The short film "The Seven Photographs that changed fashion" starts with British photographer Rankin doing a narrator over a montage of fashion images and explaining why hes decided to create a project where he will reimagine so classic fashion photography and make it into his own inspired by that one single frame “Break taboo’s and looking around the world to what inspired them”. He is studying the generations of inspired fashion shoots to the present starting his unique campaign from the start of the last century.
From the studies on the film Rankin speaks of the original images Photographers and their techniques and styles……
The photographer I decided to chose from the film was Cecil Beaton the first photographer featured on the film
Cecil Beaton - A house hold name in British photography and fashion. Rankin himself describes him as ‘one of the masters of the art’. He envisioned the legendary My fair Lady costume in which the iconic Aubrey Hepburn wore. "I wanted to make pictures with the camera. I didn't really want to make something that looked like a photograph" In the thirties Beaton joined vogue where he still provided beautiful elaborate photographs of the elite and famous many were pictured elegantly much like his My Fair Lady vision. He had a lengthy career even working thirty years later making a scene in the sixties photographing idols like Twiggy (When you think of the sixties, you think of Twiggy... well I do anyway)
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/interactive-eliza-costume/
Rankin expresses Beaton's work as 'selling a dream' this is highlighted within his work in the thirties from the beautiful women in satin dresses and regal statute. Beaton himself in a interview shot from the film even talks of 'creating a sort of dream world' The women are perfect and still; they look feminine. A mix of soft poses and lack of expression facial expressions these women actually look peaceful and relaxed like their day dreaming. unrealistic but exactly what you would imagine from a painting. They look to perfect to be real.
The image that Rankin decided to recreate into his own work was a high fashion photograph by Beaton called "White Panama Hat" a shot for Vogue way back in 1934. The shots brief was to promote and sell a new hat design but being the creative mind Beaton was he did it in a uniquely thinking outside the box (haha). The photograph is extremely witty and playful with the fact that the models head is the only piece on show as it looks like she's being presented from a box with this little pointy hat on.
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| the original White Panama Hat shot by Beaton found on a 1930's appreciation page. |
For Rankins re-imaging work he talks about how he picked his model to fit in with the originality of the image itself being from the thirties. Choosing the beautiful singer and model Sophie Ellis-Bexter; her pale complexion and feline features is a great choice by him; theres something elegant about her as a character something thats soft that can only be shown by looking at her.
The shoot in keeping with the theme was shot on a old 10x8 authentic camera which works with film this funnily wasn't kept throughout the entire lot of the shoot
through when comparing each final image from digital to film rankin talks of a enigmatic difference within each the different shoots. Digital is sharper but film is softer; maybe from the slower relaxing pace the model endures from the film shoot when reflecting with Rankin afterwards.
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| http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4161221/Rankin-Seven-Photographs-that-Changed-Fashion.html |
Above is the inspired Rankin image modelled by Sophie Ellis-Bexter, the finished digital image.
This image is beautiful and unique who in the thirties would of been thought to create a image like that, a creative thinker. From a simple brief to something not ordinary.
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