FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY GETS HYPER-REAL

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY GETS HYPER-REAL

From Erwin Blumenfeld to Nick Knight, fashion constructs fantastical images

by Greg French

Writer John Tagg was one of the first to acknowledge a photograph’s ability to capture ‘the truth.’ - that which is in front of our eyes. Photography originates from the early nineteenth century, with photographs such as Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s View From a Window at Gras, remaining the oldest photograph in existence in 1826. Then, the daguerreotype was invented, defined as “the automatic reproduction, by the action of light.” Or, as French writer François Tiphaigne predicted, a way of fixing an image that was being looked at. 

First_photograph_ taken_Niepce_600a_kidsofdada_article.jpg

The earliest known surviving photograph made in a camera, was taken by Joseph Niépce in circa 1826

As photography evolved, that notion of it as teller of truth is something that has been shattered. Even in those early stages of photography's life, the creator's eye, lens choice, proximity, light intensity and technical ability would all serve as barriers to recorder of actual veritas. The more fashion photographers grappled with that concept, the more hyper-real their images have become.

Unretouched_Composit_Alim_Khan_1911_600c_kidsofdada_article.jpg

Alim Khan, photographed by Prokudin-Gorskii in 1911

It was the likes of Man Ray who initially championed this stance, using blurring techniques in black and white to manipulate his depictions. His images of the Marchesa Casati – the eccentric Italian muse, whom owned everything from pet cheetahs to dresses made of light bulbs – are the clearest indicator of that.

Marchesa_Casati_by_Man_Ray_600b_kidsofdada_article.jpg

Marchesa Casati by Man Ray, 1912

As colour photography was brought into wider use, it became, as writer Jennifer Craik noted “the lingua franca of fashion photography.” The technical necessities of colour photography were complex, expensive and prestigious. As the possibilities of photography grew with such developments, a dramatic shift was seen in what the camera was used to capture. “Photographic techniques began to influence artistic developments, especially the use of light, the manipulation of focus and the distortion of the image”

Cue then, Erwin Blumenfeld – who revolutionised the pages of Vogue – with splashes of vibrant photoshop-worthy musings, achieved via nothing but smoke and mirrors. It was a time of fantasy, in which fashion photography provided an escape from the grey pallet of war-torn Europe. Blumenfeld himself had lived through two world wars – his autobiography proclaiming that the first thing he learnt to do was die. A dark prospect that helps explain the hyper real images that he created. “It’s a story of constant re-invention,” his great grandson once told me “his life and work is a story of constant re-invention.”

Vouge_Cover_Erwin_Blumenfeld_1950_600d_kidsofdada_article.jpg

Vogue Cover Erwin Blumenfeld, 1950

It’s a time that also birthed Guy Bourdin, whom ditched the white walls of his studios, taking fashion photography to the streets. Yet his images are anything but earth-bound; models are replaced with mannequins, and impossible landscapes frame the subject – binding its characters into the small and often claustrophobic rectangle of the image. 

Guy_Bourdin_Manequin_1979_600e_kidsofdada_article.jpg

Guy Bourdin: Mannequin, 1979

Tim Walker and Steven Klein are also known for the rich narrative that they spin as part of frozen tableaux. Worlds seem unbound from the current clime, presenting romanticized storybooks, or dark forbidden lands. The characters which each image portray, no longer show ‘that which has been,’ instead, that which is yet to become. The unknown, the sublime, the fantastical is championed over the mundane, the everyday and the real. 

Guilt_Trip_2014_Tim_Walker_600f_kidsofdada_article.jpg

Tim Walker: Guilt Trip, 2014

The late twentieth century saw the introduction of the digital manipulation processes and took these ideas further. British Vogue’s Robin Derrick dissected such an idea in his foreword to the book The Impossible Image, in which he states “by implication it is generally noted that you can only photograph what you can see.  Digital technology means this is no longer the case. A digital image is many millions of differently coloured points arranged in a matrix and held in a computer. This type of image can be manipulated very easily.”

Let’s look to image-maker Nick Knight. Note the absence of the ‘fashion photographer’ title; a label that Knight himself has outspokenly shed. Digital matrix becomes his playground – a brave new world, which is no longer dependent on light hitting a lens. Instead, Knight’s work is able to capture the corners of the human psyche, questioning the  human condition and using the medium of fashion – something of which we must all engage with – to do so.

Lady_GaGa_Nick_Knight_2010_600g_kidsofdada_article.jpg

Nick Knight: Lady GaGa, 2010

These hyper-real worlds of fashion photography provide what every great designer wishes to leave as their legacy. Narrative, the exotic - the possibility of change. The clothes within the image are what grounds them - inviting us to slip on that garment and feel, if only for a split second, what its like to live in that world. Just as it was for Blumenfeld and Bourdin - and is for Klein, Walker and Knight - that brief moment of pause and escapism is something to be cherished in today's ever evolving world.

 

Leave a comment

Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.

