Somewhere in between all of this I've found a complete myriad of wonderful photographers who I want to follow around all day like that dog in Up. And exactly that creepy. I will probably post all my favourite editorials from time to time but I just wanted to do this one about Emma Summerton (BECAUSE I LOVE HER. RIGHT.)
SO YAH.
'Neo-Romantic': Imogen Morris Clarke and Abbey Lee Kershaw photographed by Emma Summerton for Vogue Italia June 2009
Firstly: OH GOD I can't even begin to talk about Abbey Lee in platinum blonde. AND THE JEWELRY. In the second picture (you might have to click-through to make it bigger) Imogen is wearing this amazing Fendi ring-bracelet AND THAT CAVALLI ARM BRACELET (ARE YOU SEEING THIS? WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE YELLING?)
And the Balenciaga dress Abbey is wearing in the eighth image. Mostly I get ridiculously excited about the details, i.e. the blue wallpaper, the bed header? (That's wrong. WHAT IS THAT WORD), the lipstick colours, the jewelry (DUH), the phone (second picture) and the mix of colours all together.
Secondly: I feel like I should explain something about Neo-Romanticism, because I love it and will probably mention it a lot, and also BECAUSE OF IT'S AWESOMENESS.
Basically it's a revival of Romanticism (mid 18th century counter-movement against the Age of Enlightenment). Should I explain what the Age of Enlightentment is? (UM ONLY THE GREATEST TIME FOR DEMOCRACY, EVER.)
The Enlightenment movement focused on deductive reasoning and logic (really important in politics, not so much in art); it was within the Age of Enlightenment that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (i.e. the beginning of democracy) was written. Everyone was having a mad time revolutionising the governments (American revolution, French revolution, Haitian Revolution - Oh check 'Atlantic Revolutions') and started creating a more fairer government for everyone, replacing the autocracies, monarchies etc etc etc etc.
In the middle of (THE GREATEST CENTURY ON EARTH. I mean, come on, Voltaire) all this sprung Romanticism, inspired by feelings. Oh dandy. Romantic art looks at intuition, irrationality and imagination; it's like a painting of someone diving off a cliff - Romantics don't paint what they see (contrary to Realism), they paint what they feel (you can see how 'romantic' comes into it). Like how sometimes I think my head is a burning house. A Romantic painter paints from the imagination instead of recalling scenes or sitting in front of a bowl of fruit.
I should probably mention how dark it is/can be. A lot of Romanticism romanticizes (don’t try to say that out loud) evil - like the beauty of a storm. Frankenstein is a really good example of this. If you’ve ever read it, it’s eerie and creepy, but you can see the beauty and wonder. Essentially it's a clash/mix of the gold, cream, white, pastels of Louis XV age against the deep purples, blues and blacks of the Gothic age.
(OH LOOK I did some links to the outfits for you guys! Why do I do this to myself? I just have to know, ya know?)
Cover: Nina Ricci dress and jacket, Comme des Garcons dress (I can't work out which exact one, so that's just the line); 2: Roberto Cavalli dress; 3: Dolce and Gabbana jacket/suit (I can't seem to find it anywhere but it's similar to the click through) Alexander McQueen and Swarvoski body suit; 5: Moncler Gamme Rouge (collection by Giambattista Valli) bomber jacket; 6: Chanel dress; 7: Giles hood and dress; 8: Balenciaga dress, Moncler Gamme Rouge (collection by Giambattista Valli) jacket and short; 9: Rodarte dress
'The Now: Mix n Match': Lily Donaldson and Gemma Ward photographed by Emma Summerton for Vogue Italia, May 2008
The best thing about Emma's shoots is that they tend to have this really awesome lighting that brings out the clothes. I'm not sure how she works that out. The concept of this one is what I really love about it though; everyone (not everyone, but some people) love/s seeing models in their natural habitat, which is what the editorial is sort of going for (in my opinion anyway). I'm just imagining Lily and Gemma going on some shoot a thousand miles away and staying at dumpy motels along the way.
And I love how they hold their cigarettes. I don't even know what it is. Probably because they're so skinny. Other than that, I do feel a bit weird looking at old Gemma shoots. But not too weird.
'Bohemian Way': Sasha Pivovarova photographed by Emma Summerton for Vogue Italia, February 2010
YES. So Emma's like 'Oh I've been so delicate and precise with colours, maybe I'll just shove it in their faces' AND BAM. I think it really works. All photography is like food (sometimes Meisel's food is just crockery.. WHAT STEVEN WHAT. YOU'VE CHANGED) and the best type is that that reaches through the piece of paper or screen and reaches into your stomach and yanks it out. (I probably should have said heart and not stomach, but whatever). My point is, this is like really good Indian food. A whole banquet, even.
I feel like colour is exploding in my face and I can't see everything. And I just want to be here amongst piles of rugs and curtains and art, in this amazing styling (John Galliano shoes) (Oh and the orange dress that's slung over one knee - UM, MAGIC, YES) and have my hair cut in a short red bob. It might not look as good as on Sasha though..
The lighting is so dense as well! It's very Tungsten, but with no real spots of colour, just masses of it coming to eat my face.
'Red Alert': Hannah H, Heleen S, Ilvie W, Ylonka V, Anastasija K and Helena S photographed by Emma Summerton for UK Vogue, 2009
This is a hugely long post. And this is a hugely long editorial and I don't even care (actually I did take out two photos..). Anyway, RED ALERT. Ahemhem. This could not be anymore aesthetically delicious. I am so in love with these foregrounded (oo-la-la) red outfits against the blue/grey and white. And I love how the rocks are really similar in shade to the models' skin colour (I don't know if Emma did that or if it just happened) so that it's really only three elements, which is making it really really dimensional. I could actually go on about this one all day.
But I probably shouldn't.
I should probably stop blogging and resume raging away to Lydia (AWESOME SINGER/BAND I FOUND. Yeah I do that a bit. What of it? It's actually not really the raging type singer/band. Annyyyway..). Farewell!
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