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Indianapolis Museum of Art
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Channels: Scott SchumanTalks
Touted by TIME Magazine as one of the design world’s 100 most influential people, GQ columnist Scott Schuman a.k.a. "The Sartorialist," photographs stylish people on the streets of the world, and posts them to his blog (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/). Since 2005, his blog has crossed boundaries by featuring people regardless of social, geographic, economic or cultural identity, bridging the gap between jet set haute couture and street level personal style. Born in Indiana, Schuman returns home to share his experiences and discuss the "economics of style."
I am Scott Schuman, the Sartorialist. They invited me to come out and talk a little bit about the blog that I do, and photography, and ideas behind it. And it's been such a great ride, you know?
Doing this in the last couple of years and, you know, having the, kind of, luxury of being able to build a brand quickly enough
to be able to let people just do what you want to do. I mean, to have a job like this, where you are just allowed to go out and shoot and capture things, you know, it seems like
it's come very easily to me, and very quickly to me, but it's like any kind of, like, someone that's in the music industry, or a rock and roll person,
you know? It seems like they have overnight success and, yet, it was fifteen years of creating an eye and building a personal point of view, that really made this happen,
what seems like very quickly. And so, tonight, you know, lot of people know about the blog and they get a sense of the blog, and what I thought would be interesting to talk about was what, to me, seems like a
more interesting way to look at what I do in the blog and to get a little bit more from it. You know, I mean it's fashion, and a lot of times
when I am writing something, I will go through comments that people make. They’ll say, Wow... you know, there are wars, and this thing and that thing, and all of these other dramatic things and this is just fashion, you know, and this
is completely irrelevant... "Why would you spend your time doing that?" "Why would you spend your life doing that?" And people, either they look at it that way, or, I think a lot of people also look in a way and just,
almost like a fashion grading system... And they look at each look and say, "Oh yeah, I like this..." or "No, I don't like that." Yes... No... Yes... No... And to me, that so completely
misses the point of what the Sartorialist can be. And what something like this, not only because of the photographs, and because of the way that we talk about fashion
but also, you know, the... how it is, in terms of the interaction with the people, the people that I shoot, the interaction with the audience, what it means historically.
What it means in terms... culturally. That, you know... those are the things, that if you are fan of the site, I think, I don't usually because, you know, I don't necessarily
like to write a lot on the blog, but it would be... you know, some ideas of things that I get from the blog, the way that I use it, and a way of looking at that will maybe mean something a little bit more deep.
And mean something a little bit more...to put it in context of photographically and in terms of fashion, to get a little bit more from it.
You know, and something like this, these first two photographs, to me, are a perfect, kind of, idea of what the Sartorialist is to me.
These are two photographs I took, about a year apart, and to me, they are kind of a perfect expression as to what the Sartorialist is about. I mean, these are two gentlemen, one was shot,
the one on the left was shot in Paris, actually right outside the Dries van Noten store. I don't know this gentleman personally, but apparently, when I put him on the blog, he is some kind of academic in Paris. A lot of people knew who he was.
But to me, he is so chic, you know? I mean, he looks great, and he has a persona about him and there is something, you know, beautiful about the photograph I really wanted to capture.
He looks a lot like my grandpa. You know, my grandpa dressed very much like that. And, about a year later, in Milan, outside the Dolce and Gabbana show, I shot this guy named Hugh.
And to me, these are two guys that might never interact in real life, they might not ever run into each other, their circles might not ever really cross,
but, not only, you know, are their hats almost exactly the same, but I think you'll get a real essence of, even though they are two very different people, they are really very similar,
in the way that they express themselves are very similar. Even though they probably run in very different circles and you know, if you put these two people in the same room,
they might not have a lot to discuss. Although, I think, when you got down to it, they would be very, very similar people. So, to me this is really, kind of, the essence
of what I do, is you know, how do people really express themselves through style? You know, even though it's very fashion-based.
You know, I love fashion. I grew up, you know, I went I.U. and took Apparel Merchandise, and costume construction, and, you know, Armani was a hero, and Bruce Weber was a hero. That, to me, fashion is very important,
but, it's less important than the kind of persona that you create. One of the things I am proud of with the site, is it's not about, you know, the price
and how expensive something is, how modern it is, how "of the moment" it is, you know... You have a show like Project Runway and they say, "One minute you are in, and one minute you are out!"
Which, to me, is so completely irrelevant and so completely opposite of what I think, because, you know, if you have got a great style, you're never really totally in and you're never totally out.
I mean, both of these pictures I could have taken, you know, a year ago or six years ago, and they would look great at, you know, any of those points.
You know, and one of the things I am happy with the Sartorialist is that, even though I tend to like, you know, kind of high-end..... You know, I took a lot of classes
in terms of, like, pattern drafting and how to make things, and I like making things with my hands, whether it's cooking, whether it's, you know, photographs, whether it's, you know... I took Couture
tailoring classes, things like that. That, even though I tend towards something like that, and the site could be considered elitist,
in the sense that, you know, I like to talk about, you know, something like Cesare Attolini, which is beautifully made suits, as opposed to being elitist or exclusive,
I think it's really very inclusive because, as you'll see, as we go through the photographs, you know, I really should have allowed a different types of people, you know. The only underlying relationship between any of them
is what, to my eye, is a great sense of style, and a great way of creating something that inspires me.
