Mario Sorrenti – The fashion photographer with an ‘obsession’

Almost all boyfriends take photos of their girlfriends, in an array of ways. So its fitting that in 1993, Mario Sorrenti made his explosive debut into the fashion photography world by taking a picture of his naked girlfriend. He was 21 years old and that girlfriend happened to be Kate Moss. And the images he shot were for Calvin Klein’s “Obsession” ad campaign. This guy is definitely talented, but maybe he’s also had some damn good luck along the way. Whatever it is, his bold and sensual images are now, 21 years later, a staple in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Interview, W, and many other fashion publications.

Currently signed exclusively with the agency Art Partner, Italian-born and New York-raised, Sorrenti is best known for his ability to capture the vulnerability and beauty of his subjects, even more so when nude. These are some of his most striking works featuring some of the world’s top models and stars:

[ WARNING: NUDE IMAGES BELOW. IF SENSITIVE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN ] 

Vanessa Axente for Calvin Klein – 2014

Andreea Diaconu for Vogue Paris – June 2013

Mila Kunis for Gemfields – 2013

Isabeli Fontana for the Pirelli Calendar – 2012

Joan Smalls for the Pirelli Calendar – 2012

Kate Moss for the Pirelli Calendar – 2012

Rihanna for GQ – December 2012

Candice Swanepoel for Vogue Italia – March 2012

Scarlett Johansson for Vanity Fair – December 2011

Dakota and Elle Fanning for W Magazine – December 2011

Abbey Lee Kershaw for Vogue Italia – August 2010

Eniko Mihalik for Vogue Paris – August 2010

Scarlett Johansson for Mango – 2009

Kate Moss for Calvin Klein “Obsession” – 1993

We cannot forget this haunting image of Kate Moss that started this enviable career and made Sorrenti a regularly mentioned name in fashion photography industry.

Cinemagraphs – A new kind of (creative) photography

Take, for example, an image photographed expertly of a beautiful woman standing in the breeze. It’s a stunning shot and on looking at it, it becomes alive to you. But imagine if you could put some sort of life into it – and not just in a figurative sense – maybe with her hair or dress moving slightly. Cinemagraphs have made a way for that to be possible and are appearing all over the Net for their ingenuity in simplicity and their versatility.

Basically, cinemagraphs are still photos which have a small but repeated movement in them. They are usually made in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) format and give the viewer the impression of watching a video, when it is still actually an image. Usually, cinemagraphs are produced from a series of images or a video recording which are composed together using editing software making the image become an uninterrupted loop of continuous frames, giving the image movement between exposures. This is then perceived as the repeated motion in the image.

Although GIF files have been around since the 80s, the vividness and clarity of cinemagraphs – and the term itself – is relatively recent. The term "cinemagraph" was coined by US photographers (and couple) Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck of Ann Street Studio in Manhattan, New York, who used the technique to animate their fashion and news photographs in early 2011.

The photographers collaborated in 2009, after years of friendship, and were married in 2012. Their passion for photography and stirring emotion from images brought them together. Some of their most beautiful cinemagraphs are those of model Coco Rocha and their clients so far have included Google, Donna Karan, Tiffany & Co., Veuve Clicquot, Rachel Zoe, and Oscar de la Renta among others.

Cinemagraphs have managed to capture beauty, glamour and fantasy in an image. Granted cinemagraphs cannot be printed, but that makes this kind of photography all the more a unique digital art form. Cinemagraphs now incorporate two of the most affecting forms of documentation, film and photographs, into one stunning package.

Julian Lennon pays tribute to his father through pictures

Julian Lennon has had quite a name to live up to being the only child of the late John Lennon and the now 74-year-old Cynthia Powell, John's first wife. Yet he has always viewed life differently despite, or perhaps because of, his journey being so unique and remarkable. Although he is mostly known as a singer-songwriter, musician and producer, Julian actually has many other talents and interests, including that of being a documentary film producer, philanthropist, and a fine art photographer.

As a tribute to his father and The Beatles, Julian has become the curator of an exhibit commemorating The Beatles’ 50^th anniversary of their first U.S. tour. Julian’s eye for photocomposition and aestheticism brings a unique Beatles collection to the public at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York displayed from February 7^th to the 28^th. What sets this exhibit apart from others featuring The Beatles goes without saying; the personal relation between Julian and John Lennon has made this exhibit something that does not occur too often.

The idea stemmed from a guy named Timothy White, a photographer and partner at the Morrison Hotel Gallery, when he came to Julian with the task of looking through a few hundred photographs of his father with The Beatles and choosing 25, or 50 because it was the 50^th anniversary. And so 25 shots are being exhibited at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in the SoHo district until the end of February and another 25 at a gallery in Los Angeles, at which Timothy White is also a partner.

Having curated and chosen the images to be displayed himself, Julian must have had quite a poignant and cathartic experience, especially with photography being his main focus recently. He chose the photographs that evoked emotion and speaks more of the back-story of what the boys of The Beatles were feeling when they were becoming legends in the music industry – and in history. Julian has also said that some of the images display the look of anxiety and fear, an element of numbness, and the reality of the popularity of The Beatles really hitting them. But if there’s one thing that the exhibition will portray clearly, it’s the hell of a ride that the members of The Beatles had.

Cara Delevingne – Fashion’s New “It” Girl

Every once in a while, there’s a face that comes along in the fashion world that leaves the rest of the world breathless once discovered.

The world first took Cara Delevingne seriously in 2011 when she was seen in ad campaigns for Burberry and H&M. And after just two years, she was named model of the year last November at the British Fashion Awards. And it was an award that was well earned. She's been photographed by Mario Testino for the cover of British Vogue; she's appeared in ad campaigns for Chanel, Burberry, and H&M, among others; and she seems to have walked almost every runway in New York, London, Milan, and Paris for most major designers.

Recently she’s been seen in a small role in the film Anna Karenina alongside Keira Knightly and on the Victoria's Secret ramp modelling the Pink line for teens.

But even at only 21 years old these milestones and achievements, revered in the fashion industry, hardly seem to encompass the powerhouse that is Cara.

She has “the” look; the delicate mouth, the elfin cheekbones, the bushy eyebrows that need no introduction. Then there's her colourful lineage and background straight out of a movie script: her grandfather, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, was a prominent newspaper executive; her eccentric mother, Pandora, a personal shopper; her father, Charles, a handsome man about town; and her older sister Poppy, also a successful model and socialite.

But perhaps the best part of Cara, the part that her facial features and body language epitomise so intriguingly, is that punch-to-the-gut personality that make so many of the headlines about her. She’s witty, quirky, and enchantingly unpredictable.

A perfect fit for the fashion world, Cara gives the photographer what they want before they even realize they want it. She’s a photographer’s dream, daring and experimental, and has even gone pretty much nude in November last year for a shoot with Nick Knight for SHOWstudio and Garage magazine. She always manages to be classy and sultry – a combination not easily achieved.

Renowned photographer Mario Testino has called her “the new Kate Moss” – but this wild-child who cites Charlie Chaplin as her style icon and the Milan-based street-wear brand You Need This Shit as a favourite label – isn’t replacing anyone in the fashion world but is carving out her own niche.