WHITE SUPREMACY: THE MOST RACIST FASHION MAGAZINES IN 2010 by Navo

“At a magazine, everything you do is edited by a bunch of people, by committee, and a lot of them are, were, or think of themselves as writers. Part of that is because magazines worry about their voice.” – Chuck Klosterman, American journalist who has written for The New York Times Magazine.

“I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one, whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a Black man in a White man’s court.” -Nelson Mandela

THE DEMISE OF PRINT

(NY) I love visiting magazine shops as much as bookstores. Even though sometimes they’re as noisy as the city streets, these visits gives me the right visual rush I need as a photographer. My favorite magazine shops are where I brush up on my rusty Arabic.

The last conversation I had with some Turkish and Egyptian magazine vendors (in one of the largest magazine shop in NYC, now reduced to half its original size) is that magazine business is not doing well.  This is probably the worst time in the history of magazine sales, at least coming from the people who sell the magazines as a livelihood.  In fact, most of their outlets are closing down one by one.

About 400 print magazines closed shop in 2009 and it is predicted that more will follow in 2010.  Most magazine shops (small or large-scale) around the city are also closing as a domino effect of global recession and the inevitable demise of the print magazine.

1540 AD

Staring at the floor to ceiling wallpaper of crisp fashion magazines, I can’t help but wonder why: “in the year 2010, a multi-colored country like America, and an ethnically diverse city like New York (one of the biggest magazine consuming cities in the world), all I see are white peoples’ faces with a sprinkling of token minorities.

Since 1540 AD (the American colonial era), Racism has been a major issue in the United States. Caucasians have, historically, dominated the country and it’s not a secret.  The country’s minorities: Native Americans, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, Arab-Americans, American Jews, Irish Americans, other immigrant groups and their descendants, have carried the heaviest burdens of racism in history.  Go visit the nearest magazine shop, flip through the “fashion magazines” within your arm’s reach and see for yourself.

Every other year a racism controversy will explode online, Naomi Campbell’s face protesting will be everywhere for a few weeks.  Then, designers and magazine editors will try to mix it up a bit in the next few months.  When the protesters go quiet, again, in the western front, the fashion leaders will revert to ‘normal’, which is ‘the color white’.  Racism in fashion has always been a game of hide and seek: as long as the victims (minorities) don’t notice it’s okay.  The breeding ground of racism is right in front of me, the magazine stand is full of blondes and for every dollar I spend to purchase a copy of the “white people’s” exclusive vision of a ‘fashion world’, I contribute to the century-old ugly tradition of racism in America.

HIGH FASHION ADS PULLOUT WHEN IT’S A NON-WHITE COVER

The fear of low sales and advertisers pulling back prevents editors from putting dark-skinned models or celebrities on the covers of fashion/women’s magazines (which, by the way, are mostly Caucasian owned). Fashion magazines claim being backed into a wall because a magazine’s main source of income comes from advertisers.  It’s a “numbers game at the end of the day”, it’s all business nothing personal or racist.

OK, so you’re saying darker skinned faces don’t sell. Do the advertisers and magazine consumers also not want to see darker skinned magazine editors-in-chief, darker skinned fashion photographers, darker skinned editorial staff, darker skinned writers? Does it mean that people of colour are just that incompetent? Is there a reason minority voices and points of view are not represented in your magazines?

It is really sad to see our heroes: the artists, the visionaries, the so-called envelope pushers, the fearless fashion forwarders being tied up and backed against the wall.  They’ve become like a Steven Klein image: helpless and defeated by America’s Racial Capitalism.  People don’t want to talk about it, too. Nobody wants to talk about race especially if the race that is benefiting from the discrimination is the race of your heritage, it’s a dead dog on the side-walk that people don’t want to look at. It’s worse for the minorities who are not doing anything about it. Are we comfortable of the situation now?

Vogue was built on the foundation of white affluence and wealth like this images shows (obviously Anna Wintour's wet dreams)

...certainly not this women (probably were the slaves of those 'elite' white women above)

I think Ms. Wintour would even use one of these blonde fashionistas...

...before she even use a real life asian princess or an asian actress for the cover of her 'Nazi Fashion Bible' Vogue.

MEXICANS OF THE PACIFIC

They say Filipinos are the Mexicans of the Pacific, mainly because a person of Filipino ancestry will take on “Mexican jobs” like yard work, cleaning hotel rooms, and being caretakers in the aquatic Pacific rim nations.  The fact is, among the South East Asian nations, Philippines has been colonized and forced to slavery more than their neighboring countries in Asian history.

Vogue Magazine was founded as a weekly publication in 1892 by the Caucasian Arthur Baldwin Turnure and was picked up in 1909 by the Caucasian Condé Nast.  Everybody knows that “the fashion bible” a.k.a. “the world’s most influential fashion magazine today” was built on the foundation of white affluence and wealth as their core consumers.

The old money such as the Vanderbilt and Roosevelt families (Dutch-Caucasian descent), the Rockefeller, Heinz, and Astor families (German-Caucasian descent), the Du Pont family (French-Caucasian descent), the Carnegie, Getty and Forbes families (Scottish-Caucasian descent), some of them might have even owned Black or South Indian slaves sometime in history, depending on their locations.  The White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), in reference to white North Americans from the British Isles, particularly of English descent, who were Protestant in religious affiliation.  It initially applied to people with histories in the upper class Northeastern establishment who, allegedly, formed a powerful élite. The same heritage of 99% of all the editors-in-chief, fashion photographers, editorial staffs, writers, interns, publishers, fashion models of every fashion magazines that ever existed in human history. Now where do the Native Americans, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, Arab-Americans fit in the pretty white picture of Vogue History? Where does an ‘Asian-Mexican’ like me fit in the picture?

KKK meeting? or Nazi Convention?

ANNA WINTOUR

Can you blame Vogue Editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, the proclaimed queen of American Fashion for following the hundred years tradition and point of view of all the Caucasian women that came before her, namely: Vogue US Editors-in-Chief Josephine Redding  (1892-1901), Marie Harrison (1901-1914), Edna Woolman Chase (1914- 1951), Jessica Daves (1952-1963), Diana Vreeland (1963-1971), and Grace Mirabella (1971-1988), Vogue UK Editors-in-Chief Elspeth Champcommunal (1916-1922), Dorothy Todd (1923-1926), Alison Settle (1926-1934), Elizabeth Penrose (1934-1940), Audrey Withers (1940-1961), Ailsa Garland (1961-1965), Beatrix Miller (1965-1984). Vogue Paris Editors-in-Chief Cosette Vogel (1922-1927), Main Bocher (1927-1929), Michel de Brunhoff (1929-1954), Edmonde Charles-Roux (1954-1966), Francine Crescent (1968-1987) and the current Editors-in-Chiefs of Vogue UK and Vogue Paris Alexandra Shulman (1992-present), and Carine Roitfeld (2001-present) are all white.

Watch the 2009 documentary The September Issue (a desperate rebuttal to the 2009 book/film THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA to save the bitter Ice Queen’s face) and tell me it’s not proof that Vogue belongs to one point of view, one race.   Designer Thakoon Panichgul is a sad charity/PR stunt and editor André Leon Talley is a silly token mascot.

If Vogue Magazine is the grand daddy of all fashion magazines that existed out there, it has set a trend, a blueprint (or a white-print?) and a tradition of having one unifying voice of fashion: the ‘white voice’. Unlike the other Vogue editions worldwide (Vogue China, Vogue India, Vogue Japan, Vogue Korea, Vogue Mexico, Vogue Taiwan and the newly launched Vogue Turkey) the western Vogue editions are the proclaimed ‘FASHION BIBLES for the rest of the world, because they’re “representative of a multi-colored nation”.

Most people who work at Vogue US actually believe they are part of human history.  Every time they launch the latest cover they feel like they are contributing to the welfare of humanity, it’s in their memos, letters, e-mails, and notes: “we are making history”.  This is the regular mantra that goes around the Vogue or Condé Nast office.  Maybe one of the reasons most of the people who work there have a big head, like Anna Wintour (literally or metaphorically), they really believe they are saving the world with their desk jobs.

