Angela Lindvall: PH: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Purple Spring/Summer 2008
It was the McQueen after-party. The trade in hiss was heavy. My jaw was dropping every three lines or so as my brain stored the details for later use. The thing about trading hiss is you have to give some to get some. So I put forth the news posted here on TI that Inez and Vinoodh had flown Art and Commerce to take up with the new agency, The Collective Shift. My fellow trader-as they say in NY-gagged, choked, sputtered and coughed. "WHAT!!!!", he exclaimed. I had won the duel. Thank you my sweet anonymous poster for that particular grenade. It's war in the trenches of Paris gossip you know.
Angela Lindvall: PH: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Purple Spring/Summer 2008
This led to round of heavy I & V scuttlebutt. As in "Hang on! Why's there not a I& V cover of Self-Service. First Pop, now this?" . There IS some kind of shift going on in the magazine world with Katja Rahlwes rushing in where the prior giants of the trade used to tread. All the trainspotters were convinced Mert n Marcus would be the new in-house at SS but this has not been the case. It was all very interesting, the Hiss Squaders mused since it now meant Purple and V Magazine were the primary outlet for I & V imagery. And all at a time when the blue chip campaigns are coming together to draft up their short-lists for the new round of shoots.
Angela Lindvall: PH: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Purple Spring/Summer 2008
This now led to a natural segue into who will lens which campaign for FW 08.The big news of the day was that one of the most coveted avant-garde brands which
had been under lock and key with one photographer for several years now, was now up for grabs. Every photo rep in Paris, London and New York is said to be polishing up the carving knife! Its a collective shift indeed! It will be interesting to see if the future of I&V lies in this direction or if they'll continue in the vein of their brilliant Purple/Naked series, currently starring Angela Lindvall. If these were available as prints we bankrupt ourselves to buy them.
Angela Lindvall: PH: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Purple Spring/Summer 2008
Angela Lindvall: PH: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Purple Spring/Summer 2008
Angela Lindvall: PH: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Purple Spring/Summer 2008
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I think this spring especially, it was such a short season, that photogs like I&V and M&M (who both did a million campaigns), chose to focus on the commercial side of things and did very little editorial. I mean, Inez only did those two French Vogue stories and the Purple Naked. Nothing in W, nothing in US Vogue, or V, or Self Service, or Another. There's no more M&M for Pop and I suspect I&V are headed in the same direction—being extremely selective about the editorial they choose to do. Katja is incredible and deserves every bit of the success that comes her way.
Great analysis!
You gave me a great perspective on this shift. In many ways its a great evolution . It means the new blood like Katja gets the chance to highlight their work to the public as well as a potential advertising clients. It makes you start thinking, "Well who IS the next generation of fashion photographers? Katja? Alasdair Mclellan? KT Aueleta? Will Davidson? Daniel Jackson? Benjamin Alexander Huseby? ". Are these the new forces that will go on to the French Vogues and the big campaigns? Its a great idea to explore in a future post!
One thing about the photog
One thing about the photog biz is that those top 5 to 10 spots are not retired from and are usually not ever shifted. Cruise through the top rep sites and you'll see a lot of people in their 40s that have a lot of life left in them. Even the older guys are far from budging (Lindbergh, Weber). Nor should they be.
The new person entering the top echelon 20 years from now is probably doing something completely overlooked right now, ahead of its time. You won't see it coming. The rest are flashes in the pan.
Interestingly enough though...
...there was a moment in the 90's that saw a rush of photographers in their 20/30's hit the market will full velocity. David Sims...Mario Sorrenti...Craig Mc Dean..rose really fast from ID and The Face right through to Fabien Baron's Harper's Bazaar to the campaigns for Calvin Klein and Jil Sander and Dolce y Gabbana. That makes me curious as to the school of photographers they usurped. Who shot Bazaar and Vogue and all the campaigns in the late 80's for instance? Its a great cause topic for research. Because these Young Turks started at that relatively young age , its quite true that they are clearly not going anywhere yet.
I suppose the only chance for a new breakthrough talent can only happen if a brave Creative Director (like Baron) or Editor-in-chief (like Tilberis) takes it upon him/herself to really promote a new roster of talent the way the current school of young designers are being packaged and marketed by US Vogue for instance.
Or as you brilliantly point on, young photographers are going to have to think "innovation". They're going to have to attempt to radically push their work so waaaaaay ahead of the curve it makes the current aesthetic of fashion feel dated. I think there are clients interested in an aesthetic update but they're only going to gamble if the message goes out that the "eye" of what is fashion right this minute has shifted radically and can only be found via the work of those young photographers (much like it was for that 90's school). If I were a young photographer, I'd consider that a call to arms lol.
There were upper-middle-end
There were upper-middle-end guys pushed out, but more I imagine just got tired and bowed out. Melvin Solosky is a perfect example, huge and innovative for a time, and he's still alive and doing well, but from the sidelines. David Baily also comes to mind. There are a number of more who's names are all but forgotten. It's not a bad thing. It's nearly an impossible business to make it in, let alone to sustain in. So that they made it is commendable. But more work was created too with growth in the industry an economy: sure, Sorrenti took the CK ads from Weber, but Weber moved over to this new little store called A&F. For every person there's a different story.
The 90s as you point out was a really exceptional shift in the entire industry. A mix of new talent, but moreover, new mags and creatives (as you also noted). With that London hay-day gone and sold out and the commercial stronghold the US mags are under, it's not really clear what the next possible shake-up could be. The web maybe...? Who knows. Right now the entire fashion image making machine is deadly boring ad creatively limited. Regardless, the greats will remain the greats. Ray, then Avedon, Penn, etc. Helmut and Bourdin later. Etc Etc. Those people that really changed the larger aesthetic through their work. It's hard to see how great the fashion work of someone like Avedon was b/c it's vernacular now. But when he did it there was no precedent. Sure he looked to Lartigue and had influences, but he and Penn invented fashion photography as we know it. Those times are gone though. So, alas, there's not much point romanticizing them...
I see it as not that different than the fine art world. The galleries, like magazines, are commercial endeavors, nothing more, and only history will tell what's to last. It could be a creative wiz who does something special. It could be an economic crash that resets the industry. Who knows.
Crash and Reset...
I love the usage of that term in the context of this discussion. Really brilliant and modern way to phrase the idea!
Not quite as earth
Not quite as earth shattering as Inez and Vinoodh leaving Art+Commerce, but Ellen Von Unwerth also departed for greener pastures at Art Partner. Makes you wonder how Team Moffatt is feeling with the loss of two of it's main-stays.
As long at Steven stays...
Team Moffat is fine. That man alone is 60% of the big fashion campaigns
reported here first!
http://www.avisualsociety.com/2008/02/27/new-agency-new-photographer/