Rick Day..... the interview

Inhabiting a rather rarefied genre of photography sits a real deal of that art form ... Rick Day. It might be safe to say that any male model who has come along within the last couple of decades considers it an honor as well as a rite of passage to be lensed by this man. Rick Day has surely created a visible palpable standard for those involved in the business of models. An image created by him in a model’s book, when being viewed, might even be considered a stamp of approval or possibly a silent signal of having “arrived” at a particularly elevated ranking within the hierarchy of the modeling profession.

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To most, Rick is well known for glorifying, celebrating or possibly even deifying the male physique as well as shooting many advertising campaigns for select international brands. What most don’t realize is that Rick is rather politically outspoken and yes he actually does shoot women as well; his no Johnny one note. What is so intriguing about his work is that he can equally infuse an eroticism or sexual tension in his male and female imagery. For those who wish to take it a step further one might even say that there is some fetishistic quality to the finished product and by that I mean a sort of hyper glorification or possibly objectification of the subject that stands before him.

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In an age when anyone with a camera thinks they are a photographer and anyone who stands in front of camera is a model, there is no question that cream rises to the top and that the genuine article cannot be mistaken for some wannabe. 

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JEFFREY FELNER: Up until this point, what would you say has been your defining moment and why??

RICK DAY: I would say the defining moment for me was a combination of 3 things working in an unwitting parallel. I began shooting for Genre magazine on a regular basis in 2008. I was shooting each issue basically from to cover. The editor, Neal Boulton, pretty much gave me free reign to shoot whatever editorial and cover

I was interested in exploring. This really gave me and my team a lot of space for creativity. I had also been devoting a lot of my time shooting my first book, “PLAYERS”, which was released in 2009. The was about the time the internet was just beginning to explode with blogs and online tumblr accounts that were

Posting the editorials and the images from the book. It was also the first time i had ever been asked for an interview. And then of course along came Instagram. I would say the perfect project or dream

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JF: If you could choose the perfect project or your dream collaboration, what would it be and why? 

RD: I would say the perfect project or dream collaboration…. would be one that had a good budget … let’s leave it at that.

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JF: If you could change anything about how the fashion business/machine is perceived, what would you change and how?

RD: If i could change anything about how the fashion business/machine is perceived and how would i change it…. well that answer would change constantly … lol. At the moment a lot of the fashion photography and models “of the moment” are uninspiring to me. Every year the models seem to get younger and younger… soon the editorials will be shot on the middle school playground. Not something personally i am into. I have always been more interested in a real model… not street castings. Also…social media influencers…. give me a break. I remember when designers and editors along with great photographers were the influencers. But then again that was before big corporations decided to buy up and license the design houses which then limited stylists creativity by demanding that the clothing could not be mixed with other designers…etc. etc. etc. Anytime you mix money with creativity…. the money slowly chokes out all creativity

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why? 

RD: I wouldn’t need 5 people…. just a 4 Jesus, Satan, Donald Trump and a Lie Detector with a top notch operator. I think you understand the conversation. Really no need for food ... Just food for thought.

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JF: You are both provocateur and story teller; which aspect of your career do you most think defines you as an artist and why?

RD: My early life and my upbringing in the ass backward southern state of South Carolina… certainly gave me a ton of fodder for storytelling. And i do have a lot very entertaining stories to tell…. but i would say that being a provocateur defines me more as an artist. I have always been fascinated with lighting and making light tell the story.

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LOOK FOR THE NEWEST BOOK EXPECTED TO ARRIVE LATE 2017… CASTINGS: VOLUME 1….  But in the meantime you can see more of his work here, www.rickdaynyc.com, or on Instagram 

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meet Filep Motwary the tsunami of fashion

The man is as fluent in his words as he prodigious with his photography; Filep Motwary is a tsunami within the fashion world. Although the name may not be on the tip of  everyone’s tongue he is a man on the move and ubiquitous on the fashion scene.  The saying goes “a jack of all trades, master of none” but what happens when he is the master of all trades? He is at once photographer, curator, critic, writer, historian, diarist, judge and always dealing with fashion in its broadest sense. He might be a wunderkind of fashion who envelops and absorbs all that he encounters. It is safe to assume that Motwary has never met a task he couldn’t handle or master and in this business that’s the perfecta!