Here are the 14 Vogue US Covers that features minorities since it started with eic Josephine Redding in 1892, it seems cool right? 14 covers? well its over 118 years of Vogue US- it means 1,416 covers published and 14 of them are black women, what a remarkable breakthrough right? and this is after years of protesting to them and once in a while they'll listen and this is the outcome. 14 covers out of 1,416.

Keira Knightley’s Vogue US June 2007 “Out of Africa” cover story shot by Arthur Elgort (Caucasian). Vogue photographer Arthur Elgort was born and raised in New York, Keira Knightley (Caucasian) in Teddington, Greater London, England, and Vogue US Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (Caucasian) in London, England.

VOGUE’S GLORIFICATION OF COLONIAL RACISM

“American Vogue is a sad joke–the racism and elitist mentality of Vogue is astonishing. The few minorities featured in this magazine reek of tokenism and I would respect them more if they simply had no African-Americans, Asians or Latinos in their magazine. The fact that they hide their racism and ignorance with subterfuge offends even more. 
Vogue magazine truly embodies all that is wrong in our culture while actually distorting all that is good–sycophancy and rampant cronyism abound while real talent is all but ignored. Unfortunately reading pop culture periodicals is work related but it gets very depressing.” Cathy Horyn fashion journalist, working as a critic for The New York Times, Magazines and newspapers she contributes to include: Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, International Herald Tribune, etc. Horyn is known for her unflinching, even acerbic, reviews which got her banned from numerous designer shows; most notably Giorgio Armani. In  2002, she received the Eugenia Sheppard Award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. She questioned the work and exposed the deal-makings of Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. 
(http://www.racialicious.com/2007/08/18/vogues-glorification-of-colonial-racism/)

Gisele Bündchen (Brazillian) and LeBron James' Vogue US April 2008 cover shot by Annie Leibovitz (Jewish-American), was the third time that Vogue featured a male on the cover of the US issue (the other two being George Clooney and Richard Gere), and the first time with a black man. It was perceived as a prejudiced depiction of James beside the much smaller Gisele in a pose reminiscent of King Kong carrying off Fay Wray. Vogue US (of course) denied all allegations of racism as hidden context. Anna Wintour (British Caucasian) is the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue US.

Vanity Fair's New Hollywood March 2010 cover shot by Annie Leibovitz (Jewish-American), featuring the actresses who embody the new muse of (white) Hollywood is one of the magazine's all white women issues. While race is still a hotly debated topic in the 21st century, with “racism” being the hot iron that no-one wants to touch, it is obvious that the cover definetly lacks diversity. There are no Asian, Black or Hispanic actresses added to the ‘Vanity Fair’ cover, in the same batch Zoe Saldana stars in the two blockbuster films of the year Avatar and Star Trek, Gabourey Sidibe was nominated for an Oscar best actress for the film Precious. Photographer Annie Leibovitz was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and Vanity Fair Editor-in-chief Graydon Carter (Caucasian) in Toronto, Canada.

Gabourey Sidibe and Dakota Fanning’s Vmagazine Jan 2010 covers shot by Dutch duo Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, is one of the very very few covers of the magazine that features a non-white since its launch in 1999, and everytime they feature a black celebrity/model they need to have multi-covers with a white celebrity/model (like this 'Size Issue Covers"). Vmagazine & VMAN Editor-in-chief Stephen Gan was born and raised in the Philippines, photographer Lamsweerde & Matadin (Caucasians) was both born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Ladies and Gentlemen meet Stephen Gan, a Filipino, born and raised in the Philippines with Filipino parents, creative director at Harper’s Bazaar, co-founder of Visionaire, editor-in-chief of V Magazine and Vman magazine and he loves everything white, this is one of those rare chances a minority actually becomes a powerful head in fashion but somehow lacks substance, and heads the opposite way, he rarely uses minorities in all of his covers (in front and behind the camera) and even trying to deny his roots as much as possible, talk about self-loathing.

Hispanic or Latino population in the US is 46.9 million (15.4%). Eva Mendes' Interview Magazine August 2008 cover shot by Mikael Jansson (Richard Avedon’s former assistant) & Jay-Z’s February 2010 cover shot by Craig Mcdean are two of the latest and rare Interview covers that features minorities since it was founded by artist Andy Warhol (Caucasian) and John Wilcock (Caucasian) in late 1969. Eva Mendes was born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Craig Mcdean (Caucasian) in England & Mikael Jansson (Caucasian) in Sweden.

Asian population in the US is 13.4 million (4.4%). Greg Louganis’ GQ May 1988 cover, with editor-in-chief Art Cooper (1983–2003), is the second Asian man (part Samoan) on GQ Magazine cover, the first was baseball player Ron Darling (part Hawaiian-Chinese) of the New York Mets -1980, then Jackie Chan -August 1996 cover (born in Hong Kong), Tiger Woods -April 1997 cover (half Thai), Keanu Reeves -May 2003 cover (part Hawaiian/Chinese), and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Samoan) that equals to two Asian and Pacific Islander men every decade.

English of African descent officially residing in the UK currently number about 1.1 million (2.0%). Kate Moss in London's Independent newspaper Sept 2006 with designer Giorgio Armani (Caucasian) as guest editor, the Caucasian Supermodel with her skin done up to make her look black for the African issue - next to Moss's picture was a caption that read: "NOT a fashion statement." Indy's cover provoked a lot of head-scratching. And it lit up the online world with debate about whether or not the Kate Moss picture was an insult to Africa. Or worse, was it downright racist? Kate Moss was born in the UK, and Giorgio Armani in Italy.

Colonial mentality refers to institutionalised or systemic feelings of inferiority within some societies or peoples who have been subjected to colonialism, relative to the mores or values of the foreign powers which had previously subjugated them. As of 2004, Americans formed 2.4% of the total population of registered foreigners in Japan, with 51,851 U.S. citizens residing there. Ash Stymest's VOGUE HOMMES JAPAN (issue #1) July 2008 cover shot by Hedi Slimane with fashion director Nicola Formichetti marks a historical moment for fashion, the first major Japanese fashion magazine with all Japanese text that exclusively uses Caucasian models for covers, and mostly Caucasian photographers (Josh Olins, Steven Klein, Benjamin Alexander Huseby) since it was founded. Photographer Hedi Slimane was born in Paris, France with Italian, Tunisian-Brazilian origins, Nicola Formichetti in Japan to an Italian father and a Japanese mother and VOGUE HOMMES JAPAN Editor-in-Chief Kazuhiro Saito was born and raised in Japan.

French of African descent officially residing in France currently number about 4.2 million. Andre J (Patricia Field's stylist) and Caroline Murphy’s Vogue Paris Nov 2007 cover shot by Uncle Bruce Weber (Caucasian), is the first Vogue Paris cover with a black male and the fashion blogosphere called it "the Big Black Tranny in French Vogue". The fact that the minorities are being rarely used, infront or behind the camera, they should give them more dignity when they are. Photographer Bruce Weber was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and Vogue Paris Editor-in-Chief Carine Roitfeld (Caucasian) in Paris, France.

2005 - $50 Million was paid to Class Members headed by Gonzalez in Abercrombie & Fitch Discrimination Lawsuit Settlement. 2003 - Three separate lawsuits in New Jersey, California and Ohio have been filed against A&F for having racist hiring practices. 2002 - A&F sold a shirt that featured the slogan "Wong Brothers Laundry Service—Two Wongs Can Make It White" with smiling figures in conical straw hats, a depiction of early Chinese immigrants. The man behind the creation of an A&F world of old money and Waspy right wing pretension for decades to the present is the caucasian photographer Bruce Weber.

The Devil really wears Prada? The book & movie suggest Vogue editor Anna Wintour does. Prada S/S 09 campaign shot by Steven Meisel (caucasian) is set for an all white season, the high end Prada has been consistently a force in exclusively using Caucasian models, black girls are token, Asians and Latinos non-existent. Before British newbie Jourdan Dunn walked the Prada runway in 08, the last minority walked for them in Fall 1997 (exactly 11 years) and she is Naomi Campbell. The last time a minority appeared in a Prada ad campaign? 1994, also with Supermodel Naomi Campbell. Prada, Calvin Klein, Balenciaga, Jil Sander, Chloë and Versace sent an all-white girl casting for the Spring of 2008. Miuccia Prada was born and raised in Italy.

