PROFILE: PHOTOGRAPHY PROFILE: FASHION VISUAL ESSAY 4 PROFILE: MUSIC PLATFORM 4
VISUAL ESSAY 5 STOCKISTS GENERATION GLAMCULT COLOPHON 18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DUSTIN THIERRY
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SHAYNE OLIVER LET’S PURIFY TAMINO PORNCEPTUAL
134 146 158 166
SKIN DEEP
172 184 188 194 GLAMCULT #129
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NN S ’ CANDY NN S ’ CANDY NN S ’ CANDY Photography by Edith Bergfors Styling by Matt King
Anna: jacket Micol Ragni, bra Fleet Ilya, gloves Mulberry, glasses Xander Zhou
WALTER PFEIFFER WORDS BY LEENDERT SONNEVELT 62
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If you want to meet Walter Pfeiffer, you’ve got to go to Zürich. It is in Switzerland’s biggest city that the artist has resided for the past 70+ years, with the exception of a few important detours to the world’s biggest cities. So, when Glamcult gets invited to Zürich on the occasion of Pfeiffer’s collaboration with fashion designer Julian Zigerli, it only takes a split second before our bags are packed. Just a few days later we’re in Switzerland, enjoying a coffee with the artist while looking across Zürich’s famed river, the Limmat. “I’ve been here forever!” Pfeiffer begins, warmly welcoming us to his native soil. “I’ve also spent a year in Paris and a year in America, but I’ve always wanted to come back. Why? Because of my people. Life is beautiful here and everything’s so close together, you can walk anywhere.” Perhaps it’s Pfeiffer’s monochrome olive outfit, his charming accent when he chats, or the rich romance of the city that surrounds us—but sitting across from the cult icon, it’s nearly impossible to fathom that that’s, really, what he is. And that his work, though often light and colourful, has paved the way for a raw and realist generation of photographers traversing sexual liberation and the (male) body, including the likes of Wolfgang Tillmans, Jack Pierson and, later, Ryan McGinley and Matt Lambert. So, without pretending to retell a career that already spans half a century, let’s refresh for just a second. Born in Zürich in 1946, Walter Pfeiffer begins photographing his friends and acquaintances upon finishing his art studies. In an elaborate conversation with BUTT, the iconic magazine that’s served as an important launching pad for Pfeiffer’s later fashion work, he reflects: “It all started in the early ’70s. Right out of art school I first worked as a window dresser and later as a menswear consultant and buyer at the most fashionable department store in Switzerland. When I got laid off, in 1971, I was on the street, so I started my career as an artist. And I only wanted to be surrounded by beautiful boys. I wanted to work with them.” A multidisciplinary artist in essence, Pfeiffer’s visions come to life through various media—from painting and graphic design to portraiture and still life photography. Central in all of his work is bringing to light (or shining a light on) the beauty of youth, the exploration of the (boyish) body and—allegedly, due to his unsteady hand—his consistent use of camera flash. The artist’s big break is often seen as a 1974 exhibition curated by Jean-Christophe Ammann, yet the decades after still see Pfeiffer working mainly in the confines of the—mostly underground—world of art. But then, at the age of 55, the year 2001 happens. Welcome Aboard (2001) is the door that leads Pfeiffer from critical to popular acclaim, embodied by an exhibition of his photographic work from the ’80s and ’90s in Zürich and New York, as well as a comprehensive book. Suggestive, smart, straightforward and WALTER PFEIFFER
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Ojerime Retro-futuristic R&B princess “Can you handle all this flavour that I’m givin’ you?” Ojerime’s voice oozes sensually on the R&B-driven track Handle, establishing the self-assured yet mysteriously melancholic mood of her oeuvre. The South-Londoner—a breath of clear air in a saturated music industry—makes room for ’90s throwback vibes to collide with futuristic electronic ambience, serving up a sonic experience that simultaneously grounds and elevates. “I use writing as a tool to express my subconscious—channelling my sad energy as a purge,” she confesses, and as her vocals enchant her murky beats, we’re left emptied out but somehow fulfilled, with emotions seeping everywhere. Multifaceted and independent, Ojerime has also found a way to hone all her creative talents with her own brand Fang, through which she directs the instantly recognizable visual aspect of her work. Hers is an all-encompassing world: enter at your own risk of being irreversibly hooked.
