STEVEN MEISEL
MAKEOVER MADNESS MAKEOVER MADNESS
“I think I am in every picture that I take, regardless of whether it is a supper – commercial something”
State of Emergency
One of the greatest photographers of the fashion industry, Steven Meisel, he is a favorite of Anna Wintour and Franca Sozzani (BOF, 2018). The American photographer finished ‘Parsons School of Design’ like an illustrator but with the help of his friend, Oscar Reyes, a booker at Elite Management, asked him to make the portfolio photoshoots for the models. And when some of the models went for casting to the ‘Seventeen’ magazine, he was noticed as a photographer and asked for work with them. Nowadays he is working with big amount of the luxury brands such as, Versace, Valentino, Prada and etc. But as for me his style could be just see in his editorials when he by taking a photo trying to show a massive world’s problems and give us a story that we should read and feel. As he said on one of his interviews, his favorite photos the one that he was thinking about less than 1 minute, the most unobvious and unpredictable, because that kin of pictures says much more than just “a beautiful in a beautiful dress” (BOF, 2018).
Steven Meisel defines his style of photography as ''a little bit outrageous, a little bit crazy or sick - when I'm allowed to do what I want.'' (Anne - Marie Schiro, n. d.)
Steven Meisel has been changing the face of fashion since the 80s. His pictures do more than just show off expensive clothes. They tell a story, often focusing on political and social topics that most other photographers tend to shy away from. Racism, terrorism and domestic violence have all played a part in his work, causing a flurry of media storms worldwide. Meisel’s photography makes you think. And we mean really think. Steven’s played around with gender for a long time. His Asexual Revolution series was the first time he’d worked for W. Posing male models in female roles, gender-bending at its best. He tapped into the cultural zeitgeist – as always – giving the people of America a view they’d only ever seen in small independent magazines. From creating a black-only issue of Vogue Italia tackling racism to photographing terrified, corpse-like women for the domestic violence cause, Steven Meisel loves to stir up controversy. But he always does it for a reason. more.
Asexual Revolution
As an example of Steven Meisel’s famous works, I would like to present the editorial “Makeover Madness”, which was published in Vogue Italy’s July 2015 edition. In our real life, no one have the perfect body and the perfect face, so by the help of the plastic surgery everything could be aligned and improved. Some have had a potato-shaped nose adjusted, and some have had breast enhancement but other may really want nothing at all to do with it. The plastic surgery is no longer a phenomenon in celebrities’ and normal people’s lives. It is hardly official data, but it provides a part of a society that is increasingly obsessed not so much with curable illnesses as with physical appearance, bra size and sexual performance. Some people begin to perceive these experiments on themselves as a secret of beauty and happiness. Steven Meisel’s work shows the reality of the plastic surgery world. On photos, a sense of fear and pain can be seen on the faces of each model, but despite this they still go for it in order to keep up with the fashion.
References list Schiro, A. (2018). STYLE MAKERS; Steven Meisel - Photographer. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/19/style/ style-makers-steven-meisel-photographer.html [Accessed 4 May 2018]. The Business of Fashion. (2018). Steven Meisel is One of the 500 People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry in 2017. [online] Available at: https:// www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/steven-meisel [Accessed 4 May 2018]. Wonderland. (2018). 7 Wonders: Steven Meisel | Wonderland Magazine. [online] Available at: https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2014/11/27/ steven-meisel-hits-london/ [Accessed 4 May 2018].
To conclude with, Steven Meisel’s works had always been provocative in the fashion industry. He had not just created fashion and commercial editorials, but also put in it some world’s problems and by this way make people think and know about it.
032c Workshop. (2018). Who Is STEVEN MEISEL? | 032c Workshop. [online] Available at: https://032c.com/2008/who-is-steven-meisel/ [Accessed 4 May 2018]. Images reference Artandcommerce.com. (2018). Art + Commerce - Artists - Photographers - Steven Meisel. [online] Available at: https://www.artandcommerce.com/artists/photographers/steven-meisel [Accessed 4 May 2018].