THE FUTURE FOR MINORITIES

English is not my first language and I’m not a writer by profession (I definitely need an editor and proof readers badly to make all my ramblings coherent to avoid attacks from the Ivy League grammar police). Although I don’t have the armies of editors and proof readers Vogue Magazine has, writing in naiveboy.com makes me realize a lot of things about myself and my priorities.  I have learned to ask myself how I can be more consistent as a photographer, a writer and a minority who is trying to showcase a sense of common humanity that transcends skin colour in all of my work.

The trials on the journey I had to endure to research and write this article has been a rollercoaster.  One thing I’ve noticed, though, more younger people are angered by racism in fashion.  The the older generations are more the source of racism and denial. What can I do as an individual? Start with myself, be aware of every decision and choices that I do whether it’s purchasing or subscribing to a magazine that doesn’t promote racism or choosing the models for my own projects.

There is a way not to sacrifice your aesthetic just to be politically correct: by following what is right and what is human.

It’s sad but it’s the truth, we are contributing to our own discrimination and the discrimination of millions and millions of people every time we buy their products, whether its a $4 Vogue magazine, or V magazine or a pair of thousand-dollar Prada shoes. It’s disgusting.

Anna Wintour emailed me to react to this blog and she said “I don’t give a fuck, Heil Hitler!”.

Sessilee Lopez, Chanel Iman, Arlenis Sosa Pena & Jourdan Dunn’s i-D Sept 2009 cover shot by Emma Summerton & styled by Edward Enninful, a historical moment for fashion, a publication known for setting trends & breaking moulds among other things, is now set to be the first fashion magazine to use women of colour on the cover of its September issue with the leadership of i-D Editor-in-Chief/Creative Director (former Vogue art director) Terry Jones. American Vogue led by Ana Wintour consistently uses Caucasian women for all her September issues (mostly Blondes), as well as majority of US Fashion Magazines. Photographer Emma Summerton was born in Australia, and Edward Enninful in Ghana.

Italians of African descent officially residing in Italy currently number about 755,000 residents. Black or African American population in the US is 37.6 million. Liya Kebede, Sessilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Campbell’s Vogue Italia July 2008 covers shot by Steven Meisel (American), is the first Vogue Magazine " Black Issue" in the world. Anna Wintour (British Caucasian) is the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue US, Franca Sozzani (Italian) the Editor-in Chief of Vogue Italia. “I’ve asked my advertising clients so many times, ‘Can we use a black girl?’ They say no. Advertisers say black models don’t sell.”- Steven Meisel.

Du Juan and Gemma Ward’s Vogue Paris October 2005 cover shot by Patrick Demarchelier, a historical moment for fashion, the first and only asian model ever to be featured on the cover of Vogue Paris, sharing limelight with the Caucasian Beauty. Du Juan was born in Shanghai, China, Gemma Ward in Perth, Western Australia, Photographer Patrick Demarchelier in Paris, France, and Vogue Paris Editor-in-Chief Carine Roitfeld in Paris, France.

Rose Cordero’s Vogue Paris March 2010 cover (STILL OUT NOW) shot by the iconic Mert and Marcus, a historical moment for fashion, the first Vogue Paris cover for a black model since 2002. Photographer Mert Alas was born in Turkey, Marcus Piggott in Wales, and Vogue Paris Editor-in-Chief Carine Roitfeld in Paris, France.

Keanu Reeves' Vogue Hommes International Paris Spring/Summer 2009 cover shot by British-born photographer/former actress Amanda De Cadenet, a historical moment for fashion, the first time the magazine used an Asian man and a minority for its cover and probably the first for a major french men's fashion magazine. Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon with an English mother & American father with Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese and English descent, Photographer Amanda De Cadenet was born in UK, Vogue Hommes International Paris Editor-in-Chief Olivier Lalanne and Editorial Director Carine Roitfeld in France.

Seijo Imazaki’s Rodeo Italy June 2009 cover, that I shot with Art Director Tim McIntyre (former Arena Homme Plus art director), the second time for an Asian to be in a Italian fashion magazine cover (first was Seijo in L'Uomo Vogue) and the first for an Asian photographer. Seijo Imazaki has been photographed by Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Paolo Roversi, Michelangelo di Batista and Steven Klein. Photographer Lope Navo was born in the Philippines, Seijo Imazaki in Westchester, NY (Japanese father and a Swedish-American mother) and Art Director Tim McIntyre in Australia.

English of Indian descent officially residing in UK currently number about 1 million people (1.8% of the country's population). Lakshmi Menon’s Dazed and Confused April 2009 cover shot by Josh Olins and styled by Nicola Formichetti, a historical moment for fashion, the first UK based fashion magazine cover for a Keralan beauty. Lakshmi Menon was born in Bangalore, India, Photographer Josh Olins in London, England, Stylist Nicola Formichetti in Japan to an Italian father and a Japanese mother.

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http://www.glossedover.com/glossed_over/2008/06/is-fashion-raci.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/01/vanity-fairs-hollywood-is_n_444763.html

http://micpohling.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/methink-no-dark-skin-for-fashion-magazine-cover/

http://www.racialicious.com/2007/08/18/vogues-glorification-of-colonial-racism/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566142/Dame-Vivienne-attacks-racist-magazines.html

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Related Entry: http://naiveboy.com/2010/04/02/max-vadukul-photographing-history-by-navo/

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©2009 Dangerously Naive

©2009 Naiveboy.com

MAX VADUKUL: PHOTOGRAPHING HISTORY by Navo

Sir Paul McCartney, Mother Theresa and Amy Winehouse photographed by Mr. Vadukul

“The fashion industry is ‘racist’, fashion magazines are racist” -Dame Vivienne Westwood, Fashion Designer

“Women of colour are not a trend. That’s the bottom line…In some instances, black models are being sidelined by major modelling agencies.” -Naomi Campbell, Supermodel

“Whenever I ask to use a black model I am given excuses such as ‘black models are not aspirational in some markets’ or ‘they do not reflect the brands values.’ Normally, however, no reason is given. By my own inaction, I am guilty of allowing racism to be normalized and accepted in this business. This has made me deeply sad and increasingly angry.” – Nick Knight, Fashion Photographer

THE 44TH PRESIDENT

(NY) They always say ‘let your work speak for itself’.   A significant number of people think US President Obama is dangerously naïve; a naïve president in naïve times. The moment he was chosen by the American people to be its 44th president, he took upon himself a great challenge and a burden of responsibility.   He was elected and, now, has to be given a chance to prove himself through his work.

I don’t really care about his politics but when he won, he took over a position of power from the last 43 white presidents of a multi-colored nation.  His victory made me, like the rest of the world, see the future: our future as a minority.

Obama’s victory is very much like Halle Berry winning the first major acting award for a non-white person in 82 years of the Oscars.  Her victory started the outpour of non-white actor and director winners in the years to follow.

People like Obama and Berry, and even film director Ang Lee (the first Asian and non-Caucasian director to win an oscar in 82 years), have opened the doors for young minorities who want to grow up as a great thespian, a great leader, or a great visionary.  Simply put, whether or not you like Obama’s leadership or Berry’s acting, it doesn’t matter. They already made history.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN BOY

I have always wanted to be a photographer, a really good one.  I made the life decision in my teens.  But growing up in the early 90′s up until now, when I ask you who’s the top iconic fashion photographers on the top of your head?

Without Google or Wikipedia‘s assistance, you’ll probably say Steven Klein? Am I hearing Steven Meisel? The infamous Uncle Terry Richardson, perhaps? How about Uncle Bruce Weber? Herb Ritts? Irving Penn? Helmut Newton? Does Patrick Demarchelier float your boat?

I might say the same names, why are their names top of mind? Why are they household names?

The one thing in common about them is that they are all relatively great at what they do.  They are Photography gods.  Oh, I forgot to mention, one other common thing about them. they’re all Caucasian men.

What does that mean for a South East Asian boy like me who grew up in the 90′s  and deliriously dreamed to be one of them one day? Maybe just to come close to their success and not exactly be them.

