THE MUSE ISSUE NO. 6
ART, PHOTOGRAPHY & CULTURE
featuring laurel N O . 6 J A N - M A R C H 2 01 6 ÂŁ 2 .8 0
the new face of british alternative-pop
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Editor’s Letter - 04
Introducing our issue on the modern muse
Our Favourite Things - 06
New films, new reads and new trends
5 to See - 08
A look into this season’s exhibitions
Amelia Foy - 10
We speak about art and feminism with the teen behind the coolest visual diary on Tumblr
In this issue
Adi Dekel - 14
This young self-taught photographer shares her insight into the world in her first ever interview
CMYK Photographic Prize - 20
Get the recognition you deserve as a young artist or photographer
Page Turners - 23
Brighten your desk with books from Picasso to Damien Hirst
Jack Davison - 24
He hasn’t studied photography, but Jack is hot property in fashion and portraiture
Classic Perception - 28
Elegance meets the unconventional in this fashion editorial by Cansu Ozkaraca
Laurel Arnell-Cullen - 32
Meet Laurel, the new face of British alternative pop
Editor’s Letter
Issue Six: The Muse
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f you think about it, everything starts with the Muse. All of it. Every good poem and idea, every small act of kindness and creative brilliance. The Muse, the goddess of creativity and inspiration, precedes them all. And so it seems fitting that we start with our sixth issue with a dedication to the Muse, like the ancient poets and philosophers were known to do. No one really knows where the word muse came from. Some argue that it can be traced back to the root word for memory, or mountain, or mind. But no one is certain. It seems that the world itself, much like the thing it signifies, is shrouded in mystery. “The major difference between magic and art is that magic can be explained,” wrote Francine Prose in her fantastic book, The Lives of the Muses. The creative process is the most inexplicable thing about being human. John Lennon reffered to the way songs just suddenly appeared in his head, “So I’m lying around then this thing comes as a whole piece, you know, words and music,” he once told a reporter, “can I say I wrote it? I don’t know who the fuck wrote it - I’m just sitting here and the whole song comes out.” Even J.K. Rowling admitted that the whole of Harry Potter came to her suddenly and completely: “I was travelling back to London on my own on a crowded train and the idea of Harry Potter simply fell into my head.” All she had to do was write it down. Artists will often remove themselves from their work in this way, as if they had nothing to do with the idea behind it. They were just the vessel through, which the muse could do her thing. To me, the Muse - the theme of this issue, represents everything the modern woman stands for. She is both thinker and creator, she isn’t afraid to ask the big questions in life and inspires everyone she meets. The same can be said for the modern man by becoming the leader of his pack, and showing us how to reach horizons we never thought was possible. I wish that this issue will do the same for you. I hope you are inspired by our exploration of the creative. Happy reading!
Cansu Ozkaraca Editor in Chief
On the cover: Laurel Arnell-Cullen represented by Next Models, photographed by Cansu Ozkaraca, makeup by Christine Valerie, hair by Micky Kastly
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Essential reading, from left to right: To walk in someone else’s shoes, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. To understand what love really looks like, Love Poems by Pablo Neruda. To understand the mind of another, The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. To find peace, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. To change the way you see the world, Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre. To seek tragic adventures, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. To enjoy the moment, A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.
All About Eve is one of the most extraordinarily feminist movies ever made, and unless you were born in the 1930s, you’ve probably never seen it before. The movie stars the gorgeous Bette Davis, who plays an aging actress outdone by a younger rival. Unlike the vast majority off movies you see today. All About Eve has a cast of fully realised characters who engage in some of the most direct and witty discussions about women’s place in society. And considering that it was made before the women’s liberation movement, this is nothing short of astounding. In one telling scene, Bette explains with stoic bitterness, “There is one career all females have in common, whether we like it or not, and it’s being a woman. Sooner or later we’ve got to work at it, no matter how many other careers we’ve had or wanted... nothings any good unless you can look up before dinner, or turn around in bed and there he is. Without that, you’re not a woman.” The movie deals with unrealistic beauty expectations, ageism, objectification and so much more. Contemporary film producers could take some major cues from this film. Go, watch!
