Published Tuesdays and Fridays, The Photography Post Market column highlights items for sale in our market. We also invite guest contributors to add items to our shops.

There are plenty of books on the man, but once again I am offering a rare collection of work from the great Helmut Newton.  I’ve gushed plenty over Helmut’s photography in earlier market posts, so with this entry I’ll keep it brief.  Sticking to the numbers, I would like to point out how much money Helmut’s body of work generates!  His books come in multiple printing editions and languages, his prints continue to sell well in auctions, and his estate is managed so tightly that you can hardly find traces of his work being bootlegged (which is a huge accomplishment)!  If you check the Helmut Newton listings on eBay, you will find page after page of merchandise…

With this item, I’m offering the rare publication from the Vernissage magazine series,  Helmut Newton in Hamburg.  This publication coincided with a two month show at the Deichtorhallen Gallery in 1993, and was available in limited capacity.

For all the archivists, please don’t get this confused with the hardcover collection, as this publication is listed separately in Newton’s official bibliography, and proved much more difficult to track down.

- Victor Gutierrez

Vernissage: Helmut Newton in Hamburg
1993 Deichtorhallen
Hamburg, Germany
Softcover Magazine
11 x 9in
67 pgs
German text
In near mint condition with original ticket from show

$135+ S&H

Purchase here.

Published Tuesdays and Fridays, The Photography Post Market column highlights items for sale in our market. We also invite guest contributors to add items to our shops.

Offering a book from a true “Visionaire”, here is Serge Lutens.  Without comparison, M. Lutens work is the ultimate in beauty, fantasy, and style. Flip though the pages of any vintage Vogue, L’Officiel, or Harpers from the ’70s-’80s and you will definitely find one of Luten’s Dior/Shiseido advertisements.  Immensely successful as a continuous campaign, Serge would do the makeup, style the set, choose the clothes, accessories, art direct, and act as photographer!  His is a singular style characterized by dreams, somehow concise with clarity, and executed to perfection.

The Serge Lutens book is a collection of these images and inspirations, organized by M. Lutens with accompanying notes.  He pays homage to the handful of women he collaborated with, and the book goes as far as crediting the music that accompanied the process (Kurt Weil, Ravel, Gershwin, Miles Davis fuel the fire).  All together, this is an insightful and rare look into the mind of an aesthete.

- Victor Gutierrez

Serge Lutens by Serge Lutens
1998 Assouline Paris
English
First Edition
11.5 x 15in
152 pgs
Slip Cover in good condition with color shift at spine. Book in very good condition with minimal handling.
$275+ S&H

Purchase here.

Published Tuesdays and Fridays, The Photography Post Market column highlights items for sale in our market. We also invite guest contributors to add items to our shops.

Looking to share something more recent but still scarce, I am offering a special Paris Vogue supplement shot by The Sartorialist aka Scott Schuman.

What was once the realm of Bill Cunningham and ID magazine, The Sartorialist blog set an early precedent on the web for fashion journalism.  With nothing more than attention to natural light and a Canon 50mm L series lens, Schuman has inspired a multitude of aspiring fashion addicts to pick up the camera, start a blog, and put extra effort into their outfit.  All the American and European stylists, who used to play the background at fashion shows and magazines, are now stars with paparazzi / endorsements thanks to Schuman.

In Paris Vogue’s “Top Models – La Nouvelle Vague”, Schuman is commissioned to take the portraits of the ever changing cast of top tier models.  If this strikes your fancy, you will find Anja Rubik, Ali Stephens, Angela Lindvall, Carmen Kass, Catherine McNeill, Coco Rocha, Dotzen Kroes, Du Juan, Freja Beha, Hye Park, Isabeli Fontana, Iselin Steiro, Jessica Stam, Kasia Struss, Lara Stone, Lily Donaldson, Magdalena Frakowiak, Mariacarla Boscono, Maryna Linchuk, Natasha Poly, Raquel Zimmerman, Sasha Pivovarova, Suvi Koponen, and Vlada Roslyakova.

24 in all, Schuman runs them around various street locations looking like they just got out of bed – it’s actually endearing!  The portraits are then set next to examples of their editorial work from past issues of Paris Vogue.