Because, you know, most of these people I don’t really know, I don’t know them, if they are great people, good people, bad people, whatever. But there is something about them and the way they express themselves that is really very inspiring to me.
So, I will go through some of these first. These are some of the pictures just kind of, if you are not as familiar with the site, just give you some of the ideas, you know, some of the things that I like to shoot.
This is one of my, you know, I don't want to say heroes, you know, this is the guy Leno that owns this really great store in Milan that
you know, he is just like the perfect example like an Italian. Not really a playboy, but he is kind of a playboy. You know, he has done like... he doesn’t really speak any English so I kind of talked to this guy John Palo
who interprets, you know, all of the things that he has done and he is just one of those guys that grew up in Italy, you know. He was probably born right around... little before the war
when Italy was still growing and he just always had this great sense of style. He has done a million jobs. He worked in a watch factory. He was a hair stylist.
I think he was kind of like a women’s escort. [laughing] He just did whatever he had to do to make it happen, but he always did it, I think, with such a sense of style
and such a sense, you know, was so chic, that you really see it in his clothes. You know a lot of times with someone like Leno, you know, he is a perfect example, I am not really...
when I shoot someone like him, it's him but it's not really him. You know, I don’t know him well enough and... Actually I know him well enough that, you know, I wouldn’t really want to be like him
but there is something that I find very inspiring about him. There is something very charismatic about him. And you know, he is really...you know, the way that he wears his clothes,
his personality... even though he knows I am American and I don’t smoke, every time I see him, he always says... "Well you know, you smoke, you smoke, can we go outside and smoke?" [laughing] You know, it's just his way.
And it's so in a way it's affected, in a way it's completely unaffected because it's so natural to him, a lot of times a lot of people make comments on the blog that say something like...
Oh, you know, he is trying too hard. And I think that’s really hard thing to say about someone that you don’t know, because a lot of these people,
it's so natural and when it's really real and when you can capture it in a photograph like this... when it's so natural to them, it's not trying hard. It's just who they are. It's part of who they are.
Emmanuel Alt, who to me is just like you know the coolest of the cool, you know, I am a huge fan. One of things that has been really rewarding
for the blog and for me, personally, I worked in the business for quite a while and you know, that was really great for me in terms of creating my eye and what I
thought was good, I think the reason the blog is grown so quickly is not only because the quality of the photography but also the edit of what I choose to shoot, all the people like Emmanuel, Karin, and
people that you know really pretty important players in the business. They say they really like the quality of the photography, but they really like what I choose to shoot and what I choose to point out
and points of, you know, details, things like that I like to talk about. And they are always very accommodating when I wanted to take their picture because what they have told me, is they always know that they are going to be
on the blog with other people that they feel are really cool and really chic. And that it's created a sense of, you know... I always felt that if they gave me work to do,
it was kind of stamp of approval and now it's kind of become all the way around that they feel kind of stamp of approval when they show up on the site and you know, we shoot in a particular way.
But someone like Emmanuel is, to me, like, kind of like the dream persona of someone that’s really built a brand of chic.
And since that, like Paris Vogue was one of the best magazines that when you know those people, they do an incredible job of
translating who they are as people onto the page. You know, when you look at Paris Vogue it's sexy, it's cool, it's exciting, it's modern,
and it's very much who they are as real people. And you know, a lot of times when work in a company as big as Conde Nast, a lot of that can get watered down and then you want to try and play it a little bit safe and take it a little bit easy,
where you know, Paris Vogue, is just big enough that’s important. And I think it's by far the most influential fashion magazine, but it's small enough that I think they are not really afraid to go out and do something,
that's a little dramatic and a little sexy and a little over the top. And, you know,she is a perfect example of this. You know, when we are at the shows and she gets out of a car and she is usually getting out of a car
with Melanie who is an equally incredibly chic, beautiful young lady and this girl Geraldine who is also so cool. And I don't know if you have seen that movie Reservoir Dogs...
and the guys, where like five guys are all walking, they look so cool, well that’s what they look like. To me, they are like the fashion version of Reservoir Dogs. When they are just so cool, when they walk into the show,
it's like the sea parts because they know like these are the coolest of the cool and yet they are the nicest of the nice that the most, you know, down to earth, funny,
you know, they are always willing to offer you a ride, whatever. It's to me, they are the exact opposite of what the Devil Wears Prada, if you watch a movie like that, I have certainly met a lot of, not a lot, a few people like that
and this is the exact opposite and yet they are, to me, the most influential. And she is like kind of the... her and Karina, kind of leaders of something like that.
This is a guy name George Cortina who is a, you know, pretty major stylist. And you know, I have really been happy that, you know, the blog has become, you know, Time Magazine called it
one of these influencers. And I spent so much time by myself walking around, shooting by myself, and you know you hear that stuff but you don’t really believe it until you go to...