Somewhere tucked away in Tuscany, the forces of nature have constructed some of the most beautiful white mountains of pure Carrara marble in the world. Centuries of architects have imagined their buildings being erected, and artists like Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael have visualised the unchiseled faces of their muses hiden within the slabs of this ancient rock. To the naked eye the Carrara mountains may not look like much, but to centuries of creatives, it’s the home of nature’s purest creative medium. Marble is the mineral equivalent of a crisp, blank sheet of paper, a symbol of purity and the promise of potential masterpiece. And today it’s capturing the world’s imagination in a new way, appearing on store shelves, graphic design and fashion. Derek Lam Fall/Winter 2016 Ready to Wear This Derek Lam stacked heel was inspired by the women of New York, or more specifically Mia Farrow, Dianne West and those amazing female Woody Allen characters. The shoes are an instant classic, featuring subtle piping details, a square toe and chunky heel, with a strong yet sophisticated silhouette that actually works for daily wear. This chunky heeled style could be seen all over the runways and will likely end up on your feet sooner or later. Designers like Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy and Emilio Pucci featured this beautiful yet practical silhouette in their latest collections.
Weekly planner £3 Dunelm
First row from the left: Balenciaga shoes, Trager Delaney silk suit, Eddie Borgo inlaid marble earrings. Second row: Fort Standard marble and leather trivet triangle, “Material World 4” art print by Julia Kaiser, Lara Melchior ring. Third row: Marble iPad cover available on etsy, marble lollipop art piece by Carl Kleiner. Last row: Taste marble watch.
Starkey table lamp, £45 Made.com
Ceramic camera ornament, £5 Wilko Graphic plant pot £2 Tiger
Fig candle in a jar, £10 Urban Outfitters
C’est la vie cushion, £6.99 H&M
5 TO SEE A look at this season’s exhibitions
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1 Portraits of an Icon: Audrey Hepburn
4 Vogue 100: Century of Style
The National Portrait Gallery Extended to 14 February 2016
The National Portrait Gallery 11 February - 22 May 2016
This exhibition illustrates the life of actress and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993). It includes a selection of more than seventy images including classic and rarely seen prints from leading twentiethcentury photographers such as Cecil Beaton, Terry O’Neill and Norman Parkinson. Alongside these will be an array of vintage magazine covers, film stills, and archival material. There are many glamorous film stars, however their fame is often restricted to their time and place. Icons such as Audrey Hepburn seem to transcend their time and place, her career in many ways was relatively short and covers the period when she was one of the world’s most photographed and recognisable stars. It is these photographs that form the bulk of the exhibition and offers an opportunity to consider the part they play in the creation of Audrey Hepburn as an Icon.
The first issue of Vogue was published in 1916; the iconic “fashion bible” is celebrating its centenary with a major exhibition of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery. It will feature fashion, beauty and photography from the last 100 years, which means that visitors will be able to see for the first time over 280 prints from the Conde Nast archive. According to Vogue “The work of world-class photographers – including Cecil Beaton, Lee Miller, Irving Penn, Snowdon, David Bailey, Corinne Day, Patrick Demarchelier, Nick Knight, Herb Ritts, Mario Testino, Tim Walker and Albert Watson – will feature, as will the fashion designers that defined the looks of the century, including Dior, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen.” The National Portrait Gallery also has a large permanent collection of paintings and portrait photographs, dating from the 16th century to the current day.
The Little Black Gallery 19 January - 27 February 2016
The Saatchi Gallery 6 January - 6 March 2016
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Marilyn Monroe and features Milton H. Greene and Douglas Kirkland’s portraits of Hollywood’s golden girl. Milton H. Greene was one of the most celebrated photographers in the world. By the time he first met Monroe in 1953, Greene was known as “Colour Photography’s Wonder Boy” and his talent gained the recognition of Look, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. By the end of their four-year relationship, Greene produced more than 5,000 images, some of which have never been published. By contrast, Kirkland’s relationship with Marilyn was more ‘up-close-and-personal’. In 1961, the star invited the then 27 year-old photographer to come to bed with her. The result? His famous photograph series ‘An Evening With Marilyn Monroe’ - sensual, intimate and spontaneous. Now, you can see the different sides to Hollywood’s golden girl in this series of beautiful photographs.
