2001: Anouck Lepere by Miles Aldridge for The Face - Dead on Arrival

2001: Amy Wesson

I've always had my favourite models from time to time, Kate Moss being an all time favourite, as I believe models are just as crucial as the photographer in producing pieces of art. However, unlike Kate Moss, who is a very good and diverse model, Amy Wesson wasn't generally all that fantastic, but I became fascinated with her after reading her story in one of the first issues of Teen Vogue nearly 10 years ago when I was in Florida. She was part of the breed of supermodel that mixed with the supers and the super-waifs, and was on the team that ushered in the heroin chic aesthetic during the mid 1990s. Ironically, Amy Wesson, a small town girl in her teens, developed a severe drug addiction and suffered a steep downward spiral which drastically effected her career. I sometimes felt, that in some of her pictures, I could see the spiral.

To me she was one of the first, influential models of the turn of the century, alongside the Angela's, Maria Carla's and An Oost and Anouck Lepere, and the ones I'd hope to see on the catwalk and in new editorials when the seasons changed.

Since then, her face has popped up here and there, and surprisingly has fronted the odd big campaign (MaxMara perfume was her most recent), but what touched me the most was an editorial for hipster-wank rag Vice Magazine, called 'The Bitter Tears of Amy Wesson'. Now 33, the editorial summed up to me the painful journey this woman endured, and the history she was infamous for within the fashion industry.

 

Despite not being a household name, she worked some high profile campaigns and was photogrpahed by famous photographers such as Mario Testino, Bruce Weber and David LaChapelle, so her diversity was there. But some people will recongise her purely as the odd looking girl on the cover of the album and singles from Adore by Smashing Pumpkins.

Merry Christmas

disgarded / regarded: Larry Clark

The film director and photographer Larry Clark, best known for 'Kids' is also well known for his collective of photographs taken of teenage runaways in the late 60s and into the 1970s. The best known ones, 'Tulsa' and 'Teenage Lust' have gone onto influence other photographers such as Venetia Scott, Juergen Teller and Terry Richardson.

Some of my favourite images by him are generally on my list of all time favourite photographs.

The last image I only find shocking because although the central point of this photo is the heroin, the first thing I noticed was the guy's penis resting across his thigh, like a banana. I also wonder what Clark's involvement was during these sessions. It's hard to get people to accept having their photo taken generally, or even during special occasions, yet these photos are so candid that you almost think they've been staged to look like they were alone all along.

Sheffield

 

Sheffield from Crookes

photo by Paolo Margari

http://paolomargari.it

 

Deathbed by David

Kim Jones 'See Through' Cap

Kim Jones now designs for Dunhill.

Asia Argento - Bruce LaBruce - François Sagat

Film Porn Art

 

 

(above) François is wearing a Vivienne Westwood wool t-shirt. I love the links between taboo, sex, porn, film and the art world. Their ideas at first glance can ordinarily seem wrong but at closer inspection to the links, it feels very right, and Argento and Sagat are perfect examples in their own right.

Kate Moss Italian Vogue

I think these look very much like the old, glammed up 90s photos of Kate, and sort of remind me at the same time of Versace adverts of the 90s that she occassionally cropped up in. It also surprises me how much that French, Italian and Spanish Vogue use Kate, yet you hardly see her in American Vogue.

Gianni Versace (seems so dated with his name).