Over the past weekend, I had an assignment to write a visual analysis for Tim Walker's photograph with Fei Fei Sun for Chinese Vogue, December 2014. To be honest with you, I did find the photograph to be quite interesting and unique and I was pretty proud with my report of 789 words. I decided to out my visual analysis here on my blog together with other images from that photoshoot. Frankly, every single image is very unique, it's a contemporary view on the fight between good&evil.
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Stylist: Jacob K
Hair: Julien D'Ys
Makeup: Sam Bryant
Photographer: Tim Walker
Vogue China, Dec 2014 issue by Tim Walker. One of the top models in China Fei Fei Sun is captured in this 'avant-garde' and contemporary photograph wearing long, black, texturized Balenciaga dress that is definitely in the centre of attention, it steals the first glance of a viewer. The atmosphere of this piece does look dark and might even scary, mystical. But from my point of view, this feels like a true French high fashion photoshoot: emphasised garment and textures, minimal makeup, unique facial features, astonishing scenery and 'one of a kind' photographer's eye. There is no captured movement, the model stands still in one place and looks straight into the camera making eye contact with the viewer/consumer. The second thing that grabs one's attention is no other than the enormous shadow formed in the back wall that gives the element of minimalism. The shadow itself has a unique form and shape and dare I say that it looks similar to a nuclear/atomic bomb explosion. The plain white and grey wall and floor make the garment and the shadow the main objects of the photograph.
Balenciaga's dark blue-almost black silk leads the photograph into a luxurious mystery. The upper half of the garment is very texturized, it has a lot of layers. The same colour of the dress creates dimension in emphasising the contrast between dark blue (Midnight express) and black. In addition to that, the silk fabric makes the dress look chic and expensive, pleasing to touch. The middle part of the dress seems to be very simple, a clean vertical line and nothing else (that gives the illusion of longer legs making the model look taller). When we get to the bottom half, we notice the same texture and the same contrast, however, the fabric is not so intensely layered as in the upper half of the garment. Elongated bottom kicks up the model in height and merges the dress with the shadow while giving the photograph a whole new element of enigma. Speaking of enigma, the muted colour palette does the job at setting the dark, mysterious aesthetic to the photograph, as well as the contrast between focused model and blurred shadow. Straight horizontal and vertical lines give structure to the photograph, making it look more put-together, controlled. The clean lines of the dress and pale face give out ‘perfection’ within the human silhouette. Whereas the dirty walls, crashed cement pieces and random strings make the background not-so-perfect. From these elements, a new contrast occurs – perfect vs flawed.
Since the colour palette is so dark, muted and the atmosphere is mysterious but luxurious at the same time, I would name this photograph a Black Widow who has a fear of loneliness. She is in the centre of attention, there is no one around her only her own shadow and that can be transferred as loneliness. Noticing that the face of the model is so 'buried into the garment', I could say that familiarity, friendliness or even impersonality, even scariness is the case for this photograph. Seeing as though the upper part of the dress is so texturized, I would say that it could be a symbol of a messy mind that is hard to deal with. However, my coursemate took a look at this art piece the other day and pointed out that the shadow looked like the explosion of a nuclear bomb. After that, I started to look completely differently at this workpiece of Tim Walker. She looks like the apocalypse to me. Maybe even the apocalypse of her own existence. In my understanding, the way that she is on her own and all alone, she could be the potential reason for my mentioned apocalypse. In addition to that, I started to notice that the elongated bottom half of the dress and the shadow towards the 'explosion' looks like the timeline between the present (the body of the model) and the future (the explosion). The single figure of the model's body accompanies the mental power from within her inner state of mind.
Listing and analysing all the features of this Tim Walker's photograph, I feel that the word 'power' is somewhere hidden there, along with the words like 'loneliness', 'sadness' and 'the apocalypse'. I do find this entire editorial very contemporary and unique, with its own touching story. When it comes to fashion photography, Tim Walker is an absolute genius, from my point of view. I absolutely adore the way he spins fashion to a whole different perspective. He can be diverse in every way: one photoshoot is all about romance and affection and another one is dark and mysterious like this. That is exactly what makes a good photographer truly incomparable at his job.
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