This is the first show at Saatchi to be entirely devoted to female artists. It takes its title from a 2014 work by artist Julia Wachtel. Wachtel chose an Internet image of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West, flipped it upside-down and placed it next to a blue representation of Minnie Mouse. We think that it is reminiscent to Andy Warhol, but Wachtel’s main reference is surprisingly R&B star Ne-Yo, whose song Champagne Life tells of a kind of glitzy lifestyle. Unless you’re a rapper, a Kardashian, or simply wealthy, the bubbly life is likely to be out of reach. This exhibition may decline a deeper discussion into gender and doesn’t make the Saatchi Gallery a feminist, but you should be able to see some very different artists. Far too few women artists have museum and gallery representation, so a show like this asks us to do nothing more than “celebrate” some very different artists. Champagne Life is as flat as the bubbly when the party is over.
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Annie Liebovitz: Women
The Wapping Hydraulic Power Station 16 January - 27 February 2016 The world’s leading celebrity portrait photographer, Annie Liebovitz has become just as famous as her subjects, which travel to 10 cities between 12 months. The project is a continuation of one that began in 1999, when Liebovitz and Susan Sontag (writer and filmmaker) presented a collection of portraits entitled Women. The
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main link between the images is the female subjects. Despite the instantly recognisable style of Liebovitz, this exhibition doesn’t propose any challenges to accepted notions of feminity. There is Caitlin Jenner’s portrait, and Ellen Degeneres’, in which she appears topless with her face painted like a clown and her boxer shorts visible. Aside from these there are very few portraits of lesbian, bisexual or transgender women. This is quite suprising for an artist with as high profile as Liebovitz. Yet, the wonderful artistry of Liebovitz alongside the Wapping Power Station’s industrial architecture makes this exhibition worth visiting for inspiration.
AMELIA FOY, ARTIST Until she posted a scanned version of her oldest art piece entitled “But it still hurts” onto Tumblr last July, Amelia Anne Josephine Foy was almost entirely unknown. She’d post on Tumblr after the completion of every artwork, but didn’t take into account that her pieces impacted young people across the world with each click. Her most popular “reblogs” each have over 200,000 notes.
A week after the CMYK photoshoot, the end of January, and I’m having coffee with Amelia Foy in her apartment. She is wearing a muted green turtle neck and her favourite black skirt; there’s much evidence of bold makeup on her face with her signature winged-eyeliner. She is bright, calm and mature. Her room isn’t clear from clutter and is crowded with loose sheets of doodles, illustrating the perfect representation of a laid-back teen whose interests lies in anything that is artsy. Amelia Anne Josephine Foy aka “deep-and-artsy” was born 18 years ago and grew up in London. She began art when she was a child and saw it as a way of expressing herself in an abstract form. She sees art as the only way to fully escape, yet subconsciously engage with the world. Now, she prepares to study BA Art and Design at Central Saint Martins or Goldsmiths University. Her talents also include writing, which is often interconnected with her art to provide a form of literal expression in her pieces. “Fatigue”, with its deep meaning not just for fans, but for Foy herself, tells a narrative about a tired teenager. The character subtly glares at us with one eye closed and the other eye pulled down as a means to illustrate this. Often teenagers are troubled with balancing school with their social life, whilst trying to make time for other important things like spending time alone to regain energy. Foy informs me that she thinks deeply about life at times when she is the most stressed. She looks off to the distance and says “I often feel like I’m suspended in space. I think about how it’s much more bigger than us, and makes us feel small. It’s pretty, but also scary, just like life.” The space-inspired “Fatigue”, started off as a doodle, unplanned and subconscious, led by pure emotion. Many adolescents would be able to relate to this piece of work, as it illustrates the point in which we all become tired and reflective on our intentions.
Artwork by Amelia Foy Opposite page: photography by Cansu Ozkaraca
Undoubtedly, she demonstrates that non-expensive materials could result in beautiful work. I notice that she mostly uses Biro and felt pens, watercolour and acrylic paints, and occasionally uses thread for stitching. It’s her own personal style that makes her stand out from the crowd. Each character she draws manages to borrow features from different people in her imagination or sometimes from
front page of the Internet; all from “the dress” debate to “life goals” snaps. But since Tumblr is structured heavily around “following” other bloggers and sharing their work, it quickly evolved into a vast, unmapped network of niche communities in much earlier years. She jots down a few of her thoughts whilst engaging with me. I curiously ask her if she is working on something new.
