The works demonstrate how the fashion photography has gone beyond the simple presentation of product lines to reflect on the reality of our lives, to explore our aspirations and to push the boundaries of creativity. Edited by Nathalie Herschdorfer, director of the Photo Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, and produced by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, lhe exhibition features more than 100 photographs by 48 photographers. Featuring works by Nick Knight, Peter Lindbergh, Viviane Sassen, Paolo Roversi, Miles Aldridge and Ellen von Unwerth – as well as an exciting new generation of fashion photographers – Beyond Fashion celebrates the vision and creativity of these artists and image-makers , and documents how fashion photography has become an exciting new visual language.
This great exhibition was designed in four main sections: allure, fantasy, realism, surrealism
ALLURE, which brings together celebrations of timeless beauty; FANTASY, which pays homage to the creativity and inventiveness of photographers working in fashion; REALISM, which showcases artists who work primarily on the streets, playing at the intersection of fashion and the real world; SURREALISM, which features the work of a new generation for whom fashion photography is about transformation, imagination and magic.
Viewers will travel from the glossy setting of the photography studio to the foundation of street photography and discover the vast and diverse forms that fashion photography can take. They will see some of the most iconic images, famous faces and dynamic brands in contemporary culture. From classic VOGUE covers to Victoria Beckham's legs in Marc Jacobs' shopping bag: this collection of works features top models and stars such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Christy Turlington; Stylist-designers such as Christian Dior, Commes des Garçons, Alexander McQueen and Valentino and street style legend The Sartorialist.
Moving images
A special feature of the exhibition is a section dedicated to moving images, highlighting the importance of film in today's fashion imagination. The works of SHOWstudio will be presented, the website founded and directed by Nick Knight, one of the first and most important image creators to adopt digital film as a means of showing fashion. Founded in November 2000 as “the home of fashion films,” SHOWstudio's innovative and groundbreaking projects have defined the way fashion is presented via the Internet. Having pioneered fashion film, she is now recognized as the driving force of this medium, offering a unique platform to cultivate and encourage fashion to engage with the moving image in the digital age. The exhibition concludes with an installation entitled Under Your Smell; a project that invites visitors to experience an alternative and dynamic way of interacting with the imagination of fashion. Bachelor in Photography students at ECAL/University of Art and Design of Lausanne offer a visual interpretation of Jean Paul Gaultier's perfumes. In a series of scenic images, perfumes become the backdrop for stories of transgression and fantastic projections.
