Stand inside your love; The story of Yelena Yemchuk

Photographer, Painter, Film Maker, and Muse: 

Yelena Yemchuk is the embodiment of all four of those titles.

Born in the Ukraine, she moved to Brooklyn when she was a teenager.

Unable to speak any english, Yelena lived in an isolated world. She spent most of her time connecting with those around her through her 35 mm camera, taking snapshots of her classmates.

She first studied art at Parsons school of Design in New York. Later she would also continue her studies in photography at Art Center in Pasadena, California.

She is currently known as an art photographer who shoots fashion. Even today she still shoots exclusively in film, a practice that is virtually unheard of in the commercial world today.

She has shot for Japanese, Korean, Russian, British and Italian Vogue. Her credits also include W, Lula Magazine, Dazed and Confused, Numero, Elle, Kenzo, Another Magazine, and Harpaars Bizarre Korea just to name a few.

Even though she is a well respected fashion photographer, those in the media mostly remember her for her work with The Smashing Pumpkins.

It all started with Adore.

She did the album artwork for the band. Upon meeting her Billy Corgan recalled that he was astounded that she was so young. Her images spoke to him so deeply, he thought for sure that they could have only been created by someone older.

Yelena became Corgan's muse and also his lover for many years.

Billy and Yelena.

During her time with him she directed music videos for the band which included 33  and Zero.

33.

Both videos speak of an older time, one that is influenced heavily by dreams and baroque culture. Yelena's love of the surreal was extremely evident.

She also, as I stated before, became the muse for Corgan. This was especially the case with the song and video for "Stand inside your love". Yelena acted in the video as Salome, which they had based off the story by Oscar Wilde. The film was shot in black and white, it was supposed to be reminiscent of silent films. Corgan said that the song and video were a dedication of his love for her. 

"Stand inside your love"

When the time came for the two of them to part, which often happens in beautiful love stories, Yelena ventured back to her hometown in the Ukraine to take photographs of the people in her neighborhood. She wanted to document the social change that was going on with the end of communism.

She also started to paint. As with her affair in fashion and commercial photography, painting started out as just something she thought would be fun. Always pushing herself to create in a multitude of art forms, there really are no limits for her surrealistic and dreamy images.

Based on the marriage of soviet and american culture that had invaded her childhood, her illustrations are often as haunting as they are humorous. 

"They're sort of about relationships and breakups, filtered through old Ukrainian folk tales," says Yemchuk

Billy Corgan asked her years after their departure to illustrate his poetry book, Blinking with Fists.

Yelena in white speaking with a collector at one of her art shows.

Her love of painting would also be evident in her photography. She even did a tribute to Egon Schiele with this fashion spread for Vogue Italia.

I was initially drawn to Yelena's work when I was a student at art school. A friend told me about her and when I saw her photographs she inspired me to paint more. The fragile energy of her images combined with the saturation of color grabbed my imagination. 

She also photographed another artist, Sasha Pivovarova, when her modeling career was just beginning. Sasha is also a painter who was discovered by her photographer husband. Her entrance into the fashion realm as a model only helped her further to find her footing as a fine artist.

Even further proof that Yelena has a gift with capturing the essence of the people she photographs, as well as their untold stories are her images of Courtney Love.

Which show a delicate and gamine side of the singer that many do not associate with the rough and loquacious personality that the media portrays.

"People who hire me know I'm not just interested in pretty dresses," she says. "They want me to tell some kind of story."

And that is precisely what she does.

Fin.

Let there be light- Exploring the beauty that is Bruno Dayan

These days there are very many photographers in fashion. Many that create images to advertise items and lure you with the temptation of what could be. Very few of these photographers actually make the transition from commercial to art. Bruno Dayan is one of these few.

When I first discovered his work I stopped and stared. Like a painting with light, the illumination of the photograph was so brilliant. There was something emotional about the model, it was a sense of narration. No matter how erotic the image was it was never a form of objectification. It was the opposite when I stared at this image, I stared because I could feel the story that was being told. There was a connection that had no vowels to describe it. It is that reflection of the subconscious in an image that manages to relate to the viewer. It is a rare experience and not one that would be expected when viewing a fashion magazine.

The trails of light, the fairytale setting, the use of antlers and candles is so refreshing and also something reminiscent of childhood.