“I hate women’s magazines. You see a tip on how to lose weight, then you turn to the next page, and it tells you how to make chocolate cake!” whom she knows personally. I ask her who she takes inspiration from and she smiles, whilst talking about @okaymontana on Tumblr, whose work is a visual personal diary, as well as @ello, “who prints pictures from her daily life and writes on them and even gives her journals human names”. Tumblr is certainly a platform for discovery and is becoming increasingly popular amongst today’s youth, and not just in terms of art. 2015 was when Tumblr became the
Getting into dicussion straight away, “I hate women’s magazines”, she says abruptly. She maintains, “You see a tip on how to lose weight, then you turn to the next page, and it tells you how to make chocolate cake!” Whilst we begin talking about feminism, she shows me several photographs of models, each taken from popular fashion magazines. One entitled “Au Natural”, is the original image of the 2013 summer advertisement for the Prada Candy perfume.
But these are no longer ordinary portraits of overly ‘photoshopped’ girls with no body hair. She has doodled hair on their legs to challenge the portrayal of women as a “brand”. The idea of intersectionality feminism, as Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 defined it as “the view that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity. Cultural patterns of oppression are not only interrelated, but are bound together and influenced by the intersectional systems of society. Examples of this include race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity.” In other words, certain groups of women have multi-layered facets in life that they have to deal with. There is no one-size-fits-all-type of feminism. Foy supports this idea that every woman is affected by different things. In her new project, she is planning to photograph girls with different body shapes, from all races and backgrounds. We are looking forward to where this project will take Foy, as it will speak for lots of women. The concept of intersectionality in feminism only seems to have made it in the mainstream debate in the past year or so. deep-and-artsy.tumblr.com
© Amelia Foy
Š Adi Dekel
ADI DEKEL, PHOTOGRAPHER She’s just 19 and is recognised for taking beautiful portraits of girls integrated in nature. It’s time for Adi Dekel’s first interview. What on Earth is she going to say?
Adi Dekel is a 19-year-old selftaught photographer from Israel. At the moment she is on a crossroad, thinking about where to go next, what to learn about and how to keep growing… Prior to everything, photography has become a way of self-expression for Adi. She is able to find her place in the world where she can let her self create and be free. Adi has been taking photographs ever since she could remember, whether if it was from an old mobile phone or an old point and shoot camera. Capturing the little things she found beautiful, like flowers, friends and her dog was a way for her to discover her medium in photography – portraiture. The Internet also became a platform of discovery with a whole new world of photography that she didn’t know about. Coming across fine art and conceptual photography filled her with passion and developed the understanding that photography is more than just pressing the shutter button. Starting out with selfportraiture was Adi’s main struggle. The notion of exposing herself in the photograph, but also on social media became slightly challenging.
She started taking faceless portraits, which actually attracted a large audience; they have grown to not only admire her aesthetics, but also the mysterious mood of her early portraits. Adi has an international following of 45,000 followers. Isn’t that impressive? Though, social media has left negative impacts on Adi. The positive aspect is the exposure. It’s an instant worldwide platform to share your work in whilst receiving honest feedback.
“I had to disconnect myself from opinions in order to achieve new things” The connections she has built through platforms such as Facebook and Flickr is also a positive contribution. “The negative side is that once you reach a certain amount of followers, you’re afraid to disappoint them.” It’s mainly the impact of platforms such as Instagram, which allows you to reach an online audience that is ready for their favourite photographers to regularly “deliver” them with the style they like. “That’s
why I decided to take a little break from social media, in order to be able to grow. I had to disconnect myself from opinions in order to achieve new things”, Dekel says. Colour plays a vital role in Adi’s work, as her work features rich jewel tones to soft pastel colours. “I find it can help to tell a story, to create a bit of un-realistic vibe (which I really like). I love being able to change colors and not having to being dependent on the way things appear in real life”, she says. Colour doesn’t just come into Adi’s work through Photoshop. She tells me that sometimes she finds herself planning a whole picture only based on colours. For example, for those that already know Adi, you’ll often come across redhead girls integrated in beautiful flowers. We love the splash of red-orange in a photograph, as it is almost reminiscent to several portrait photographers out there, most notably the Italian photographer, Alessio Albi. Adi has met Alessio Albi and other photographers in several gatherings, which is probably why we can’t help but admire these like-minded creatives.
