CONTROL

When he came across Joy Division Anton Corbjin was at the beginning of his career. He had moved from the Netherlands to London to be closer to its music scene, because as a photographer he liked his subjects to be on a stage.
Actually that's how he started.
Thirty years later Corbjin is creative director for all the visual output of bands like Depeche Mode and U2. He has photographed and worked for a great number of iconic bands and artists, creating album covers and directing music videos. He has become an icon himself.

So it comes as no surprise that when he decided to take the next step, to direct a movie, it raised great interest, and ultimately turned out to be a sublime piece of art.

Loosely based on the biography written by singer Ian Curtis' wife, Control is a movie about the life of a man who lived too fast, married too young and was brought down too soon by his illness just when his career was about to peak.

The black and white images run on the screen setting the pace for a narration made of not too many words, quite a few songs and silent moments that let the photography speak.

Every still in the movie is a photograph perfect in every detail.

The use of light is crucial in establishing the emotional engagement.
Backlighting

 And very dramatic side lighting, almost haunting.

Composition in each frame is studied to the detail, this is most evident in group scenes.

Also cropping and use of space are used to create very impressive images.

Attention to details is incredible in the various "still-life" images scattered throughout the movie.

Perspective and framing are used as a pattern connecting moments in the narration.

This is an incredibly inspiring movie, the story but mostly the way it's told, in words and images perfectly intertwined.
It truly is art on screen.

All images are screenshot from the movie Control (2007)

HEDI SLIMANE

Because I needed a starting point and I couldn't think of a better one than my favourite photograph.

Vogue Hommes International SS 08

So here comes my first post.
It's about a man that as a designer changed men's fashion radically.
His androgynous and slender silhouette started a revolution in the way men dress and represent themselves, a wave most designers had to ride after him in order to keep up with the change Slimane had started.
Minimalism, black and white, youth, these were the main ingredients of his collections.

Then, at the top of his design career, he quit. In July 2007 he left Dior after 7 years and decided to focus on another passion: photography.
He brings his very strong and precise vision to his pictures the same way he imposed it in his collections: in black and white very sharp images.

And since an image says a thousand words, I'll let them speak.

hedislimane.com

hedislimane.com

AnOther Man June 09

hedislimane.com

hedislimane.com

His website is a very inspired visual diary.

So, to go back to the start, I'll close this post with a quote from an interview he did for syle.com
"…And by “fashion,” I mean men’s fashion at the same level as women’s. This is what I always pursued during my design years, defending the idea of men’s fashion rather than men’s wear."

All images from hedislimane.com