Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Other Side of the Picture



Here is an interesting video of the collaboration between photographer Julien Claessens and designer Olivier Theyskens on the creation of their recently released The Other Side of the Picture, a book published by Assouline. Claessens says he is not a fashion photographer, but he wouldn't call this of the documentary genre. He felt lucky that he was totally free to do what he wanted with the images, without having to compromise, and because he was a student when he first began the project he didn't force it into a certain category.

The backstage photos throughout the book are pretty breathtaking. Claessens uses both black & white and color and in every case, creates a sort of sculptural being. He uses the light to perfection. In this Style.com interview of the two, they talk about how Claessens would not take the photo if it was posed; as soon as anyone did, he would walk away. Other than that, the photographer did not limit himself to anything. There were thousands of images to sort through- a kind of retrospective of the designer's career so far.

Image: Julien Claessens

1 comment:

enrique said...

Collaboration between the arts and crafts can change the way we perceive the world. Design is the incorporation of art in our daily lives. Design, if done properly, will change the way we live.