I was at an appointment with designers from J. Crew and we were talking about kakis and I said, Oh you know I really want, you know, a kaki that’s more slim especially in the thigh,
that’s little more slim. I said, you know, like I don’t know if you have ever seen this picture, I did in Milan of this guy George Cortina, he has got these really slim kakis and the blue shirt and he stopped me right there, the main designer,
and he looks at one of the other designers and he says, "Bring out the look." And he goes, "I know that picture, I love that picture." And they have in their presentation,
they gave to all the magazines, everybody, a look totally based on this picture. It was kakis that had been cut slimmer, a blue shirt like this except they put it with a tie.
And you know it's so funny, I love J. Crew, especially when I am shooting, I am, you know, running around on the street, in the summer, and it's hot and whatever, I dress a lot in shorts and lenin shirts and I buy a lot from J. Crew.
So, when you have someone that’s the Head Designer saying how much he loves specific parts of your work and that it's actually influenced their design, it's really, it's kind of weird you know?
It comes around in a different way and you know, something like this is, you know, such great example of something like that.
This is a shot I just did the other day in Hyeres in the south of France and it's, to me, a real example of, you know, being in the moment,
you know, as the sun was setting, it was setting, you know, to the front of her, she had all these lights around her.
You know, it's about the look but it's about the setting. You know, for me, it's about inspiration, when sometimes people want to try and pin me down and say, you know, what is this site about, you know, you are showing clothes or what are you trying to do?
And the only thing I can say is I just try and shoot what inspires me. And it helps me dream, you know, a picture like this, you know, I like her outfit but I just like the whole setting.
Something like this just, to me, looks so cool, to me, something that you want to look at and it makes you dream about how you want your life to be.
And you know, this has been a kind of a perfect image because its not, you know, I have photographically, you know, I haven’t darkened it that much but you know, a lot of times when I take photographs, I am not really reporting.
I think the difference between what I do in terms of being a street style photographer... I don’t really consider myself a street style photographer, I don’t really consider the site a street style site.
To me, its just a blog that I do to shoot for inspiration. So, a shot like this... the difference between what I do and lot of other people, is you know, they... I think a lot of time, shoot in a way that’s more reporting.
And may be they don’t get the lights in at the top, you know and they don’t make sure that she's standing in this walkway. This was just a walkway, that was walking to the tent where this fashion show was, on the beach at Hyeres.
And to me, all these other little details were more important to set up the dream of what this photograph would be than whether her pants were kaki or whether they were blue
and whether her sleeves were rolled up or not. To me it’s the whole image, you know, it’s the way the walkway kind of takes you into the picture and it zooms off that way. I love those kinds of lights, I don’t know why,
but it’s the difference between when you are reporting, and when you are doing something inspirational. And so, you know, a picture like this, when I take a picture like this
you know, the best thing that can happen to me is when you go meet with someone...some designer and you see your pictures up on their walls. A lot of time, you know, I used to work with a lot of designers
and when I had a show room, they... when you would ask him about particular collection, they would say, "Oh, you know, I am dreaming about this girl and she does this and she does that..."
And it's always very abstract. And I think the reason a lot of designers like my site, is it's one of the first times where they have had a chance to really print and look at pictures of girls
who are real, and really personify who it is that they want to dress, because a lot of times who you are dressing and who you want to dress are two different things.
And so, you know, when I was in Hyeres I met Ricardo Tisci, the designer for Givenchy, you know. I mean, he is doing great work.
Givenchy looks really good. And he is a total fan of the site, which was great for me, you know, because, you know, you hope that people like him, you know, I mean, Givenchy is a major brand
and doing major work. And the fact that he not only knew the site but really knew the site and he could site specific photographs and things like that, says to me that you know pictures like this
they don’t happen all of the time, but when you get them, it's really worth it. And it's something that affects design happening right now
and then hopefully will affect designers you know fifty years from now or hundred years from now.
So, one of the things I like to try, you know, what I’ll do is... I have got a couple of sections of things, that kind of breakdown the site in different ways. And just the ways that I look at the site
and to me, the main thing that I look in the site is what I like to call abstract inspiration and you know, photographs like this, you know, was a perfect example of that. I do a lot of like, kind of detailed shots.
This guy was actually wearing a pretty reasonably crazy outfit in the sense that it was, I don't know, maybe there were quite a few like street bloggers at this Hyeres Fashion Festival,
so his picture was probably up in other sites. But he was wearing two shirts sewn together that I guess he could flip over this way and wear it one day
and then the other way the other day. And you know, I don’t know if anyone would really wear that and even though it wasn’t the look that I necessarily related to, I was able to look at it and say
you know, I don't really like the form and the silhouette of what he is doing, but I love this kind of crazy color combination between these two flora patterns.
This kind of sash thing that he was doing here. And you know what I think for a lot of people who... the difference between people who are in fashion and really do it for a living
and people who kind of look at it from the outside, is people who are in the business, can make it something that is an obviously inspirational and beautiful and be able to look at it in an abstract way enough
to see how it makes them feel and maybe change it enough to do something different. So, like when I look an outfit like this, I wouldn’t... if you actually saw the whole outfit, like a lot of people would say, "Hhhh.... you know that just doesn't... don’t relate to that all."
