It’s London’s turn to play host to a collection of Steven Meisel’s ground-breaking fashion photography. The photographer is the subject of “selling exhibition” Role Play at auction house Phillips. It’s just finished a run in Paris, will be in London until 11th January, then New York from 23rd January. Meisel has been capturing the fashion zeitgeist since the 1980s and has redefined the genre multiple times through his work at Vanity Fair, Interview, W Magazine, Vogue and Vogue Italia; shooting the glamorous supers (especially Naomi, Christy and Linda) in their prime, but also experimenting with grunge, notably in this photo with Kristen McMenamy and Daniel Blaylock.
Meisel explains: “The portrait of Kristen and Daniel, from the grunge fashion story in American Vogue, is one of my favourite pictures. I’m excited to be showing it, particularly in its almost life size format. This image captured a real cultural moment of a music scene and fashion scene fusing together to create a new look. I remember Anna was thinking of killing the story. After all, it was a lot of black and white, an unusual casting, men in skirts – altogether a bit stronger than what was running in Vogue at the time. Alexander Lieberman, however, said it was one of the most important fashion stories ever and it ran in its entirety.”
http://www.phillips.com/auctions/exhibition/EX040614
Credits
Photos Steven Meisel
Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, Los Angeles, Vogue Italia, December, 1989
Daniel Blaylock and Kristen McMenamy, Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Vogue, December, 1992
Linda Evangelista, New York City, Vogue Paris, June/July, 1989