My article for Maxmag.gr
For three years in a row now, Vogue Italia has been organizing a Photo Festival promoting the fashion photography culture as a platform for discussing critical social issues. The first festival was "Female Gaze, 2016", which commented on the power and position of the woman in society. The second one was "Fashion & Politics, 2017" centered on political commentaries on fashion photography. The third festival titled "All That Man Is-Fashion & Masculinity Now, 2018" with a second sub-theme "Embracing Diversity" were devoted to diversity and a deeper understanding of modern society and man's position in it.
"But it’s not because they are controversial that I like them, but because they show a little more than just a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress. I love that too, but to try and say something is also my goal" Steven Meisel
The magazine has also printed a lot of controversial editorials, especially under the direction of Franca Sozzani. In August 2010, in its printed version, Vogue Italia printed the editorial "Oil & Water” featuring the model Kristen McMenamy dressed in a black dress with feathers, covered with oil, laid back on stones and rocks. The editorial has gathered many controversial comments and mixed reviews.
In September 2001, the worst terror attack ever in America took place. The fall of twin towers with a difference of 2 hours, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of a third airplane in Pennsylvania cost the lives to thousands of people. New laws were voted and new protection measures were created. The way we travel changed drastically, and a paranoia prevailed in the United States, exacerbating xenophobia.
On the occasion of this event in September 2006, Steven Meisel, published in Vogue Italia his editorial "A State of Emergency". In the editorial, the models Hilary Rhoda and Iselin Steiro carry a very strong airport check. The photos comment on the fear created by September 11, gathering a huge wave of indignation and anger from the American people, since many believed they were touching a delicate subject very poorly. Some suggested that Rhoda's photo on her knees at the airport was deliberately directed to remind Abu Ghraid's famous torture image.
"In terms of the Vogues that I work for, certainly Vogue Italia is the most lenient and allows me to do more or less what I feel like doing. Not that they don’t also kill things, but that doesn’t happen often; it’s been the most creative outlet that I have" Steven Meisel
The photographer Steven Meisel in 2015 had said he was not deliberately presenting these issues to generate comments. It is what he feels, he wants to say, he is himself. The freedom Vogue offers as a magazine allows photographers to express themselves in a different way from the simple advertising and promotion of fashion items, thus consolidating the position of fashion photography as a kind of art and a way of commenting on social issues. Social issues that need to be discussed.
Many wonder if such acts are actually an annotation or exploitation of sensitive topics for advertising purposes that romanticize them, draws on them and transforms them into high fashion.
Alessia Glaviano, editor-in-chief of Vogue in an interview with the fashion photo festival in Milan, commented that fashion is not as frivolous in its structure as most people think. Although the industry itself is partly responsible for this perception,since it rarely deals with critical issues, fearing public opinion and commercial power.
"What you were is a social statement"
Fashion is inherently linked to our identity and culture, and at the same time constitutes a social choice and a political statement.
Very often, this choice is a sign of social disobedience, and it reflects social changes. During the period of a peaceful human rights demonstration in America, the people wore their Sunday/good clothes to emphasize the differences between the social classes. The Black Panthers party, was dressed in a particular outfit to stand out from the crowd.
When in 2013 at the Super Bowl, Beyonce, making a political statement, sang dressed with a creation inspired by the Black Panthers party, made an open challenge of the whole.
It is such the power of fashion that establishes, identifies and reflects our identity, that an artist can use as a statement and, conversely, attribute to the fashion the power that photography has. Fashion photography, like every form of art, brings to the surface what we all know in depth and we have no way to avoid like the 1950 fashion photography where the models are presented as showcases dolls, commenting on the idea of a passive woman in her society at that period.
Though steps are being taken to legitimize the pioneering look in fashion photography, we always see the links between clothing, photography and politics that if a company decides to politicize it, it is usually criticized negatively. For example, when Pepsi published her video with Kendall Jenner standing in front of a policeman and giving him a soft drink, was commented at the point where the company withdrew the video. While in the famous Jonathan Bachman's photo with Ieshia Evans with her floral dress in front of Los Angeles police, which could well be on the pages of a magazine, won admiration and artistic recognition.
The clothes in the magazines are leaving as fashion changes, but the photographs remain. Fashion photographers use clothes simply to tell a story like in a movie selects specific clothes (costumes) to highlight the story and the character of the actors.
The ugliness and the cruelty of some editorial's photography simply function as a reflection of what is happening to society. They constitute a complaint, not an endorsement. A photo or an editorial of course does not change the situations, as Alessia Glaviano has pointed out, but it certifies the moment when society is ready to make changes and becomes a catalyst.
Fashion photography is neither wanting to be just fantasy and advertising or just politics. As a form of art it wants and can be as versatile as the society in which it exists.
For the full gallery press: here
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