I have had several requests to see more Making Of Video’s. Unfortunately, before I can post these films, I have to wait for the magazine to either be published in hard copy or to get permission from the magazine to post. That usually coincides with their own posting of the shoot as a teaser on their website or blog or other social networking page.
Shortly we will be posting several different Harper’s BAZAAR shoots and a Special Feature CHANEL shoot done for VOGUE Brazil.
If you want to make any suggestions about what you might want to see, just write to us and give us your feedback.
In 1990, the US Space Shuttle put the Hubble in to orbit. It carried the most accurate and clearest ever telescope. Gradually it has unveiled the secrets of the Universe.
On the 20th anniversary of Hubble’s launching, Harper’s BAZAAR has invited photographer Benjamin Kanarek to lead an International team of outstanding on-camera and off-camera talent to replicate the dream-like and miraculous experience of reaching the moon and to enjoy the spectacular beauty of the boundless universe together with the anniversary of Harper’s BAZAAR China.
Digital Retouching by Freddy Baby, Paris
Digital Montage and Comping by Andrew Matusik at DigitalRetouch, New York
Fashion Editor’s Assistants: Ronan Pecher & Olivier Pichou
Photographer 1st Assistant: Audrey Saulem
Photographer 2nd Assistant: Timothée D’Arco
Set Designer and Prop Assistant: Anne Chevallier
Shot at LaPlateform Studio
Special Thanks to “La Cité de L’Espace“, Toulouse, France Photos taken at “La Cité de L’Espace” by Stéphane Renaut
The whole editorial is on line on the Harper’s BAZAAR site. You will be able to find the August issue of Harper’s BAZAAR China on the news-stands July 10th.
We are really excited to share the Harper’s BAZAAR, “Fly me to the Moon” Making of Video Preview… You will have to wait till July 10th to see the hard copy version of the magazine fashion spread. But, the Good News is, that in a few days, we will post the web version of the entire story and the making of video as well… But until then, just use your imagination and enjoy the appetizer…
In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into its orbit around the Earth. Over the past two decades, the world has followed Hubble’s saga, watching as image after image revealed another part of the cosmos that would otherwise be invisible to our eyes. We absorbed the discoveries that the pictures sparked and witnessed the astronaut missions that brought the telescope new technology and extended its life.
This year Hubble achieves its 20th anniversary, renewed and equipped by the latest servicing mission for many more years of astronomy. More than 30,000 objects have come under the telescope’s gaze, each observation slotting another piece into the cosmic puzzle of the universe. Join us as we celebrate one of the world’s most successful observatories, even now changing the face of astronomy, its final legacy still in the making.
It seems that Paris is going through a Trade Deficit in Fashion lately. Numerous Designers from outside of France are coming to Paris to take over French old Brands like Phoebe Philo at Céline, the revival of the centenary brand Madeleine Vionnet now shortened to just “Vionnet” by Rodolfo Paglialunga and recently Giles Deacon at Ungaro. They also often present their own Collection like Manish Arora from India and Gareth Pugh from the UK… Is Paris no longer able to produce and support a new generation of Fashion Designers?
In the meantime other Designers are beginning to occupy the market. One of them did an astonishing entry into the last Paris Fashion Week Show.
Pedro Lourenço, a Brazilian of 19 years old, presented his first Parisian Collection and cut the umbilical cord from his parents. Both of whom are considered Brazil’s leading designers; his Father Reinaldo Lourenço and his Mother Gloria Coelho. They never pushed him to enter in to the metier, but gave him all the tools and support he needed. He has designed clothing since the age of 12 and has been presenting his Collections in São Paulo since 2005!
And as for support, he has the best one can wish for…
- Brana Wolf, the American Harper’s Bazaar’s editor-at-large was not only supportive but also quite involved in his first presentation in Paris.
- KCD, the very affluent fashion’s prominent public relations and event production firm run by Ed Filipowski and Julie Mannion.
As an aggregate team effort, they were able to pull off a promising first collection. It showed a strong and assertive direction and quite mature for a 19 year old. Pedro told us in perfect English, that his influences were, “Diana the Huntress and the architect, Oscar Niemeyer.” Pedro also speaks a perfect French, Portuguese being his mother tongue.
He loves contemporary architecture, building materials and finds quite a few similarities in Fashion Design. The thick leather contrasts with a touch of metal, organza, velvet and rubber. Optical effects are given by the military applied ornament similar to Venetian Blinds, the range of colors he plays with: from beige, to dark brown, black and flesh-tones as well as see through organza tops with suspended leather geometrical trimming.