So, that's why I did a very specific detail because I don’t want to kind of muddy the waters. You know, to me, it was all about this kind of great kind of color combination, pattern combination. I could totally see myself doing, you know, some kind of shorts like this and a shirt.
And you know, some kind of navy jacket and tennis shoes. Or you know, even a woman being able to do like a skirt and a bodice or some kind of dress that can incorporate these two prints. That, you know, it's this idea of
looking at something, not as a yes or no, I like it, I don’t like it, being able to look at it and say how does this make me feel? You know, when you are able to look at something and you can't look away
and you keep looking, saying, you know, there is some reason I can't stop looking at, I don’t like it, but there is something about it that draws me in. And like the people who are successful... and designers who are successful,
or the people who are able to look at this and brush a side the things that they don’t like about it and focus on the one or two elements that keep them interested or inspired.
And you know, it’s the pictures like this that I think people like Ricardo Tisci and people like that, look at it... and they probably look at this, and don’t see it as two floral patterns or three floral patterns.
I think they look at it and say you know I could do two graphics, you know, two mixed scale checks, two stripes in two different variations.
It’s the idea of kind of clashing things, that kind of go together and kind of don’t go together. So, it's so much bigger than what this is. It's just kind of a starting point. It’s a talking point,
that you put it up on your wall and you think clashing patterns or patterns that are close but different or color combinations that are close but different. And that’s something that's
kind of hard to communicate in a blog the way I want to. But I think the people, to really get something from the blog, are the people that really kind of understand something like that.
Or something like this... this is a young guy at the Dries Van Norton. He works for Dries Van Norton. This is a guy that's, you know, kind of riding that fine line between men’s wear and women’s wear.
It's something that men can look at and say well there is a guy wearing, you know, this kind of floral pant, you know, looks kind of an interesting, kind of take on something like this.
But you know women can look at it also and see it in a different way or take a piece here or there. And, to me, this is just, you know, I don’t know if I would wear this, but it's something that I can look at and say,
you know, I might wear this as shorts. You know, it’s a green t-shirt or blue t-shirt with a floral pair of shorts, you know, something that’s just... it's inspired by this, but just different enough.
Or, like this is the shot I just took the other day, there was a girl that was painting this café... I don't know, if you guys know Moby? This is Moby's restaurant in the East village.
She just happened to be in there painting, the front of it that day... it was kind of closed down and she was painting the front and I walked by because there is a really great little restaurant right next to it and I had lunch.
And when I walked by I saw her and I thought Wow she looks really interesting. And when I was done with lunch, I came back and asked her if I could take her picture. And you know it's another one of those situations where
I don’t necessarily cease anyone... I wouldn’t say go out and wear this outfit, but I totally see someone... like if you have seen the YSL collection for men this spring,
it's this kind of like painters inspired collection, that I could completely see someone like, you know, Stefano from YSL or someone like that looking at this and taking a picture like this, a very real life picture
and saying I can completely imagine this glammed up. You know I mean she already has really dramatic hair, you know, like a small top, whether it's a bodice, whether it's a tank, you know, pants that are kind of paint splattered
or you know skirts that's paint splattered. This kind of idea and the toughness of this and yet she is really sexy, you know, you get a sense of her body underneath. She rides that really super fine line between being tough,
I liked to call it sweet and sinister. You know, she is a little sweet, she has kind of soft features and yet, she is kind of tough. You know, you are not going to mess around with her. And these are the kind of abstract photographs
that I think people find much more interesting and that...when you are not in the business maybe it's harder to figure out why I would put something like that up,
but it's really something that... and actually end up getting a really great reaction. And this is a girl I shot in Paris and again, it's one of those shots that you just... you know, she almost looks like
a little red riding hood, you know, she has got this great coat and I see her all the time at the shows, I have never seen her look this way again. And I have never taken her picture again
which makes kind of an awkward situation, but to me this is such a great image, you know, she is dark, she has got her hood up, she has got this kind of coat, and her eyes are dark, I mean she is not traditional
beauty and yet you can't, I mean, I don't know about you, but I can't stop looking at her. I think she looks so perfectly mysterious, beautiful, it's,
to me, the kind of photograph that makes you dream. It's one of those kind of haunting images that makes you think about, you know, how do you create that kind of persona? And she has not been able to continue something like that.
But it was just one of those moments in time where you see and you say, "I can't not take that shot." So, you know, one of the things I like to try and do with the style...
with the site... is there are certain photographers that I have always been really inspired by... And Bruce Weber is probably the main photographer and not so much because of his work for
like Ralph Lauren, you know, he has done Abercrombie and Fitch, he has done a lot of, you know, major, created some of the most iconic images of the 80's and 90's and into the 2000's.
And, but it's less his fashion work but more the combination of his fashion work with his, you know, kind of own personal work. It was really super inspiring to me.
