Gemma Ward by Meisel
Sometimes a photo captures the essence of a moment more succinctly than actually witnessing an event. Their beauty lies in the fact that the image generally lasts a lot longer than a simple recollection. In an age of point and click style street photography (not that I regard that as a inferior form of expression) some artists manage to transcend the banality of advertising and imbue it with a story. Steven Meisel, a notoriously reclusive and private photographer, is a case in point. His work would be familiar to all of my readers as he has shot the Prada and Louis Vuitton campaigns during the past several years, but his work with Vogue Italia contains the greatest archive of his images.
He has held an almost exclusive role with the Italian Conde Nast editor, Franca Sozzani, where he has shot the covers of Vogue Italia for about twenty years. His images explore more than surface beauty with editorials covering topics from cosmetic surgery to civil liberties. The celebrated "Black Issue' in 2008 highlighted both the beauty of his models and the fact that even today women of colour are marginalised in print media.
His friends, such as Madonna (The subject for his 'Sex' book in the 90's) allow him to fuse celebrity, fashion and contemporary design. In some aspects his work reminds me of that of Horst. There are clear references to old masters and his lighting is brilliantly executed. Frankly speaking... if anyone was every going to take my portrait I'd love it to be Meisel. His digital mastery could seriously work miracles!
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