Monday, September 28, 2015

Photographer Series #23: ryanshotkatemoss


Ryan Oliver is a Bristol based artist whose collage/photomontage works have been exhibited throughout the UK and also have been featured in numerous publications. His current practice examines the visual language of high fashion and lifestyle periodicals. 
Oliver's 'Untitled', photomontage/2015
- an example of a recent non-kate collage

He looks at the ideas of beauty and perfection being “constantly scrutinized, cut from the original context and juxtaposed with strenuous misalliance”. His creations facilitate a dialogue between the innuendo laden visual languages of fashion imagery with pornography. He does this very effectively by exchanging something implicit for the explicit. 

Ryan has stated, “I derive great satisfaction from abducting imagery aimed at the consumer and inverting the content to communicate divergent views ... my work confronts fashion's covenant of eternal youth; tumorous flesh, death and grief are imposed as rebuttal".



In the following excerpt - taken from an interview for 'East London Line', March 2011 (conducted by Angus Spawton-Rice) - Ryan spoke as to how he came to such ideas, giving context as to his kate work we explore with him:

A section of 'Girl with pearls',
photomontage with sellotape/2010
I began to work with collage when I studied illustration at university, where, the fulfillment of a given brief was the only concern. After graduation, when liberated from the constraints of an illustrative mindset, I expanded my practice. High fashion/lifestyle periodicals became my primary resource from which I scoured for and salvaged my imagery. During this laborious process, the visual language of fashion photography/advertising became apparent, beauty/perfection and sexualisation being the two constants. Due to my close proximity with this material I became concerned with the position of women regarding image and representation. Collage is the perfect medium for such a rebuttal. Collage by its very nature is disparaging of its source material; a destructive gesture of cutting and slicing a pre-existing image, only to be redeemed by the perpetrator, as he or she sees fit. It is a response and is countering to what was presented originally.



iskm: Why Kate Moss? Is she a primary source for you in this confrontation?

Ryan Oliver (RO): The pieces that I submitted (to ishotkatemoss) are samples taken from various periods in my practice. Kate Moss has never had preferential treatment in my studio. I select models/images on aesthetics (posture, gaze, colour, tone) and the capacity to communicate a new dialogue. However, Kate Moss is an icon and I am conscious that her inclusion affords a work gravitas that an alternate muse would not.



iskm: How many works have you created using kate?

RO: I've created four images using Kate Moss, all of which are collage with no other means of manipulation. I'm terribly traditionalist when it comes to collage/photomontage; scissors and a glue stick is all I permit myself.

'Death Moss', photomontage with resin finish/2012

iskm: How/why did you select the source images that you did for ‘Death Moss’?

RO: With ‘Death Moss’ I began with multiple black and white images of the dead and their grieving relations, sourced from ‘Bizarre’ magazine. My intention was to juxtapose these with a high fashion image of a model to contrast vitality and beauty worship with necrosis and bereavement. 



iskm: And why this specific image of kate as the source?

RO: I chose this image of Kate Moss, which would become ‘Death Moss’ not simply for the physical ‘scaffold’ for which I could impose mortality but the seduction of the sexual gaze. Whilst initially conflicting, this amalgamation has transformed Kate Moss into a succubus, an ‘angel of death’, hence the title ‘Death Moss’.


'Kate (shame series)', collage/2013

iskm: You impose harsh, powerful and confronting imagery against the backdrop of modern ideas of beauty in order to ‘confront fashion’s covenant’. Do you feel that you need to make people uncomfortable in order to get the message through today? 'Kate (shame series)' as an example is far more understated. Is there a role for subtlety in this conversation?

RO: My work is initially constrained by the source material I can acquire. I endeavor to appropriate the imagery honestly to create aesthetic and contextual interest, sometimes subtly and sometimes less so. I can’t imagine considering anything too risqué and would never personally censor my work. I am a firm believer that offence is taken not given.
 

Oliver's 'Untitled-6 (marriage series)', photomontage 2009

iskm: Where do you find the line drawn between pornography and fashion? As an example, are you challenging (or emphasizing the lack of) this line in your Untitled-6 Kate collage? 

RO: There is of course a difference; pornography is explicit, sex is the product. Fashion imagery (to varying degrees) is implicit, using sexuality to incentivize. ‘Untitled 6’ is a mirroring of the posture, gaze and sexual ‘availability’ that is present in the language of pornography and fashion imagery alike.

In an earlier interview I mentioned that I invert content to communicate divergent views. This is the essence of collage. As The Dadaist Hugo Ball expressed, "For us, art is not an end in itself ... but it is an opportunity for the true perception and criticism of the times we live in." Over the past two decades, the use of increasingly explicit sexual imagery in the media, especially in consumer-oriented print advertising has become almost commonplace. Sex sells. I don't suspect much will change in the next ten, twenty years.



iskm: Which artist/s and/or photographer/s would you most want to most see involved in ishotkatemoss?