He has a place in Montana and he'll shoot his neighbor who has a farm there and you know, my perception is, this guy doesn’t make a lot of money and he is a farmer and he is not necessarily chic or whatever.
But, you know, Bruce Weber takes these pictures of him and shoots him with the same level of integrity and the same level of respect, the same level of love, that he shoots Kate Moss or any other high-end model for Vogue or anything else.
And there was a huge inspiration to me when I was learning about photography, you know, when I would shoot my own kids, when I would shoot someone on the street, when I would shoot, you know, a model, whatever, you know that I wanted to be able to shoot them with the same level of integrity.
And same thing, now that I am traveling this site started out very New York centric but all these offers started coming up to travel all around the world. This first one is a shot that I took in India
and you know, I really had to ask myself do I want to go to India and shoot you know cliched images of girls wearing saris? And put it on the blog and say, "Oh you now isn’t this girl great wearing the sari?"
But I have seen images like that. But what I haven’t seen, are images like this, you know, girls who, you know, to me, you could put her anywhere you could put her in Paris, she is actually from Mumbai, but she could be in Paris,
she could be in New York, she could be anywhere. And some people on the blog had a difficult time saying well, you know, if you are going to shoot someone like her, why don't you just stay in New York? But to me, I have seen those pictures of beautiful women wearing saris
and I certainly was not... I wasn't not going to shoot it if I thought it was particularly interesting color combination or if they tied it in a different way or shaped it in a different way.
So, it was open shooting that, but this is the kind of shot that I haven’t seen from India. You know, I haven’t shots of girls like this that, you know, so cool and so chic.
And actually, I got to know her a little bit while I was there. And she's... a lot of people talked about Audrey Hepburn is like a really kind of style icon and she is one of the closest girls I have every met
that has that kind of persona, the way she moves, the way she talks, her outlook. I mean, it's difficult in India when you are a young business women, she owns a boutique in Bombay and Mumbai.
And you know, even just getting a taxi, she said it is always very frustrating for her because the men... the guys that run taxis, you know, are still very shovenistic.
And, but she always had such a positive point of view and I think you can see that in her posture, in the way she holds herself. You know, once I decide I want to shoot someone, once I decide I want to shoot them,
then I really try and figure out how to take the very best picture I can. And I don’t usually shoot for too long or take too many images, take too many snaps, but I like to try and capture something a little bit about them.
And it's not so much my photographic skill, but I think a lot of the people that I chose to shoot are just so in touch with themselves that, that's just her, that’s the way she stands,
her posture, everything, is just so natural for her. And I think that's why it's so inspiring for a lot of people, is that you look at this and her dress is beautiful, she is, you know, even tinier than I am.
And in something like this, you wouldn't really think a girl that was so tiny would be able to carry off such a long dress and do it so well and look so chic and still look long and still look really beautiful...
Her arms look long, I think she, in this photograph looks a lot longer than what she really is, but she has created such a personal brand and a such a personal style that she is... every time I saw her she looked great
like a million bucks, in a lot of different ways of dressing. But, you know, she was just so in tuned with herself that, to me, it was incredibly inspiring.
And to me, you know, you could put this girl anywhere and she would just be, you know, the most chic girl that was walking into the room. Except for you guys. [laughing]
Except for all the woman here. This is in Beijing, this is a kind of art community. And again, it is this idea that, you know, India is kind of turning around, or not India, China is kind of turning around. But you know, there are still girls... My perception is that she didn't have a lot of money
that this is not about brands, this is not about expensive clothes, but it's really about this kind of beautiful combination of textures and layering and color. And you know, I love the combination of her dressed
so kind of, quite and pretty and kind of understated in this really kind of rough background. That, to me, you know, I think it, really said something globally, that a lot of people...
even though this is an area that a lot of people have never been to, can totally relate to this image. And like a lot of girls, whether you are in Austin, Texas or you know, Chicago can look at something like this
and be inspired and completely be able to relate to something like this that in certain ways... you know, there is globalization and we are all becoming more a like, but at the same time, I think, I take a lot of pictures also, there is still very specific to certain areas.
I put a picture up the other day of a guy who had a very specific way of tying his tie, that you really only see in Italy. It's a very kind of loose knot. You know, the side... the dimple is kind of... is always over to the side.
And you know, I have done this long enough that even if he was in New York, if I walked up to him on the street, you know, I would have approached him in a completely different way. I probably would have said, you know, "ciao"... you know, "molto elegante" whatever. To at least, get him to, you know, like kind of understood who he was and that really helps when you are shooting on the street and you are approaching people that you don’t know.
If they get a sense that right away you know a little bit about them and you understand them a little bit, it really helps. And so, there is a certain globalization,
and yet, one of the things I try and capture on the site are things, that are still very specific things, that are very specific to Paris, things that are very specific to London and Milan.
One of the other things, I think, it is really interesting about the site, not only, you know, because it is photographic, but also because of the interaction with the audience...
Are things that will end up becoming... there are important now, but I think that it could become even more important in a historical document 50 years from now, a 100 years from now.