The model casting was also quite impressive for a first show in Paris. Getting the “It Girl” of the Paris Fashion Week: Jac to open his show, followed by Constance Jablonski (one of the new Estée Lauder’s faces), Jacklyn Jablonski, Sigrid Agren, etc…
But with all the support he gets, can he go wrong?
Financial difficulties and constraints are often compelling for the designer who has to find creative solutions to keep their businesses afloat…
Keep an eye on Pedro Lourenço, he might be the first ever son of known designers with talent and who is able to break through and last in the Fashion Industry.
A few weeks ago, I bumped in to Super Model, Artist and Singer Karen Mulder at a party that was thrown by artist Philippe Pasqua. I hadn’t seen her since I last shot with her for L’Officiel Magazine and it was a real pleasure seeing her again.
Just wanted to share this amusing short vignette totally shot with my iPhone of Karen Playing the Photographer with my Camera…
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with author Paulo Coelho for the RG VOGUE June 2010 issue. He was a real pleasure to be with. He is funny, witty and amiable. He is extremely open and received us warmly at his apartment in Geneva, Switzerland.
Paulo has a great sense of humor and isn’t afraid to share what’s on his mind when he has something to say. I won’t go in to a major diatribe about his accomplishments. We all know he wrote the Alchemist amongst many others. Paulo has written approximately one novel every two years including, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain, Veronika Decides to Die, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Like the Flowing River, The Valkyries itch of Portobello.But perhaps what you didn’t know was that he is also an accomplished song writer as well, composing lyrics for Elis Regina, Rita Lee, and Brazilian icon Raul Seixas
Hope you enjoy this little video that we did, called “50 Minutes with Paulo Coelho” as well as some of the images that were taken for the June 2010 issue of RG Vogue.
At the crossroads of Manchuria and Siberia, in the grassy fields of Mongolia, in the “Khavriin Khavsraga” the wind chill of spring reddens the faces of the nomadic shepherds living in their yurts.
Rosy cheekbones and noses, the look of lips cracked from the cold. A powdery foundation from the dusty steppes, wild-flower nails, folk hats, head pieces, rustic jewellery and magnificent colourful tops.
Here we are, with Pernille, in Genghis Khan’s Kingdom, in the Steppes of Ulan Bator… Out now in the June Issue of VOGUE Brasil.
The irony of success is when we lose ourselves in it. The fickle thing is that everyone wants it, not everyone has it and even when we do, some are not able to handle it. As our society today considers fame and fortune to be the Holy Grail of our sense of purpose, living a life in an attitude of a happy medium is hushed as insufficient. Yet it is shattering to hear the news about great talents leaving this world prematurely. Just these past few months we saw the loss of two, Alexander McQueen and Michael Jackson. How disturbing to think they had what many would consider to be the winning lottery ticket of life: fame, fortune and success. Or did they? What made them and so many others get lost in (their) success?
It is obvious that they lived under extreme pressure to succeed, which ended up absorbing life out of them. Discovering their past childhood, we realized how their dysfunctional families had made their short-lived lives difficult and unhappy. While no one family is perfect nor needs to be, the ability to cope and to have a balanced life would bring out the best potential in all of us. How to overcome failure and challenge is vital for success, and having emotional support from loved ones is crucial for survival. Both seemed to be missing for Alexander McQueen and Michael Jackson.
Of course, there are those who argue that their childhood was what caused their genii, their source of strength and their drive. However, it remains difficult to think an insufferable and miserable upbringing can bring out the genius in someone when most specialists believe geniuses are born as geniuses regardless of their environment. Look at the genius talent of Pablo Picasso who was nurtured as a very young boy. His euphoric artistic career excelled beyond belief while living a life of harmony with his art, friends and family to a ripe old age of 92.
There are exceptions, where the horrible ‘family legacy’ of a painful childhood brought out delicate sensitivity and a subtle visionary, such as Doris Lessing.She coped and survived thanks to her fantastic imagination which led to her happy vocation as a writer, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize. In this case, her agony and memories led to her creativity. This shows two opposed cases of possible sources of success: what must be remembered is the importance of awareness in dealing with what life brings, making the best out of it, by keeping harmony and balance, even when doing so seems impossible.
Below a great documentary “George Michael, a different story” showing how he dealt with success and almost drowned in it during the “Wham!” period… And what was needed: A heavy dose of business acumen to learn how to swim with sharks.
Is the April issue of French Marie Claire “throwing stones into the water? ” Their whole issue is without any retouching! Finally the readers will be exposed to the RAW truth without the artificial frills!
French Marie Claire cover April 2010
Well, almost… We have to pass through the multiplicity of advertising pages that are as expected, heavily retouched before accessing the first editorial photo that has not been tarnished by that Bad Boy on the Block, Mr. Photoshop. I personally really enjoyed the painted portrait of Julia Roberts with absolutely natural eyelashes for Lancôme and the no eyelid-ed Sharon Stone for Dior. You can even see Julia Roberts beauty mark under her eye! Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink, say no more, say no more.