MEET THE ARTISTS CHINA CAN'T KEEP CONTAINED

Artists Sun Yuan & Peng Yu display dead babies & live animals at Guggenheim Museum Exhibition

Peter Yeung

Read more »
Share »

JOSEPH BEUYS: I LIKE AMERICA AND AMERICA LIKES ME

What we can learn from artist about race relations and how to heal a nation    

Peter Yeung

Read more »
Share »

A SEXLESS SOCIETY IS HERE

Fashion rides the gender blending trend  

Maria Raposo

Read more »
Share »

NAN GOLDIN: THE BALLAD OF SEXUAL DEPENDENCY

The artist captures the essence of humanity and life on the edge

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

THE HEDI SLIMANE EFFECT ON YVES SAINT LAURENT

How the designer remade the house of Yves Saint Laurent

Maria Raposo

Read more »
Share »

SYNCHRODOGS: “I must be dreaming”

We speak to the photography duo about synchronicity & the power of dreams

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

THE COLLAGE RENAISSANCE

Contemporary collage is the new Pop Art collectors are buying into

Harriet Baker

Read more »
Share »

DAVID BOWIE PUSHED THE LIMITS OF MUSIC, ART & FASHION

Bowie was an artist and an explorer that embodied true individuality that our generation craves

Fiona Ma

Read more »
Share »

MEET THE ARTISTS CHINA CAN'T KEEP CONTAINED

Artists Sun Yuan & Peng Yu display dead babies & live animals at Guggenheim Museum Exhibition

Peter Yeung

Read more »
Share »

JOSEPH BEUYS: I LIKE AMERICA AND AMERICA LIKES ME

What we can learn from artist about race relations and how to heal a nation    

Peter Yeung

Read more »
Share »

A SEXLESS SOCIETY IS HERE

Fashion rides the gender blending trend  

Maria Raposo

Read more »
Share »

NAN GOLDIN: THE BALLAD OF SEXUAL DEPENDENCY

The artist captures the essence of humanity and life on the edge

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

THE HEDI SLIMANE EFFECT ON YVES SAINT LAURENT

How the designer remade the house of Yves Saint Laurent

Maria Raposo

Read more »
Share »

SYNCHRODOGS: “I must be dreaming”

We speak to the photography duo about synchronicity & the power of dreams

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

THE COLLAGE RENAISSANCE

Contemporary collage is the new Pop Art collectors are buying into

Harriet Baker

Read more »
Share »

DAVID BOWIE PUSHED THE LIMITS OF MUSIC, ART & FASHION

Bowie was an artist and an explorer that embodied true individuality that our generation craves

Fiona Ma

Read more »
Share »

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY GETS HYPER-REAL

From Erwin Blumenfeld to Nick Knight, fashion constructs fantastical images

Greg French

Read more »
Share »

THE EVOCATIVE IMAGES OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Eminent street photographers find beauty in the ordinary

Leah Sinclair

Read more »
Share »

THE ZINE SCENE IS BACK

Self-Publishing is Having a Moment and It’s Redefining Youth and Self Expression

Leah Sinclair

Read more »
Share »

PLASTIC PURGERY – BARBIE IN BONDAGE BREAKS THE INTERNET

Photographer Mariel Clayton Reinvents the Stereotype of the Female Form

Fiona Ma

Read more »
Share »

LOUIS VUITTON - SERIES 3 EXHIBITION

Nicolas Ghesquière: less mask, more man

Maria Raposo

Read more »
Share »

REGENERATION OR GENTRIFICATION?

The changing face of London’s artistic communities

Peter Yeung

Read more »
Share »

INSIDE THE CHELSEA HOTEL

The legendary New York hangout of rockstars and Hollywood royalty

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

IN CONVERSATION WITH OLAF BREUNING

The artist talks about the endless interpretations of his work and life

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

REVEALED: KURT COBAIN'S ORIGINAL ARTWORK

A dark look into the mind of Nirvana’s tortured frontman

Daryl Mersom

Read more »
Share »

ABOUT A GIRL: TEENAGERS IN POP CULTURE

Exploring media fantasies from saints to bad-ass sinners of female youth

Leah Sinclair

Read more »
Share »

ART GONE VIRAL

Performance art videos are paving the way for activism through social media

Leah Sinclair

Read more »
Share »

IN CONVERSATION WITH ARTIST TOM LEAMON

The ritual experiments of painting and poetry

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

COLLAGE ARTIST HOLLY-ANNE BUCK/COLLAGISM

We talk to the artist about playing with abstraction & reconstructing reality

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

FROM UNISEX TO ANTI-FASHION

Meet Rudi Gernreich, the first gender blender fashion activist

Alessandro Esculapio

Read more »
Share »

THE REVIVAL OF WARP N’ WEFT

From artisan to art; the lost craft of tapestry is making a comeback

KOD Staff

Read more »
Share »

THE ALCHEMY OF COLLAGE: ARTISTS IRINA & SILVIU SZEKELY

Art is not art if it doesn’t generate misrepresentation, confusion, anger or sarcasm

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »

THE CREATIVE CLASS: MAKING IT THEIR WAY

Photographer Francesca Allen captures the talented, genuine and real

Maria Raposo

Read more »
Share »

'80S ICON KEITH HARING’S POP SHOP

The Art and Commerce of Giving Back

Alessandro Esculapio

Read more »
Share »

THE DEATH OF BRONSON

The art and literature of "Charles Bronson"; Britain's most notorious prisoner

KOD Staff

Read more »
Share »

THE PSYCHEDELIC LOVE-IN OF THE FABULOUS COCKETTES

San Francisco’s original underground glitter troupe

KOD Staff

Read more »
Share »

THE MODERN DAY DANDY CULT

Old fashioned values and classic sartorial style returns to mens fashion

Ellie Howard

Read more »
Share »
Top