Because when you put these pictures up, you know, something like this, or a couple of these other images... you know, like smoking right now is a big hot point issue, so whenever I put a picture up, doesn’t matter how great the outfit is,
I always get a certain amount of you know comments like "smoking kills," "smoking is bad for you," "smoking is this..." And you know, who knows what smoking is going to be 50 years from now or 100 years from now,
but because I can take a picture and put it up an hour or day later, what we are capturing is what people think about certain issues right now.
That people would be able to look back at, you know, 50 years from now and say, you know, smoking was really an important issue at this time. People felt really really involved, you know, and really related to this issue, at this particular point.
So even though this is a fashion photograph, you know, quite a few comments on this particular photograph or the one before or something like this, were driven around that, you know, here is another really chic guy smoking,
you know, "the sartorialist, are you glamorousing smoking?" You know, I don’t think you know, this guy is actually a pretty well known photographer. This was outside of the Giambattista Valli Show in Paris
and he was just standing literally like this. And I guess because he is a photographer, I was walking up to him and I was just telling him don’t move.. don’t move.. don’t move... and so he just stood,
just like that. [laughing] And to me this is a photograph of the guy who is just so super chic that, you know, so many people still smoke in Europe, I don’t really notice that and I am not going to change the shot in any way
because you don’t want to miss that, that is the shot, not his hand up, down, side, whatever, that’s the shot. But you know that is a really important issue right now.
I didn’t put one up here in fur, but like fur is another thing or you know, complete surprise to me, is what an incredible hot topic flip-flops are.
People love flip-flops or they hate them. And you know, it's something, because we are in the moment right now, you don’t really think about, but you know
there has never been a time when someone was kind of shooting real people on the street that you had this kind of instant feedback from the people looking at these images that you have right now.
You know, Lartigue was a major photographer in Paris, at the turn of the century, in the early part of the 1900's. And he shot people that he thought were fashionable,
but he was a pretty young guy and he didn’t necessarily at that time work for Vogue or any fashion magazines so, it's hard for us to be able to judge whether or not the people he was shooting
were also considered by fashionable people, to be fashionable at that time. To us, they just look like such a different way of dressing, that they all kind of look fashionable,
but we don’t really have a read on what people at their time thought. Now, you know, because I am lucky enough to be able to shoot with people like Paris Vogue and American GQ that gives me a certain stamp of authority,
that the people I think trust my eye in terms of me shooting what I think is particularly stylish at this moment, but because of the format, we have people who can also put their comments in and what they think in this moment. And I think this historical
perspective will be 50 years from now, people can look back and say "Wow" you know, "We don't even," you know, "We have these jet packs we don’t even touch the ground who thought flip-flops were such an issue back then?"
Or you know, I would have loved to have heard what the real life issues were of clothing, you know, in the 1790's or something like that. You know, "Your bustle is not big enough, your butt's got to look bigger!" [laughing] You know, what the real issues were.
And, I think, that’s something that I just lucked out with, I have started doing this at a time when we can actually capture these points of view and what these issues are at this moment.
So, when I look at this site, I am shooting things that, you know, I am going to put up it right now and make a difference right now, but at sometimes, I also think of, you know, what it's going mean
50 years from now or 100 years from now, because that I think is pretty special. You know, there is also this whole thing, you know, smoking is a kind of a thing, fur is an issue,
flip-flops are an issue and there is also this whole kind of thing right now that androgyny has taken a place. Where it's now still kind of different
and yet it's almost become kind of so common place that you kind of notice it but you don’t. And so, I always think that these images are kind of really interesting
because a lot of people say they cannot figure out if it’s a man, if it’s a woman. They, a lot of times, it's the most difficult comments that I get from people that I end up censoring is when they can't figure it out,
and you can tell it makes some really upset. It really get them frustrated when they can't look at someone and say, "I know what this is," you know, "I know how to classify this person."
You know, this is a young, male model and so many times, because I am not always able to update the comments right away, some people know who he is,
some people don’t...I had a lot of comments, they just naturally assume that he was a she. And made comments... but not mean comments but just comments based on that.
And you know, it will be interesting to see how something like this evolves, you know, in the beginning it was very noticeable and now its becoming less so and how is something like this going to evolve?
And I love these kind of comments and this is something I think historically will be very interesting... where you start to see the acceptance of someone... that by a certain group and how this is going to grow bigger
and bigger and bigger. Where people just, you know, first they are upset by not being able to figure something out and then, you know, do they become more intrigued? do they become more interested? do these people become more celebrated
for this kind of interesting vagueness? There is... you know, style is something that I think a lot of people get very caught up and they think style means, you know, spending a lot of money,
that style has to be a really expensive suit, the style has to be, you know, Prada and Marnie and whatever. And yet, there are certain style cues
that, you know, I start to see on the blog that people just assume doesn’t matter what you are wearing, if they see certain things, they think something. And one of the things I have found is, I think it is always very odd...
is if you are an older man and you have a beard and you are not in a suit, they think you are homeless. [laughing] And this is a perfect example of this guy that I had taken a picture of on Madison Avenue.
