{editorials} catastrophe.

you know, i actually had another post planned for tonight, along a different topic than the one i'm going to address. but as it happened, this other topic came up in my nightly internet trawl, and it's the one that is resonating most with me at the present moment. so the original plan will have to wait for another day.

so just a little bit ago, i decided to check out fakingfashion to see if they had put up any new editorials. and lo and behold, they had.

namely, the somewhat controversial vogue italia "oil spill" editorial.

while i had seen a few images from it previously, this was my first time looking at the editorial in its entirety, and to say my opinions on it are… mixed is putting it mildly.

this editorial is horrifying. i’m just putting that out there, since… well, it is. while it is glamorizing the gulf spill in some regard - it’s a fashion editorial, for eff’s sake - it is bleakly, starkly horrifying in a way that highlights and intensifies the horrors of the spill itself. i do not live in a place likely ever to see the effects of that particular spill, nor have i had much intellectual contact with it save via the internet and news articles. but fuck if i didn’t have a visceral reaction to that spread. which is where i come to the whole “mixed emotions” part of this post.

regarding this editorial as a piece of art? it did exactly what it was supposed to do. as an artist myself, i look at it and think “holy shit.” it evokes intense emotion and debate, both in regards to the editorial and to the event itself - which is, in my opinion, one of the most important things art can do. but the timing of the release of this editorial, which was not released a good time after the catastrophe but rather while it was still occurring - well.

it’s a bit tasteless, to say the least. it's a bit tacky.

so yeah, i’m a bit unsure as to where i stand on this.

discussion? i feel like that could only be a good thing. let’s talk about it, guys.

{editorials} you crawled out of the sea

this editorial may well be one of the most striking i've seen. the concept of it is one that could have allowed endless elaboration, but the execution is simple - and the basic idea seems to shine through all the more for it. seriously, i don't think i've ever seen an editorial that struck me as immediately and viscerally as this one. i think i actually gasped when i saw the first couple of photographs. it looks like something out of science-fiction. it's like, this is what fashion is all about, at its core - evoking an idea through a wearable visual medium. (otherwise known as clothing, you dork.)

the makeup, the styling, the simplicity of the setting - it all works. they could have gussied it up with undersea architecture, a freaking fish tail, but the way they did do it allows for so much more room for interpretation on the reader's part. it leaves a bit of mystery. it creates an atmosphere suited to the topic. it just works.

and honestly, i probably DO have a bit of a bias towards this style of ed., because although i do love pretty pretty clothing, i was one of those kids raised on lord of the rings and star trek. so beautiful, simple, unearthly editorials that conjure up images of mer-people under the sea are going to be something i'm into, obvs. regardless, this is just... ungh. so incredible.

OKAY THERE WE GO I'M STOPPING WITH THE INCESSANT PRAISE NOW

(all photographs from fakingfashion.)

{editorials} there's diamonds growing in the mountain

photos from mixologies & fakingfashion.

a couple of photos that exemplify the sort of "feel" i'm looking for in art right now - low focus, golden light. something a bit delicate and quite ephemeral. something to combat the endless deluge of rain, clouds, and chill we're having right now. it's a good thing.