INFLUENCE

It might seem absurd but I think it is entirely possible to enthusiastically fall in love with a photograph. On the other hand, I have been a lifelong lover of fashion photography – its symbols and influence, its unique ability to offer a spectacle unlike any others. I believe that fashion photography is an art privileged in historical accounts of visual culture. This is undoubtedly a rather “serious” statement to make. I’m even laughing myself at this gripping sentence as I’m not normally too keen on complex brain-twisting puzzles. Maybe this post will be celebrated with an academic award? Hilarious. Anyway, what I like about my blog is that I don’t have to justify my choices or thoughts! And I suspect that if you’ve been reading July Stars for a while you will have noticed that photography, notably fashion photography, is my chosen patch.
The first time I saw this visual taken by David Seidner for Yves Saint Laurent, it felt like something of a revelation: stripping away superfluous effects, Seidner uses his signature technique of taking a portrait from above to create a sophisticated and intensely harmonious composition. The colours and graphic quality of the work successfully establish a connection with paintings and is the best advertisement for his skills. It is a bold and exciting creation, methodically developed and mythical. Ultimately, I think that it is the calm aesthetic and quality of the colours that seduced me the most and I would argue that even with the passing of time it is still very much a modern image, capable of lingering in your mind for many years.

Image courtesy of the International Center of Photography

David Seidner 1983

THE ART OF SIMPLE STORYTELLING

I’m sure most of you have seen the Chris Cunningham film for Gucci’s new fragrance “Flora”. I was already addicted to the “Gucci” by David Lynch commercial and now my enjoyment has been heightened with this newest arrival. With a tighter focus, fewer characters and intense movement, Cunningham has created a perfect synergy between Abbey Lee and the endless field of flowers. The romantic visual components, the simplicity of the stage and the passion of the model’s gestures are thrilling and irresistible. Cunningham efficiently captures the ultimate modern romantic girl. A vivid portray of strength and fragility through the experience of a ceaseless and graceful dance which culminates in a butterfly like character, illuminated by a soft sun reminiscent of David Hamilton. Delicate and charming, she has a mysterious and almost biblical power: the ability to control the wind.
The instrumental force and caressing sounds of a re-worked “I feel love” by Donna Summer make the visuals even more effervescent.
With his unique, mad and bizarre vision, Chris Cunningham could have been a commercial nightmare that no mainstream fashion house would consider. But thanks to him, Gucci has obtained a truly effective statement, unconventional but genuinely sublime. It works. And I now know that I would never rush to a Gucci store to try on their collections or wear their fragrances but I would not hesitate to immerse myself in the beautiful and exciting scenarios developed by Chris Cunningham and David Lynch for the brand!

MODERN STARDOM

With rare exceptions, fashion photography tends to follow the same blueprint and procedures, becoming almost a visionary free zone for the good reason that this is what the giant engine of the industry imposes.
The independent status is under constant threat of being marginalized but Skye Parrot has chosen to embrace a style that has become instantly recognizable, great in quality, revealing a tale of fluent energy and often displaying a magical seventies touch (black and white photography, soft focus, warm tones all contributing to the nostalgic effect). At the heart of her values there is a distinctly romantic brew of liberty and well-defined poetic characteristics almost always accompanied by a traditional narrative. She uses a natural photographic expressiveness which I find incredibly moving. The legacy of her time spent working as Nan Goldin’s studio manager is present in some of her work, through beautiful autobiographical elements. My interest in her work started a few years ago when her images were published in magazines like Jalouse, Lula, Purple, Mixte and Big Man. I fell in love with the earthy and intimate language of her pictures, ferociously different from the super retouched and digital manipulations of Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott (and the likes). She’s like a magician casting a spell. A relevant contemporary alternative to the usual players.
In this spirit of fashion photography freethinkers which should be celebrated, my prize goes to Skye! She’s a celebrated storyteller on the fashion scene, pushing boundaries with her images, exhibitions and her latest project the bi-annual publication Dossier.

Skye was extremely generous and accepted to answer a few of my questions. Here are her revelations!

Where do you find inspiration?
Photography, art, movies, books, traveling, people. Pretty much anything beautiful I see is inspiring. And I try to make myself look closely at the world around me, especially the small things. It takes a lot of practice, especially when things get crazy with work and whatnot, but that’s always my goal.

How would your describe your photographs?
A lot of my personal work is pictures of these little moments, with nothing in particular or special going on, but just a memory of this slice of time. A lot of people have told me my pictures feel cinematic, which isn’t deliberate but which makes sense to me. A film still is just stopped moment of a movie – and I love the feeling of wanting to know what happened before or after.

