Terry Richardson by Johan Edberg - Textile and Fashion Management

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Terry Richardson Johan Edberg S095363 book contains pictures of Richardson and his models engaging in sexual activities but the difference from regular porn is that the pictures are – most of them anyhow – shot to document the activity of sex, the whole situation not just genders thrusting into each other like in the mainstream porn publications. For example, one of the pictures is of two sets of legs the woman is clearly on the knees giving a blowjob to the man standing up. If this was in a mainstream porn context, legs would not be of the editors priorities. Is this porn then? Well, if you ask me it is, but porn as a concept has widened, wondered into popular culture and is not necessarily a bad thing. Consenting adults are in my view free to do whatever they like. One can of course question the good taste of publishing a book with these pictures. But if one starts judging pseudo-arty publications like Kibosh one could possibly find oneself in cultural dire straits. There are several books released containing different aspects of Richardson’s works. Only parts of these are of his work as a fashion photographer. Titles include “Bob Richardson” - an exposé about Richardson’s on and off-photographer father. “Wives, wheels, weapons” where Richardson interprets a James Frey novel. Then there is the epic “Terry World” (Taschen 2004) where Dian Hanson presents a mix of Richardson’s sex side projects, portraits, editorials and campaigns. In 2009 Richardson was engaged to do the prestigious Pirelli Calendar for 2010, one of the more noted pictorial publications in the world. His predecessors include Bruce Weber, Anne Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Patrick Demarchelier, Mert and Marcus, and a number of other world famous photographers. Richardson is indeed on his way to becoming a pop cultural and fashion icon himself. He has been involved in several collaborations with street wear brands doing prints for t-shirts skateboards amongst other products. The Sisley campaign of 2001 Richardson has been shooting several campaigns for Sisley since 1999, I’ve chosen to analyze the “Farming” campaign from 2001 (see appendix). Although one might say that a nine year old campaign is not relevant, the landscape of fashion photography is not as fast paced to date-out a campaign like this. Especially when Richardson employs his signature style, which hardly change over the years. For the analysis of the pictures I have utilized Panofskys three-leveled iconology model. Especially the later two, the iconographic and iconological levels. The iconographic level is where the depicted is put into a literary context. The iconological level is where the depicted is put into context with the surrounding world and current times. Sisley is a bit of bland brand in my view, typically international in its style expression. Not hailing from any physical nor a mental place. This is of course not only a bad thing – the brand fits virtually everywhere. It is aimed at a younger hipster-like audience. It is mid-range and has a style expression that is in the vicinity of Benetton (who also owns the brand), French Connection, Miu Miu and also Swedish brands like Filippa K and especially Acne.
Terry Richardson Johan Edberg S095363 I have divided the analysis into areas where Richardson stands out as a photographer and utilizes specific technique and/or approaches. Playfulness – Now, the look of the collection is not very Farm-like, so my interpretation of the person responsible for the brand intentions is that he/she wanted the campaign to strengthen the brand, not the collection at hand in particular. This is a known and well utilized strategy. This manner gives the creative team much freer hands, which in my experience is rarely a bad idea. The playful approach that Richardson employs is quite visible on a number of the collection pictures. The models are doing a number of weird and - to the viewer somewhat - amusing stuff in the farm setting, like riding on a donkey, eating hay, caressing a pig and milking a cow. Not very traditionally fashionable picture I would say. This notion of playfulness could be both good and bad for Sisley depending on where in their target group they are aiming. For the younger customer – of whom many might recognize the Richardson signature – the playfulness would probably work in favor of the brand. Making it stand out and be hip and against the crushing tide of conformity in the fashion segment. For a slightly older customer, who might not be aware of how the world of fashion photography is turning, the playful elements are likely to be a bit confusing. But in my view Sisley is quite bland so anything in a campaign that stand out form the other brands is by default good. All props, from cows to haystack connotates everything else but fashion. Farm life is hardly one of the traditionally fashionable lifestyles. And while the clothes are neither farm nor worker influenced the props and the setting must be regarded as a playful element. Sexy/kinky – In the series the models are doing several sexy/kinky/porn-like actions. Several pictures are showing models with hand down their panties touching private parts. There are same sex as well as opposing sex caressing of breast, something that passes for suggested intercourse, pony play with a male model kitted with a horse saddle and a woman model riding his back and pulling his hair. There is of course also the Richardson signature general nudity going on in the pictures. And then there is the infamous cumshot pictures, where the model Josie Maran aims the spray of milk from the teat towards the mouth. In my view it is obvious that the teat in this case takes on the role of a phallus. The spray however goes all over the mouth region of Mrs. Marans face moving over from arty to porn-like expression. On the other hand, in one of the pictures in the milking section the models smiles or even laughs with milk on her mouth and the cows teats in the background. This one connotates health and general farm life wellbeing. No porn here. However, the picture that got the most attention was of course the one where the model aims the spray at her mouth and face looking into the camera with a, let’s not beat around the bush, straight up horny look. In the milking section there are also a number of pictures where milk takes on the role of sperm, running down different parts of the models body and clothes. This could not have been a surprise from Sisley, when engaging Richardson this is what you get. Maybe they wanted more nudity maybe less, but what they got was a loud and clear Richardson manifestation of the beauty of sex and the female (and also male) body. How this effects with the brand image in the long perspective is in my opinion yet to be seen. Sisley is not known for their sexiness but using these campaigns as a part of a larger brand repositioning strategy can possibly transform them into a brand that utilizes sex in both communication and collections.
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Page 9 and 10: Actor Viggo Mortensen 2005 Appendix
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Terry Richardson by Johan Edberg - Textile and Fashion Management

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