No matter how sensual the position and state of undress that occupies the models, there is never a feeling of exploitation.

Rather, the sensualism of the image only lends itself to create a sense of spirituality. 

One cannot help but wonder where these images are shot, there seems to be some palace that he manages to inhabit time and time again.

Taking fashion and telling a true story Bruno Dayan recalls paintings of the renaissance. 

 

The use of dualities, of two becoming one is also rare. There is no competition in these photographs. There is only a sense of connection, of love even.

 

 

So who is Bruno Dayan? Where did he come from? Why is there so little information on his own entrance into the world of fashion? There are very few articles to be found on a man that has occupied many large campaigns with his surreal and dreamy images.  Perhaps his mystique and preferred anonymity is a response to the over exposure of so many photographers today. Unlike Terry Richardson, you won't find him standing with his pants undone. There are not even any rumors about him.

It makes sense that his photographs would feel like art after one discovers the education that he experienced. He was born in London in 1959, but studied fine arts abroad at Concordia University in Montreal. 

Apparently fashion was also a passion he had aside from fine art. It makes sense that he would combine the two. 

But perhaps that is the key word, passion. When one truly loves what they are doing, when it is their dream, it is only natural that what they create would move those outside.

Having traveled all over the world, living in Asia for 11 years before settling in France (where he resides currently) it is apparent that his sense of composition is quite reflective of such lifestyle.

Traveling can often cause one to look inward and dream. There is something voyeuristic about seeing the world as a stranger.

Despite being a freelance artist that is not associated with any agencies, he has made contributions to very many magazines and campaigns. These contributions include Amica Italy, Numero, German and Russian Vogue, as well as campaigns for such fashion names as Christian Lacroix, Louis Vuitton, Moschino, and Yves St Laurent.

But even with all of his publications his images never look like advertisements.

Instead they are like a lucid dream, a forgotten lover, a story you remember from your childhood. Bruno Dayan is a photographer that takes concepts that could be demeaning and turns them upside down, creating a sense of strength in vulnerability.

There is nothing more powerful than the subconscious when it is truly unleashed.

I am grateful for his quiet influence in the world of fashion. His images are inspiring an entire generation of new photographers to look farther than the eye of the camera.

To look inward.

Fin.

Fashion Through the Decades: A reflection of economy/media or is it the other way around? Part III

By the 2000s there was the boom of internet start ups and popularity of computers which were no longer considered a luxury item but an everyday device. This also changed the method of media influence, which was becoming more influential than ever. It also gave way to more experimentation as it became easier to become a trendsetter rather than an influential consumer. The economy had been greatly affected by events such as 9/11 and in turn, perhaps as a dramatic opposition to the financial state of the world. people became more focused on fashion and appearance than ever before.

With the entrance of the internet was also the enhancement of globalization due to the rapidly easy sense of communication in the world. There was a sense of unity, which also lead to more influences on fashion as well as more conformity world wide. 

Today, with the economic collapse we are now experiencing after decades of inflation, the world is still in a strange confusion of priorities. While fashion in the past greatly reflected the state of the people (as people were more influenced by the government due to lack of subversive communication) it has no bearing on today's society. Almost as if in a state of denial, people who have deteriorated financially still manage to allow themselves technological toys such as ipods, ipads, etc. 

Media has transformed with the increasing popularity of social media websites, becoming more influential than ever before. 

Fashion currently is a revival of the many decades past, combining a little bit of everything on a mass scale. Perhaps it is that people are choosing to live in a nostalgic dream-like state as a form of emotional survival during such a time of economic unrest. 

Because of the internet fashion, television, and music has experienced a financial decline as an industry. Instead of purchasing items, it is easy to "steal" them through the very media that was once controlled by the industry. Now it is the people controlling the media. In a state of confusion, clothing has taken on an entirely new reflection. It is a mixture of practicality, experimentation, and nostalgia. 

So what does 2012 bring us with the return of reality as the economy slowly starts to recover or change it's own patterns of function? Hopefully it will continue to become more individualistic, free, and experimental. If anything, it would be nice to see that mindset of international connection predict a strong universal state of equality and relaxation, and with it a reflection of that current state in fashion.

With the decline of the industry of fashion will it become more of an artform and example of self expression than an exploitative commercial trade? Let's hope so if it is indeed the people and not the media who continue to rise in the decision.

Fin.