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Upenn: Photography $ Fashion
Posted on February 8, 2012
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The Walk: What is the best piece of advice you would give someone who wants to go into the fashion photography industry?
TW: Study Art and Photographic History, Politics, Business and current events. It is also very important to be driven by an unrelenting passion/obsession: to become the very best in the field. As the great Alexey Brodovitch used to say: “astonish me”!
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Bonnie Arbittier
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The Walk: Which designers have been most inspirational to your work? What about these designers resonates most with you and your personal voice?
TW: The first designer that was most inspirational early on was Emilio Pucci. He was one of the first artist that I recognized that became a master of his craft and the art of branding – by the application of his signature to has textile designs. I loved his sense of style, his choice of fabric and palette. His scarves for women and ties for men were commonplace in my parent’s wardrobes. In recent times, Calvin Klein has always impressed me for pushing the envelope of eroticism and fashion. Sam Shahid, the man behind CK’s sexy ad campaigns – designed the original lay out for my second book, Tableaux Vivants.
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Renata Siruckova
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The Walk: What does the word “fetish” mean to you? How do you encourage a student to incorporate the concept of fetish into their fashion photographs?
TW:Fetish means a penchant or obsessive interest in a particular thing, often related to sexual desire. Any student that endeavors to incorporate the concept of a particular fetish in a body of work are encouraged to understand the law: as it applies to what is commonly referred to as the censorship of obscene material. Working within the framework of the law, is important for the production of any photograph that may be considered lewd or lascivious in nature.
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Tara McConachie
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The Walk: At what point do you believe that nudity in art crosses the line into pornography? Is there such a distinction?
TW: I don’t believe there is a distinction. Nudity in art is about context and sometimes the subject area of the artists oeuvre has a very compelling erotic component. Pornography is primarily defined by politicians and legislators.
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Clare Din
Editor’s Note: The Walk is a student run fashion magazine, published by the University of Pennsylvania. Cover Photograph: Erica Sasche – Copyright 2012
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Photographs to accompany the interview were produced by TW’s Photography & Fashion students at Penn. The next course offering, Fall of 2012.
