We crave the soul of an image. Whether it's excitement or envy, mystery or brilliance, we all want to find it in an editorial. If a photo fails to invoke emotions, we tend to forget about it after a few short moments. On the other hand, the most memorable campaign images resurface again and again. They're what we dream about.
The artistic vision and fantasies from the glory days of heritage brands have been the inspiration for the latest trends from luxury to fast fashion, editorials to brand campaigns. It all boils down to how the photographer embodies the desires and fantasies, introducing the perfect to the imperfect while capturing the model's natural emotions and movements in front of the backdrop.
ScannedFashionWorld. (2021, June 22). Luchford, G. Campaign: Prada Fw 1997. CAMPAIGN: PRADA FW 1997.
There is an air of effortlessness to all the iconic editorial images referenced that makes them a permanent fixture in the fashion world. Something about them feels shamefully simplistic yet seems incredibly complex to capture. These photographers have mastered the balance between humanity and perfection. Their lens feels genuine. The presence of the models feels natural. The uncontrived and the candid become beautiful in the midst of the artificial. It is a contagion that continues to infect the generations that came after.
And for the rest of this exploration, I am asking you to let your instincts take over, let your eyes wander. Take a closer look at what catches your eye. Take on a voyeuristic approach and allow yourself to romanticize the imperfect. There is a great equalizer, a sort of common ground that we can see within the anatomy and the human experience. Deep down, subconsciously, it's the focal point of a luxury, subject-based editorial.
Nick Knight: The Master of Emotional Detail
Photographer and filmmaker Nick Knight, known for some of the most impactful and innovative imagery in fashion and pop culture, has released images from his archive of unpublished large-format photos from shoots with Kate Moss, as well as scrapped editorials from his time with Dior—a set of vastly different photos that are beautiful in the same way. There is a common thread in his ability to create a tangible depiction of the connection between the body and mind.
Unpublished Gems: Kate Moss Through the Lens of a Large Format Camera
Knight captures the nuances of his subjects: "I'm quite directive in how I work... but in the end, you want to be surprised by something you're not just working with a doll who you're kind of bending into shape. You're trying to hope that a person will express something or even go completely against what you're asking them to do so you can see things you can't see or couldn't imagine..."
Knight, N. (2014, June 9). Day 9: Kate Moss month. SHOWstudio.
A large format camera leaves nothing to the imagination. Everything is captured in the best resolution. It's as if Kate Moss is under a magnifying glass. With the tilt on a 10x8 camera lens, you can see "every pore, every eyelash, or every freckle so crystal clear and so sharp as to make the viewing of it feel almost obscene in its invasion of a person's physical privacy. You never see people like this in life, as your eye cannot focus so close." That is the excitement, the obsession, the thrill. Knight is showing us what he sees as a photographer, how he falls in love with the images, and how he chooses his focal point. The imperfections enhance the fantasy of seeing Moss up close.
Yes, it is invasive. We are effectively trespassing beyond the ability of our eyes and smaller format cameras. It literally removes all elements of perfection, but the intimacy draws you in. You start to search for more dynamics. You start to crave the small details that make her more than a model. It's the chipped nail polish, the separating lipstick, the curdling and flaking mascara falling onto her cheekbones, the blemishes on her face, the peach fuzz along her skin, a closeup of the catchlight in her eye, the three hole-piercings in her ear, the tonality in her hair, the translucency in her teeth.
Knight, N. (2014, June 9). Day 9: Kate Moss month. SHOWstudio.
Knight is magnifying humanity, the living, breathing woman. He makes luxury a spectator sport. We are afforded the privilege to live and breathe through these moments with Moss. It is an entranced view of pure reality, no obtrusive retouch.
Scrapped Dior Editorials: Human Connection in High Fashion
The same can be found in scrapped Dior images. While the focal length isn't so granular, all of the detail in emotion and life is still there. Everything that the hard lighting catches is what we're after. We are still met by a tight frame, bunching all the models together like friends. It's the biting of the lip, the necklace between the teeth, the laughing, the cute pucker, and even the models falling out of frame together. We know what all of these things feel like. All of these things teleport us to the glamorous photo booth. Those are the elements that make the desire for luxury real.
Knight, N. (2014a, April 1). Unpublished campaign: Christian Dior S/S 05. SHOWstudio.
The couture is not what captures our initial attention. You stay for the human subject and the dynamics of the photographer's creativity. The perfect shades, the coveted saddle bag, the charmed jewelry, and ultra-feminine clothing are part of the dream that we associate with our desire for their feelings.
Glen Luchford: Mystery and Humanity in Shadows
Glen Luchford, a photographer and film director who is studied for his methods in desaturated film and long exposures in dark, moody scenes, further demonstrated this practice. With a great amount of detail lost in the underexposure, we are forced to peer closer into the emotions of the model. Luchford builds an interest in the human within the scenic image. There's an intensity in the darkness that spills into instinct. He tells a story in shadows that is only rivaled by film noir.