- Victor Gutierrez

Paris Vogue
“Top Models – La Nouvelle Vague” (Supplement)
Condé Nast 2008
58 Pages
8.75′ x 11.25′ inches
Like New Condition
$25+ S&H

Purchase here.

Today, I decided to round-up some of my favorite Facebook “Likes” and suggest that you “Like” them too…

The Biggies: ASMP, The Center for Fine Art Photography, MoCP, ICP, MoMA, P.S.1, LACMA, Whitney Museum, The Guggenheim, Rhizome

The Books: Self-Publish, Be Happy, Hassla, Dashwood Books, Steidl, LayFlat, Printed Matter

The Magazines: Fantom Editions, Ahorn Magazine, ‘SUP Magazine, 01 Magazine, FOAM Magazine, The Journal, Daylight Magazine, Blind Spot, British Journal of Photography

The Galleries(ists): Capricious, ClampArt, Taxter & Spengman, Golden, Foley Gallery, 303 Gallery, Zach Feuer Gallery, KLOMPCHING, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, Michael Mazzeo Gallery

The Resources: Humble Arts, photolucida, Photo Festivals/Foto Festivals, collect.give, Project 5, The Exhibition Lab, Residency Unlimited, Res Artis, Print Space, iCI (Independent Curators International), Aperture Foundation

The Fashion: The Gentlewoman, Fantastic Man, Dossier Journal

The Internet: Too Much Chocolate, American Suburb X, Flak Photo, The Exposure Project, TriangleTriangle

And, lastly, some personal favorites: UbuWeb, TED, “Become a Fan”, AND i don’t think i could live without horses

Drop a line on our Facebook page with some of your favorites!

Tom Hines is a fashion photographer based in NY. He agreed to sit down with me and answer some questions I had about breaking into fashion photography.

KS: To assist or not to assist: is assisting essential to a career in fashion photography?

TH: Only learning fashion photography is essential in fashion photography, and everything else is tactical. I should leave it at that, a nebulous declaration reeking of abstraction, but I know the upstart photographer would rather hear about the nuts and bolts. So, I’ll discuss both sides before coming back to the abstract.

Assisting can be a big help in that successful fashion photo businesses are systematic and modular. A young photographer can assist, learn a proven system, and eventually implement a variation of that business system when she’s ready to go out on her own. Little thinking or inventing is needed. The same can be said for the connections. If you’ve been on the phone every day for the past 10 years talking to editors and art directors, that’s meaningful. Is it worth a 10 year investment, starting today? That kind of depends on if you think your mentor’s business system will be viable in relation to the market in 10 years. And what makes you think you’ll be a good photographer after prolonging the development of your vision? All I’m saying is, it’s a gamble. Working for someone great is mostly business, their business.

I didn’t assist because I believed in another model for incubating artistic expression: do a lot of things, try expressing yourself in a lot of media, and see what works for you in a holistic way. You’ll never find out you’re a shitty screenwriter if you’re working 14 hour days for a top fashion photographer, nor will you even find out you’re a decent photographer! You’ll be a busy worker with a dream. You might have known since you were a baby that you’re a creative person, an artist of some sort, but what’s to say you weren’t meant to be a muralist, a chef, a folk singer, a sculptor? Lastly, these designations in relation to the media have a life-span. After paying dues as a photo assistant, you might discover you’re a born chef, you love it, but if everyone is popping food pills in 10 years, you’re a dinosaur upon arrival. Remember, stereoscopes were once wildly popular, fortunes were made, but nobody is investing in that medium now.

This leads me back to abstraction. You have to know what you want to feel in life, in a very abstract sense, before you make any tactical decisions in support of that horizon. Is there a rhythm in your life that feels optimal? If you know what that is, if you’ve felt it, that’s probably what you want to follow. Then all you have to do is plug into various disciplines and see if anything matches your spirit.

KS: How do you weigh creativity with client demands? Any strategies on navigating the compromises inherent to fashion photography?

TH: I see development as happening in phases. A new photographer may as well work hard in the beginning, compromise a lot, because there is benefit in doing so. Go to boot-camp and learn a few things. Quickly, there will come a necessary transition to working smart. This is the point when the utility of working hard is nominal, when you’re not rapidly learning anything anymore and you’re exhausted. This is a turning point, where your list of demands is suddenly as long as any potential client’s, for the benefit of everyone. Once you’re seasoned, reduce compromise by choosing jobs carefully. You’ve got a marathon to run and you can’t sprint the whole way.