How can I convince myself it’s possible? Am I reaching for the impossible? Is it a color-blind industry or am I just dangerously naïve?

Getting to  the top of the fashion food chain, will it solely be based on your work? One thing for sure, the journey of minorities in Hollywood and the White House have already found their champions, for the fashion photography world it seems like the journey is still a long way home.

THE VADUKUL LAND

I walked into this minimalist post-production studio just below Mr. Vadukul’s Mid-East townhouse in Manhattan, just a day after his photoshoot with actor Jude Law. I found out he lives next door to one of the Coen Brothers and I was greeted by a wall size framed image of one of his works: a group portrait of  Robert Downey Jr., Sting and Hugh Jackman in one crisp black and white shot, Vadukul style.

After a brief tour I noticed that photography is only one layer of this man’s complex life and work.

One of the most stylish photographer I know just made me a tea, smoked a cigar and showed me some of his travels with friends and lovely family.  I was treated to behind the scenes of his shoots and some unreleased personal works, I’m in Vadukul land for an entire afternoon.   I love this blog!

NAIROBI

English is not my first language, I am a minority for many reasons.  When I told Max that one of the reasons I look up to him is because he is one of the few portrait and fashion photography top guns who is non-white.  I also mentioned how much I admire that he still has a unique vision that bolsters his success and staying power. Max immediately told me he didn’t want to play the “race card”, the “victim card”, or the “sympathy card”, since he never experienced any racism that impacted his career as a photographer when he was starting. Mr. Vadukul is, definitely, a class act.

But I wanted to play the “racism-in-fashion-awareness-card”, quoting the iconic photographer Nick Knight, :“By my own inaction, I am guilty of allowing racism to be normalized and accepted in this business.”

Notable names in fashion or portrait photography like Koto Bolofo, Walter Chin, and Martin Schoeller are only a handful of minorities that had made their mark but still not as icons.  I’m sure they have their war stories about racism.

In a Frieze Magazine interview in 1992, a man commented about the fashion world as “a very immature business… It’s for young people—your audience is sixteen to twenty-year-old girls… Fashion photography can swallow you up with its champagne and caviar lifestyle.” His name is Max Vadukul.

Born to an Indian parents in Nairobi, educated in England, Vadukul was discovered by Japanese fashion designer, Yohji Yamamoto in 1984.  While living in Paris, he began taking photographs for The Face magazine as well as  French, American and Italian editions of Vogue in the early 80s.  He photographed more portraits for The New Yorker than the legendary Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon.  He shot at least a dozen covers for Rolling Stone magazine and has also worked for Italian Vogue, Vogue Hommes International, i-D, Chloé and Armani.

A documentary called Self-Portrait: Max Vadukul in 2000 was produced by the National Geographic Channel,

Now, he resides and work in New York City with his wife, Nicoletta Santoro, International Fashion Director at Large of VOGUE China , and their two children: Alex and Eloise.

Max Vadukul is an important part of history more than we know. This interview is a celebration of a man who has inspired people like me.  Every time I look at his powerful and unforgettable portraits, I know that I will be ok.

GO GET SIR PAUL

LOPE NAVO: Thank you for having time for a one-on-one interview with me Max, I literally grew up with your work, I can tell from your portfolio that your a traveller like me and so far I can say I can speak 3 different languages fluently, Im interested to know how many languages do you speak? And how many countries in your lifetime have you lived in?
MAX VADUKUL: I can speak English, French, Italian and Gujarati, and they have all been learnt by living in France or England or married to an Italian or by birth. So I can navigate a lot of land, ha ha . I have lived in Kenya, England, France, Italy, and USA, in my lifetime so far who knows which one is next .

NAVO: What’s your top 3 favorite cities in the world? and why?
VADUKUL: 1. London, it’s so well proportioned and so rich in what a city can offer.
2. New York, it’s the most energetic and efficient city there is.
3. Istanbul, it’s steeped in history and the food is amazing.

NAVO: I looove Turkish food and I pigged out on it when I lived in the middle east on my early 20′s where I actually discovered my love for travel and portrait photography, what is your most unforgettable portrait photo shoot and why?
VADUKUL: I think it would have to be Paul McCartney, I was in India on holiday and had not completed the vacation when Rolling Stone called me and asked if I can come back to NYC to shoot the cover, I was reluctant as I did not want to leave my family alone, but I remember my kids saying “Get out of here!! Go get Sir Paul”, I did left and when I met Sir Paul, I quivered, I knew I was standing in front of a Beatle, it’s strange but it really was amazing, the highlight was Paul telling me about how the Beatles got to india, a long story!

NELSON MANDELA

NAVO: What is it like photographing another historical legend like Mr. Nelson Mandela?
VADUKUL: Mr. Mandela is everything I had expected, a prince. Charming all the way through and a statesman. I loved to be next to him even for a short time, the meeting happened in Monte Carlo in a 5 star hotel and his room was occupied by his family and Bono, when you photograph some one like Nelson Mandela it’s not work for me it was a chance to touch history.

NAVO: Who would you consider a visionary in the photography history?
VADUKUL: Richard Avedon

NAVO: There are thousands of new photographers each year and hundreds actually make it to the magazines and ad campaigns, are you following any of the new generation of photographer’s work? Anyone that stands out for you?
VADUKUL: Thousands yes but I only remember Nick Knight and Steven Meisel, kings have been replaced by echoes, sad to say.

NAVO: I have to say Richard Avedon, Nick Knight and Steven Meisel have inspired many generations of photographers including me, what inspires a Max Vadukul?
VADUKUL: I am wide open to life and its possibilities, inspiration comes from anywhere its infinite. I love history books, strong news journalism like the Guardian Newspaper, nothing fluffy, so for me bring it on. I am a good editor of what fits my frame.

AFRICA

NAVO: Whats the most iconic images that you remember while growing up Max?
VADUKUL: A lot of album art created by Hipnosis. I was really excited by the album art from Pink Floyd to Led Zep, the first time I saw Jumping Jack flash on tv, the video was mind-blowing with the dark guitar riff, the war paint makeup on Mick, unforgettable.

NAVO: What’s your favorite piece of artwork you own?
VADUKUL: In my home I own one piece of photography I bought for my wife, a photograph by Joseph Koudelka, a black dog in b&w sits on my mantel piece.

NAVO: Do you remember how old where you the first time you used a camera?
VADUKUL: I was about ten and I used my father’s Pentax Spotmatic.

NAVO: Why did you become a photographer?
VADUKUL: So many life experiences affect you, like my father taking me on safari’s on the east coast of Africa with a car loaded with telescopes and photographic gears. I got to see a lot of land and he was always taking pictures, so I think the seeds were there. Why?…well I love photography all of it was such a passion that there was no other choice plus it gave me a chance to be independent from tradition. I think I was 13 years old and I knew this is my destiny.

ALEX, ELOISE & NICOLETTA

NAVO: What does your love ones think about your craft and your profession?
VADUKUL: My parents were very proud when I had finally made it, but they were very grounded. I have two 20-year-old twins Alex, Eloise and my wife Nicoletta they look at everything and will be very harsh on the critique, no ego inflating stuff and we enjoy looking at the work, but it’s not an obsession for them they have their own lives, I think they know it’s very tough, I would say one of the most difficult professions to hold, so each to his own.

NAVO: What is your favorite part in being a photographer Max?
VADUKUL: Just to get my images published the way I see it is a thrill and honestly I love every aspect of my work, I simply love it .

NAVO: What do you think of the disappearance of a lot of magazines (367 magazines closed in 2009) for the past years?
VADUKUL: Too many magazines and it got to be like the Cane frogs in Australia just had to be a cull, my eyes would go blind at a magazine store so many and so much rubbish, I think less is more and quality will stand. All the echoes and hanger-ons will eventually die.

WHITE TIGER

NAVO: What’s an ideal regular vacation for you?
VADUKUL: Vacation for me is decompression time. I simply veg out, usually just by the ocean, reading, scuba diving, usually with the family.

NAVO: What’s the last book you’ve read lately and what is it about?
VADUKUL: “White Tiger “ by Aravind Adiga, it’s a dark comedy about a ‘social entrepreneur’ who committed murder. Set in modern India (Bangalore) and it’s a roller coaster of a book, very unsettling and dark. One of the best books I have read  and I’m sure they will produce a movie out of this.

