Close Up: Fashion Photography events                                            Curated by Magda Keaney

Live Photo Shoot

What would a Friday Late about fashion photography be without a live shoot?

The devil was in the detail as Jason Pietra worked with V&A curators and items from the fashion collection on a still life editorial right before your eyes.

Jason Pietra is a still life photographer but says  “My ambition when I shoot is to give things life especially those things we regard as still or not living, a shoe, a piece of wood, a plastic water pistol. I see all these things as having some kind of life, a connection with life and a story to tell”. Jason Pietra’s clients include Kurt Geiger, Carvela, Boots No7, American Express, COS. His editorial credits include iD, Dazed and Confused, Arena Homme +, GQ Style, British Vogue and W magazine.

See photos of this event on our Flickr page!
 

Talks
Headlining Close Up in a very special series of events we proudly presented three talks by three of the best fashion photographers currently working in the industry; Warren Du Preez & Nick Thornton Jones, Paolo Roversi and Tim Walker . Each made a personal selection of original material from the V&A’s world renowned Photographs Collection to discuss in terms of their own work, inspirations and interests. 
 

Portfolio Reviews
We pulled in all our favours to get fifteen of the most respected fashion agents and magazine editors in the same room at the same time and we wanted you to impress them with your portfolios.  Reviewers included:

Natalie Doran, Laurence Vuillemin &  Kenny Burns @ D&V
www.dandvmanagement.com

Tanya Paice @ Blunt
www.bluntlondon.com

Kate Congreve @ E.S.P
www.esp-agency.com

Julie Brown, Gregorio Pagliaro & Anna Hustler @ M.A.P
www.mapltd.com

Marco Santucci & Rinchen Ato @ Marco Santucci
www.marcosantucci.com

Anna Suznjevic @ Anna Su Agency
www.theannasuagency.com

Leonie Edwards-Jones @ Artist Representation/Management
http://www.armanagement.org.uk/

Victoria Sullivan @ Streeters
www.streeterslondon.com

Daren Ellis, Creative Director, BigShow magazine
www.bigmagazine.com

Sara Hemming, Art Director, Another magazine
www.anothermag.com

Dean Langley, Art Director, i-D magazine
www.i-dmagazine.com

James Reid, Photography Editor @ Wallpaper magazine
www.wallpaper.com

Laura Rule, Art Director @ Anotherman
http://www.anothermag.com/
 

Straightups
In the tradition of the coolest fashion ‘straight up’, photographer Face Hunter scouted out the best personal style and dress of the night. Face Hunter is one of the best known blog photographers currently working. Part photographers, part fashion editors, bloggers have emerged as a highly influential new strand of fashion image making now also employed as editorial photographers in their own right.
http://facehunter.blogspot.com
 

French Connection Fashion Photography Studio
Establishing yourself as a successful fashion photographer takes many years of dedicated hard work. The French Connection Fashion Photography studio was a chance for you to get on set and get inspired. Led by photographer Donald Milne and stylist Tamara Cincik, they provided hands on advice and models and grooming to create and shoot a series of looks using the French Connection Autumn Winter 08 collection.  

Fashion Film Screenings
An hour-long film programme curated by Professor Penny Martin traced the origins and application of the new field of 'fashion film': the exploration of fashion editorial through motion image, as opposed to definitive still. Movie shorts by image-makers including Nick Knight, SHOWstudio, Erwin Blumenfeld and Guy Bourdin and the work of designers Alexander McQueen, Raf Simons, Gareth Pugh, Prada and many more, the films mapped the transition from studio documentation and TV commercial through to the current shift towards online.

In addition, there was a UK exclusive premiere of Prada's new film for S/S '09.

Accompanied by programme notes

Professor Penny Martin is a writer and broadcaster on fashion and photography. She is the Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Fashion Imagery at The London College of Fashion, prior to which she was Editor in Chief of SHOWstudio.com for seven years. She has written widely, developed many exhibitions -real world and online- curated several film programmes and is a presenter on BBC2's Culture Show.
 

Drop in and create a statement piece
You could create a unique wearable adornment for the evening from an inspiring range of everyday materials in this drop-in workshop, facilitated by Nathan Firth , Artist Educator at the V & A Museum of Childhood.
Nathan and friends assisted you in accentuating your own personal style to construct a bold fashion statement.  The emphasis ws on DIY individuality, creativity and fun!  Less glitter but very glam.
 

And in case that’s not enough fashion photo fabulousness for one night there was special guest DJ appearances from The Voguettes  and Raphael Salley .
www.raphaelsalley.com