Wayne Ford on Paolo Roversi: ‘the photographer and his muse’

Above Guinevere sitting on table, Paris, 2004. (©Paolo Roversi/Courtesy of The Wapping Project Bankside).

Once describing himself as ‘an unsophisticated photographer making sophisticated photographs’ the work of Italian-born photographer Paolo Roversi is marked by a graphic simplicity, that the historian Martin Harrison would suggest in Appearances: Fashion photography since 1945 (Jonathan Cape, 1991), is both ‘starkly modern and delicately ethereal.’

Roversi, who has been working almost exclusively with large-format Polaroid material since 1980, maintains a distinct signature aesthetic which has evolved to form a powerful yet quiet voice in the world of fashion photography — leading Franca Sozzani, editor of Italian Vogue to describe his influence as nothing less than ‘enormous’ — where he has produced breathtaking editorial spreads for the likes of Elle, W, Marie Claire, and numerous international editions of Vogue; advertising campaigns for the likes of Romeo Gigli, Christian Dior and Yohji Yamamoto, as well as six books, including: Nudi (Stromboli, 1999) and the large-format Studio (Steidl, 2006).

Above Guinevere in yellow dress, Paris, 1996. (©Paolo Roversi/Courtesy of The Wapping Project Bankside).

Whilst Roversi, who has photographed many of the great fashion models over the course of his near four decade career, his first solo show at The Wapping Project Bankside, focuses on just one, the American born Guinevere van Seenus, who the photographer considers his muse. As with much of his output, the illuminating portraits of van Seenus are produced within the confines of the photographers Paris studio — or ‘theatre of the imagination’ as he often refers to it; where a backdrop formed from a simple grey blanket, the studio’s bare timber floorboards and a collection of vintage chairs and stools, are the only props that he requires in creating his images which find their visual aesthetic rooted in the history of 19th century studio photography.

In his 2004 photograph, Guinevere sitting on table, Paris, we see his muse making direct eye contact with the photographers lens, her skin tones rendered with the purity of alabaster — a hallmark of his photographic style — that contrasts with the inky darkness of the mottled background. Here we experience an intimacy rarely encountered in fashion photography, revealing a sensitive and emotional connection between the artist and his muse.

Above Guinevere sitting with Goupai, Paris, 1996. (©Paolo Roversi/Courtesy of The Wapping Project Bankside).

Working with continuous light sources — daylight, HMI and Maglite’s — that necessitate longer exposures than those required when working with flash, Roversi approaches fashion with the eye of a portrait photographer; even considering his nudes as portraits too. And as with most portraiture, the ‘eyes are very important,’ he says, ‘I can’t explain technically why the look of the subject is more deep, more touching, more human if the photographer uses a long exposure for the shot, but it is. I learned this from studying early photographs, when the photographers were obliged to use longer exposures. The portraits looked much deeper.’

With his colour photographs, such as, Guinevere in yellow dress, Paris, 1996, we find a graceful, almost fragile beauty that reflects qualities found in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites. As his subject — his muse — walks through the photographic composition, her gaze downwards, the transparency of her form appears to hover between the physical and metaphysical; here he captures — or more correctly seizes — a fleeting moment, transforming it in to a timeless dimension, presenting what Romeo Gigli calls a ‘classical and yet absolutely modern dimension of history and myth,’ in his photographs.

Paolo Roversi is at The Wapping Project Bankside, London until 31 March 2012.

- Wayne