And I had seen him walking way down the street and it just... you know, I asked him if I could take his picture and he just... he just took this pose on his own.
And, to me, once I got a full look at him, I could tell he was somebody, he definitely was not homeless. But, you know, he has a very specific look. And because of where I was in the city
and because of the little things, the patches were just too perfect, you know, the cardigan fits too perfectly. The shirt, you know, hits just at the right part on his hip, there was no way this guy was homeless.
And you can't see in this image but further back are the Ralph Lauren Office and my guess was he worked somewhere within Ralph Lauren. And I saw someone else
who was just happening to walk by a couple minutes later and I showed him this picture and I said, "Who is this guy?" And they said, "His name is Doug and he actually buys all of the vintage pieces
and like antique pieces that go into the Ralph Lauren stores all around the world." And so, I didn’t say that on the blog, I put his picture up and all these people said, "Wow, you found this really chic homeless guy." [laughing]
And I didn’t have the heart to tell them that he probably makes more money than all of you put together. And actually my first exhibit, I put that image up, of him, when he is smoking on the street like that.
And a guy from the New York, I think it was the New York Observer. He didn’t ask me before he wrote his review and he did you know kind of like a paragraph on him and how I included this homeless guy
in my show with all of these other people and I am sure he read it. You know, because this is a reasonably well read paper... I am sure someone showed it to him.
And you know, I think its such an interesting thing when you look at something like this, the perception of what is stylish and the perception of what’s not or how people perceive certain people, that even though,
you know, maybe they don’t have a lot of money and maybe they do a particular thing, you know, wear heals or whatever. These little funny elements that make people think, you know, you got more money than you do or you have got less money than you do.
And I think it's something that is always very interesting when you look at this blog what those things turn out to be. Another thing that you know I didn’t really set out to do
when I started the blog, because I just, you know, I felt... I feel very free because it's my blog and I don’t have any overhead, you know, I don’t have to fire any people, that I feel completely comfortable to go out and shoot,
what I want to, when I want to, however I want to. If I am not feeling it that day, and I want to go have, you know, three margaritas for lunch and stumble around for the rest of the afternoon, I can do it.
And it's being open like that sometimes, you know, you stumble into the best situations, and one of the things I hadn't really... you know, I constantly try to... the hardest thing I have to do is try and keep my mind open.
I know if I have a GQ page due within the next couple of days, you know, I am kind of looking for stuff in the GQ page but I have got to keep my mind open to seeing whatever it is.
You know, it could be a guy playing basketball, it could be whatever. I feel my only job is to shoot things... to be keep open enough to myself to shoot whatever I feel inspires me.
One of the things that has always inspired me are, you know, people of great style and a lot of times it seems people, you know, people say, "Are you born with style or is it something that you learn and develop?" And you know, after doing this for a while
if you have seen pictures of me in second grade, you would know that you are not born with style. [laughing] That’s something you can develop. And a lot of times I think the most stylish people are these really elegant,
you know, older people. And one of the things that a lot of people noticed about the site, I don’t really intend on doing, but just happened is... you know, so many fashion magazines just constantly pushing
the idea of, you know, how to look younger and how to maintain your youth and all of this. And I mean the fact is none of us are getting younger, we are all going the opposite direction.
And an image like this, I always get so many comments, you know, it always get such a great reaction because I think people want to figure out, you know, how do you grow old gracefully?
How do you get ready for the next step? How do you do that? Because you know, trying to recapture youth, is just, it's not going to happen. And a lot of times people as they get older,
you know, find a certain confidence in themselves and find a certain way of feeling comfortable with themselves that really comes across in these images. So, a woman like this, you know this was, one of those images that, you know, I don’t usually beg for a photograph,
this was one of the few, that I was begging to take her picture. Because this was in Milan and she spoke hardly any English and I kept telling her... trying to explain to her,
you know pointing to my camera, telling her I wanted to take a picture and she kept saying, "Oh.. no, mi brutta." You know, that she didn’t feel beautiful. And I had to keep trying to explain to her,
no, I think you are very pretty, very pretty, without making her think I was hitting on her, which is a very fine line. But you know, when you have the images like this, that you can capture... you know, it's so rewarding
when people look at this and they say, Oh... you know, people look at them and they say, they reminds them of someone that they related to or it something that they want to grow into.
You know, a guy like this in London that's just such a character, you know, he has gotten to a certain point where... he just wants to do his thing and yet, he has lived a certain life,
and he is, you know, you really see these kind of influences, you know? That he is just going to do his thing. And something like that I find a million times more inspiring than you know 15-year-old wearing another graphic T-shirt.
You know, if there is one thing I think that separated my blog from a lot of other blogs from street style blogs is that's usually a bunch of 20-year-olds shooting other 20-year-olds
because that’s really their limit of experience. Where you know, I am a little bit older, you know, I've been around a little bit more and I am a little bit more open to a lot of different things.
That's something I think has been a really great addition to the site, when people say, you know, "This is just fashion," you know, "How can you spend your time doing this?" You know, I look at images like this and think,
you know, when was the last time that people of a certain age were really celebrated for who they are? their natural beauty? their experience? You know, when you look at old Esquire magazines when they were still doing the illustrations,
you know, there was always these really guys, who were accomplished and elegant and a little bit older. And I think we've really lost that.
