Inspirations: Vogue

Certainly Vogue is one of the leading fashion/women's magazines, and it has my respect. 

Vogue is a magazine that introduces theatrics to its fashion and many a times, their dramatic side takes the lead. For this reason, I will be posting about Vogue and its photoshoots internationally, which did spreads with the storylines of fairytales behind them.

Fairytale Fashion Shoot for Vogue Espana by Photographer Eugenio Recuenco:

(taken from http://www.worldoffemale.com/fairytale-photoshoots/)

Snow White

The Little Red Riding Hood

The Princess and the Pea

Puss in Boots

The Beauty and the Beast

The Pied Piper

Cinderella

Alice in Wonderland:

Alice Through the Looking Glass:

US Vogue, The Arts Issue:

Starring Lady Gaga as Wicked Witch, Lily Cole as Gretel and Andrew Garfield as Hansel

Wondergirls in Wonderland for Vogue Korea: 

Sohee as the White Rabbit

Yeeun as the White Queen

Hyerim as the Red Queen

Yubin as the Mad Hatter

Sunye as Alice

Sohee as the White Rabbit

Sunye as Alice

I also partially have a dream about being a stylist and these photoshoots show how much the outfits really come into play in the portrayal of the character. It no longer just stays as fashion, but truly, theatre is entering into the arena as well. As for the photography element, Vogue has inspired through these photoshoots to be dramatic, and one key thing is also to give more attention to details as well. This is extremely essential in having the setting you want to create. Even if almost invisible in the shot, items and objects of the smallest measure could make or break a shot, and I find that this is something I really need to take note of even in my own photography, especially similar fashion photography. It truly makes a difference. I personally felt that comparing the Vogue Korea shoot to perhaps the western Vogue shots of Alice in Wonderland, Korea fell short simply because attention had not been paid all the way down to the nitty gritty, leaving many loopholes in the quality of the shot. I felt that they had lacked the same intensity and focus of the atmosphere, and it is very much like visual art in itself, where composition in fact does matter. 

For example, in this shot:

One of them was supposed to be a portrayal of the Mad Hatter, yet the idea of Mad had not been fully exploited and lacked the detail of the Mad Hatter, possibly achieved even by the application of brooches, accessories and clashing elements of prints. However, the character almost fades along with the drab weary grey which is not reminiscent of the original character. In this case, I feel that the juxtaposition of colour really does not work cohesively to bring out the mood, as the supposedly crazy hat only blends in with the Red Queen's coat and can almost be ignored instead, giving the opposite effect of crazy or outstandingly out of the blue.

So yes, theatrics+fashion is indeed quite the combination for me, and I think even as my chase for my dream as a fashion designer proceeds, and despite my impatience for opulence or extravagance(usually achieved through much detail), I would still like to try it out sometime and challenge myself to work with more details once in a while.

Also, just like the way fairytales have been used in these photoshoots to generate interest, I also hope that maybe next time instead of always using my solely personal experience, perhaps I could also start to use subjects that are more relatable to all, which would be like the common fairytales.