 

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This interview precedes the U.S. release of his first book based on his first curated museum exhibit, both of the same name, Haute-à-Porter. In this young man’s life he has accomplished and been credited with so much more than most in this realm where knowledge  and intelligence are the rarity rather than rule. It was my pleasure to pin him down and have him tell us who he is and what he does and what’s on his mind so with that, here is Filep Motwary in his own words:

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Jeffrey Felner: First tell us a little about how you “arrived” at the present. What brought you to this point?

 Filep Motwary:  my resume as follows …

He started off his career assisting as a stylist for the Greek editions of L’Officiel and Vogue.

For four years he worked as head designer at the Athenian atelier Loukia for the haute couture and prêt-a-porter collections before moving to Paris to work for designers like John Galliano, Christian Dior and Chloe in mid-2000.
Motwary continues to create costumes for bespoke projects alone or in collaboration with jewelry designer Maria Mastori with whom they worked together on six pret-a-porter collections, from 2006 to 2010. His costumes have been presented in several of museums, including Modemuseum Hasselt in Belgium,Atopos, La Gaite Lyrique in Paris, Centraal Museum Utrecht in The Netherlands, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Saint-Brieuc in Brittany France.

As a visual journalist, he collaborates with the digital Joyce.com in Hong Kong since 2011; He photographed projects for Giambattista Valli, Christian Louboutin, Vogue.fr, Vogue.it, New Yorker’s THE CUT, Boycott, Harper’s Bazaar, Wmagazine, Totem, Kenzo, Chloe, Sacai, Mercedes Benz, and TheStimuleye among others.
Between 2011to 2015 he collaborated closely with the founder and director of the Villa Noailles and Hyères Festival, Jean Pierre Blanc.

From 2005 to 2015, Motwary was the founder of Un nouVeau iDEAL which was included in “The World’s Top Fashion Blogs” book, edited by Susie Bubble and William Oliver, published by PRESTEL (2011).

In February 2014, Motwary was invited by Premiere Vision and Zoom by Fatex to exhibit a series of large-scale photographs as a solo show, titled “STREET IT BOYZ”.
Motwary is the curator of educational event FASHION ON SCREEN, a short films festival presented in Athens organized by Fashion Workshop, counting its second edition in spring 2015.

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JF: What was your most favorite assignment? Collaboration? Project?

FM: I take assignments that I like. It’s rare I do something under pressure, very rare, but I enjoy working with teams as much as I enjoy working by myself. I love my photo projects with Christian Louboutin for example or when I interview a personality that I have great respect for.

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?

FM: Irene Silvani would be the first; I enjoy our conversations so much. Then it would be Henry Miller, my favorite author to bring his immaculate eroticism and stories, model Guinevere Van Seenus because she always keeps my interest stimulated and I know nothing about her except that every time I see her on a photo I get the goosebumps, Helmut Newton because he was Helmut Newton, the photographer. Lastly, I would invite Liz Taylor and she would arrive dressed as Cleopatra.

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JF: Now, the book! Let’s talk about how the book came about and why the book came about?

FM: In 2012, I decided to start working on a project that aimed to put down a possible justification of where prêt a porter and haute couture cross paths.

For two years I was collecting visuals and placing them in thematic folders and categories while filling up my notebooks with ideas, photos I had taken while being backstage at the major shows, opinions I would hear here and there, and articles I would read online… Let’s say it was a sort of investigation for which I hired myself to do. It soon became a full concept and then Modemuseum Hasselt came in and allowed me to turn it to an exhibition.

Exhibitions are usually accompanied by a catalogue but instead I wanted a book, first to acknowledge the work of the designers that could not fit in the spaces of the museum and also to use it as a testimony of the current fashion’s state, the past and analyze the specific themes as presented in my project. Through 27 interviews and numerous examples of great photography and art, Haute-à-Porter became not only an exhibition but also a book that reflects sociology, history, psychology, theories and certain fashion terms and opinions on subjects never discussed before in such a context. I collaborated with Lannoo, known for great fashion publications such as Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeuster Monograph, Stephen Jones and many others…

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JF: What do you think of the present state of fashion and why? What would you like to see happen?

FM: Personally, I am involved in fashion and have deep respect for it. For 20 years I serve it from several angles. Hopefully all the people working in this industry, no matter their position or status, do it for the right reasons. Ideally, it would really be nice if some of the designers gave a chance to emotion again, like they used to. Some do still but it’s not enough. 

