The whole influence of art photography has been huge in the last couple of years," says Laird, citing Larry Sultan's images of the new Kate Spade campaign as a strong example. Sultan brings "more of a conceptual than product vision" to his images, Laird says. "A fashion eye looks strictly at the product. As more and A.Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Ursa Major ALS-1 art photographers start to get involved in campaigns, a myriad of different styles emerge," he continues. "You start to get more insight into the person or situation or what you may not be seeing. It may be quite dark as in Nan Goldin's work." Laird says the Kate Spade campaign is the best example of taking art photography and "commercializing it without exploiting it. They truly let Larry be Larry, bringing his style into it but at same time capturing the essence of Kate Spade as a brand. They did a really good job."
He adds, "The way people are using digital photography and manipulating photography I think is a big influence." In the ads Mert and Marcus produced for Louis Vuitton, Laird says "basically the entire skin tone and setting is all manipulated to be highly stylized. We went through a time of naturalism. Now I see a A.Lange & Sohne Langematic Tourbillon ALS-49 to this kind of highly stylized imagery."
Another example is Prada's fall campaign shot by Steven Meisel. "People are all sitting in chairs and the image looks like it's painted or like very early airbrushing and retouching techniques were used, but in a much more artistic and modern way. After so many years of straight lifestyle and naturalism, I think we'll continue to see the computer used as more of a creative tool to achieve new effects."
Laird considers Mikael Janssen the "most underrated" photographer. "He lives A.Lange & Sohne Power Reserve ALS-44 Sweden and is such a low-profile guy. But when you look at the work he did for the new Calvin Klein jeans campaign and the Gap ads he's produced for us, the images are very much on the pop-cultural landscape and part of what you see every day."
SUZANNE DONALDSON
Photo Editor
Glamour
"I really believe it's not about new photographers right now. Instead of the A.Lange & Sohne Replica Watches - A.Lange & Sohne Ursa Major ALS of new, young photographers that emerged in the Nineties-people like Vincent Peters, Sølve Sundsbø, Carter Smith, Mario Sorrenti, Nathaniel Goldberg-it's more about the established ones representing things in a sharper, clearer way," says Donaldson.
"People are relying on the older boys to hold the fort for everybody. David Sims and Michael Thompson are doing incredibly strong work. But again, these are all people who've been shooting [for years]."
She notes, "Because of the economy, everyone's had to play it so safe that young A.Lange & Sohne Richard Lange Mechanical Watch ALS-12 haven't been able to make an impact. If they do, I don't think it's paid attention to. If [their work] is too far out, it's not accepted."