“Being surrounded by such positive and inspiring environment has it’s benefit, it’s truly motivating and also a great way to learn and to see how other photographers work”, she says. What is your favourite image you have shot recently? It’s been quite a while since I got to shoot, but one of my latest works I like best is the image entitled “Unreachable”. It was shot in a little pond in Belgium during a rainy afternoon. It originally was supposed to be part of a little photo series inspired by one of my favorite books ‘The Little Prince”. In the end I never got to share the rest of the photos from the series. Yet this one had a special meaning to me, the feeling of floating in the reflection of the sky and trying to touch that unreachable star. It was shot it natural light, like all of my pictures. The composition and colours are quite similar to the rest of my work, having that centered bright object against a darker surrounding…
How important is Photoshop for your final results? Personally, a photograph never ends once I press the shutter - it’s never enough. In Photoshop, I let myself change reality, from colours to light. I love creating a whole new vibe and atmosphere to an image, which simply does not exist in real life. I know there a quite a lot of people who feel using Photoshop that way is taking away from a photograph being “authentic”, but post processing is an integral part of my work.
When you are out shooting, how much of it’s instinctual versus planned?
It’s something I’m trying to work on now. I find myself doing both. Sometimes I have a planned shoot, but end up unable to pull it off for whatever reason, whether if that’s a light or weather. Maybe it’s because I’m unable to achieve what I envision. My goal is to plan as much as I can prior to the shooting day. This includes coming up with a concept, story and a work-plan, with a final images in my head. I mainly want to have a true meaning behind What do you want your viewers to it all. take away from your work? If you could live anywhere on this I would love to get with myself to a awesome planet, where would you point where I truly feel like I share build your dream home? enough with my viewers for them to take something for it. I feel as if There are so many places I would I’m very private about everything like to visit and stay to create a home and it’s shown in my pictures and there, I find myself coming up with a what I share. I would love them to new dream every couple of years, be inspired to pick up their own but since I was 10 years old I always cameras and shoot, but I feel like dreamed on California and I find it’s still relevant today. that’s a basic thing to want.
Who are your favourite photographers? Do they influence your work? I have an ever-growing list of people I look up to, including some wellknown photographers like Tim Walker and Annie Leibovitz. Young talents I discovered over social media like Oleg Oprisco, Mira Nedyalkova, Alex Stoddard, David Uzochukwu, Ines Reheberg, Sina Domke, Marta Bevacqua, Laura Zalenga and the list goes on. One of my favourite things are to see the progress of those photographers, look at the “timeline” of their photos and see how they develop themselves, as photographers, as artists, as storytellers. It’s inspiring. What do you think of the photography industry at the moment and where do you see it in 5 years from now? I’ll talk about what is happening in my environment: I feel like it’s more difficult for people to see photography as a form of art, unlike painting and drawings they mainly see and treat photography as a documentary tool. I have no idea what will happen in 5 years, but I hope to see more fine art photography hanged in galleries and in people’s living rooms. What talent would you most like to have? There are so many things I would love to know how to do like cooking, drawing and singing. I would love to have some stage-related talent. I find that people who have a stage talent tend to be really radiant and vibrant. What are your thoughts on working on single images versus projects? I haven’t got many chances to work on projects or a photo series. I would truly love to, I find it a wonderful way to tell a story and has much more room and possibilities rather than a single image. Sometimes I find it easier to “put all the effort” on one single image rather than trying to produce a few. Are you working on some new ideas? I have a list of ideas that are just sitting in my head waiting to be created already. I want to be prepared as possible to produce them in the best possible way I can, so I’m taking my time with it. Do you take photos for yourself or for others? I take photos for myself. I did shoots for catalogues and magazines, which I haven’t enjoyed at all, It made me realise that photography is a part of me I’m very passionate about, for which I have my own rhythm and way of doing things. In order to keep this place filled with pure passion, I can’t pursue photography as an everyday job. What advice would you give to your younger self? An advice is put yourself out there without the fear of what people would say. Do whatever you want, for yourself and not for anyone else. www.adidekel.com
CMYK Photographic Prize Whether you’re starting out as a professional artist or photographer, it can be challenging. In a world where anyone can call themselves a photographer or artist, being able to stand out is becoming difficult. It’s exactly the reason why we decided to launch the CMYK competition to showcase the hard work of our readers and reward talented students. We had an overwhelming response on our website since we announced this, and we already have received outstanding entries with the release of the first issue. Each of our categories has two winners, each receiving a £250 cash prize and an automatic internship in their field. All 8 winners will also get permanent biography on our website, which is our little bit towards helping you get the exposure and recognition you deserve. If you’re lucky you may even get to take over CMYK’s Instagram