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www.filepmotwary.com 

www.modemuseumhasselt.be 

meet Frederic Aranda a legend in the making

Amazon.com offers this terse biography of Frederic Aranda:  “he is a native Swiss photographer based in London, who contributes to magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, and collaborates with brands like Cartier and Cutler and Gross.” This is a minuscule catalog of this artist’s oeuvre and doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the man and his talents.

 

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As it turns out, Freddie as he is called by friends is one of those photographer/ artists that happens to be a legend in the making and much more than just the sum of his parts. He is one of the most gifted photographers of this era and who is undoubtedly an icon in the making. Oh, and he is charming and witty and carries an unmistakable mischief about him.

Lucky for me that Freddie is a friend to me along with his co-author and his longtime pal Christine Suppes. Together they gave the genre of fashion books a monograph that could have only been accomplished by 2 kindred spirits who have a single vision and a love for the visual as well as for fashion. (Electric Fashion, SKIRA)  In other words they wrote a love letter to fashion and style.

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“Suppes and Aranda describe this project as a journey, but this is an unbelievably intimate demonstration of one woman’s adoration of fashion with her “partner in crime.” Together, they have created one of the great fashion books to have come along in this millennium to date. “www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/electric-fashion#sthash.B2VRE39g.dpuf

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The accompanying images speak for themselves even though Freddie has become known for his stellar and distinctive group portraits; he is an artist at heart whose “eye” is that of a portrait painter possibly of the Renaissance era. The clarity of image, the laser sharp line, the contrasts, the colorations and the intensity all account for the startling and mesmerizing reactions one has when each image is viewed. He has been the subject of several one man shows including one at the V&A which featured his work for Electric Fashion and one to benefit the victims of the Fukushima debacle in Japan. Don’t let me forget to mention that his subjects have included Dame Vivienne Westwood, Prince Phillip, Margaret Thatcher, Farrell Williams, Tom Ford, Ben Stiller, just to name a few!

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At the end of the day, it is my opinion that Mr. Aranda will more than hold his own in the pantheon of great photographers since despite his relatively young years he has achieved a professional quality and level of perfection that will rival the greats of the 20^th century; in essence he is not some snap shot or fly by night flavor of the month photographer like so many who receive underserving praise.

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Now, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Freddie in his own words:

Jeffrey Felner: Can you give us a brief synopsis of how you arrived to where you are today professionally?

Frederic Aranda: I am a self-taught photographer. I did a degree in Japanese at Oxford, during which time my parent's divorce got me taking pictures of my mother to help her feel beautiful during a difficult time. It was a distraction (for both of us) at first. In order to improve technically, during term time I practiced on my Oxford classmates so that I could return home to Switzerland during the holidays to take better pictures of my mum. Yet, it’s what I did photographically at Oxford, not at home, which gained momentum and which got me launched as a portrait photographer in London after completing my degree. I've been working professionally as a photographer for about 10 years in London, and have done three solo exhibitions (the last one at the V&A), many editorials, and a book. The pictures of my mother have never been shown anywhere but they contain all the passion and naiveté of an aspiring photographer.

 

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JF: Let’s speak of Electric Fashion: how did it come about, any plans for a sequel and how did you and Christine meet and decide to do this?

FA: Electric Fashion (MAY 2015) is collaboration between myself, shooting all the pictures, and Christine Suppes writing all the texts. It's my first book. It came about organically after I started photographing Christine's clothes and realised that there was an incredible collection here which needed to be shared with the outside world. The question then became how to share it in a unique way, and that was where I had to convince her to pose for me in the clothes as opposed to shooting them just as still life. We are not planning a sequel to Electric Fashion but are working on something different which draws on my experience as a portrait photographer and on her life experience in California.

 

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why them?

FA: My guests would be John Waters, Bette Midler, Gina Riley, Jane Turner and Princess Diana. All of them have/had a joie de vivre and a particular point of view that could only make for one hell of a dinner!

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JF: If you could choose any collaboration, who or what would it be and why?

FA: Anohni*, truly a remarkable inspired talent

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JF: What’s the best advice you ever received and from who and what’s your advice to up and coming photographers?

FA: My advice is to find your voice as a photographer. Ask yourself why you are taking pictures every single day. The answer to that question will give you your subject matter. Also, kindness.

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www.fredericaranda.com

* Anohni (stylized as ANOHNI), formerly known as Antony Hegarty or Antony, is an English-born American singer, composer, and visual artist. She is best known as the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.