Bad digital retouching can be worst enemy of celebrities…
… But it can also improve the overall image and atmosphere.
The recent brouhaha started in France last year with Valérie Boyer, a member of the National Assembly of France from the Bouches-du-Rhône district, has filed a new bill stating, any image that has been retouched or post processed should include the following preamble or text, “This photo has been retouched to alter the physical appearance of a person, “Failure to comply with this provision could result in a fine of €37,500, ($50,000) or as high as 50 percent of the space buying budget of the advertising campaign.
There is something unhealthy in the misrepresentation of body image in our society, said the Marseille’s Congress Woman who wants to “enlighten the consumer.” “It is outrageous,” she says, to believe that one side of the spectrum are the little people with their flaws, cellulite and at the other extreme there are the perfect people. There is an indecency in having us believe we look better at 70 than at 20. I wish to restore and highlight the barrier between the virtual and physical reality.
Turning the pages of the April issue of French Marie Claire I see that the photographers had to use the old technique ‘s before Photoshop existed…
Burning out the skin using overexposure, soft light, adding a half blue filter to whiten the skin, pulled back images, large smile’s for celebrities so their nasal labial folds are hidden, pulled back hair with hands stretching the skin and smoothing the wrinkles. Using grainy film and converting the images to black and white to neutralize the skin tones.
This is where I see digital retouching as necessary! Necessary for making banal images more interesting and a little more dreamy. Photography has changed a lot in the manner in which photos are captured. Today photographers have a lot more latitude giving them the opportunity to use more extreme angles, close-up’s and harder light.
To think that retouching is only about reshaping a model or celebrity or erasing the wrinkles and spots is quite naive. Photoshop is necessary for photographers who rely on the digital retouching process to make their images acceptable. Many of them wouldn’t have been published only 15 years ago, when fashion photographers had to know how to light an image, know which type of film should be used to give the most favourable rendition and how it will translate to print.
Photoshop is also a fabulous tool to enhance the artistic possibilities of the photographer and creative director as never before. I don’t think I would be interested in buying copies of Numéro, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, V, Pop or W magazine if the images, styling and scenery dramatizations were as banal as what I saw in the Marie Claire un-retouched issue. When I buy Feminine Press magazines, it is certainly not for its literary content, but more so for their Fashion and Beauty stories with their creative visual impact.
Even in the 1930′s photos were heavily retouched using traditional artisan methods, using pencils, paint brushes & spot removers as well as in the dark room with dodge and burn techniques.
No one is fooled and even adolescents know that a 15 year old model in a glossy magazine is retouched to the maximum. Many teen-aged internet users use a light version of Photoshop or other similar programs to retouch their own photos they post on Facebook! Does doing so lead them to anorexia? If so there would be many more cases. Why doesn’t Valérie Boyer also advocate for the censorship of TV programs like Extreme Makeover that shows how quickly and easily one can be “transformed surgically” from the ground up? What about 3D images, films, video games, cartoons or why not the censorship of sculpture-painter Fernando Botero who glorifies women at the other end of the anorexic spectrum?
French Elle Magazine went even further last year with actresses and models who accepted to pose for Peter Lindbergh without retouching and without make up!!
It does not say if the celebrities featured were botox free, hyaluronic acid or plastic surgery free… That might be a great next theme where there is no retouching, make up, injections or plastic surgery and what you look like first thing in the morning. This niche has already been taken by paparazzi and people magazines.
… And all of this makes me wonder if Valérie Boyer is using an un-retouched portrait of herself on her website?
Example of Digital retouching on gorgeous Super Model Natasha Poly
This may be considered way off topic, but is of such great significance that I felt compelled to share this interview and intermingled video footage from the Space Shuttle and Apollo missions, that will at the very least have you ponder the possibilities. Dr. Edgar Mitchell earned his doctorates from several Universities and was one of the astronauts to have walked on the moon. He claims that the UFO presence is here and has been visiting this planet for perhaps thousands of years and that contact has been made. He believes that there has been a government cover up since the early 50′s and that this information has been withheld from the public at large. He is also the founder of IONS Institute of Noetic Sciences which is
located in Northern California that conducts and sponsors leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness—including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. The Institute maintains a commitment to scientific rigour while exploring phenomena that have been largely overlooked by mainstream science.
This may sound like X-Files stuff, but when you hear it from a man of such high esteem, it makes one sit up and take note.
None the less here are a couple of videos that you may find illuminating and hopefully thought provoking. I most certainly was taken aback by his revelations.