NAVO: What’s your top 3 favorite films and why?
VADUKUL: 1. ‘Wrath of God’ by Werner Herzog (1972), it’s the search for man’s lust for gold and a journey into a hopeless void, stunning photography. 2. ‘Peeping Tom’ by Michael Powell (1960), my favorite director because its one of the most disturbing films upto this day, a snuff movie stylized, destroyed the directors career. 3. ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ by Sir David Lean (1962), it’s a remarkable study of a perplexing character. I love all of David Lean’s films.

NAVO: I have to say the film Lawrence of Arabia is one of the reasons I was intrigued by the arab culture and I enjoyed living in the cities of Riyadh, Dammam and Dubai. Who’s your top 3 favorite Hollywood Icons?
VADUKUL: Clint Eastwood , Betty Davis, and Alfred Hitchcock.

NAVO: What’s your top 3 favorite records of all time Max?
VADUKUL: 1. The Wall, Pink Floyd, 2. Pat Metheny, Offramp, 3. Exile On Main Street, Rolling Stones.

CHARLES DARWIN

NAVO: What can you recommend to the young photographers who wants to make a living doing what you do?
VADUKUL: I do not wish to be didactic, but I would say you have one life just be yourself and do it your way, you can’t be pleasing everyone.

NAVO: If anybody have told me months ago, years ago that one day I’ll be interviewing you, I would say they’re nuts, and now here we are and I want to fish, what do you think about my work? As a young photographer, and as a writer/blogger?
VADUKUL: Well Mr. Navo your website is clean, clear and easy to navigate, clearly you are not a bullshitter, you say it the way it is and your work is to be praised and lifted. It’s a big effort so I think to get to that level of simplicity, you have a terrific website. I enjoyed your interviews and your questions, your life is only as good as the questions you ask, remember that. As a young photographer, I was showing your work to my daughter Eloïse who is 20 and she was like “wow, this guy is really good” and I thought that you have an eye and it’s up to you to be a one-off, so try to work on that.

NAVO: You have photographed a significant numbers of historical figures, if you’ll get a chance to photograph a dead historical figure, who will it be and why?
VADUKUL: Well I’m going to go off track here, I would have loved to have photographed Charles Darwin on his exploration to the Galápagos on the H.M.S. Beagle. Because the sights and the discovery he made would have made an incredible exhibition and because his insight into evolution is the most important discovery since we knew the earth was not flat.

________________________

www.maxvadukul.com/

www.art-dept.com/artists/vadukul/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Vadukul

________________________

Books
•    Max: Photographs by Max Vadukul. New York: Callaway Publications, 2000.
•    Crazy Horse. New York: Piccolo Press, 2001.

________________________

Related Entry: http://naiveboy.com/2010/01/15/mert-alas-a-fashion-icon-interview-by-navo/

________________________

info@navostudios.com

http://navostudios.com/

©2009 Dangerously Naive

©2009 Naiveboy.com

THE MEAT MARKET: ‘UNCLE’ TERRY RICHARDSON by Navo

(Part 1)

“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”
– Obi-Wan, Star Wars (1977)

All Images by Terry Richardson, excluding this ones.

Frivolous.

Vain.

Materialistic.

Shallow.

Excessive.

Catty.

Racist.

Sexist.

Agist.

Pretentious.

Superficial.

Playful.

Diva.

Pimp.

Wierd. 

Creepy.

Snub.

Junky.

Sleazy.

Exploitative.

Crazy.

Scandalous.

Dirty.

Stupid.

There are many adjectives we use to describe the fashion industry and those who make their living in it. Can you just imagine a child raised with this kind of adjectives? Wouldn’t he be as fucked-up as fashion photographer Bob Richardson‘s 45 yr old son? Have you seen Terry Richardson‘s Kibosh Book (now $195.75 @ amazon.com, 358 X-rated color images, published in 2005), dozens of shots showing Uncle Terry having a fun-day ejaculating over some top models faces (mouth, ears and eyes) while being photographed with a point and shoot camera? Not pornstars, but high-fashion agency models, the big question here is why those images don’t shock us anymore? Can fashion photographer Steven Klein, Mario Testino, Bruce Weber and other Vogue Magazine favorites like Terry get away shooting some fashion agency model with their very own sperm-facial, publishing it as a photo book and call it ‘HIGH FASHION ART’ for a couple of hundred dollars?

Money’s tight for everyone these days, and it doesn’t exclude the fashion élite, whether you’re wearing Chuck Taylors or Manolo Blahniks, everybody gets up in the morning and puts on some clothes, fashion is a vital part of who we are, whether we admit it or not. Fashion is a social and cultural expression or if we get carried away, could result to the maxed-out credit cards, and could also be a mindless distraction or escape from the ‘real problems’ of the world today.

Thinking about it, what made me fall in love with fashion photography for less than a decade now is actually the words — Teamwork, Creativity, Passion, and Genius, but these days are overshadowed by those aforementioned.

HIGH-FASHION SUICIDE

Do you believe that things happen for a reason?

- Is there a reason a legendary designer like Alexander Mcqueen hanged himself during recession? (hooray for metaphors)
- Is there a reason Anna Wintour (US Vogue editor) swallowed her pride and aggressively rubbing her wrinkled elbows with us commoners, becoming more and more media-friendly these days and sacrificing her image as an “Snub Ice-Queen”?
- Is there a reason the most iconic fashion giants and elites filed for bankruptcy this year like Christian Lacroix, Escada, Fred Leighton, Lambertson Truex, Charles Chang-Lima, Maria Pinto, Eric Gaskins, Yohji Yamamoto to name a few?
- Is there a reason the gods of fashion can’t afford Bryan Park for NY Fashion week anymore?

- Is there a reason 367 magazines closed in 2009, including significant numbers of fashion magazines and the ones that still exist are anorexic in pages and advertisements?

- Is there a reason thousands of fashion retail stores closed down in 2009 alone and more are predicted closing down their business in 2010?

Yes. The fashion world is now facing a reality check on things. The fashion gurus and magazine editors/writers might dismiss this as an economic phase and deny that they are not affected by the global shift of priorities, but the tell-tale signs listed above are evidences of a very dark-future for fashion – consumer’s priorities are becoming more and more realistic and it doesn’t include a $20,000 clutch bag and a $100,000 wedding dress. The fashion stratosphere cares more about diamond encrusted high heel shoes than the earthquake in Chile or Haiti, they care more about Project Runway than why the world’s no# 1 terrorist Osama Bin Laden is still at large and having an R&R in Pakistani cave somewhere, the fashion world is facing an earthquake and terror of its own – the fashion world’s inevitable demise.

UNCLE TERRY

You create a hyped up, overrated industry filled with morally challenged, below average IQ level over-achievers, sprinkle it with cattyness, bitchiness and diva-syndrome and viola, you’ll have a recipe for disaster that is waiting to happen, majority of fashion people are tailor fit for a BRAVO reality show, why? Because reality show stars have to be psychologically imbalanced to begin with and where can you find most people with a.d.d. and all this craziness? The FASHION INDUSTRY. Where they have theyre own government, they have their own queens, they have theyre own kings, and they have theyre own world with a set of rules or lack of rules they play within.

What’s polarizing the fashion blogosphere lately (and female blogosphere taken up arms against)? Two Words – Uncle Terry. One of fashion industry’s favorite son is under attack. Everyone’s seems to be cooperating on this wierd social experiment. But before we open our lips, let the man’s work speak for itself.

THE PERVERTED RINGLEADER

“I think for people in the fashion industry, the way Terry Richardson works has been an open secret for a long time, I think a lot of people tolerate it in public because of his extraordinary power within the industry. In private I think many are very disturbed by his history of behaviour with many of the models he works with.” -  Jenna Sauers, Jezebel fashion editor

“It’s likely that he approaches all girls the same way: gauge the situation, drop some names, take out your trouser monster, and see what you can get them to do.” – Jamie Peck, model who posed for Richardson at 19

So the photographer who has made a career out of seeming like a pervert is actually a pervert? What a shocker! All of us have no idea that Terry Richardson fucks models. Who in the right mind would ever want to fuck a beautiful fashion agency model anyways?  The fashion industry shows young girls with their tits and ass hanging out and now it’s a surprise that an actual photographer bangs them? It’s an industry filled with crazy people and big personalities. The boundaries are different than purely corporate enterprise. It’s not IBM, it’s a business with beautiful girls, sex, and malfeasance. To single out one person as some sort of ringleader is absurd. We traffic in human bodies. Human Meat.

