Photography turns fashion into art
Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta
Visions 01 is not just an exhibition, but a heady cocktail of beautiful faces, amazing outfits and some of the most bewildering of backgrounds.
All this and more can be found in different exhibits composed by creative photographers, whose work brings to life a new dimension of the concept of art.
Assembled by curator Frank Perrin, the exhibition has traveled all the way from Paris, and is proof positive that there is much more to contemporary fashion photography than merely selling clothes.
Since fashion is no longer a corporate ghetto, so too has fashion photography moved on to the point that it has the power to dictate what clothing should be allowed into the wardrobe.
While photographers in Indonesia, by contrast, lack the economic clout to create trends, they do enjoy a generous spread in the media.
According to Firman Ichsan, senior photographer and professor at the IKJ, Jakarta's school of fine arts, it is the fashion editors who are the most important here.
Firman, who led a discussion on the same topic, says that an event like Vision 01 keeps a largely conservative country like Indonesia connected to all avant-garde movements in other parts of the world.
Once upon a time, fashion pictures were defined by society photographs of the rich and the famous. Photos of aristocrats, actresses and models -- dressed in their own clothes -- seemed to provide vicarious pleasure to those less fortunate.
The sole purpose of fashion photography in years past was to sell a product. Today, however, fashions are photographed not simply as a market commodity, but also as an art form.
With the aid of digital technology, fashion photographers now use computers and visual art to manipulate pictures to produce surreal fashion imagery. The most successful ones are those with a distinctive, personal style who constantly stay in touch with current trends.
To Baron Adolphe de Meyer has the distinction of being the first fashion photographer.
He was hired in 1913 to take experimental photos for Vogue, which published its first issue back in 1892. Vogue, the first illustrated fashion magazine, was the medium through which fashion photography developed. Charles Worth is said to be the very first couturier to have dreamt up the idea of using live models to show off his creations.
Fashion was revolutionized by the invention of the sewing machine, which allowed common people dress up, too.
This gave birth to couturiers who, at first, did not trust the photographers. At that time, exclusivity was viewed as far more important than publicity.
While couture remained the domain of the blue bloods, fashion was fast filtering down to the folks and Harpers Bazaar joined Vogue magazine in encouraging creativity amongst fashion photographers.
Some were influenced by Surrealism art, and provided a fusion of contemporary art trends with fashion.
Fashion photography came to a standstill during the occupation of France in World War II. At that point, it spread across the Atlantic ocean to the U.S.
Here, the formal look of fashion was exchanged for the youthful American look. Clothes that were practical and comfortable were cherished most.
To celebrate the end of war, Irvin Penn bedazzled the fashion world with exclusive images of the Christian Dior designs that soon became a symbol of postwar glamour and prosperity.
After years of deprivation, the 1950s spawned the ready to wear market.
Fashions from Paris were communicated to people in magazines like Vogue, and photographers like Clifford Coffin were assigned to cover the Paris Collections.
Models had already replaced drawings, and were treated like celebrities. Live fashion shows gave birth to the catwalk for photographers.
And, as the public appetite for fashion grew, it became easier than ever to elevate the status of the fashion photographer to the realm of royalty.
The exhibition mounted most imaginatively on walls erected from barbed wire patterns remains open till March 15 at the Textile Museum, Jalan K.S. Tubun, Jakarta west.