“If my style had a name, it’d be ‘cosy bitch’.” @ojerime Photography: Barney Frost, Styling: Caitlin Moriarty 88
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Miink Singer, producer, boundary-pusher “A beauty hiding in the shadows,” Miink’s haunting falsetto vocals move you irrevocably. Oblivious, you find yourself in the London-based singer and producer’s realm of in-betweens, where his angelic voice echoes in a tunnel of dark, lo-fi R&B beats. Quite literally pouring his bleeding heart out in a visual for Scorched Moth, Miink wraps raw honesty in evocative mystery. Can perfection be reached in this balance of opposites? For Miink, that’s brutally uninteresting. “[Perfection] is stagnation, it’s death. There are no more questions, nothing left to learn.” The artist would rather test how far he can push things before they break. And in Miink’s musical world, you may tear up or you may laugh, but one thing is rock-solid sure: everything is soaked in affection.
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“What’s next is already in motion, and if you’re reading this, you’re already a part of it. Either roll with us, or you’re one of them.” @miinksmallclan UTOPIA | DYSTOPIA
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Hat Wrong Xiao, dress Maroske Peech, shoes John Fluevog
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GLAMCULT PROFILE
limiting human construct of what could be out there. That’s not how I believe the universe works. I do think there’s a grey area and that there’s always going to be a third choice. Speaking of grey areas, the I Love You porn film you directed touched upon those quite heavily… But first things first, how does one make a porn film? Do you just call up Pornhub or what? I actually called them to sponsor a music video, and they were like, “Sure, we can do that, but what about you joining our Visionaries Director’s Club and directing your dream porn?” It’s their guest director series through which they want to diversify porn. Young M.A., whom I absolutely love, had been the first artist to do it, so when I heard that, I immediately wanted to be part of it. And now I’m the second guest to direct for the club. What about creative freedom? Pornhub is, obviously, this insanely huge corporation. Did they try to impose their vision on you in any way? No, Pornhub gave all creative freedom to my team, and the film that you see is the ultimate high-art porn I was able to make within the budget and the time constraints. But, if I had more money, more time and a bigger space, too—I would definitely have done something even more extravagant and lavish, with more cameras and more stars. What intrigued me most about the film was its theatricality—partly a result of the harp soundtrack, I guess… I love classical music and I wanted the whole thing to be very romantic, ethereal and sensual; almost godlike. The harps—which were pre-recorded but also played during the filming process so as to set the mood for the scene—took a vital part in creating the magic that both the production and the final result are. I felt they could bring an element of beauty and set a tone for the viewer in a way that no other instrument or genre of music can. Were you trying to break down porn stereotypes with this project? I want to break down the patriarchy that has smashed porn for so long. This industry is run by senseless, disgusting pigs, who treat women—the divine source of energy and life—like fucking garbage. I want to bring in a female’s perspective on porn. Also, porn is taboo—a lot of people view it as something that’s beneath them. But it’s so not that. Sex and porn are literally the only things, along with shitting, eating and drinking water, which you think about all time; they’re natural human impulses. I truly believe that changing the face of porn has the potential to transform how all people view sex and sexuality, and then that can help elevate and raise consciousness around acceptance. So, get rid of all these disgusting men that have defined a non-sensual, non-aesthetic porn, and bring in more women, more people with taste. It can be a sexual revolution. I couldn’t agree more. People watch porn mindlessly but imagine if more porn was queer, aesthetic, beautiful and sensual. Our common consciousness could be truly transformed, just by comprehending and using the power of porn. One hundred percent! Also, imagine you’re living in Texas and you’re the only weirdo in the middle of nowhere. You’re queer and horny, so you go and look at porn sites. They’re going to be what will teach you about your sex drive and sex politics of your sexual orientation. So, we need to bring more sensuality, more beauty, just more to it as a whole. Bizarrely enough, I was told I was the first person ever to make porn that has a trans-girls scene, a lesbian scene BROOKE CANDY
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Davey: shirt and boots Walter Van Beirendonck, shorts Moto Guo
Photography: Barrie Hullegie Styling and casting: Leendert Sonnevelt Hair: Daan Kneppers for Biolage R.A.W.—NCL Representation Make-up: Carlos Saidel for NARS—House of Orange Models: Andreas, Davey (Elvis Models), Gauthier (Rebel Management), Jackson, Jemy (Alpha Model Management), Jip (Let It Go Management), Luan and Vincent Photography assistant: Thijs Jagers Special thanks to studio VAHQ
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SHAYNE OLIVER
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LET’S PURIFY YFIRUP S’TEL
Photography by Nick Thompson Styling by Natalie Yuksel
Top Marine Serre