One thing I like about a new season is all the new ad campaigns.  Maybe I’m being over-critical but I’m a bit disappointed by the Spring/Summer 2010 ad campaigns that I’ve seen in the latest issues of various fashion magazines.  When I see a fashion ad, I want to see the designer’s vision, what the brand is all about, the colour palette for the season, the products and much much more.  At least show me some of those elements – what I hate most is seeing yet another lady with a bag! I love ads that are funky, fun and creative.  Here are some of them from the upcoming season…

Salvatore Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2010 with Claudia Schiffer

GF Ferre Spring/Summer 2010

Balenciaga Spring/Sumer 2010 with Iselin Steiro and Mirte Maas by Steven Meisel

Bvlgari Spring/Summer 2010 with Julianne Moore by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

Valentino Spring/Summer 2010 with Dree Hemingway by Mert & Marcus

Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2010 with Nicholas Holt and Carolyn Murph

Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2010 with Jamie Bochert by Juergen Teller

Hermes Spring/Summer 2010 with Karlie Kloss

Image Source: Fashionising.com

On Saturday evening, I went to the open discussion at the School of Visual Arts where Cathy Horyn tried to pick the brains of photographer, Juergen Teller.  Many of you may know him as the man who convinced Posh Spice to get into a shopping bag for a Marc Jacobs ad campaign; others know him as the daring photographer who is witty and to the point with his portraits.

Teller talked a little about his past and how he started in photography, his initial work with doing record covers and press shoots for bands before moving into fashion photography, his work with i-D and The Face, and collaborating with people like Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood.  He gave some insight as to how he works and his preference to work as a small operation.  He prefers to work alone with his subjects.  When Cathy moved on to talk about the technology involved in his photography, it was interesting to hear that Teller is quite “anti-digital”.  Blaming his lack of computer knowledge and being stuck in his old ways, he explains that the digital, technological, fast ways that we are so used to now takes away from the time and magic involved in photography.

The discussion went on with Teller touching on working with different characters, designers and campaigns.  There is a lot of trust involved in working with people.  Coming up with successful campaigns takes a lot of brainstorming and planning.  When he knows what he wants, he executes it.  And then of course, there are times when the pieces just fall into place.  “When I’m shooting, sometimes things just happen”, he confidently said.  He gave the example of the Marc Jacobs’ Fall 2009 ad below.  Yes, you saw it right, pardon the model while she jumps out of the window…for a bag.

It was nice to see that Teller has a sense of humour about work and life.  When asked why he liked to take pictures, he explained that taking pictures gives him an excuse for adventures and to really look at things.  His opinions on fashion is that it has a strong influence on culture and is used to make a comment on it.  It shouldn’t be taken too seriously…fashion should be enjoyable.  His pictures say exactly that.

Image Source: Elle.com, MarcJacobs.com