It's French, thus Automatically Fancy

                                         

                                         

   

This editorial has a very dull color palette, filled with blacks, grays, and tans, and although I normally like bright editorials that pop, these photos are so romantic and evocative I really love them. The photographer really took advantage of his surroundings, and captured them in a beautiful way. One almost wonders if the model is the woman or the city of Paris itself. I think smoke is a cheap trick in most photo shoots, and it is way overused to add a sense of darkness and mystery, but here the steam enveloping the model work and add fantasy to this classic shoot. The geometry in the fourth photo is brilliant; the photographer did as masterful job of choosing the angle in that shot. Wealth and affluence spill out of the first image, and the other two evoke a palpable sense of loneliness and sadness. This editorial is classic, and captures a past era in a truly exquisite way.

Beautifully Baroque

                                                              

                                         

                                                                                           

These photographs pay such great homage to the beautiful oil paintings of the Baroque period they resemble paintings themselves. The colors are rich and lavish, the settings ornate and gorgeous, and the details and props are exquisite. There is so much to visually take in in each photo I ended up staring at each one individually for quite a while. The photo editing and effects play a huge role here, as the images look virtually perfect, but the photographer also did a great job with staging and evoking real feelings from the models. I adore everything about the second photo. The crop, the diverse colors in the butterflies and flowers, and the detailing on the clothing is highlighted to create a truly stunning photograph. The first image is very romantic and charming, as the pops of yellow in the chicks are bright and happy, even though the model seems distant. My other favorite is the third photo; I love the use of color and the pose of the model. I feel like I could find this hanging in any fine art museum and it would fit right in with every other painting. It is so much more than an editorial image. The model in the fourth photo has a very unique look, which adds to the quirk and beauty of the spread, and I love her pose and her interaction with the set. Finally, I love the last photo because of the set. The inclusion of the painted eye peeking out from the curtain is perfect. It's a small detail, but it adds so much to an image that could easily have fallen flat. This is such an amazing shoot that produced not just photos, but true art. 

What's a Stamp?

So apparently there used to be this mysterious practice of putting a thing called a letter into another thing called an envelope and putting them into a non-virtual mailbox as a means of communication. I have no idea if this is fact or some kind of myth, but these "stamps" as they're called are beautiful, and although they're not a typical fashion editorial, I really wanted to highlight them because they're so great. I really like the fact the humans have been edited out of the shots, so the focus is solely on the clothes. Great decision by either the photographer or art director. 

The movement in this shot is breathtaking. The fringe is flowing, her hair is jumping, and it feels like the model is about to jump out of the frame. Embodying 1970s fashion to the core, this image is fun and full of life. 

Elegant and sophisticated, this is totally different from the stamp above. I feel like this could be seen on the cover of any fashion magazine. The lighting on the golden trim is really stunning. 

This might be my favorite stamp just because it's so fun and full of personality. I can imagine the face of the model that belongs in this shot. The clothes are highlighted beautifully, the pose fills the frame, and any envelope with this on it instantly becomes fashionable. 

Honoring the late McQueen, the photography on this is beautiful. You can see almost every feather on the dress, and the pose is great. The black plays off the white background beautifully, and this is a perfect homage to the great designer. 

Great Clothes Don't Make Great Photos

I have no idea what is going on in these. The photos were published in Vogue and shot by renowned photographer Mario Testino...but they're terrible. Keira Knightley is beautiful, but apparently not a talented model as she looks extremely stiff (WHAT is she doing in the second picture?!) and her face seems off in every single image. The backdrop looks like it could be found in a WalMart photo center, and lighting is terrible. There is nothing exciting or intriguing about these, and it looks like minimal effort was put into the shoot. The clothes are all beautiful, and I could see the gowns in the first and last photos creating extremely dramatic images, but instead they are wasted on a girl standing in front of an ugly blue wall who doesn't seem to understand the concept of movement. It's a shame Testino wasted the opportunity to capture some amazing clothes in an exciting way, but it just shows that you need a lot more than pretty clothes to make a sensational fashion image. 

Blurred Beauty

I've seen the effect of projecting images onto a person on film, but never in a still shot before, and I have to say I love it. This shoot is very dark with dim lighting and a lot of black, but it's still extremely beautiful. I think the third and fourth photos master the effect the best, but all the shots are really interesting and nice to look at. The photographer is also slightly out of focus on every image, which would normally bother me but I find it works here. I don't know how a designer would feel about having another print placed over their dress...but who cares when it makes such a compelling picture. The model is lost behind huge glasses in every shot, but I don't think the point is to look at her face. Look at the textures on the gowns and how the projector's light plays off of them. This really is an innovative and stunning photo spread.