Did you study photography?
I took some photography classes at Parsons and SVA when I was 17 and 18, but I actually studied Political Science in college. I thought I was going to be a lawyer.

Would you like to experiment with other media and where do you see your creativity going in the future?
I started a magazine, Dossier, last year with my best friend, and I spend a lot of time now working on that as the Creative Director. That’s been really amazing because it’s allowed me to explore the curatorial side of things: picking photographers whose work I like and giving them a space to work on projects. I really didn’t know how much I was going to enjoy that when I started the magazine, but it’s been one of the most enjoyable aspects of it.
In terms of other media, I’m starting work now on a personal project that combines photographs and words. I keep thinking I’d like to work with films at some point too, but I haven’t tried yet.

Can you tell me a little bit more about your latest personal project, is it a book?
I just came out with a book called Perfect Days that was published in conjunction with my show in January at Galerie Plume in Paris. Those images come from the portraits and landscapes that I shoot of the people and places around me. Up until now, most of my personal work has been shot that way, except for one series I did of nudes last year. Now I just started working on a new project that is more staged, and it uses words and text to talk about memory. It's definitely the most conceptual thing I've ever done. I don't know how it's going to turn out!

Do you admire other photographers?
So many of them. My mother, Virginia Parrott, is one of my favorite color photographers. For more well-known photographers, Nan Goldin has been a huge influence, and I was lucky enough to assist her for several years. I also love David Armstrong, Peter Hujar, William Eggleston, Sally Mann, Bruce Davidson, Ed van der Elsken, Saul Leiter, Helmut Newton, and then older black and white photographers like Brassai, Dorothea Lange, Harry Callahan, Walker Evans, and Lartigue. At the moment there seem to be a lot of amazing Japanese photographers, like Rinko Kawauchi and Asako Narahashi. I love photography in general so I’m always looking out for work I haven’t seen before.

You grew up with a mother who worked as a photographer, why did you initially pursue Political Science studies? How long did it take before you realized that your professional sensitivity, your calling, was actually the world of photography?
Both my mother and my father are artists, but they always had other jobs. Even though I had that inclination towards the arts early on, I think I pursued a degree in Political Science because I had this idea that the arts were this incredibly difficult, unstable profession and I would be smarter to have a job and pursue photography on the side. Ultimately, though, I realized that what I actually wanted to do was take pictures, and that I might as well give that a try before I resigned myself to doing something else. Also, I really enjoyed my Law classes in school. I probably would have enjoyed being a lawyer. It just would have been using a different part of myself.

You seem to have a deep knowledge of “vintage” photography but are you interested in the extremely retouched genre?
Honestly, it’s just not my thing. I think there are two ways to photograph: either you take a picture of what you see, or you make what you want to see. What interests me is finding what I want and taking a picture of it, not constructing it. Obviously in fashion photography there’s always going to be a certain element of fabrication, but even within that, I’m always looking for that decisive moment Cartier-Bresson talked about, because to me what’s most interesting is what’s true.

What is your earliest memory of photography?
Growing up with a photographer for a mother, my earliest memories of photography are of having my picture taken – all the time. My mother’s camera was always there, like an extension of her arm.

Who gave you your first job?
My first photo job was a menswear editorial for 10 Men. My friend Christopher Niquet is a stylist and he saw some tests I had done and asked me to shoot it for him. I was incredibly nervous and incredibly excited at the same time and I still really like the pictures we did.

Where do you see yourself in 20 years time?
I can't even pretend to know the answer to that!

What is your favourite city in the world?
Unquestionably, New York. It’s where I grew up, so maybe I’m a bit biased, but there’s just nowhere else like it. I’ve lived in LA and Paris and living in both places I missed New York like it was a person.

Do you speak any other languages?
I speak French fluently because I lived in Paris for five years. My boyfriend for a long time was German so I understand a little German, but I’m embarrassed to say the only sentences I know are about animals and food.

What is your favourite book?
Lolita.

What is your favourite song/genre of music?
I’m pretty useless when it comes to music. I mostly just listen to Bob Dylan.

For more info click on the links below (underlined words)

Her website is Skye Parrott

She is the co-founder and creative director of Dossier

The book from her show at Galerie Plume will be available from Claire de Rouen in the near future. Go here for a sneak preview: V magazine

One of her previous books is available to buy from Akdavis

The Dossier shop is located at 244 DeKalb Avenue (Vanderbilt & Clemont Avenues) and sells books, vintage clothes and Zac Posen designed Dossier bag.

