A Discussion

An update on my 'lecture' on Fashion Mgazine by Alec Soth. The presentation went down well with the group (I think), it certainly evoked a lot of discussion, of which I will try to sum up here.

The main point, or rather question, that we kept coming back to was: 'Is this fashion photography?' Fashion photography is primarily there to sell, it is an industry tool. But then it is entitled to an artistic appreciation, although personally I would question the depth of the creativity. And then there is the rather vaguely categorised 'high fashion'. And now we're entering into a much larger debate, of which I am barely informed.

But to bring it back to 'Fashion Magazine' - Soth's sensitive pictures of Minnesota teenagers, are not as candid as they first appear. It would seem they have been dressed/styled in designer outfits, the photographs then carefully arranged, and then perhaps even poses asked for. So would a viewer, from this style of image, be spurred into purchasing the product. Well potentially yes, they might be. They would not at all be familiar with this mode of advertising, but may be encouraged by its originality. So this means that the categorisation of 'Fashion Magazine' lies entirely with the viewer - is that right? I suppose its all subjective anyway and we'll only end up in circles arguing the definition of 'fashion'. A good debate then I'd say.

It felt like we ended up with two options in our attempt to 'classify' this work. Fashion, against social documentary - or rather a comment on fashion - both we're equally defensible. We are aware of Soth's dry and ironic humour (watch this video now), but I really didn't feel that there was any cynicism with 'Fashion Magazine'.

Soth seems to be party to our inconclusive debate when attempting to define this work:

"...I love the idea of borderlines - of walking a tightrope. This is the best place to make pictures. I would never claim that this magazine is documentary photography. But I'm not really sure this is fashion photography either."

And this brings me back to my thoughts on Soth not pushing boundaries, but redrawing them. Through the group's discussion, it seemed to me like we found this borderline that he speaks of, some of us found ourselves strongly on one side of it, some close to it, and some pondering it laterally - "I'd hardly even call it photography, more that he is a conceptual fine artist."

And so, wondering what project we could set ourselves, this discussion topic led us nicely to a theme of 'genre challenging'. The idea being that, in a similar way that Soth has challenged our concept of 'fashion photography', we should ponder the same, whether it be through producing our own images, research, or even just comment.

What is exciting is the potential for this genre theme to continue, with varied project/discussions into the many different, and difficulty definable fields of photography. I look forward to the results, see you in a month.

A Lecture

I am part of the Fishbone photographic arts group, a monthly gathering held at the Fishbone Gallery in Longford, Coventry. It's a very diverse bunch of artistically minded photographers. Each month we set a theme, to explore individually, then bring back images the following month for a group critique. This worked very well, demonstrating a wide variety of photographic styles, creating a lot of discussion, and in the summer we held a solid and successful group exhibition 'f11'.

However, the themes were decided by picking people's ideas out of a hat (usually just a word - silence, twilight etc.)  and where this process was initially responded to quite enthusiastically, it has recently started to feel quite dry, and a bit naff. So, desperate for some inspiration with more depth/content I suggested we look to the work of contemporary photographers, and find a particular body of work, of suitable intrigue, to encourage some fresh ideas. I opted to do the research for the first one, and also suggested that I could deliver it as a short lecture to get the discussion going.

I went for Alec Soth's recent publication with Magnum - 'Fashion Magazine: Paris, Minnesota'. I came across this by chance whilst looking for christmas presents in Waterstones, and was surprised by its originality. It is technically an annual fashion magazine, and hence a collaborative piece requiring product advertising. But the photographer (Soth) is in control of every element, and with a 'free leash'. Consequentially, it presents itself as his personal body of work.

The title of the magazine refers to the comparing and contrasting of the high couture Parisian fashion world, with the 'fashionably' dressed of his home town of Minneapolis. Soth explains how this concept came about, in his interview with Marta Gili.

"As someone utterly removed from the world of Paris couture, how was I supposed to find my own voice? The more I thought about it, this sense of removal, this contrast between my world and Paris — this became the scaffolding to build the magazine."

"My favorite example of this involved Chanel. In Paris, I photographed Karl Lagerfeld at the Grand Palais. In Minnesota, I photographed a girl with a Chanel shopping bag in front of Sally's Beauty Shop. With this magazine, I'm trying to explore the distance between those two places."

Many of the pictures were very unexpected considering the context of their presentation. In Paris it's almost an ironic documentation, of the intensity and seriousness of that fashion culture. And in the more formalised/stylised portraits it seems to me as if the camera is very discerning of those models (of those people), rather than directing them. Then in Minnesota we are faced by awkward teenagers, staring candidly into camera. The photos here are almost intimate, the subjects vulnerable, but Soth does not appear critical, just observant. What surprised me further was glancing to the bottom of the page to read -  "POLO BY RALPH LAUREN wool suit and cotton shirt. DIOR HOMME shoes." All of a sudden these sensitive portraits bring you right back to - 'FashionMagazine'. Very good Mr Soth. Talk about pushing the boundaries, I'd say that he was more rearranging them.

So feeling that there was a lot of worth, a lot of discussion, and a lot of potential inspiration, I chose this magazine to present to the group. Believing that it could demonstrate the potential for a photographer to look at a recognised genre/style and then tackle it with a very unique personalised approach, as Soth has done.

I'm due to deliver this 'lecture' next week (of which you've essentially just had a sample of). I'll update with how it goes.