Steven Meisel

Can we talk about this man please? I hadn't realised loads of fashion images I love have been done by him.

So a little a bit about him from his website:

Steven Meisel is fashion's pre-eminent image-maker—prolific and innovative—visualizing the trends of every season. Along with his ability to cast the faces and characters that come to represent the look of today, Meisel has a prodigious talent for scripting story lines that reflect culture. 

Meisel not only depicts fashion, he defines it and gives it cultural resonance. His inspirations are varied, culled from design, architecture, art, cinema and literature. Meisel has also portrayed our leading actresses and entertainers, defining the relationships between celebrity and fashion in the process. 

 He has also created some of fashion's most memorable campaigns for Prada, Miu Miu, Loewe, Moschino, Coach, Valentino, Lanvin, Versace, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Dolce & Gabbana. Steven Meisel continues to lead and influence our understanding of contemporary fashion.

Steven Meisel (2011) Vogue.

I love this photo. The composition, the styling, the lighting. The fact there is a light visible. Ugh, I just want to be able to take pictures like this and I'm not going to stop practising until I can do it. I know it takes years of understanding but I've already seen what I think to be a massive improvement of my photography skills already.

Meisel, Vogue May 2015, Fei Fei Sun.

Meisel, Vogue, May 2015. Fei Fei Sun

There is just so much to love about his photos. Even though they may not seem that 'bright' there is still a beautiful contrast even when the colours have been muted slight. The way he uses lighting in the two photos above reminds me of how Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec used to paint. He manages to give these photos such an old feel without diminishing the bright colours.

Meisel Nicole Kidman Vogue, September 2004

Stop everything right now, and let's just admire the absolute beauty that is the above image. I'm a massive fan of good and unique cinematography and to me Baz Luhrmann covers both so well. I mean, he's red curtain trilogy (now with the newly added Great Gatsby) is just perfection. I've always been a massive fan of his work even before I was old enough to truly appreciate properly. I love the richness in his films and to me is everything is 'dressed' perfectly. The sets. The costumes. Everything. So, the reason this photo of Nicole Kidman is perfection is simply because it pays perfect homage to Moulin Rouge! I'd like to make the comparison that Meisel and Luhrmann. They both use colour contrast in such away that it's hard to replicate but you can see similarities between the two. 

Meisel, Vogue, November 2004. Sarah-Jessica Parker

Again, this is another instance of him creating richness within a photo that isn't that dark. I tried to do something similar but I couldn't get my lighting right. I'm going to strive for this. I'll make another blog about the photos I tried to recreate. I just need to learn how to create more drama without shooting under exposed.