Luchford pushed the limits of mystery in his directing style, where the image heavily depends on Amber Valletta leaning into her emotions and interpreting the scene. As she recounts shooting the editorial, Valletta explains, "Glen is not super directive, but he's also, you know– he will tell you what he likes...I can intuit what the story is... They'll give you a description, but I mean, I don't remember being given a big description... I guess that's part of what Glen brings to it. It's the fact that it actually feels more human in that way."
Joaquin Phoenix for Prada: A Private Glimpse of the Prada Male
Even actors like Joaquin Phoenix's Prada campaign relied on his own embodiment of the Prada male. Luchford reflects on his time with Phoenix, shedding some light on their interaction. "Joaquin was a bit shy, given it was his first campaign, but his presence is so immense that it more than compensated for his shyness. I find most actors are like that in a stills environment [as opposed to moving images]."
Luchford, G. (n.d.). SS 1997 man. Prada.
Phoenix's images read like a gaper's view, a peek into his personal life—a private moment in a small room or a dark corner. We are consumed by the possibilities floating around in his thoughts. Yet, with Valletta, it's as if there is an unexpected guest. Who is on the other side of the door? Did she see a figure off in the distance? It feels like a thriller.
Due to the forced, stagnant nature of the body during long exposure, it calls on your other senses as the viewer. With the eerily low lighting obscuring your view and the static posing, you can imagine hearing these scenes as well: a voice on the other side of the room, a knock at the door, and footsteps in the snow. We can hear the thump in the night.
ScannedFashionWorld. (2022, May 6). Campaign: Prada Menswear SS 1997. CAMPAIGN: PRADA MENSWEAR SS 1997.
Norbert Schoerner: Futuristic Escapism with a Human Touch
Everything in the scenes is an experience; for Norbert Schoerner, it translates into a different world. An almost utopia-like backdrop is created to showcase the organic nature of the concepts. As a multifaceted artist, photographer, and filmmaker, Schoerner makes the subjects appear more human by surrounding them with artificially perfect backdrops. It is a balm to the senses for the viewer, and for him, his "photography has always tried to reach a certain layer of narrative, rather than just being a representation of product or beauty. I always felt more comfortable adding another layer to it." Regardless of the medium he chooses—a landscape added in post-processing or an indoor film set—it plays into understated futuristic escapism.
ScannedFashionWorld. (2023, September 12). Campaign: Prada Menswear FW 1999. CAMPAIGN: PRADA MENSWEAR FW 1999.
But the artificial stops at the fantasy world. There is no caricature of life or emotion. You never ask yourself what the model looks like in real life. The image becomes a reality and enchants you with the physical exhaustion, the natural clothing textures, the mussed hair, and the flopped shoe. "The picture was taken about two or three o'clock in the morning, and Angela [Lindvall] was actually asleep. And then somehow the shoe came off, and it just looked absolutely amazing." That was the magic, the unexplained equilibrium in a heartbeat that solidified the vision in the minds of the newer generations.
ScannedFashionWorld. (2020, August 10). Campaign: Prada FW 1998. CAMPAIGN: PRADA FW 1998.
The Prada Archive 1998-2002: Meditations on Detail
The balance of it is on full display in Schoerner's sold-out Prada Archive 1998-2002 book, which is on its second release all within 2024. There is a demand for the small details and displays of embodiment, reinvigorated by focusing on anatomy and the human experience. In fact, we see cropping similar to the 10x8 large format images from Nick Knight. Schoerner explains, "It's almost a meditation on the details.
It's a younger generation [who edited the book], and they've grown up looking at my images in a very different way. It also reminds me of the way I used to work because, obviously, everything was shot on film. And when editing, you'd enlarge the photograph and just work on a section. At one, two o'clock in the morning, when you are so tired, it became kind of hypnotic. So it's sort of a remix, changing the rhythm. Like we have a section in the beginning where we sort of just cropped into Angela's hands so it's all about hands. I love hands anyway – they tell a great language."
The Timeless Appeal of Editorial Imperfections
We, the succeeding generations, have fallen in love with corporeality just as much as those before us. The fantasy is in imagining ourselves in these scenes through shared emotion, tactility, and life experiences, not marketing or consumerism. This is what creates nostalgia and the attempt to relive a different time in fashion. The luxury is found in affording an experience in a handful of images. That is why the interest never dies. They are timeless in how we relate to them.
Fw 1999 Woman. Prada. (n.d.).
The editorials embody desires and fantasies by introducing the perfect to the imperfect. There is a balance between the two. The human elements found in the images keep generation after generation revisiting and romanticizing them. We crave the fantasy of an imperfect human in perfect circumstances and conditions. That is what makes these images timeless. What it means to be a human being will always remain.
Comentários