Robert Frank Aspesi catalogs
Most artists need to find ways of paying the bills and this usually involves stepping outside of their immediate interests. Unless, of course, they were born into wealth and the day to day search for money is unnecessary. I have the notion that good art doesn't naturally spring from that environment but I only have to point to Cartier-Bresson or Godard to look foolish making a statement like that. Having money has the positive effect of freeing up time to create but does the lack of day-to-day struggle for one's existence have an effect on the work as well? I'd like to think so but perhaps this is simply because I belong to the group of people that hang from paycheck to paycheck. As I've said before I make my living as a printmaker and my work week generally exists of two days worth of jobs. If I worked full time, I would never be a photographer (let alone spend the time to write about books) but yet I think if I had all the money that I needed then perhaps I wouldn't need to make photographs because there would be less at stake if I didn't. That said, I'd probably give it a go, if just for the experiment.
Robert Frank is not generally thought of as an editorial or commercial photographer but when he first arrived in the
This posting is about three fashion catalogues from designer Alberto Aspesi, Milano which feature photographs by Frank that were shot in the late 1980s and the mid-1990s.
The first is 44 pages and features 19 photographs of shirt designs from Aspesi in 1989. Photographed in Polaroid positive/negative in the streets around his home near the Bowery he catches the models in states somewhere between posing and spontaneous interaction. The blurry urban backdrop and rough Polaroid edges provides a nice moody atmosphere of fashion meeting lower east side reality. This elegantly produced softcover is covered in thick black French-folded cardstock and the inner reproductions are on a decent paper stock typical of artbooks.
The second is a 44 page hardcover catalog of 24 photographs of jackets offered from Aspesi's Fall/Winter line of 1995-96. This time around Robert has hauled everyone up to
Besides this book being hardcover the quality is much the same as the softcover described above.
The last catalog called Ideas was published in 1999 and it combines three of the campaigns including one of collages made in 1997. This was available for a while through SCALO but nowhere in the book do they have any credit on production or distribution. Where as the others were not publicly available, this one had a much larger printing and seemed made for more public consumption as a Robert Frank item of interest beyond the fashion aim.
The first two sections are most of the photos described from the series above (the individual books contain a few photos that do not appear in this collection) and the last section are the collages made in
For what these are, these books are interesting items with good photography and nice design. I like many of the individual images even though they sit in the comfortable arena of risk-free fashion photography. It is clearly commerce and not art but it does hold some of Frank’s air of cool intelligent framing and the sense that there is more behind what meets the eye.
Note: For a different take on artists being hired to photograph campaigns that get published as a book take a look at Terry Richardson’s work for the Japanese company Uniqlo advertising their large line of t-shirts. Some of their shirts have featured Araki and Daido Moriyama photos and Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings. That book called T-shirt Love is available in Uniqlo stores for $50.00.
Note to note above: Did I just call Terry Richardson an artist?
16 comments:
Did you just call Terry Richardson and artist?
It is important for young photographers to know that until around 1980, no photographer could live from his 'personal' work alone. They either did commercial, work, portraiture, photojournalism, etc. Even, Edward Weston, who famously led a simple escetic lifestyle still had to do hundreds of boring portraits to cover his bread and cheese. Lee Friedlander shot album covers. Garry Winogrand shot boxing matches for Sports Illustrated and Robert Frank shot fashion well into the early 1960s. But by the time Frank was asked by Mr. Aspesi to do his Shirts catalogue in the late 1980s, I do not believe it had anything to do with his wanting to "pay the bills." I think he wanted to see what he could do with a commission to shoot fashion after so many years away from it. I think that was the challenge for him and he liked Mr. Aspesi. I think he did make a contribution. Who else before this ever shot dirty, wrinkled clothing for a sales catalogue and got away with it?
So can we talk about the trainwreck of Charlie Leduff now? I thought the crowd was going to tear him into little pieces and eat his ridiculous shoes.
D,
Trainwreck? I'd say douchbag. I wonder if he shopped for the shoes or if those were already in his closet.
did he get the pulitzer for being an asshole?
What's the discussion about? Not all of us live in NYC.
There was an "Evening with Robert Frank" last night and Charlie LeDuff was the provokation. For more about the program for the "Evening" See:
http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/robertfrank.html#evening
And for LeDuff's article from Vanity Fair see:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/04/frank200804?currentPage=1
and? anyone want to let us in on the joke?
LeDuff started the interview by throwing one of David Amram's conga drums on the stage. first question to Robert: "Bob, how is your asshole?" it went down hill from there. LeDuff knows nothing about Robert, The Americans, the beats etc. He is a "hipster" using an old man - Robert for his own purposes. His Vanity Fair article was filled with wrong facts and ripped off quotes.
actually, it was a pretty interesting article. the guy is old, no shame in that. what was inaccurate about it?
it was one of the most memorable evenings out in nyc i've had in ages, only because it was so incredibly appalling. you can hear (most) of the interview here (though they cut out the 'asshole' line):
http://blogs.wnyc.org/culture/2008/05/16/robert-frank-at-lincoln-center/
i should not have refered to Robert as an "old man" perhaps "old master" would have been better.
Mr.Le Duff should be ashamed of himself. Robert deserves respect as he has paved his own roads and as a result happens to be successful. Anyway Robert Frank makes masterpieces while Le Duff writes about them- enough said..
Hero worship hurts everyone.
Americans(as well as others) tend to idolatry and Frank perhaps tried to provoke this little but typical philistine weakness.It was a provocation and should be understood as one,I guess.They knew each other ( the V/F article) ,so Frank was probably pleased to receive more disrespectful questions.Also the clown shoes (Franks and the Journalists) prove to me that it was a little awkward horror show .
P
what about Aspesi? anything more to say about those catalogues?
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