UNCLE BRUCE WEBER

The world has become desensitized to Terry Richardson’s point of view, the Terryworld.  Only in an industry like this that a successful, powerful fashion photographer will always be above scrutiny, and those against him are jealous haters. Some say he’s a Jurgen Teller, Walter Pfieffer, Dov Charney hack.  Some say he’s an overpaid sex addict with a point and shoot while Uncle Terry is laughing all the way to the bank. The genius behind Terry Richardson: Normalizing sexual harassment in fashion and celebrity photography. Anna Wintour approved it, Carine Roitfeld approved it, Tom Ford approved it, Marc Jacobs approved it, countless fashion royalties approved it, even President Obama approved it with a handshake and a thumbs-up (Republican’s will feast on this), now how can it be wrong? It only make sense that the rest of us (the consumers) approve it. What about ‘Uncle’ Bruce Weber? Everybody in the industry knows about the big elephant in the room, it’s also an open-secret, all the sexual conquest of Bruce Weber (whose career spawned for 3 or 4 decades shooting hundreds of nekkid boys every year) are a favorite coffee break topic, why are you calling Uncle Terry the ring leader? This bring us to the true topic that this is not about Terry Richardson, or Uncle Terry, Rie Rasmussen, or Jamie Peck or Bruce Weber, it’s not about sex or sexual harrassment, it’s all about POWER, the person who can blacklist you from the Fashion Industry, the person with the most powerful connections, the person with their fingers hotwired in different buttons, the person who can afford a better lawyer will always triumph and dominate, exhibit A: The Vatican (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html)

GOVERNMENT APPROVED PERVERSION

Lets checkout Uncle Terry’s Client rosters: Gucci, Sisley, Miu Miu, Chloe, Tom Ford, French Vogue, British Vogue, i-D, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Purple, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vincent Gallo, Jay Z, Kanye West, Johnny Knoxville, Karl Lagerfeld, Pharell Williams, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss, and President Obama. Uncle Terry admitted in a latest interview, “At first, I’d just want to do a few nude shots, so I’d take off my clothes, too … I’d even give the camera to the model and get her to shoot me for a while. It’s about creating a vibe, getting people relaxed and excited. When that happens you can do anything. I don’t think I’m a sex addict, but I do have issues. Maybe it’s the psychological thing that I was a shy kid, and now I’m this powerful guy with his boner, dominating all these girls”. Terry Richardson is a product of our societies demand for perversed and sexual images, he is a product or a mutated hybrid of capitalism. He brings us to that Terryworld whenever we look and buy his images or the products that his images are selling, we don’t only condone his perverted way of looking at things but we celebrate it, and we are shocked to know that there is a perverted man behind those perverted images? What are you expecting? a Mother Theresa or a Bill Gates would be behind those images? Or a clean-cut catholic priest? Oh sorry, they’re more perverted than an Uncle Terry (they don’t even work in Fashion for God’s sake they only rape 6-year-old boys and girls).

THE MODEL BOOKERS

Who did Terry frantically called (and maybe yelled at) the next day to complain when Supermodel Rie Rasmussen gave a furious tongue-lashing at a Paris fashion event, shaming the powerful photographer? Rie’s Model Agency. One thing is sure, Rie Rasmussen is toast, french toast.

When bloggers tried to reach Terry’s side of the story through his agent, manager and assistant, they didn’t return calls or e-mails. A rep at his agency, Art Partner, told New York Post: “I don’t know anything about this. Terry is on a plane from Paris.” Who are the guardians and so-called protectors of the models? THE MODEL BOOKERS, who would stop sending models to a photographer who’s clients ranges from Gucci, Sisley, Miu Miu, Chloe, Tom Ford, French Vogue, British Vogue, i-D, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar? It’s all business at the end of the day and they use the models to “exchange goods”, like corrupt cops who steals crack from a drug dealer, most of the time the defenders are the oppressors, the Model Bookers sometimes cant help but taste the meat first… literally (but that will be discussed more on THE MEAT MARKET Part 2: THE LIVES OF GAY MALE BOOKERS). For the rest of the world this could be a shocker, but for people like Ana Wintour (the proclaimed god of American Fashion), and all the fashion hipsters, Uncle Terry doesn’t shock them anymore, checkout the Terry Richardson: Kibosh Book ($195.75) and Uncle Terry having a fun-day ejaculating over the top models faces, and these are the models that agreed to be published, I could just imagine the countless girls that didn’t, but actually been shot the same way.

JEALOUS HATERS

At the end of the day, all this talk will lead to Uncle Terry’s day-rate tripling or date-rape tripling? Who wouldn’t be jealous of a Terry Richardson?

All this publicity is only increasing his notoriety and his vision which is Scandal. Frivolous. Vain. Materialistic. Shallow. Excessive. Catty. Racist. Sexist. Agist. Pretentious. Superficial. Playful. Diva. Pimp. Wierd. Creepy. Snub. Junky. Sleazy. Exploitative. Crazy. Scandalous. Dirty. Stupid.

Welcome to the World of Fashion, Who’s your ‘Uncle’ now?

________________________

Related Entry: http://naiveboy.com/2009/11/12/i-want-to-have-sex-with-mr-tom-ford-by-navo/

________________________

info@navostudios.com

http://navostudios.com/

©2009 Dangerously Naive

©2009 Naiveboy.com

ARNALDO ANAYA-LUCCA: A LOVE STORY by Navo

TWO MEN DEFIED A KINGDOM

(NY) I’ve never been in-love, my first boyfriend when I was 21 was Feras, a Syrian-born chef who works for one of the hotels in the city of Riyadh, when I was based there as a graphic designer almost a decade ago. I know what your thinking now, Saudi Arabia + homosexual relationship = heads rolling over a basket, and my first ‘bromance‘ will sound like an epic movie that Anthony Minghella would direct “set in the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia, two men defied a kingdom”. We had it going for 2 long passionate years, I remembered being relocated to Al -Khobar and Feras would drive 500 km towards the Gulf Coast just to see me, looking back, in a way we did defy a kingdom, and that’s the closest thing I have for a romance story in my life. Feras is one of the most beautiful man I’ve seen, he kinda look like Jesus Christ especially when he grows a moustache, intelligent, passionate about life, and most importantly passionate about me, I learned so many things from him, including learning to speak arabic. Love though-is still a foreign language for me, and like I said before, I never been in-love.

1995

I had an opportunity to interview a man who captures romance like nobody else can, it’s a distinct quality in his work. People do fall-in-love in his world the way I see it, and his name is Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca. One of the most iconic fashion image for me when I was still in highschool is that of supermodel Tyson Beckford for a Ralph Lauren launch of his high-end men’s brand in 1995 and it is an image that captured a photographer’s love for beauty and everything that it represents. I love men who have a clear passion and love for life, I’m privy to their love stories every time I look at their work, whether they’re creating a masterpiece in the kitchen or in the darkroom. With all the superficiality, politics and debauchery rampant in the fashion industry today, it is surprising that there are still some real people in fashion.

ST. JOHN’S MILITARY SCHOOL

Anaya-Lucca’s photographs are featured in Australian Vogue, Esquire, Interview, The New York Times Magazine, Spanish Harper’s Bazaar and multiple international editions of GQ. His client roster includes Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Emporio Armani, Oscar de la Renta, Brooks Brothers, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. This photographer’s story started in Ponce, Puerto Rico, when he was born to a cardiologist father and Episcopal minister mother, and in 1974 relocated to US to attend St. John’s Military School in Kansas. I had a great time talking to Arnaldo, and I hope you’ll have a great time reading the rest of his story in this world-exclusive one-on-one interview.

