The Generation Game

Family resemblances are uncanny things. It’s magical seeing a friend’s nose or gestural tic mirrored in their mother or sister. My mother and I always laugh about this, because while, taken feature by feature, we bear absolutely NO resemblance to each other, people always insist that there’s no doubt that we are related. Apparently, we give the same sort of impression? Yeah. Doesn’t make sense to me either.

Anyway, me me me aside, photographer Frauke Theilking has taken this idea and exploded it, finding mother-daughter and father-son pairs and photographing them stripped of any encumbrances in the form of garments or the like. The results are fascinating, highlighting the strange echoes and gaps that you find between the generations.

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Barnumville

I’ve had Matt Hoyle‘s photography on the brain for a couple months now.  The majority of his stuff is hyper-realistic in style, so shiny as to make the subject seem to be out of a vintage illustration for the Saturday Evening Post. His “Barnumville” photos lack the gloss of his  other series, but the colourful subjects made me even more curious about the project.

In an interview about the series, Hoyle reveals that these portraits “were initially just a recording” of the performers, in preparation for a greater thematic project depicting his imaginary town of Barnumville, where sideshow performers live in their time off. I’ve always had a soft spot for the idea of circus performers, so the thought of a fictional sideshow community just about made me jump about in glee. I can completely see these people pictured below retiring to some small town in the Florida panhandle. Scandals abound, outrageous acts are pulled off, but at the end of the day the charming characters spout good ol’ fashioned horse sense, peppered by observations from their crazy experiences. Into stereotyping, moi? Never!

I think the big thing that strikes me about this collection is that it manages to tread a very careful line between strangeness and  and complete normalcy. When I saw the picture above, I gleefully prepared myself for a freak show, but as I scrolled through the shots, I found myself pleased by the fact that these people who are so often fetishized because of their careers are shown as normal people. Some of them, at least. Others are in clown makeup, or are human blockheads (shudder!) so can’t quite tread that line, but I like the contrast. Anyway, check out the shots below.

Dressed Down

I feel like this portrait of Daria by Hedi Slimane is pretty close to the Platonic ideal of casual beauty that all things like Gap ads and so on shoot for. I never really noticed before quite how beautiful her face is. Obviously I was aware that she is beautiful, but it had not really struck me until now.The contrast against the sloppy clothing really brings it out. Hedi is usually able to bring out new details from his subjects, though, so this revelation ought to come as no suprise. I’m really quite fond of this photograph.

Daria Werbowy by Hedi Slimane for Paris Vogue August 2007.

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Killer Queen

So, Omahyra Mota is pretty much in first place on my list of Girls I Would Go Gay For Without An Instant of Hesitation, and I think this editorial shows why. I love the androgynous toughness of her features, and the elegance of her limbs. She’s perfect for giving these looks the rough edge they need.

(Also anyone who can rock glacier goggles this well is a force to be reckoned with.)

Photographed by Phillip Mueller for Indie Magazine, Fall 2008.

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Make a splash

I can’t stop looking at Iain Crawford‘s photographs. I love how the paint makes the models look clothed, and creates ruffles and details even more beautiful and intricate than could be achieved through fabric. It’s astounding how he managed to capture this movement and the beautiful curves and angles of the paint splashes. Absolutely breathtaking.

More Tao

As predicted, Tao Okamoto continues to be feted– so much so that Vogue Nippon does the unheard-of and dedicates their entire November 09 issue to her. (Also monumental bc they haven’t featured a Japanese model on the cover in years…) A whole slew of famous photographers contributed their take on her beauty. Here’s my favourite editorial, shot by Inez and Vinoodh.

Boudoir

The lighting in Marie Claire Italia’s Boudoir editorial is sheer magic, mirroring the softness and romance of the clothes and settings with its muted golden tones. I’m reminded of indolent  upper-class country degeneracy as described in books set in 1920s Britain (though obvi the clothing evokes a different period.) I’m having fun filling in the story–the heroine here, played by Sophie Vlaming, is a bored ice queen who discovers her lusty side through either a lesbian fling or through the teachings of a degenerate chum, depending on how you read the pics. I’ve been trying to come up with a name for her. Something like Patricia or Charlotte. The result, through photographer David Bellemere’s lens, is dreamy and saturated in golden light. The shots are as pretty as the clothing.

Still pondering her name… I’ll have to come up with something soon, or I’ll just have to call her Fenella as a joke.

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1957 Dior

A little mid-day eye-candy, courtesy of My Vintage Vogue.

Tao

What? I like gritty black and white photography, with punk influences, a dash of androgyny and cool shoes? You don’t say! Seems like I’m beginning to back myself into a rut here.

Regardless, (which I just wrote twice as regardness) I love this editorial from Dazed & Confused August 2009. I’m chiming in on the multitudes with the Tao Okamoto worship– she bored me when she had long hair but now that she’s edged herself out she’s fab. Also, the styling of this shoot is so quirky and odd but profoundly wearable. And the pictures are just purty. Can’t believe I didn’t post it before.

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Jan Saudek

I’m enchanted by Jan Saudek‘s work. His photographs span from 1951 to the present, and over the course of that time, he’s covered a wide variety of themes– from exploring the extremes of the body to documenting the situation in his native Czechoslovakia during the 60s. The photo above is supposedly his very first photograph, and I think it’s testament to the almost painterly eye he has for colour and shadow. Other pictures are below.