RO: I would really like to see what the Chapman brothers or John Stezaker would contribute; the Chapmans for their particular brand of irreverence and Stezaker for his economic yet masterful form of appropriation.



In the meantime, we can certainly continue to be challenged by Ryan’s own irreverent, appropriated imagery by viewing more of his collage work at www.ryanoliverart.com



Observe. Slow Down. Shoot. Submit.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Nothing tastes as good as kate food looks?



We’ve just had a week of instagram inspired culinary related kate’s, proving the point that plenty tastes as good as skinny feels!



Who wants kate-mossarella pizza?!? From the pizza art master Domenico Crolla:


PS Who wants leftovers? One wasn't enough so we give you more kate-mossarella from the pizza art master Dominico Crolla! Seeing kate like this in the morning is like waking up to that cold, extra slice from last night ... just so so good!



Got egg on your face? This mixed media piece, titled "Mulher é Comida" (women & food) from Ricardo Franzin is perfect for Sunday brunch!



And, what about when you are desperate for some kate but only have one minute to satisfy your hunger? A cup of insta-kate from Sandra Otoya:



Possibly the best found culinary inspired kate yet ... this image and associated text from Celebs-in-my-food, who - you guessed it - puts celebrities in her food:

"WHEN YOU GET HOME DRUNK ON A MONDAY NIGHT AND YOU'RE STAYING AT YOUR PARENTS HOUSE AND YOUR MUM HAS GOT SOME PARMA HAM IN BUT ALSO HAS A FRIDGE THAT CONTAINS SOME CHEESE SLICES AND SOME WARBURTONS TOASTIE IN THE CUPBOARD AND YOU JUST THROW EVERYTHING TOGETHER TO GET A MIDDLE CLASS MEETS WORKING CLASS DISH, AND KATE MOSS IS THERE TOO … TASTED LOVELY!!!"



Who's chipper? Continuing the food theme, kate has been "immortalised" (until a seagull comes along) by Prudence Staite in potato, with mushy peas and various condiments. Kate's face was created from mayo and thousands of peppercorns, held down by 5 kilos of dark chocolate ‘glue’. Prudence stated: "It was hard to resist picking up a chip (fry) and dunking into the celebs face!"


Rounding out the food week, after you've eaten everything else you need coffee and dessert!
Who needs a shot of kate? This "skinny" cappuccino is from Michael Breach, a barista who creates latte-art:
And Hungry eyes: Artist Jen Allanson has a whole series of 'kate moss eyes on food" here on Tumblr! Let's look longingly before consuming ...



ishotkatemoss guesses we are all what we eat …
Observe. Slow Down. Chew. Shoot. Submit.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Photographer Series #22: SEELshotkatemoss


Born in the late 70s in Île-de-France, Sylvain Bousseton, aka ‘SINKE’, aka ‘SEEL’, has been “exercising pictorial activity” since 1996. His desire to display his artistic talents on open spaces began at an early age. Specifically, his taste for drawing led him to re-paint his parent’s living room: “It is a very good memory, but maybe not for everyone in my family!”
 
SEEL's BOMBUS 002
He discovered graphic art while skateboarding and through graffiti, where he drew its nickname "think" and then "five" (‘cinq’ in French) and finally "Sinke". While at university, Sylvain studied art and visual communication before working with a design firm and assisting several brands of street wear. 

Paralleling his professional activity, Sylvian organized and participated in several exhibitions, based around the intersection of graffiti, graphic design and painting.

Sylvain took the pseudonym ‘SEEL’ in 2010, abandoned exhibitions to focus on creating a free form of display, in order to be “out of sight of others”, specifically so as to reconnect with his first love: drawing. 

SEEL explains: “My inspirations are diverse: Whether it be a leaf, JJ Audubon, Aslan (the French pin-up artist), tattoo art, typography of the 70s and 80s … or things that return me to my childhood.
iskm: How would you describe your work?
SEEL: The starting point is still typography, drawing and the approach of the letter which remain the central elements at the base of my creations. I am drawn to the female form and often mix an image with types and collages taken from subway advertising because I love the spontaneity and the recycling of the visual pollution of our society.

iskm: Your imagery and symbolism often use images of destruction and death (skulls, planes, guns) but not in an overtly harsh way. Why use these images in your work?
SEEL: For me, planes, skulls, guns are representations of vanity and it's why there are always important in my work. I can't stop focusing on things like death because “death is life”.

iskm: Why Kate Moss?
SEEL: At first, I would say that it is by chance, a coincidence - I really liked the pose in the original picture, which I have taken for my drawing. But the fact that it is a world famous model upset me because I was always working with the idea of anonymous people. Nevertheless, she represents the best and the worst at the same time, in a similar vain to the idea of, and relationship between, death and life … the iconic beauty and futility of the fashion business. So I adopted kate as my model. Naturally.


