Huey, Dewey and Louis Vuitton

Our teacher brought a W magazine to our studio class last year to show us how sleazy the current market is, and to encourage us to fill the market with more wholesome work. Ironically, a set of images that were solarized (seemed kind of uncommon) caught my attention and it frequently finds itself sitting in the back of my mind whenever I'm editing. While cleaning off my memory card it seemed like this "happy accident" of an exposure check for my project about noses had potential, so into photoshop it went. I wanted to compare my solarization with the images from the magazine and was surprised at myself for somehow vaguely remembering that it was a louis vuitton ad. I just searched 'louis vuitton solarized ad' and managed to find it.

Turns out that it was shot by Steven Meisel. What I respect about Steven Meisel is that he doesn't have a "style". His "style" is coherent problem solving. He understands that a color palette or a quality of light is not the message, it's a vehicle for the message. He's the best because he understands what the client is trying to say, and then uses appropriate lighting and styling.

I think I've been writing so much about this because we've been discussing in our fine art class the risk of taking a step into the dark and doing something that isn't just a repeat of someone else's creativity. (Obviously I'm repeating creativity here, but Meisel seems to have made a risky decision) What I'm trying to say is - he took a risk and it seems to have paid off, because it really stuck in my mind. Sometimes risks work, sometimes they don't, but when they do, it sets you apart. I'm going to try to employ that more in my decision making.


(In all honesty, Steven Meisel was really just repeating Man Ray's creativity, but to copy Man Ray today is still somewhat of a step out into the dark)