Photography Research- William Klein

After initially researching Vauthier as a photography style, on reflection i realise that this style could be hard to re-create well due to the limitations i have (location, time, model etc). I have researched an iconic photographer, William Klein. He uses a classic style that i absolutely love, simplistic, mono-tonal and eloquently done. Although the grayscale/monochrome style he uses could also be fairly tricky to reproduce if i do not have a digital camera with a black and white setting, as editing a picture to black and white never usually gives the same clarity and sharpness, therefore making the image look grainy, unfocused and fairly 'cheap' looking. I also love that Klein manages to capture a much more 'natural' style within his photography, looking much less staged that Vauthier's work.

But again, looking at Klein's work he had a lot less limitations than myself, especially within his style, model, location and wardrobe. Working regularly for publications such as Vogue i would have to take into consideration, the different type of shots i would be able to produce in comparison to Klein and the fact that it is a music magazine, therefore not focusing on style as much (especially not the 60s style that gave him his famous name). But if i take one thing away from researching his work it would be the charisma and energy he manages to capture every time, i would also like to do some trial shots using a greyscale style similar to Klein's and testing whether or not i would be able to produce the same style now with a high standard and low budget.

Examples of William Klein's work:

Band Inspiration

AlunaGeorge- Your Drums, Your Love

Disclosure 'White Noise' feat AlunaGeorge

Disclosure - Boiling (feat. Sinead Harnett)

SBTRKT - Hold On (feat. Sampha)

The xx - Chained 

Crystal Castles- 'BAPTISM'

Band Profile

Name: Influxx
Music Style:
Indie/alternative, Electronic, Synths/Sampler, Vocal & Guitar (Bass)
Influences:
AlunaGeorge, Disclosure, The XX, Crystal Castles, Passion Pit, SBTRKT & MMOTHS.
Members:
Female- Vocals & Bass (voice similar to Aluna from AlunaGeorge and Romy Madley Croft from The XX, soft & mesmerizing.
Male- Synthesiser & Bass, similar to Jamie XX and Guy and Howard Lawrence (Disclosure)

Cover:
Featuring both of the members 
Style:
Female- Blonde hair, blue eyes, dark eye make-up,red lips, mono-tonal clothing, quirky style (90s/grunge), similar style to Sky Ferreira
Male- Tall, dark brown hair, chiselled jaw, beard, smart, buttoned up shirt or tshirt, mono-tonal clothing, minimalistic style, serious and known as the 'brains behind the band'

 

 

Magazine Pitch

Conde Nast Publications

Conde Nast is a magazine publisher in the US (owned by parent company Advance Publications), it produces 18 magazine such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar & Wired. Conde Nast is thought to be the originator of 'lifestyle' magazines (based of class and style rather than attracting the largest readership possible). Conde Nast is splity into 9 different genre sections (Fashion& lifestyle, home, bridal, golf, food, travel, technology, culture & trade.

It is yet to produce a music magazine therefore i think this is a good oppurtunity to publish my magazine 'DWNLD' and i think because they focus on the 'lifestyle' concept (basing magazines on class & style rather than attracting a large readership) fits in brilliantly with my indie/alternative genre with subdivisions of fashion & culture aimed a a female more niche market. However i think that it would be good for the magazine to be produced as a British magazine as the overall style of the magazine is more British than American, so i thought that maybe in could be produced in the US first  as a magazine and then released into the UK either digitally e.g apps, website etc or as a tangible music magazine.

IPC Media- Magazine Institution

IPC Media is a subsidiary of Time Inc. It is a consumer magazine and digital publisher based in London and founded in the UK in 1958. It has a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year and owns 60 iconic media brands. IPC Media is divided into three publishing divisions (IPC Connect, IPC Inspire and IPC Southbank). IPC Connect is the mass market women's division of the company and includes women's 'weekly' magazines such as Now, Chat & Woman and TV entertainments magazines What's On TV and TVTimes. IPC Inspire is the men's section of the publishing company including 'leisure' magazine brands such as Horse & Hound, Country Life & Rugby World, plus 'lifestyle' brands such as NME, Nuts and Mousebreaker. IPC Southbank is the 'upmarket' women's division of the brand including 'luxury' fashion brands such as Marie Claire and InStyle.

I feel that my magazine 'DWNLD' an indie/alternative music magazine including sub divisions of fashion & culture would fit perfectly into this publishing company as it is yet to produce a magazine like mine. My magazine has the music edge of NME and the female/fashion touch of magazines such as InStyle and Marie Claire. IPC is a UK based publishing company and would be perfect to publish my magazine as it based in London and would be great as London is a good base to be at the forefront of music, fashion & culture. Although it may sell as more of a niche magazine than mainstream music magazine NME i still think that IPC Media would emulate DWNLD magazine perfectly and open up their already extensive target market/audience. I think that my magazine would fit into the IPC's subdivision IPC Southbank as it is the women's division of my magazine (and my magazine has a female audience) but i do think they could work in hand with the division IPC Inspire's 'lifestyle' brand as they already produce music magazine NME and could be great as a source of advice/inspiration in the music sector.

Viktor Vauthier Photography

Viktor Vauthier is one of my favourite photographers. I love the way he captures the emotion of the models in his pictures with a great edge, i also really like the neutral tones of his images. His choice of models always really interests me, they are all naturally beautifully and he manages to capture this so well. Vauthier always seems to use Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory within his photography. This is where the image that is taken is viewed in a way that a hetrosexual male would look at a female, although this can relegate women to the status of being an object, Vauthier pulls this off brilliantly in a non-sexist way.

As much as i love Vauthier's photpgraphy style i feel this could be hard to produce myself in a similar way, as i have many more limitations (location, model, equipment, costume etc). The lighting and set within his images can be quite stark and unforgiving with the models, this is something i must keep in mind when taking my photographs if i do it in the same style as Vauthier (studio versions in particular- white background).