THE 5-YEAR-OLD

LOPE NAVO: Thank you for dropping by Naiveboy.com Arnaldo, I’ve chatted with you for a while now and I’m flattered every time you share your opinion about my work. Like I’ve told you before, I want to live in your world for a day, there’s something so fresh, positive and luxurious about it, what do you think inspires that Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca world?
ARNALDO ANAYA-LUCCA: I guess my boyfriend, family, and friends would be better in answering that question for me but I’ll try. I have always been a happy person even as a child. I had a beautiful childhood in Puerto Rico, very magical, and I guess that kind of sets the way you experience and see life in the future. My boyfriend and friends always say I am like a 5-year-old, which its kind of true. I get very excited every morning about what the day might bring. I guess I managed to keep that child inside of me. When you are excited about life in general, you feel very grateful and that breeds a very positive state of mind. And only a positive state of mind is able to see the endless beauty surrounding us.

My inspiration always comes from every day life. People, places, history, art, society. It’s the way we see ordinary events, objects that leads us to creativity and then the way we experience those things that leads us to our unique style. But my way of seeing things was definitely influenced by the works of Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel and Herbert List‘s magical photographs.

NAVO: What does your love ones think about your craft and your profession?
ANAYA-LUCCA: They’re just really proud that I pursued a dream and was lucky enough to have it realized. I’m still dreaming everyday.

NAVO: Do you remember the first photos you have taken? And with what camera?
ANAYA-LUCCA: The very 1st photos I took where of my family and friends in Puerto Rico. Pictures at the beach, the mountains and home. I used my Yashica FX3.

MR. RALPH LAUREN

NAVO: Why did you become a photographer? At what point did you know you want this career?
ANAYA-LUCCA: I always loved taking pictures but never dreamed it could become a career for me. When I was in high school, one of my older brothers, Abel, started taking pictures and I got the bug. On my 18th birthday, my parents bought me my first camera, a Yashica FX3 (I still have it) I told my parents I wanted to major in photography but that did not go over well. My Dad was a cardiologist and to him photography could only be a hobby, so I went to college and majored in Finance. I became a yearbook photographer at my College (I went to school in Kansas City, Mo.). To this day all my college friends think of me as always having a camera around my neck and to them this career is not a surprise but it is to me. After college I moved to NY and after being turned down 4 times…yes, I got 4 rejection letters in one year, I landed a job with Ralph Lauren at the Polo Mansion on 72nd St. in the spring of 1988 in the men’s clothing department selling suits.You see I had become a bit obsessed with Ralph Lauren and my dream was to one day work along side “The Man” himself. After 4 1/2 years in the mansion I got my big break in the beginning of 1993 and was offered a position in Ralph Lauren’s Men’s Design Studio. I was now working and developing Men’s Lines with Ralph…my dream became a reality or so I thought!! I was still taking pictures but design was my focus and I loved it. It was Ralph’s eldest son, Andrew Lauren, that inadvertently opened my photography’s Pandora’s box in late 1994. Andrew’s then girlfriend and my best friend, Rebecca Indri, told Andrew that he should ask me to photograph him as he was interested in becoming an actor and needed a head shot. She told him that my hobby was taking pictures and that I was good. I photographed him a few weeks later and the result was amazing. I shot him in my apartment with daylight b&w portraits against a white wall. He looked like a 1950′s movie star in my photos. A month later I was in a design meeting with Ralph he pulled out the photos and said, “Your pictures of Andrew are unbelievable…you captured him like no one has in the past and he has been photographed by many top fashion photogs!” He said to me,“You have a gift, an amazing eye and I want you shoot an ad campaign for me.” Well he kept his word and 3 month’s later I photograph Tyson Beckford for the launch of Ralph Lauren’s high-end men’s brand, Purple Label. The photo ran in American GQ in the fall of 1995. It was my 1st published photograph and still one of my favorites! My photography career was born and in the summer 1997 I left Ralph Lauren after 10 years in the company to pursue photography full-time with Ralph’s blessing. He became my most loyal client. That’s the real dream for me, shooting Ad campaigns for my mentor, Mr. Ralph Lauren.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

NAVO: Is there a photo book that your fans can collect that features your work in the near future? Any latest project?
ANAYA-LUCCA: No book yet Lope. It’s in the future as I’m still growing as a photographer and it’s so difficult for me to choose a theme or idea for a book but yes I WOULD LOVE TO in the future. I did have my 1st solo exhibition in Miami during Art Basel last December that I’m very proud of. I’m also really excited about a few ad campaigns I’m shooting this month and next for RL (top secret) look for them in the fall as well as one editorial shoot in particular commissioned by Russian GQ-Style that will run in March. It’s an “English Patient” Story with one of my favorite models,Vladimir with Wilhelmina.

NAVO: Congratulations to your art exhibition Arnaldo, I wish I could’ve made it to Miami.  Talking about books,what’s the last book you’ve read lately and what is it about?
ANAYA-LUCCA: Thanks Lope, Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Towards Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck is the last book I’ve read.  My boyfriend suggested it. It made me look at myself in a whole new light. At the end of the day you got to balance your superficial lifestyle with some emotional awareness no?

NAVO: Who’s your favorite historical figure?
ANAYA-LUCCA: Queen Elizabeth I, I’m obsessed with British History especially “The Golden Age” when she ruled.

NAVO: I’m sure you’ve seen the Cate Blanchett “The Golden Age” movie too! Whats your top 3 favorite films of all time?
ANAYA-LUCCA: Umm, that’s hard. I believe that anyone will agree that it is impossible to narrow it down to 3. There are numbers of movies that truly inspired me personally or professionally and for some reason they all fall more or less in a category of social dramas. The Hunger (1997), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and All About My Mother (1999), are some of them.

NAVO: Speaking of Queen Elizabeth I, If you’ll get a chance to photograph a dead icon, who will it be and why?
ANAYA-LUCCA: As much as I find a lot of my inspiration in our history. For some reason when it comes to icons I need to feel them. I need to be able to follow their careers through time and see how they develop as an artist or persona. I need them to be ALIVE.

NAVO: Who’s your favorite Diva?
ANAYA-LUCCA: Madonna.

PUERTO RICAN ON SKIS

NAVO: What’s a regular weekend for an Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca?
ANAYA-LUCCA: Spontaneous getaways with my boyfriend where the beach is near and there is plenty good restaurants to choose from.

NAVO: Your work always reminds me of youth and athleticism, are you an adrenaline junkie?
ANAYA-LUCCA: I love to ski so I guess you can say I’m an adrenaline junkie. When I was a freshmen in college my father gave us an amazing gift for spring break, 4 days at a private mountain home in Winter Park, Colorado. For me, my twin brother and my sister it was a rush… I mean all we knew was the beach when we were kids. We discovered a winter wonderland that was more beautiful than I had ever imagined and I’m still addicted. I ski every year. A Puerto Rican on skis is a rare sight to see.

NAVO: What can you advise the young men and women all over the world reading Dangerously Naive, who wants to make a living photographing the most beautiful and interesting people in the world?
ANAYA-LUCCA: The reality of life is that we need to make a living in order to survive. And often that livelihood doesn’t include our dreams or passions. If your passion is to be a photographer you should passionately continue to create and express yourself through photography and not feel motivated by money-making. Passion should be its own foundation. Making a living from it, it comes as secondary. So I would advise them to keep on creating, expressing themselves and the rest will follow.

CITIES ARE LIKE PEOPLE

NAVO: What do you think of the disappearance of a lot of magazines (367 magazines closed in 2009) for the past years?
ANAYA-LUCCA: We are in transition in many aspects of our world, the biggest transition that is undergoing now is in politics, economics, environment and media. It feels naturally that many business needs to close in order to transit including many fashion magazines. The survival of the fittest in a way. I see a bright future about it all, especially with on-line media. There are already many magazines that created their online versions and there are some really good ones coming up. My favorite is www.thecontributingeditor.com edited by Matthew Edelstein. I think we should all focus on a positive future and keep on creating great work.

NAVO: What is your favorite part of your job?
ANAYA-LUCCA: I would say when my creative vision becomes physically tangible, when it becomes a reality. There is a certain satisfaction to be able to translate a vision from my mind to an actual photograph. I travel a lot for my work and meet many interesting, creative people so therefore travel gives me inspiration and it’s an endless source of joy for me.