KS: When do you say “no” to an assignment? Where do you draw the line?

TH: Start saying no as you’re more and more sure of what you are. What’s a “you” photograph? What’s your thing? I mean, you’ve got to get a thing, develop a signature, before you can be hired for it. (Or, more likely, not hired for it.) Art is a little esoteric, so, your judgment on whether to take the job is going to benefit the client either way.

KS: Retouch: DIY or outsource?

TH: I’m an advocate for knowledge. I think you’ve gotta know how to retouch, a little. When I was a kid, we called it printing. The print is half of the process, and much more time-consuming. In the past, you chose a contrast curve in film stock, then contrast in paper, then you exposed, dodged, burned, spotted, retouched, toned, and you had to do it by hand. It was horrible, and I only really got back into photography once I was sure I’d never have to go back into a darkroom.

I wasn’t a talented printer. Still, as a kid, I spent so much time in the darkroom I got sick from the chemistry. I never made a masterful print, not even by accident or imitation. I know quite a bit about printing, I’ve done my homework, and I can only awkwardly dialogue with a great printer, a very equal artist in my mind. If you believe in masterful prints, work with a master printer.

My wife Michelle is a professional printer. I’ve been watching her work for years. She can make a struggling picture come alive. It’s fascinating. I can count on my hands the printers in this world who can perform this kind of magic, and I’m always in awe.

all images copyright Tom Hines.

I just saw Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin’s “Mirror Mirror” in V Magazine and, while it’s not my favorite by the Dutch duo, I was reminded of their utter dominance in the realm of creative fashion photography. Seriously, fashion upstarts, do these people have you shaking in your boots, sweating under the strain of coming up with something even a little bit as cool as these two effortlessly produce on a seemingly daily basis?! Cripes!

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

Some internetting later, I caught a glimpse of this editorial by Viviane Sassen and started to wish I had been born in the Netherlands…

Viviane Sassen

Viviane Sassen

Viviane Sassen

Alas, much to my pleasure, I popped open my e-mail to a notice about an amazing series of workshops hosted by Cesura Lab, located in lovely Pianello Val Tidone with “The Dutch Masters” ; Paul Kooiker, Viviane Sassen, Marnix Goosens, Kadir Van Lohuizen and Dana Lixenberg. The workshops start April 17th so book your tickets now. Let’s go Dutch!

Paul Kooiker

Marnix Goosens

Kadir Van Lohuizen

Dana Lixenberg

Category: Art, Fashion
Tags: Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Viviane Sassen, Cesura Lab, Paul Kooiker, Marnix Goosens, Kadir Van Lohuizen, Dana Lixenberg, V Magazine

Fashion Forward

Posted on | February 22, 2010|No Comments

Posted by Kate Steciw

Having spent the majority of the last ten years working in fashion in some form or another, it goes without saying that I have seen a lot of fashion photography. I’m not the first to concede that fashion photography is a brutal world to break into dominated by a handful of stalwart talents and requiring a delicate balance of creativity, compromise, ego and humility to succeed. Which is exactly why I am doubly impressed when a relative newcomer manages to break onto the scene and show us something we haven’t seen before.

Here are a few of my favorites du jour.

A graduate of RISD, Carlotta Maniago’s work has an otherworldly quality and a creamy palette I find enchanting. She also just started to keep a blog.

Carlotta Manaigo

David Benjamin Sherry first caught my eye when he curated a show called A Song For Those In Search of What They Came With at the late, great Bellwether Gallery. When I realized he was shooting fashion as well, I was blown away by the results – an uncommon marriage of ground breaking art and intriguing commercial work.

David Benjamin Sherry

Daniel Sannwald is a name I see attached to a lot of work I find awesome. He also keeps a regular blog.

Daniel Sannwald

Marcus Pritzi’s work caught my eye a while back when I saw the work he did for Joop.

Marcus Pritzi

Lately, a lot of things I love come from Sweden and so does Lina Scheynius. Often photographing herself and friends, she caught the eye of fashion editors with her dreamy, erotic images.

Lina Scheynius

Category: Fashion