Thursday, September 15, 2011

No Sex, No Lies, No Videotape

In today’s fashion world the clichés of modern fashion photography are manifold. I am not sure whether I am showing my age here, however there is a predominate feature that unifies them all, and that is the almost unshakeable belief in the power of seduction. Let’s face it sex sells, so they would have us believe. This could explain the dominance of male photographers today, however there are few exceptions to the rule, and one of these is Sarah Moon.

I remember years ago as a teenager in a remote town in Australia devouring all I could lay my hands on to escape to a world of fashion and glamour. Flipping through a magazine I came across an advertisement for the Jean Deprez perfume “Bal a Versailles”. The accompanying photo immediately captivated me. It transported one into a completely different world than what was normally found in fashion magazines and the like. An unusual thing was that, the photo was actually credited, Sarah Moon. Ever since I have been a fan!

Anyone who has opened a fashion magazine in recent years is likely to have seen Moon's work. She also shoots editorial features for Vogue, Marie-Claire and others; has directed commercials and short films and has even illustrated a John Deere annual report.

Born in 1941 she modeled for the likes of some of fashion’s most iconic photographers such as Helmut Newton, Irving Penn and Guy Bourdin. However she was never entirely comfortable in that role and first picked up camera in 1970.

Before long, she was working for Barbara Hulanicki, creating wistfully lovely images for Biba and, most famously, for 20 years, for the quintessentially French label, Cacharel. One of her most memorable images for the label is of a model lying across a Brobdingnagian sewing-machine, its giant needle poised for action. Most of you will recognize Moon’s photographs for Cacherel fragrances, notably Anais Anais.


Sarah Moon’ images are about an imagined world full of Romanesque heroines, who inhabit isolated, surreal and fictional worlds, straight out of dreams.

When men appear, her pictures move towards a more disturbing surrealism and a dangerous mystery is inferred. These are photographs in which the bizarre and unusual confront ordinary reality.

Moon over time has created some of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful fashion imagery that goes against every so-called commercial trend, from the need to establish eye contact – it is only rarely there – to the belief that the most alluring fashion photograph must be glossy, even hyper-real.

A sweet nostalgia invades Moon's magical universe, monochromatic and sometimes sepia-printed or vibrating with saturated colour, where time is the enemy.

"Of course, if something is really bad then I will retouch it," Moon says, "but only very little and never trying to make a woman more beautiful. I don't need to do that. They are beautiful and it is my job to work with the light. I don't feel it is my place to make any sort of moral judgment on people who choose to work in that way, but I suppose it does falsify the approach to a human being. It's a coded language of sex, glamour and gloss, a leveler, too, imposed for marketing reasons."

28 comments:

  1. Her photos are cool...but just a little bit creepy. I like them!

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  2. Really wonderful- thank you for the introduction- I especially appreciate the one with the oversized sewing machine.

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  3. I enjoyed your commentary very much. I think I was propelled to read on with the mention of the Bal a Versilles print ad, a fragrance worn by my Mother.

    Ms. Moon's photographs are quite remarkable. Thank you for calling my attention to her.

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  4. Great post, really interesting read :)

    http://socialemissions.blogspot.com/

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  5. Nice post as always. It's very interesting, i like it.
    These photos are amazing.

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  6. Hello David:
    Wonderful images of a most creative and inspiring photographer who so obviously fully understands her subject. This is professionalism of a level rarely seen.

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  7. This is a well deserved homage on Sarah Moon.

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  8. Unique... I'm intrigued!
    She is one of the few photographeres that don't need to create scandals instead of art :)

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  9. this post is so interesting the photos are great too.

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  10. Wouldn't you just love to be on location and watch her work? Thank you for posting this.....k

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  11. Nice post, it's a pleasure going through your house,
    if you like poetry, I invite you to my blog.
    happy weekend.

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  12. GIVEAWAY GIVEAWAY GIVEAWAY
    click here
    http://thesselle.blogspot.com/2011/09/wanted.html

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  13. She certainly is an original. I like the haze which makes them look dreamy and like another world.

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  14. Ah, how I love her photographs. I used to rip her ads from the magazines and save them. So glamourous.

    And way back when when I lived in Cacharel clothes--what a wonderful time.

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  15. She is wonderful. Ingenious. Exciting. The fourth picture is breathtaking. I remember the Anais Anais advertisement from a magazine my mom bought...It was in the early nineties, right? OMG, I'm old! *LOL*

    I love this post. I'll have it again for breakfast tomorrow I think.

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  16. Lovely post...I always expect elegance from you.

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  17. AMAZING photos and always great to read x

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  18. I LOVE her work too! So beautiful, such an amazing style :D
    xxx

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  19. Qué curioso conocer tus orígenes y cómo te adentraste desde pequeño en el mundo de la moda :) Buen post :)

    Besos desde
    http://yoavogueytuacalifornia.blogspot.com/

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  20. unas fotos preciosas !!

    un beso

    http://wwwmusthave.blogspot.com/

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  21. Art, photos pass it on, there are incredible pictures!

    Regards


    http://thetrendysurfer.blogspot.com/

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  22. I did a little reaserch... great photography!
    Thank you for inspiration :)

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  23. Many thanks all for the wonderful comments and interest in this post! To my new visitors, I am glad that you have dropped by and I will be checking out your blogs shortly!

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  24. What a wonderful introduction, David! So great to see the face behind the beautiful images What a vision she has! Sme of the images I have seen before but others are dsicovery of today for me Thank you for this wonderful moments!:-)
    Anya of Couture Millinery Atelier at www.couturemillinery.com

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  25. This is wonderful. I was not familiar with her work before, but am sold! Thank you for "introducing" her to us!

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