NAVO: What’s your top 3 favorite cities in the world? and why?
ANAYA-LUCCA: Well top 3 again, is hard but I guess I could say Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro and London for now. They are super diverse culturally, have a very big art scene and most importantly they feel sexy in some way or another. Cities are like people, you fall in love with them, you explore them, experience them, and stay loyal to them and hopefully grow old with them but there is always an option to grow apart. But the good news is that there is always another city to explore.

http://www.defactoinc.com/

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Related Entries: http://naiveboy.com/2009/12/06/the-ten-greatest-films-about-photographers-by-navo/

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©2009 Dangerously Naive

©2009 Naiveboy.com

THE LAST MEN STANDING by Navo

“People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live… [We] never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” - Albert Einstein’s letter to Otto Juliusburger

Bassman, Frank, Demarchelier, Weber, & Leibovitz

THE OLDEST 28-YEAR-OLD IN THE WORLD

I still don’t have a Twitter. I joined Facebook earlier this year, after being constantly bombarded by the electronic Facebook invites of my college mates from art school, I finally gave in. Sometimes, updating status, replying to messages, wall tags and photo comments are something I do to keep me company while retouching some of the images I took in Photoshop, in between photo shoots, waiting for my flight, waiting for my luggage, waiting for a friend in a coffee shop, just finished reading a book or done my research for my novel, Facebook somehow sneaked in to my routines, should I be worried? For all my growing readers and followers out there, I appreciate your emails and support, I  attended a worldwide blogger’s 2-day conference over the weekend to upgrade myself and literally everyone (about 200 bloggers, web developers, writers, coders) has a Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, together with their website and other contact details in their business cards or their blogs, I feel prehistoric, the oldest 28-year-old in the world who don’t Twit and a Facebook amateur compared to my niece who have used Facebook and Twitter since birth, now I’m worried.

MR. IRVING PENN 92

My favorite feature in Facebook is the “top five” list of everything you can think of, top five movies, top five sandwiches, top five Britney song, top five Sarah Palin books (although she has only one, hopefully), of course I don’t want to be left out by the other cool kids, so I made a couple of list of my own, like the hit “Top 5 Famous Dead People I Would Like To Invite For Dinner”– James Dean, Charles Darwin, Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler, and Albert Einstein (I’m definitely sure 3 of them are vegetarian and I definitely got a lot of fb comments for that), and after browsing The New York Magazine in LAX, Aug 16, ’09 interview of the famed photographer Annie Leibovitz (59 yrs. old), “Photography is not something you retire from, Photographers live to a very old age and work until the end.” (Lartigue lived to be 92, Steichen 93, and Cartier-Bresson 94.)  “Irving Penn is going to be 92 next month, and he’s still working.” Leibovitz said. I quickly made another “top 5″ last September 13 at 5:53 am (it’s still somewhere on my facebook wall), “The World’s Oldest Living Iconic Photographers” where Mr. Irving Penn topped the list at 92, shortly after a month (October 7),  Ms. Lillian Bassman (92) took Mr. Penn’s spot at the top 5.

FIVE LEGENDARY LIVING LENSMEN

It’s a youth-obsessed industry, a working fashion model’s age brackets from 14 to 21 and less than 1% of them work up to their 40′s (Claudia Schiffer 39, Christy Turlington 40, Naomi Campbell 39, and Kate Moss 35), but great photographers get to last twice or more than any great supermodel’s career in a lifetime which is fascinating and inspiring for a “late twenties” photographer like me, their career’s longevity and their resilience are something that a lot of “top” fashion photographers in their 30s or 40s at the moment can only dream of. It would be interesting to know if any of the five legendary living lensmen and women Twits or have Facebook “top fives” of their own. Two caucasian women, three caucasian men, two immigrants, three american-born, one photojournalist, one portrait photographer, two fashion/celebrity photographers, one fashion/art photographer, three have started with Harper’s Bazaar Magazine, and all based in the east coast, four in new york, one in miami, here are the updated list of “The World’s Oldest Living Iconic Photographers” still working today.

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Lillian Bassman (92)

A painter and an American fashion photographer, born in Brooklyn (1917) to a jewish immigrant parents from Russia (1905).

Bassman’s work as a fashion photographer started at Junior Bazaar (1940s) and Harper’s Bazaar (1950 -1965), by the 70s she abandoned fashion photography to work on her own photo projects, resulting to 40 years of life’s work (films and prints) thrashed, some salvaged hundred images re-appeared and her work was re-appreciated in the 90s. Her photography style is the high contrast, grainy finish, and geometric camera angles of her subjects.

In an industry ruled by “White Men (gay or straight)”**, Bassman is now one of the last two “great women” standing. And that is still an understatement for me.

**a future article you’ll find here in Dangerously Naive.

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Robert Frank (84)

An important American art/photojournalist, born in Zurich, Switzerland (1924) to a wealthy Jewish family.

Mr. Frank emigrated to the United States in 1947 and like Ms. Bassman started as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar. He travelled to South America and Europe after the brief stint with the magazine, and like Ms. Bassman worked on his more personal works, and came back in the 1950′s to NYC for a group exhibition in MOMA and then moved to Paris. His frustrations with the control of the editors over his work colored his fashion magazine experience, nonetheless he moved back to New York, 3 years after the exhibition and worked as a freelance photojournalist and completely abandoning fashion photography altogether.

In 1958, “The Americans” was published, his widely celebrated photographic book cemented his position in the history of American photography.

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Patrick Demarchelier (65)

A French fashion photographer, born in 1943 to a modest family and started as a wedding photographer at the age of seventeen.

Like Mr. Frank, Mr. Demarchelier emigrated to New York (1975), Elle, Marie Claire and 20 Ans Magazine was the first stints he had as a fashion photographer after working as a freelance photographer/ assistants to such greats as Cartier-Bresson. He later worked for Harper’s Bazaar (like Mr. Frank and Ms. Bassman) and Vogue (1992-present). Demarchelier also is behind several blue chip campaigns including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Celine, TAG Heuer, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Lacoste, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, and became a household name after the 2006′s Meryl Streep film The Devil Wears Prada with the lines- “Did Demarchelier confirm?”, and “I have Patrick!”.

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Bruce Weber (63)

An American fashion/celebrity photographer, born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania (1946).

Mr. Weber’s first fashion photography work appeared in GQ magazine in the late 1970′s, shot Bloomingdales catalogs in 1978, Calvin Klein Campaigns in the late 1980s to early 1990s, introducing him to the American households. His photograph of supermalemodel Marcus Schenkenberg nude in the shower, catapulted him to celebrity status. Then later working with fellow celebrities like him, Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, Chet Baker, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick Jr., Jackson Browne and virtually all the stars in the hollywood’s walk of fame, the dead and the living. Today, he is behind the countless ad campaigns such as Calvin Klein, Pirelli, Revlon, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch and unlike Mr. Robert Frank, Mr. Weber embraced the fashion industry and worked with virtually all the top fashion and celebrity magazines existing in the world today.

Mr. Weber’s work are mostly in black and white and homoerotic. (A House is Not a Home and Bear Pond to name a few of his numerous homoerotic nude photobooks).

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Annie Leibovitz (59)

An American portrait photographer, born in Waterbury, Connecticut (1949) to a modern dance instructor mother, and a lieutenant colonel father (US Air Force).

She took her first pictures in the Philippines while studying college, and to be with her family, after her father was stationed there during the Vietnam war. Ms. Leibovitz returned to the US in 1970 and started a career as a staff photogrpaher for Rolling Stone magazine, then in 1973 became its chief photographer (for 10 years) and helped defined the look of the magazine with her celebrity portraits of Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and like Mr. Weber the rest of the names in Hollywood’s walk of fame and virtually every celebrity that are in the headlines today, from President Obama to Miley Cyrus (for Vanity Fair Magazine).

Ms. Leibovitz’s signature style is the close collaboration to her subjects and on her earlier works are the more orange/yellow hue tint to the present work’s blue-ish purple hue. – Navo

Related Entry: http://naiveboy.com/2009/10/08/thank-you-mr-penn/