Kate by Alas & Piggott
iskm: How do you select your source kate image/s and what is your process for appropriation?
SEEL: I usually create a "hybrid" girl, using different parts from different bodies, in order to make a desired pose. But for the Kate Moss series I worked directly from an image of her. Then I used only a rotring to draw with dots, before combining my drawing with graphic parts taken from various collages. 

iskm: And you also screen print your kate onto background images?
SEEL: Yes, I create unique screen print series on collage backgrounds taken from old vintage playboy magazines, subway advertising or spray paint on paper and then I hand screen print the Kate Moss image in Black before doing any touching up if needed. I take background images that inspire me, whatever they are or wherever they come from - but I love the old vintage adult magazine, I don't know why but perhaps it reminds me of my childhood or bygone days!
iskm: Where do you find your source images?
SEEL: I have been collecting pictures since I was kid, and of course with the web the access to images is now Huge. However, I am more and more interested in vintage magazines, such as playboy, in order to select the models I want to draw ...

iskm: How do you find the magazines and why choose the vintage adult pictures?
SEEL: I found a collection of playboy and French magazines a few year ago... And some are from my father's collection. I used to look at them in secret when I was kid … so I love those. I don't know why, perhaps they give me more emotions, memories or puts me in a nostalgic mood.
A photo of SEEL's street work posted by a member of the public on instagram
iskm: We found your work on social media posted by others. Is the internet and social media now the latest form of public display and, as such, taken the role of street image graffiti?
SEEL: I used to be more active on the streets when I worked with graffiti, more than 10 years ago. For a few years I did not even display what I did. I was not too motivated to show what I do cause I only wanted to do it for me because I just wanted to draw.
I am not so active in the streets but I am slowly working back into it … I don't really like the social networks and displaying work that way. I am a little bit of a loner so I don't know how people interact with what I do. However, one year ago I wanted to be back on the street because it is the place of the ART...

iskm: Which photographers/artists would you most want to most see involved in ishotkatemoss?
SEEL: Aslan is one of my favorite artists. For me he is a master for the vintage pin up. He used to draw a playmate every month in a French adult magazine call LUI during the eighties. Unfortunately, he recently died so it is too late …

We here at ishotkatemoss find SEEL’s art powerful and compelling. If you are fortunate enough to be in Paris, keep an eye out for his images on the street. Alternatively, you can experience more of his creations at www.seelecta.fr

SEEL: Thanks for your support. Keep it up!

Just like SEEL dear readers ...
Observe. Slow Down. Shot. Submit.

Milestone ... of sorts

Observe. Slow Down. Shoot. Submit.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Distorted kate t-shirt week


This past week we chose our favorite askew moss-tee images found on instagram and posted one daily. Each image, the applicable captions, #tags, comments and of course number of likes (as at the end of the weekend) are all collated here for your viewing pleasure:

Monday: 14 likes
... we'll kick off the series with this image from @jo_hannae where we find kate morose, forlorn yet wiggly #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #morose #forlorn #idontlikemondays #distorted #wiggly
Comments: 
lucaisgenevra #amazing...
ishotkatemoss Thanks @lucaisgenevra ... all credit to @jo_hannae and the fine makers of the kate tee ... i shot kate moss is just the conduit

Tuesday: 12 likes
... this image is from @oneno_xoxo where a crumpled kate still manages to keep her ciggy aflame! #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #distorted #crushed #supreme #terryrichardson
Wednesday: 12 likes
It's a bit of a stretch ... this image is from @joelyamil who photographed kate being worn by a buxom friend #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #distorted #stretched
Comments:
joelyamil Jajajajajaja ❤❤❤ #senos #bubies #tetas #argentina
fashiontshirtlovers Brilliant! Like it!

Thursday: 15 likes
Nose jobs ... these images are from @250rlg who created his own plastic surgery on our moustached kate photographed kate #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #distorted #nosejob #plasticsurgery #moustache

Friday: 24 likes
Double chin ... this image is "#mysexyshot" from @spungy25 who, according to his #tags took this photo of his favorite tee after work, while bored in shinjuku #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #distorted #doublechin #supermodel #japan #tokyo #shinjuku #bored #favorite

Saturday: 17 likes
Now bring me my slippers ... this pic is from @woistmeindeckel who states she took the photo "Cause I have the cutest dog ever"! And who are we to disagree? #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #distorted #dog #puppy #moustache #elevenparis #instadog #cutestdog #dogwithclotheson
 
Sunday: 16 likes and counting
Sunday morning and "waking up with the Kates" ... this pic is from @ez_rebel who actually has named his frenchie pup "kate moss" #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #katemossthefrenchie #tshirt #askew #distorted #frenchie #dog #puppy #playboy #bunny #marcjacobs #instadog #sundaymorning

#Observe #Slowdown #Shoot #Submit

P.S. Monday (it is a long weekend in the US): 17 likes 
Laundry day: we spotted this image from @alelsf … nice way to round out distorted kate t-shirt week ... it is labor day after all and if you don’t have anything exciting planned, may as well wash your kate #ishotkatemoss #katemoss #katem0ss #katemosstee #tshirt #askew #distorted #crushed #wash #supreme #terryrichardson #laborday #laundry