and share your work with our readers. In order to help you get the recognition you deserve as a talented breakthrough artist or during the vital early stages of your careers, we have put together four categories you can enter your work into every 3 months when our new issue is released. All four of these come with a entry fee of £5, and are guaranteed to be fairly judged and appraised by some of the industry’s most esteemed professional artists and directors. If you would like to get your work seen by the enter your work into one of our four categories you can submit your entries until the deadline: March 21st. Simply go to the category you would like to enter for more information on submission requirements and more information on our prizes. All four awards are open to amateurs and students, with applications submitted online. If you need any help with the process, feel free to send us a tweet! A member of our team would be pleased to help address any concerns or inquiries you may have. The CMYK photographic prize runs from January 6 2016 to 23 March 2016. www.cmyk. com/whatson/cmykpp
Š Cansu Ozkaraca
From ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Fiona Banner (£12.99, Four Corners Books & the Variety Press)
‘Warhol & Mapplethorpe: Guise & Dolls’ edited by Patricia Hickson (£36, Yale University Press)
Millie Marotta’s ‘Animal Kingdom’ Colouring book (£3.99, The Book People)
‘Warhol & Mapplethorpe: Guise & Dolls’ edited by Patricia Hickson (£36, Yale University Press)
Page Turners Essential books to brighten your desk
Matisse’s ‘Blue Nude II’ (1952), from ‘Body of Art’ (£39.95)
A Damien Hirst x Alexander McQueen scarf from ‘Art + Fashion’ by EP Cutler and Julien Tomasello (355, Chronicle)
‘Libertine: The Creative Beauty, Humor, and Inspiration Behind the Cult Label.’
Works by the Danish artist FOS, from ‘One Language Traveller’ (£35, InOtherWords)
JACK DAVISON, PHOTOGRAPHER Jack Davison will turn 26 this year, but his photography is already the mainstay of some of the biggest fashion magazines in the business, including the freshly relaunched New York Times magazine. His love of spontaneous portraiture, straight off the stre et, is turning the boy from Essex into a major fashion photographer. Walking down the street with Jack Davison can be time-consuming. A sharp-suited bloke talking on the phone, a pretty young girl in a hurry, a bored construction worker seated by the side of the road, a balding old soak nursing a pint; Davison approaches each without a moment’s hesitation. After introducing himself and chatting for a few seconds, he’s circling round them, or leaning over them, or down on his knees with his camera, often inches
to them throughout, framing quickly and firing off a few shots. He’s relaxed, composed in the moment, then a short thanks and he’s gone, walking down the street, briefly checking his new portrait. Like any 25-year-old, is still trying to work stuff out, to get his head around the complexities of making a career out of photography. “I have no idea how to use this thing, really,” he says, gesturing to his camera. “I just press random buttons.” But though he’s self-deprecating to a fault,
Davison is making it, fast. He’s already been commissioned by magazines such as the New York Times Magazine, AnOther and Garage, among many others, and has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram and Flickr. As I buy our drinks, he pulls out his camera, plays briefly with an image he’s just taken, and then posts it to his social media. Later that day, his portrait of the smiling guy in the high-vis jacket has hundreds of likes and scores of comments.
Some photographers might be tempted to hoard their images; for Davison, sharing online is entirely natural, because that’s where he learnt his trade. He grew up in Essex, hoping to become a marine biologist, but started taking photographs when he was 15 with the family’s Canon IXUS, and got interested enough to buy a “dodgy” Nikon D50 on eBay. It was Flickr that really gave him the bug, allowing him to share his work, to get what he calls his photographic education. He’s never formally studied photography or art, choosing instead to read English literature at the University of Warwick; one of the first images in his portfolio was taken in Warwick’s fantastically Brutalist student accommodation, and shows a girl standing naked by a window, the curtains drawn, shafts of light streaming in. “I think it helps I also never never got ‘taught’ in an official sense,” he says. “I was never told how to do things, and never given any set boundaries, so I’ve have never had a problem with experimenting.” After university,
“I’d head out and wander through the streets looking for people to speak to and photograph. I’m reliant on moments of spontaneity with Davison set off on a six-month tour of the US, but rather than taking my subjects.” time out, he decided to create “a body of work that encapsulated my philosophy as a photographer”. “We did 10,000 miles on the road,” he says. “I’d head out and wander through the streets looking for people to speak to and photograph. I’m reliant on moments of spontaneity with my subjects.” The resulting series is 26 State and helped launch his career in London. It’s a heady mix of portraits, almost all in monochrome, ranging from starkly lit, strongly featured women to kindly old men, from young kids trying to look tough to streetdwelling guys who really are. “I consider myself a documentary photographer,” he says. “But I am much more interested in the beauty or strangeness of a moment than I am with finding facts.” he says.
