PHOTOGRAPHERS

Fashion photography; a genre of photography which has become an industry of its own due to its devotion to a different side including the likes of clothing, accessories, shoes, lifestyle etc. It is fun, fantastical, sensuous, glamour fuelled and more and is above all very different compared to that of photography.

Prominent fashion photographers with the likes of Edward Steichen, where his portraits for Vanity Fair brought him new fame; Baron Adolf de Meyer, American Vogue’s fi rst offi cial fashion photographer; Richard Avedon, the most infl uential fashion photographer of the post-war era; Erwin Blumenfeld, an imaginative visionary who claimed to have “smuggled art” into his body of work and later on, David Bailey, considered one of the pioneers of contemporary photography. Just to name a few. Themselves and others have contributed to the world of fashion photography, being responsible in taking the viewer into a dreamy state, something more surreal, unimaginable, and setting the pattern pieces for today’s fashion photographers and image makers. Tim Walker; Miles Aldridge; Juergen Teller and Elizaveta Porodina are a handful of fashion photographers I have looked into that have created iconic and memorable fashion images as well as paving the way for the future fashion visionaries. To compare and contrast two photographers who have played leading roles in fashion photography and image making would be an interesting way of visualising them. With Irving Penn who has passed away and Juergen Teller who is still very much working, what qualities overlap and what qualities differ from one another? Fashion photography was the fi rst method of producing fashion related imagery in capturing the ideas of both designer and photographer.

Irving Penn began his creative career in the early 1930s and during his studies, Alexey Brodovitch saw Penn’s potential, inviting him to work on some projects for Harper’s Bazaar. Later in 1943, Art Director of Vogue, Alexander Liberman, hired Penn as his assistant. Irving Penn went on to photograph 165 covers for Vogue over sixty years (David, 2021). Penn was one of the early creatives who helped defi ne fashion photography, but was someone who also knew the importance of having other hobbies outside of fashion including art and still life, nude photography and portraiture which all contributed to his unique style. Irving Penn helped to bridge the gap between art and fashion commerce to ‘redefi ne the language of fashion photography in the process’ (Woodward, 2017).

FIGURE 10: Irving Penn (1950) photographed by Cecil Beaton

FIGURE 11: Juergen Teller Self Portrait

Juergen Teller studied photography in Munich for two years and then made the move over to London in 1986. He found his way within the industry through new British culture magazines, particularly i-D and The Face which were locations best for Teller’s work. He has shot advertising campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Céline and Vivienne Westwood to name a few. More recently, Teller has compiled a collection of editorial imagery called Donkey Man and Other Stories, Volume 1 published by Rozolli. This is essentially a compilation of the past thirty years of Teller’s outcomes (Nowill, 2021).

Irving Penn can be seen as one of the first minimalists who introduced studio shoots with a plain background. His portraits were always in black and white, whereas photographing fashion and still life, he would opt for colour. For Penn, it was about less is more, simplifying the subject and eliminating unnecessary components perhaps to focus on precisely what was being captured and have no other distractions. It was about capturing the authentic side to subjects, creating dramatic outcomes naturally through the high contrast printing through dark and light.

Similarly, to Penn, Juergen Teller also believes the simplest ideas are the best ideas and that things shouldn’t be overcomplicated. Comparing the two photographers, Teller also recognises the authentic self is the best self. Like Penn, Teller also understands the importance of taking time out for other hobbies so that when they come to capturing imagery, they immerse themselves in it to their upmost and it doesn’t become mundane and unenjoyable. Teller likes to create space and a Teller trademark is ‘a seemingly random image surrounded by vast expanses of blank page’(Anaya, 2015). Perhaps it can be imagined that Teller’s use of visual space on pages can replicate the minimalistic approach of the late Penn’s approach to the subject being the only element in focus.

During Penn’s working years, photoshop wouldn’t have been around for him to edit his work to create enhanced images or more abstract pieces. Equally, Teller has never really shown an interest in ‘selling a glossy, fantastical version of reality’. It is about being raw and real and even though the majority of his photographs are set up, they feel very real and relatable.

Irving Penn certainly continues to inspire and influence today’s fashion imagery and throughout his career he too integrated new ways of working, demonstrating to us that time moves and so does the industry. However, he remained tied to his roots in being a minimalist. The trends changed, but he did not. Nick Knight has acknowledged the parts that Penn played in fashion photography and how this later informs the landscape of modern day fashion photography and image making.

FIGURE 12: Jane Patchett (1950) photographed by Irving Penn

FIGURE 13: Photograph of a print, Cerith, Suffolk (2011) photographed by Juergen Teller Photographers and magazines have an intertwined relationship on helping one another showcase recent and iconic work to help tell the stories of the time, address cultural issues and to visually demonstrate how the industry is changing each time something new is published. Juergen Teller believes the growth of online and digital platforms such as Instagram has damaged the uniqueness of fashion images. The online environment, specifically Instagram is a photo-based app that we scroll and scroll and half the time don’t take in what we are looking at. As emotion and feelings are imperative to Teller’s work, this could damage and fizzle out the strength of fashion photography and imagery in becoming an everyday sight, rather than a luxury insight into another world. For Teller, he would much rather celebrate magazines over social media.

FIGURE 14: Victoria Beckham photographed by Juergen Teller for Marc Jacobs