Do you give specific advice to a photographer
as in "Focus more on this" "Challenge
this way of shooting that you are used to?"
A good agent is the agent who sits down with the photographer
and gives direction. "We are going in a more lifestyle direction
this season. Here's what the market is saying. The market is not
responding to this element of your work. How can we work to get
your aesthetic back in sync with the market.
Speaking of markets. Is the economic climate opening up a bit
or is it still conservative?
It's still conservative. The market became very fragmented. In
fashion, certain brands can become a little more daring and push
a little bit more with the imagery. But look at this season's Gucci.
It's not an extreme image. It's more of a commercial picture. It's
a well-done commercial picture that's not trying to be a groundbreaking
image
Photos: Mark Abrahams
It just wants to sell the clothes.
Prada as well. It's really about evolving the brand history but in baby steps.
The market is saturated. When one brand gains a larger market share, there is
somebody else losing points. You might find younger designers who are trying
to establish their signature by going for a stronger image but the more famous
or commercially successful the brand, the more subtle the line between doing
strong imagery and imagery that sells has to be to appeal to a wide market.
You do that in editorials as well.
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" You can express a lot more in the editorials these days. Even in the figurehead mainstream magazines like US Vogue with more commercial pressure on them, you can really push it. Anna Wintour wants strong imagery. " |
Which has more vitality for the photographers? The campaigns or the editorials?
It used to be the campaigns but now it's swung back to the editorials. You can
express a lot more in the editorials these days. Even in the figurehead mainstream
magazines like US Vogue with more commercial pressure on them, you can really
push it. Anna Wintour wants strong imagery.
I still haven't recovered from Chuck Close's pictures
of Kate Moss in the September W.
Italian Vogue…French Vogue… All the British magazines
are always daring in pushing the line forward.
What's your take on the digital option for image
making?
The whole digital idea, that concept of "Oh all the photographers are going
to abandon film and go digital"…I think that idea is premature. Digital
retouching however has totally changed photography and image making.. The fact
that you can work on the chromatic elements of a picture afterwards, the fact
that you can shift the compositional elements by taking the best section of
one frame and adding it to another…You can have six edited contact sheets and
take a head from here, the body from there and create this perfect composite.
Post-production has become a big process for photographers. But to shoot digital…it
doesn't work yet. The technology is not there yet where you can shoot a campaign.
The files are not big enough for you to do big posters.
Though I've been hearing this story of some mythic super-system
Karl Lagerfeld has in his studios that spits out veritable prints,
right there on the spot. Not contact sheets but full on prints.
He's a genius himself. I heard that studio is amazing.
For FW 04 do you think the campaigns are going to keep going in
that super-processed direction that we've been getting with Calvin
and Vuitton or do you think rawness and texture is going to make
a comeback?
You can mix it all. There's not necessarily a
trend right now. In the late 90's when everything was a post-grunge
Juergen Teller snapshot the reaction to that was a super-glossy
Mert n Marcus production. Now you have it all mixed together and
it's good to have those different options. It's good for a photographer
to be able to do all of that. Versatility
keeps them coming back for more (lol)
Some ads for next fall are going to go in
the "cinematic" direction
while others… Others like Marc Jacobs might
stay true to the snapshot idea. But I don't think you hire Juergen
to shoot a glossy picture. That's what happens with clients. Unless
you show them, in a book that you are in fact versatile, they will
tend to hire you for what they perceive you as being best at. One
style will limit you unless you have become a famous photographer
because of that one style. Otherwise you have to be versatile,
you have to be flexible. You have to push yourself and question
your strategies if you want to be a fashion photographer putting
out trend setting work in a medium of change. You're always keeping
your signature but altering your style. That is the essential key.
Massimiliano, thank you so much from taking the
time to put the business in perspective.
Always a pleasure Wayne..
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Photos: Stéphane Sednaoui
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