Documentary photographers like Walker Evans, Arthur Rothsteine, Dorothea Lange, were initially to show ‘city folk’ what life was really like in the countryside. They photographed the Great Depression in the 1920s and 30’s and are some of the only sources of TRUE evidence. Untampered with as shot on film, un-edited and un-art directed. Very different than how Vogue portrated America during this time period, however the purpose and distribution is vastly different. Magazines provided a sense of escapism. The average American would not be living a life with excess or luxurious settings (with designer garments), so a magazine showing them what they could already see would not sell. Money would only be spend on something to take them away from this reality or provide them with additional knowledge (like a fiction/ non-fiction book would). Never the less, Magazines were not targeted at people living the kind of lives documented by the FSA photographers- they were targeted at city folk as this is where the ‘culture lived’, and these photographs (despite documenting the truth) represented a piece of entertainment/dystopian-ism, as for the city folk, the way these people were living must have been unimaginable but still fascinating. (This also starts raising issues in class divide within the publishing industry.) In conclusion, DOCUMENTARY IMAGES are for NEWSPAPERS and stories about NON-FICTION. Fashion editorials take an opposite approach, perhaps loosely based on truths yet not conducted in such a head on way- artistic concept, allure and imagination are all combined to create something not found in the public media spectrum (especially Vogue 1930s onwards).
Celebrities are used as a signifier of the times- what celebs are popular in what decade gives a good indication to who the cover star will be. 1950’s Audry Hepurn, 1960s Twiggy, 1980s musicians, 1990’s ‘the Supermodels’ (Giani’s girls)
Graphic design tries to be contemporary and new wave trends often fall into ‘time traps’ and have the potential to become overused/dated, or stuck in a certain year (eg, that’s sooo 2016) - Era trends inform the styling, movies/films influence the art direction
Magazines like Kinfolk don’t include a date of publishing, only an issue number. This itself has the potential to disorientate the viewer (especially in the future) as an anonymity. Magazine focusing on Art & Culture will have more design freedom than something based around commerciality.
How does representation of ideals differ between countries? Vogue UK vs US Vogue vs Vogue Paris vs Vogue Milano? The culture differs between continents and so do trends-no two magazines should be the same at one given point to determine an absolute reality.
Newer wave magazines which have the luxury to look at fashion as a commodity rather than a necessity look at clothes as art, and editorials are the way to curate it all together. The raw simplified purpose clothes bring us is so we’re not naked, we’re warm and to an extent ‘safe’. However, when we remove this underlying function, aspects of identity and fantasy can be introduced. Magazines like Knotts magazine are highlighting these two elements to tell stories, using the garment as visual language to communicate the fantasy the brand wants to immerse you into. This does not cost the viewer (all content available online) whereas buying a new outfit to get the same feeling would cost $$$. Psychologically speaking, what we wear impacts who we are as individuals (and places us in subconscious boxes)- often we’re not wearing what we want for ourselves, but other people etc. Clothing also has the ability to communicate emotions, reference alternative points in history or align with a subgroup/counter-culture.
The meaning of an object can be lost when a group connotation relates it to something else, which can also change over time. Polo by Ralph Laurent was advertised and seen as for many years, for the privileged. Civilised garden parties, croquet & horse riding, preppy. Now, street wear has taken Polo by Ralph Laurent under its wing just as it has taken Burberry’s iconic check print in the past. The brand (and logo)(even if a fake product) is used as a status symbol, devaluing the brand and placing ‘high culture’ with ‘low culture’, ultimately messing with the hegemony of society and the products underlying intentions. Brands develop yes, but does Ralph Laurent really want to be known for east-end ‘roadmen’ wearing his caps and jumpers? Could this detract the future generations of preppy teens buying into the brand? Considering Polo from an editorial point of view, Ralph Laurents adverts and fashion photography has gone further to the ‘high society’ style again, portraying overtly civilised perceptions of reality (and who symbolises the brand) (very Hamptons)
Methods in production have meant the photographic image has been implemented into cotemporary publications, and a shift away from illustrations. Line methods were used from the 1870s, composed of metal plates, etching and halftone photo relief processes. This was refined in the 1880s so photographs and paintings could be duplicated- something discussed heavily by Walter Benjamin. – ‘The Studio: Photomechanical reproduction and the changing status of design’ (JSTOR)(2007)
The above essay also examines ‘The Studio’, which Clive Ashwin considers the first ‘visually modern’ arts & culture (monthly) magazine, which later influenced the next century of publishing. Established in London just before the turn of the century. The Studio were the first magazine to use the ‘new method’ of photo relief processing, using a mixture of half tone plates to replicate photographs.
The Sketch was the first middle class photographic magazine to capitalise on the new reproductive techniques, combining design and editorial considerations and established in 1893, just before The Studio.
(Vogue capitalised on these printing techniques to reproduce illustrative communication, debut some of fashions most prolific photographers and give fashion culture a world wide platform)
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David Hare had provided the epitaph a year earlier when he wrote that “the two most depressing words in the English language are ‘literary fiction’” (which sometimes feels like the aspirational, if commercially challenged, cousin of genre fiction).
- Theres no need to say the same thing twice. Image and text. Fantasy through image, truth through text. Would this be confusing for the audience?
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