Venetia Scott

“There are other stylists who have a very strong fashion point of view that they want to put across – I’m driving a mood more than a look.”

Venetia Scott has an elastic take on fashion that has led to collaborations with Helment Newton, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein and her former husband Juergen Teller. As I London based stylist she has worked for a number of magazine such as British and Italian Vogue, W, I-D and The Face as well as being creative director of Marc Jacobs and his diffusion line Marc By Marc Jacobs.
Scott has desire to capture an expression of youthful innocence. Her work is always highly heartfelt and autobiographical. She says “Delves in to her subjects syncline and extracts the desired emotions” which takes determinations, time as well as intimacy and thrust. This is something that Scott feels people no longer include in today.

“Everything is done in such a short amount of time and that there is now no connection or relationship between photographer and model. This is no emotion. Everything is quick and thrown away.”

It is Scoots way of thinking that I find so inspiring. I agree with the above quotation about everything being quick and thrown away today. Looking at Scott’s work has made me think about what emotions a photographer can hold and the memories it can store. I think as Scott explains it is about connection between the photographer and the model.

Venetia Scott technique is to make fashion statements that involve a look specifically tailed to a character and narrative. She has an anti-fashion approach to styling and photography and in the late 1980’s her work was considered unconventional with her use of imperfectly beautiful models which were shot in random locations, styled effortless ‘Thrown together clothes’.

‘It wasn’t about consciously not doing what people has done before, but I did want styles and stands I want to create something that you aspire to with out it involving a lot of money. None of the stories I did were about having a nice big or expensive outfit”.

With her democratic methodology’s Scott would use second hand clothing and vintage finds. She intends for her style and images to express something about the subject – models personality. Scott prefers to use models that you wouldn’t normally use models that you look at but don’t instantly recognize, meaning that her expressive vision and narrative are not over shadowed. This method has led to Scott challenging the current perceptions of beauty. She is known to cast models that often go on to become big fashion names such as Nadia Auermann, Angela Lindou and Lily Cole.

Postmodernism - Tim Walker

Tim Walker is a fashion photographer, who mostly works for British and Italian Vogue; from his photographs it’s clear to see that he is all round British photographer. Walker was born in 1970 in Guildford and went to do a degree in Photography at Exeter Art College. He’s work shows an obvious love of the country side and British landscapes. He went to New York to be come Richard Avedon assistant. And In 1990s he went to do work experience at Vogue and started to look Cecil Beaton’s negatives which led a deep understand of Vogue s history and heritage. Not only did he look at Beaton’s work but also Norman Parkinson photographs. Walkers work also shares with them a true British photographer.

Walkers photographs when I first looked at them made me think of the books by C.S Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia but most of the Lion the Watch and the Wardrobe, this book is one of my all times favourite books but why I think it stands out even more to me and why it makes me think if Walker work is that it brings back my childhood. This book has all the elements (English countryside, adventure and hot summers) to what Walker’s photographs are made from and what they are all about. The other writer I feel that also makes me think of walker is E.H.Nasbitt who wrote the book the Railways Children in 1906, this I have not read but have seen on TV and feel that this also have the key elements to Walkers photographs. Also being set in the country side and the children having an adventure of which the have to help their father. Walker’s photographs have a very child like feel to them but somehow just like the Lion the Watch and the Wardrobe you never grow board of reading or looking at them.

Looking much more at his photographs they show I clear link to British Neo Romantic style. This was a movement in the 1930’s and 1940’fixed beyond surrealism which didn’t just happen in England, artist may of called themselves ‘English’ but only as a mark of pride. There were other no English artist such as Welsh and Scottish artist however it was a small group of London born British Artist who really stood out. The word ‘English’ seem to cover all nationality of the movement. I feel that this movement was taken out of British history and culture. However Neo-Romance dominated over more than ten years of British art round the 1940’s. The British artist of the 1930’s really looked back at of their Romantic predecessors and really drew on their ideas and the techniques they used. At this time the Second World War has just broke out.

Neo-Romance covered many different area of art in Britain, such as painting, illustration, literature, and theatre. One of the main areas in which it thrived was film making, the two main artists were Michael Power and Emeric Pressburger their films which were glowing, Gothic films were ignored. However Power was Hungarian/British and Pressburger was British.But after a shifted in 1970 ant 1980 which changed critical context. The other area of which artist focused was on personal, poetic vision of the landscape.

Having looked at Neo Romantic style I feel that Walker although he may not know it has clear links to it. He photographs have are now the modern day Neo Romantic style, With the use of pale pastel colours and his glazy lighting of his work and of course all his work has a very British feel, not only as they are most set in the English county side but Walker always finds a way to put a object in to the sense that says some thing about English tradition. Walker also brings a magical feel to his work that I feel no photographer does, Walker I feel seems to have an idea and roll with it, and no matter how theatrical it is he does it and makes it work. With this I feel his photographs take on some thing new about them, they not only tell a story but also give a real insight to what Walker is telling the viewer.

Ref

Spirit Of Place, Nine Neo Romantic Artists and Their Times by M Yorke
Beaton In Vogue by J Ross
Beaton’s Portraits by R Strong

www.neo-romantic.org.uk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-romanticism

http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=192

http://www.answers.com/topic/neo-romanticism

U.S. economy in crisis

I have chosen this photograph by Anthony Suau titled "U.S. economy in crisis". Suau photographed and documented life in Cleveland .For this particular image he followed a police officer who had to hand out up to 20 eviction notices a day .The officer’s duties included ensuring evictees had moved out of their homes ,that the properties had remained vacant and additionally to ensure no looting had taken place.

I enjoy the way in which the Suau has composed the officer centrally within the frame, your eyes are drawn to and focus straight to him. The white wall behind ,contrasting strongly with his black uniform ,framing him and ensuring that the central visual element of his image stands out. Then you follow his actions and to what he is about to do .The door and the unknown which lies beyond its threshold acting as a strong metaphor for the uncertainty in today s economic climate.

The scene that the officer has entered depicts destruction, unrest and chaos reflecting the current state of the US and global economies. The detective has been ordered to use authority to try to control a situation that is in turmoil. The lone subject swamped by the scene shows how much of a losing battle this man faces in the struggle of
controlling an uncontrollable situation. It can be viewed as a microcosm of how governments are trying to control the current economic crisis effecting the world today through a dwindling set of fiscal controls

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is an American photographer and is one of the most influential photographers of the last half centaury. Eggleston is best known for his colour photography and has been names the father of colour photography, he really has the ability to fine the beauty but somehow also darkness to the subject, Eggleston photographs very simple and everyday object but seems to characterize them by using colour.

Eggleston’s latest work was shown at Victoria Miro Gallery which I went to see. It was a small exhibition with only 22 photographs. The photo of which really stood out was this one called ‘Untitled’ (Bathroom with pink curtain, Cuba) 2007, this photo stood to me as it so empty, and I felt lost looking at it. Even through the light is shinning through and the bright pink curtain makes me think of sadness and sorrow I’m not sure why but it does.

Eggleston has had an amazing career but recently he received a life time Achievement Award at the International Centre of Photography (ICP) Infinity Awards from Gatty Images and lately he has had a documentary made about him. 'I had an old Canon and a Leica,' he says, 'but I didn't know the first thing about photography. Never learnt it off anybody either. It quickly came to be that I grew interested in photographing whatever was there wherever I happened to be. For any reason.’ I like that Eggleston leant photography from getting stuck in to it. I feel that this is the best why to understand and to really get to grips with photography.

References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2004/jul/25/photography1

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/william-eggleston/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/06/the_colorful_world_of_william.html

William Eggleston's Guide by John Szarkowski