FLYING THE GREEN FLAG

I had decided to stop talking about the countryside. The original idea was to devote this post to Mark Borthwick (Elizabeth, my book only arrived last week) but for reasons that need not detain us here I have found myself contemplating pictures I took in France last week. It gives me a tingle of pleasure to think of the textures and colours of Normandy. A wholesome life. The sun, sea, endless verdant fields, apple trees, brocantes* in every village and horses. A slow pace which is already eluding me in London with its electrifying reality.

*Brocantes are sales of heirlooms, jumble or antiques great for hardcore bargain hunters.

Back to fashion tomorrow!

All picture are mine and were taken in Normandie (the region of Le Perche), Mont St Michel and Thoiry. Wearing my Barbour, J Brand jeans, Mulberry bag.

CLASH OF CULTURES

Walking the streets of Paris with my sister and husband last week I shouldn’t have been too surprised to discover that French girls are ethereal creatures. I don’t think a long prologue here is necessary to explain what I mean: over the past few years I’ve spent a lot of time in this visually inspiring city (my family lives there), walking and people watching enthusiastically until slightly dizzy, slowly building up a passionate friendship with its atmosphere. This post should be a mere progress report of my personal immediacy with Paris and its trends but I’ve realized that the intensity of my sentiments has grown. Until a few days ago, and despite numerous extensive stays in the capital, I always felt that French girls embraced a traditional style, unable to create images that are fresh and original. This fact seemed so clearly inevitable and obvious that I had almost stopped looking for interesting looks having already categorized Parisian girls except for a few occasional flashes of loveliness. It never occurred to me that I may be wrong. I think that being half French and half English myself, my own challenge has always been to pick the best of both cultures, more than often preferring London aesthetics and excesses over safer French alternatives. But things can change rapidly (well, it took a few years) and I now realize that a whole new generation of girls have stripped away the traditionalism which I had come to accept as normal. Last week in Paris I saw girls wearing clothes with more humour than before, with the necessary amount of “cool” and an approach to style which surprisingly could rival any trendy Londoner. Their view on clothes is undeniably less repetitive and more stylised while maintaining a typically French hint of sophistication. So not only do they now choreograph braver and more experimental looks, leaving magazine mirror images behind, but they also continue to seduce us with their astonishingly natural physical and mythical beauty.

All pictures from Purple Diary - http://www.purple-diary.com/

EASTER MESSAGE

It’s time to break the tradition of two to three posts a week on this blog. I’m going to France (Normandy and Paris) for a week and will exercise my willpower to the best of my ability: no Internet, no fashion blogs, no style magazines, no Facebook and no emails. I am on a spiritual plane beyond such temptations (although this does not stretch to my husband which means that I might read his copy of Fantastic Man or take a quick peak at Fashionologie on his iPhone)! I’m feeling slightly nostalgic and long for technology free days but I wonder how long this will last: after four days in the middle of the countryside with no Internet access I might stop seeing London and our high tech civilisation as a corrupting influence.
Expect lots of pictures at the end of next week.
Does anyone know if Valentino The last Emperor will be showing in London soon? I’ve enjoyed myself so much reading about it everywhere and I simply cannot wait to see the man himself on the big screen (surrounded by his eight pugs). I’m hoping that this film will be better than Lagerfeld Confidential, which revealed absolutely nothing about his contemporary.

Picture: BlackBook magazine

LIVING IN THE CITY

Although I thrive in the city with its hard documentary realism and its fast paced rhythm, I think I’m a closet green.
I laugh at the ridiculously small electricity powered cars (my sister knows where all the parking metre looking charging stations are in London, but don’t ask me why, she doesn't even own an "environmentally friendly vehicle"), I sometimes forget to recycle my papers and endless Diet Coke cans, I didn't turn off everything for Earth Hour last Saturday, I love driving my big polluting German car and I like navigating the sometimes brutal and chaotic streets of London. I feel at home in the densely, richly populated city with its raw beauty and diversity. But occasionally, living among the drama and freedom of London, I will find myself wanting to get a tangible glimpse into another world: the countryside with its playground of gardens, wild animals and fresh air. As I grow older, I have come to understand that life can only be enriched by regular contact with the spirits and powers of nature. And even if I felt a little bit like an émigré when wandering through the acres of trees and lakes in Somerset a couple of weekends ago, I hope that one day I’ll be able to reconcile the interests of the city with those of the land (preferably a combination of the South of France and London)! When you’re a girl like me, exploring deserted rural regions are a remarkable and exciting privilege… And I won’t be spending Easter in London!
I guess this is my first non-fashion post of the year!

All pictures are mine