Disrupted View Davison “values spontaneity, the unplanned moment” above all else, yet he’s also happy to mess with his images before or after the event. He might take a portrait in a shadow, in a reflection or deliberately blurred, or he might stratch the negative, or rip the shot after it’s printed. And as he’s a portrait photographer, these interventions often end up obscuring the face, though he says it’s not something he’s consciously thought about until I bring it up. In one image, a woman holds a shard of glass, for example, staring obliquely through its reflection; in another the model’s
© Jack Davison
face is shrouded in a blue light, or half her face fades away in soft focus. “I’m always experimenting when shooting,” says Davison. “I’m always trying to keep things playful, to keeps things from going stale. There is a certain joy in seeing a discarded bit of perspex on the street, picking it up and shooting through it.” Another image sees the subject stare out through curling smoke; Davison who was “obsessed with [Salvador] Dalí as a kid”, and is “thinking a lot now about Man Ray, Lisette Model, Alfred Stieglitz”, worked on the smoke until it resembled brush strokes, all smudges and swirling curlicues. “There is a ton of very simple, straight out of the camera work being made at the moment” he says. “A lot of it is excellent, but there’s a glut of it. I think it’s got to the extent where people aren’t pushing themselves - they’ve become too precious about the image, about sticking to the rules. I’m not afraid of cropping or editing or messing with the image.” He talks passionately about John Deakin, the postwar British photographer
who grew up in relative poverty in the outer reaches of Liverpool and lived for most of his early early adulthood in Berwick Street, Soho, spending too much time drinking in The Colony Room. Deakin photographed the other artists and writers out there - Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and Francis Bacon, Dylan Thomas, Daniel Parson and Jeffery Bernard - but was always ashamed of his medium. “He didn’t like photography and yearned to be a painter” he says. “Yet he took these brilliant portraits, which he left lying around his studio getting stood on hattered, covered in layers of dust. The prints are so special because he really didn’t seem to give a shit about them”, Davison continues. “They are all dog-eared and ripped, corners missing. But it gives them even more presence, this sense of discarded moments, the photographs forgotten and left to rot.” Davison has been able to translate his love of shooting people into fashion stories, and his commissions have often taken advantage of his off-centre approach to images; his work for
him to show off his admiration for Deakin, via portraits ripped in half them matched with other half images. He suddenly breaks off and looks up, and stares intently at a middle-aged guy smoking a cigarette and nursing a drink on the other side of the window. He picks up his camera, walks outside and takes the man’s portrait. What did he see there, I ask when he comes back inside. “It was the way the light was catching him, i guess”, Davison says. “A look into his eyes, the intricacies of the face.” He recalls approaching an interesting girl on the tube, and photographing her on the platform at the Bank station. Doesn’t he ever get nervous about doing something like that, I wonder. “I did, but you develop a confidence in yourself” he says. “But the thing you realise if a lot of people want their pictures taken now. I can’t help it. I do it without thinking. And the way someone reacts in front of the lens, the pressure to get it right in the time you have with them - I find that exciting, I live for that.” www.jackdavison.com
CLASSIC
PERCEPTION Photography by CANSU OZKARACA Model KATHERINE BROWN Makeup CHRISTINE VALERIE Hair Styling ERIKA THOMAS Fashion Designer ERSALINA LIM Fashion Stylist IVY SCARLETT
