic that allows viewers to reflect and connect to his images. Teller work combines elements of art documentary and fashion photography with his models often appearing to be unposed and natural. ‘I try to photograph people the way I really see them. I try to let them be the way they are. I think that I have the ability to go in to a person quite subtly… it comes naturally.’

Many of Tellers famous images have been advertising campaigns of renowned designers such as Marc Jacobs. These campaigns stand out against the many slick polished adverting campaigns, with their witty style, they often have a sense of sarcasm and portray the celebrates or models in an ironic way. One of the most famous subjects being Victoria Beckham which Teller spoke ‘I think at the time we shot her she may have been the most photographed women in the world. It would have been very to laugh at her but it was very important to Marc and myself that she was laughing with us.’

Juergen Teller stripped away the glossy air brushed of fashion and together with Venetia Scott in the early 1990’s their sprit changed the existing pre-conception of glamour and now fashion photography should look. Tellers free sprit brought personality as a sense of gritty and rawness to fashion photography.


Juergen Teller: Do You Know What I Mean by Juergan Teller.

Ellen Von Unwerth

Ellen Von Unwerth is a photographer who specialises in erotic femininity. For ten years she worked as a fashion model and now works behind the camera. “The difference is that I don’t stand behind the camera drooling. Knowing that the model is more likely to be natural, to open up and relax”. The German-born photographer began by talking photographs o her models trends and soon her unique talent was recognised and she was soon image making for publications such as Vogue, The Face and I-D. Her work offers a distinctly playful and sexual style as well as being candid. However although Von Unworth models appear to be heavily made up and glamorous. She still manages to make a natural aspect to her images. Her sensual campaigns for Guess? In the early 1990’s launched her commercial career and she since worked for Victoria’s Secrets, Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, Chanel, Mui Mui and Diesel as well as advertisements for HBO’s Sex and The City. Starting out with reportage photography Unwerth has gone on to make her self known and respected in fashion photography. She has developed a strong unique style that combines elements of Helmut Newton and Terry Richardson. As a computably self taught, untrained photographer she choose to work in black and white mostly she shoots on location and her images have a strong sense of spontaneity. I really love the impulsive, upstaged playful nature of depth and texture to them as though they have been taken decides ago , and the intimate locations of bedrooms and a sense of realism to Ellen Von Unwerth images.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Ellen Von Unwerth by Ellen Von Unwerth

Couples By Ellen Von Unwerth

Revenge by Ellen Van Unwerth

http://www.myspace.com/ellenvonunwerth

http://trendland.net/?s=Ellen+Von+Unwerth&x=0&y=0

http://www.artlies.com/photographs/ellen-von-unwerth.html

Semiotics

Fashion visuals, whether it be photography or film, are often meticulously planned and composed in order to create a physically or metaphorically multi-layered image, and to convey a specific message to the consumer. Semiotics are always present as a way of providing a subject with more depth, and revealing things to the viewer in a subtle way, rather than spelling everything out for them. An image that is not only aesthetically beautiful, making extensive use of semiotics, but also intelligent advertising through a fashion visual, is the advertisement for the fragrance ‘Flowerbomb‘ by Viktor & Rolf. Traditionally the idea of a woman has been that she is ‘naturally nurturing, sensitive, emotional and deferring’ (Cranny-Francis, 2003, p143), however, the image challenges this stereotype, whilst still subtly maintaining the feminine and sensitive aspect that is often used to define women. It also represents a complete opposite of what Cranny-Francis describes as typical themes used around men, stating bluntly in Gender Studies; Terms and Debates, that they are represented as ‘all powerful, emotionless and authoritarian’ (Cranny-Francis, 2003, p145). These stereotypical ideas of gender are interestingly addressed through this advertising image. The photograph has a romantic stylistic form, and shows a nude female model with sheer fabric covering and obscuring her face slightly as it wafts upwards. She holds a bottle of the perfume against her face. Firstly, by blurring the models face slightly with the fabric, the image cleverly prevents itself emphasizing the model, keeping the consumers mind on the product and not the personality or celebrity of a famous face, something not often seen in perfume advertising. It also could be seen to convey to the viewer that through wearing this scent, they too could be this mysterious, enigmatic and beautiful woman, as her identity is not fixed. The fabric swathing her face could symbolise some very separate and contrasting ideas. Firstly, through its delicate colour change from purple to pink, the folds in the fabric and way it falls, it seems to simply represent a flower and its petals, however by having the model’s head encased in the base of the flower and the petals wafting upwards from this point, it represents to the consumer the perfumes ability to ‘fill’ your head. Furthermore, the positioning of the woman in the base of the flower again represents the strong and feminine lady, but also with undertones of fertility and reproduction – the idea of a womans ‘flower’, the position of her head in the part of a flower that houses its reproductive organs, and also, as flowers are asexual in their reproduction, symbolising the independent woman who does not need a man. The model appears to be wrapped in a black ribbon and wax seal giving the name of the perfume and its designers, instantly providing the advertisment with an identity and the consumer with the imperative information of the scents product details. The ribbon has been added using an image manipulation programme in order for it to give the appearance of floating and encasing the model around her shoulders and breasts, attempting to hold her arms down against her body, perhaps a comment on societies tendancy to feel protective towards females, or outdated views on how women should be and act. This is a very beautiful image on the surface, and an exquisite advertisement, fulfilling its purpose incredibly effectively, however, the levels of symbolism, and depths of messages and imagery contained within it make it much more than just a fashion image. Instead it is a defiant warcry for femininity and sexuality, a warning to men intimidated by the strong female, and a message to women that all through purchasing this scent, they can be whatever they want.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The House of Viktor & Rolf by Caroline Evans.

Criticising Photographs: An introduction to Understanding Images.

Hand Grenades: A Handbook of Rifle and Hand,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_bomb,

http://www.viktor-rolf.com/_en/_ww/fragrances.htm,

Nan Golin

Nan Goldin work formed a ‘new kind of realism’ a characteristic which went on to inspire thousands of followers and imitators. She is an artist who has become obsessed with taking control of her own personal history. She saves her own memories through her photography, ‘The diary I let people read’.

Goldin and her photos, her work and personal life locked together to form one single who with an original feel to it. Goldin’s work can be described as concept driven snap shots. Her locations are usually interior spaces such as cluttered rooms and bathrooms or bars and beds.

Born in 1953 Goldin was born in Washington DC where her parents shortly moved to Boston where she spent several years unhappy. She moved away from her family in 1963, where she was 14 years old. She discovered her sister whom she had been every close to had committed suicide, Gioldin was deeply distraught and her family kept the suicide hidden from her for some time. Telling her the death was a terrible accident – this is perhaps why truth is something very important to Goldin and something she alwaus wants to reveal.

As the memory of her sister started to fade, Goldin began to take photographs to hold and preserve for fear of losing memories of her friends whom had become her ‘Alternative’ family.

One of the reasons I was attracted to Goldin's work was the emotional document in her images. I love the way she used colour to highlight the intimacy . The raw style of Goldins work and snapshot aesthetic works together to form the documentary of her life and shared memories she has a strong desire to keep. I also love the purity and innocence of her work and informal style that follows no rules. Her work doesn't act as anything else but what it is - a document moment in time.