I appreciated the book’s length, as it’s 500 pages really allow readers to get a strong picture of Peter Lindbergh’s photographic style, and to see how he captures a variety of different models.
Let’s start with the positive - all the things I liked about his work.
* He has a gift for taking photos that feel very real, unfiltered and human, which represent the subjects as they truly are. This is an interesting way to work in the fashion industry, where glamour and style often take over. This is highlighted well in his photo of the incredibly famous supermodels smiling and laughing in the white shirts on the beach in Santa Monica - love that one.
* Furthermore, I was pleased to read about his commitment to presenting women in an empowered way during the book’s introduction. After all, the fashion industry is a woman’s game, so it’s only right that female models be honoured in the uplifting way they deserve.
* I found it inspiring that he got his start by being an assistant to a photographer despite having no prior experience, especially as someone who is interested in taking up photography myself.
* “It’s not about the camera.” = this quote was refreshing to read as someone who has wondered whether the price of your camera is pivotal to being able to create meaningful and impactful work.
* “But I think photography has to happen in the camera. It doesn’t happen in photoshop or in post production” = I think this quote showcases a valuable lesson in photography - you either capture that moment, that emotion, that right angle, or you don’t. No amount of twiddling with lighting etc. in post production can make a masterpiece, so you have to be extremely present when photographing your subjects.
* I like the way he questions photographers who “retouch the very personal truth of the face itself”, and how he instead wants to “reflect a certain social or human reality”. As I mentioned earlier, he certainly achieves this in his work. When he framed retouching photos as tampering with “the personal truth of the face” it made me see post production in a whole different light! Very interesting take.
* It fascinated me how in some photos, some body parts of the models are out of frame or not visible due to the angle the photo was taken at, e.g. you can’t see the model’s face because their back is facing us, or their legs extend out beyond the frame. This creates mystery, I feel, which draws us into the photos, especially when the model is in close proximity to camera. In particular, Lindbergh shot an Alexander McQueen photo where we can’t see model’s facial features because of the way lighting is used, not only creating mystery and intrigue but drawing attention to the clothes. It also suited McQueen’s brand identity I think, by forming this sort of supernatural ghostly effect.
* There is a photo of his where the model brought her hands and arms over her face in kind of x shape, with her elbows almost reaching out into the viewer. This creates a kind of tether between viewer and character that I find interesting.
* I enjoy the way he sometimes plays with silhouettes and shadows in his work.
* So many of his photos have a wonderful ability to capture raw, unstylised emotion in the subjects, which I suppose coincides with his gift in photographing in a way that tells a subtle narrative. I found myself looking at lots of his work and coming up with ideas in my head of where the characters that the models were portraying might have been or why they might be feeling a certain emotion. This is a sign of a good photographer.
* While he doesn’t appear to do this often, when Lindbergh does photograph models close up in conjunction with his naturalistic style, us viewers are left with intimate and touching portraits of the subjects that make us feel like we are getting to know them on a deeper level than a lot of other photographers capture.
* There is a photo of model Birgit Kos where she is laying on side and everything lower than her waist extends out of the frame to left, preventing us from seeing the lower half of her body. One arm is positioned behind her head and stretches up to top of photograph, while her other elbow meets the bottom corner. I find photos where different body parts of the models touch the top / bottom / corners of photos really create more engagement and draw us in more, because they are better filling the space. However I acknowledge that sometimes effective stories can be told by using empty space.
* Lindbergh’s models often feel like they’re gazing into your soul, which is engaging. Either they are talented models, or he is good at directing them.
* He frequently uses cities as backdrops, such as Paris or New York. This can add a cool, rustic, bustling feel that compliments the clothing, in certain cases, such as the photo where all the big early 90s supermodels are wearing Chanel leather and spread out amongst the brickwork, motorbikes and oil drum type things.
* A cool photo in the book is the one where he is standing with the models, but they are posing as though the campaign photo is being taken while he’s just there with his camera round his neck. I liked the way it depicted two worlds colliding, that of reality and fantasy.
* While I am about to talk about the low contrast that he often uses in his photos being frustrating and dull to me, he does create this photo with a model reaching her hand out in an almost dance pose, and the low contrast used gives her this poignant, statue quality.
* One of my favourite photos in the book has the models all close to camera and in close proximity to one another also, in a sort of backstage hubbub shot. It’s a good example of Lindbergh’s ability to create engaging storytelling.
* I was inspired by a photo in which 3 models are all wearing clothes from the same brand but tell individual different stories due to their very different types of beauty. One model was very fae-like and ethereal looking, another was more rugged and strong, and another was haunting and seductive. This is a cool way to show how one brand can cater for all different types of women.
* Another shot that inspired me had three women on a sofa with their legs all positioned in different directions, which created a spider-like effect that was visually impactful.
* Another favourite photo of mine in the book was the one with Helena Christensen in the rain. She wears a black dress which clings to her body and has her arm positioned behind her neck. The emotion on her face inspires many possible stories, and the camera’s fairly close proximity makes us more focused on her character than her location.
However, this is my second book of fashion photography that I have read which focuses on the work of one particular photographer (the other book was Mario Testino’s photos of Kate Moss). I must say I do think that for me personally, Mario’s style appeals more. Additionally, when reading Kate Moss and Gisele Bündchen’s huge books that celebrate their contributions to the fashion industry, there were many photographers in there whose style I appreciated more than Lindbergh’s.
This is what doesn’t work for me in Lindbergh’s work.
* He loves to use low contrast in his images, which makes everything look a bit grey and frequently prevents the models from standing out to the viewer.
* This is worsened by his models rarely being captured in close proximity to the camera, instead they are eclipsed by their background.
* Due to so often taking photos in cities, lots of his photos feature background people who I felt were not dressed in a way that supported the narratives Lindbergh could have been trying to tell. However, I acknowledge that he may have done this to create a sense of realism? Even so, the way the models are dressed doesn’t tend to match with the more plainly dressed civilians, breaking any sense of realism he may have wanted to form.
* There are a few landscape photos sans models in this book, which to me felt uninspiring and didn’t give me any sense of story. I could not tell why he chose to take pictures of certain things at all.
* Many a time Lindbergh uses plain and boring backgrounds for his models, but the models are not positioned close enough to the camera for them to create intrigue that makes up for their surrounding location. However, his naturalistic style does work well in a photo he took of a chair on stage in an empty theatre that is surrounded by roses. It told a poignant and beautiful story to me about what happens when the curtains close and the show is over, which really works with his penchant for naturalism.
* I thought there were sometimes too many people in his city photos, and the model was too far away from the camera to combat this. As a result, they kind of get lost among their surroundings and do not stand out, or tell a story.
* I didn’t like the way he often leaves lighting rigs or set pieces in the shot - it wasn’t done in a way that worked for me.
* He says in the introduction that he wants to tell stories within his fashion photograph work, yet he time and time again chooses such desolate indoor backdrops? Which inspire no sense of narrative to me?
Overall, I enjoyed having the opportunity to study a fashion photographer’s style which was very different to that of Ellen Von Unwerth and Mario Testino (the main ones I have looked at so far myself). It opened my eyes to a different way of capturing models and other possible techniques that can be used. However, his style just didn’t particularly speak to me as a viewer. That does not mean to say that there weren’t some inspiring and captivating photos in the book though. Perhaps I just prefer more stylised fashion photography work.