16th issue- 2019 UK ÂŁ 14
Laura Harada Planas -IED Barcelona-BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing & Communication, Level 6, 2019-6FAMK003C Visual Arts-CWK2-Teach-
OLD WAVE Photography & Styling
LAURA HARADA
Fashion Essay
Acne Paper
No.16
FASHION PORTFOLIO “OLD WAVE” Editor LAURA HARADA “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliott Erwitt,Photographer
F
or Acne Paper’s issue number 16 the key theme will be the French New Wave. For over decades, this has been a point of interest for numerous artists and other creatives and served as a inspiration guide to innovative masterpieces. The title ”Old Wave” is an ironic variation to the original term, which not necessarily indicates obsolesce but rather idealism to the genre and nostalgia. Further in depth, the movie which inspired the concept development for this fashion portfolio was “Breathless” by Jean Luc Godard. As many of his colleagues from the French New Wave artistic school he encourages directors to be their own creators in order to develop a visual style and narrative that was personal and appealing. One of the key elements of the film is the grainy black and white format, jump-cuts and the centralisation of a young rebellious character. For this reason, the conclusive concept involved a single male character unraveling in a Latin 1960s setting. Often times, when thinking about movies of the genre it is never considered to fuse locations and context other than France. However, the photographer and creative director of the story was born and raised in a iconoclastic sector of the 1950’s in the Dominican Republic. The subtle cultural disconnection captures the atmosphere of most Latin American cities which experienced prosperity during the 60’s. The young male character featured could have easily been a teenager in Cuba during the 60s who idolised the fervent personalities of French films.
The vintage lo-fi aesthetic and subtle multi-juxtaposed elements of the images have been applied in attempt to develop a photography art book rather than a regular photo sequence. Rather than stylists and fashion focused photography, the main sources of inspiration where photographers Duane Michael and Joel Meyerowitz. Duane Michals’s use of innovative photo-sequences is very familiar to Godard’s jump cuts and low-exposure images often examine emotion and philosophy. Joel Meyerowitz Street photography in the 1960’s was also was of great inspiration in order to shoot this portfolio. The entire production was of complete credit of the student as an art director, photographer, stylist and editor. As Acne Paper is a cultural publication focused on more universal practices unlimited to fashion, the outfits where not numerous but still transmitted relaxedness and references of the movie (sunglasses, cigarettes, poses, newspaper, hat) and fashion history from the tropics in the 60s. In conclusion, Acne Paper was selected as the publication of choice because of the its mission to merge historical and contemporary elements in order to represent creatives and intellectuals transcendent from time. The eclectic mix of portrait, art photography, prose and editorial narrative in their issues join together individuals from different generations.
Shirt and tie by Etro Sunglasses by Oliver Peoples
Suit and Trousers by Acne Studios
Watch-Cartier .Chain -Chromehearts NYC.
Duane Michals, Man to Man, 1977
1963. Courtesy of the artist and Howard Greenberg Gallery.
Joel Meyerowitz, Movie Theater Booth, Times Square, New York City,
STYLISTIC APPROACH & INSPIRATION
Jean Paul Belmondo in “Breathless”, 1960.
Jean-Luc Godard, 1960.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic landscapes 1950s-1960s.
Duane Michals: Selfportrait © Duane Michals, Courtesy Galerie Clara Maria Sels, 2017
VELA ZANETTI painting the Dominican History in SANTO DOMINGO, 1944. PALACIO CONSISTORIAL. National Archive
Issue no.15
THOMAS PERSSON Editor in Chief
ANDREAS LARSSON Photographer for Acne Paper