So, you know, I look at something like this and think, you know, this is, I think, an important social thing. And when you have young people who are now looking at people who are older and saying, you know, "That person inspires me,"
to me, I think I am very proud of that. You know I think it's really something, it’s a little bit different and it's not even just kind of like a cliched or I am trying to be nice or whatever. I mean these people,
you know, like this guy, I totally ripped off his total outfit. [laughing] You know, I love the converse, I have a sweater like that, I have a scarf like that, I have a coat like that, I mean, I used the specific picture for an outfit when I went to Stockholm
in December. And I looked at that picture. You know, the thing is, I realized I have all of those pieces I just have never put it together that way. And so, I love the idea that, you know, this old Japanese guy
you know, is inspiring me to look at my own wardrobe in a different way. You know, or a guy like this, this is a guy that was in the showroom in Milan and I mean he always looks like this... so chic.
And I ended up getting a gray suit from Ralph Lauren... I showed them this picture and I said, "I want to look like that but I don't want to wait that long, I want to look like it right now." [laughing]
You know, one of the other things with the site is not only, you know, you are capturing things that are happening right now but I think, you know, hopefully if I get to do this rest of my life, even with the short amount of time I have been able to do it,
you know, there are certain subjects that I found that, you know, kind of evolve over certain amount of time. This is a girl named Kelly who had just moved to New York,
I think she had only been in New York for a very short amount of time, may be a month or something like that and this is what she looked like. And I ended up shooting her later
and I didn’t remember I had shot her this time because she looked so incredibly different. This is what she looked like at first time I shot her and then this is what she looked like like a year later...
And she had forgotten I had shot her until she went back, had a look and found that picture and pulled it over and then she remembered, and then we kind of put the two things together.
But you know, because you know, some of the people I do shoot are young and have this great kind of style, I think it will be really interesting to watch, you know, how these certain people evolve overtime.
You know, how their life evolves, you know, she is still a young girl, she is probably in her early 20's, you know, who is really finding her style, how was is it going to evolve? How well her style change as,
you know, either she gets married, she has kids. It's hard to keep dressing, and putting the same amount of attention into your kind of personal brand that you had in the beginning.
So, even though, you know, that’s a very real life situation, you know, when you are not that busy you can really think about how to put together a great outfit like this and how to create that.
It's much tougher when you have got a kid and this thing and that appointment and all this other stuff to maintain that. And that's, you know, only the few... the short amount of time I have been doing this,
there is probably... you know, 15 or 16 people I would love to shoot over the next 15 to 20 years to really see how that evolves and how these certain people evolve.
And kind of, keep that kind of timeline, that you just don’t... Again, I can't really think of many people historically that have shot something like that, that is not only a character study of a particular person but also a style study. That's good, I should trademark that...
You know, and here is like someone who has become like a star on my site, this woman is Giovanna. She is a young Italian stylist and you know, I think
she will probably end up becoming one of the major style icons of modern Italy. You know, she always just looks like one million bucks. She always looks so cool.
And you know, that’s one of those things that when I look at this blog... you know, she is kind of become a star, people know who she is, a lot of people have started become... to know who she is.
And so, I always ask myself, you know, "How many times can I shoot Giovanna?" But at the same time I always.... when I am at the shows and I know she was going to be there, I always wonder, you know, "What’s Giovanna going to wear today?"
You know, "What's Anna Dello Russo going to wear today?" "What’s Emmanuel Alt going to wear today?" So, you know, I have to be... still remain true to myself and if I am still interested in it,
I still give myself the reason to shoot something like that. Because I do think it's very interesting to capture this moment in time because, you know, when I am gone and when she is gone this would still be a very kind of interesting moment
in terms of, you know, what she was wearing. You know, she has access to a lot, they don’t give her free clothes but people like to be seen in her clothes. So, she has access to a lot of things.
One of the other important issues is, you know, what translates from what you see in the runway to what people, like her, who are really, you know, kind of the influenceres,
what they do choose to wear. And I think that’s another thing, that will be interesting as the site evolves...is what’s the difference between what you see on the runway and what people are really going to wear. And even her, you know, she is certainly not a real person,
she is kind of iconic in her look. But, you know, that still... that kind of relationship between what’s the difference between what’s runway and what’s reality and what is the dream of, you know, what you've seen in a runway and how do you really make it into your real everyday life.
And hopefully, you know she will be someone that you can watch over the next couple of years.
So, that is my presentation and you know, kind of an idea of some of the ways that I think about my own blog.
waddup g.
I enjoyed this art babble with Scott Schuman. This presentation is one of the best style/fashion exhibit I have ever experienced at the IMA. It was true to form of what is taught currently in design schools. I attend Parsons the New School for Design and this is lecture I would attend at school. The discussion brings a precise fashion eye to a Midwestern city. Keep up the good work!!!
Sorry for the confusion. This talk already took place.
Where and when is this talk taking place?
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