LAUREL, SINGER AND SONGWRITER Me et Laurel: the New Face of British alternative pop with some serious vocal chops. She lo oks every bit the pixie dream girl, a fresh-faced 21-year-old, with recently cropped locks of blonde hair and rosy che eks. It’s no surprise that since her first single “Next Time” surfaced online in 2012 and attracted the usual blog buzz, Laurel’s garnered comparisons to just about every successful pop singer out there. Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Laura Marling, Florence and the Machine. While the production on some of her songs overlaps with both Lana and Lorde’s, she’s vocally more on a par with Emily Haines of Metric, MS MR’s Lizzy Plapinger or a peppier Zola Jesus. As Laurel prepares her song “Life Worth Living” for release, she’s learning how to style herself, exploring her penchant for charity shops and coming to terms with eking out her own existence in an industry that’s been lumping electropop female artists together since about 2009. “There’s always going to be people who are similar to you, especially if you’re female. It’s very hard to distinguish yourself when you’re doing alternative pop music. Everyone just thinks it’s the same.” Laurel’s always spoken pretty openly about her influences. Folk musician Laura Marling takes the prize for inspiring Laurel to start writing songs when she was around 13. “I got a guitar, ‘cos I wanted to be Laura,” she says, giggling. “She’s amazing, she’s so cool. I don’t want to ever meet her though, I just want her to be this cool person that inspires me”. Now, Laurel says she turns to Florence Welch, Marina and the Diamonds and even Lana for a hit of inspiration. Her recent singles reflect those changes in taste, and the broadening of her musical palette. She’s left behind the twee, earthy tones from her days on acoustic guitar (when her stage name was still Under the Laurels) to explore the synths, bass-driven chord progressions, and touches of
melancholy electric guitar. In the way that just about every teenager’s obsessions flip and fluctuate over time, her maturation totally makes sense. “It really is weird how a song can take you back somewhere,” she says. “As long as I’m taking you back to fairly nice places. I don’t want to be taking people back to really horrid stuff.” Truthfully, though, it’s not just pleasant memories she’s evoking: her lovelorn lyrics are reminiscent of awkward adolescence and first loves, the best of times, the worst of times. She’s constantly trying out different looks even with her style, almost as though she pulls on different personas from one day to the next. Although she’s hesitant to describe or slap a specific label onto her dress sense, a quick flick through her Instagram photos uncovers a certain British heritage aesthetic, featuring plenty of Peter Pan collars, rosy-cheeked light make-up and coopted menswear (see: wide-brimmed hats, heavy wool jackets with major lapels and a general love of doing up the top button on a blouse). Like so many English and British young women who’ve grown up with high street fashion, affordable versions of designer trends that quickly hit the racks in stores like Primark, H&M, New Look, and River Island Laurel’s picked up from visual cues around her. I ask her about some of her favorites. “I love vintage shops, especially in London,” she says, with her brown eyes widening. “And recently I’ve been in charity shops a lot: you can find some absolute gems, but you have to be very patient. Or you’ll come home and be like, ‘Why did I buy this?’” she says with a throaty laugh. Laurel grew up in Sarisbury Green, a small town.
She moved to London to be closer to her management team at Turn First Artists, but still prefers to thrift her way to looks that resemble some of her favorite Vogue editorials (which she loves, but feels are out of her price range). Laurel’s starting off the year with a new single, “Life Worth Living,” to whip up interest in her forthcoming album. She’s been writing, recording and producing the tracks in her home studio. “I wrote ‘life worth living’ about someone who messes with your mind, but no matter what, it’s worth it just to have them back in your life,” explains Laurel. “The sound is even more bit different to my previous EP, I’ve changed a lot in the past year so naturally my music changes with me.” Back in Dingwalls, her 8-song set shows promise. She’s got a powerful voice, and controls it well when she switches from a subtle coo to all-out belting on tracks like “Holy Water” and “Blue Blood.” She holds onto the mic stand, playing with her hair and channeling confidence. It’s refreshing. Both on and off stage Laurel just exudes a certain calm. I ask how she feels entering the entertainment world when people can scrutinize her every move and decision on social media and she sounds unfazed. “I don’t have a problem with people seeing what I do because I keep my private life private,” she says, laughing. “And I don’t have a lot of private stuff anyway: I’m quite an open person.” If she can maintain that slightly naïve optimism down the line, 2016 might just be a great year for Laurel. Laurel’s new single “Life Worth Living” will be released on March 12th, and the album in May 20th, both available on iTunes and Apple Music.