Phillip Wong Photography

Fashion/Editorial

Swimwear: On Location

Shooting swimwear seems easy.
A model. A swimsuit. Natural make-up and hair. Location.
But shooting on location makes everything more difficult. The sun. The changing time of day. The volatile weather. And shooting on a beach removes the production from access to anything.
For commercial photography, in a controlled amount of space, the apparel has to look good, but editorial image-making is more dynamic, balancing the awesome beauty of our world, with the beauty of the model and the created beauty of what she is wearing.

This was shot on the Quai d’Orleans across from the Cathdrale Notre-Dame de Paris and a grey, foggy day for an editorial shoot. It epitomizes what I look for in fashion editorial photography: mood, mystery, story.

Regardless of how provocative, sexy and glamorous a shot should be, there should always be an eternal undercurrent of classicism.

We searched and found, many locations on Kauai, Hawaii, but the undercutting of the island by the pounding surf, created these dramatic overhangs that balanced the landscape with the simplicity of the swimwear, and the color of her neckwear. 

The model was perfect. Her projection echoed the natural strength of her background.

While straightforward fashion images should show the cut, the silhouette, the colors and the quality of whatever the model is wearing, it does not (nor should it be) boring.

I always consider that if I don’t care about the model, the image, or what she is wearing, why should anyone else care? The image shows the world, from the eyes of the photographer. Even if it is commercial, there is still an element of art, that lurks.

My visions have been shaped by film. But all of us, have been shaped by the media that comes into our lives and influences us.

We had been shooting at beaches all day in Southern New Jersey and clouds were forming as we came into a town that the make-up artist knew had a stream with a bridge. In the middle of town, as the rain began to pour down, I sent this model onto the rocks in the monsoon. She instantly understood the drama behind what we were doing, and from our struggles with pushing aside the rain pouring around us, we got this image.

The context of body, fashion, nudity is very different in Europe than America. There is a maturity and sophistication in Europe that is resisted in America, while being denied.   

I shot for Italian, French, German and British publications that all encouraged the freedom of my vision to create images that would involve their audiences. In a world in which there are 20+ languages on a single continent, their ability to communicate non-verbally, influencing emotion and stimulating thought, drives for a subtlety and sophistication which is denied in America. What is considered daring and provocative in America, is considered interesting, in the parts of society that our commercial world, wishes to reach.

Contrast draws attention. But differences hold attention.

The ability to get an audience’s attention. And then hold it. Is critical in an often chaotic world.

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial/Fashion

Donna & Bambini: French Morocco and Children

         Going to Marrakesh, Morocco was interesting, for the country, the differences and the limitations. I went with Donna&Bambini, an Italian publication part of a major Italian publishing house at the same level as Conde Nast. We went as an Italian crew of stylists, editors and myself, to a French speaking country.

           I had to learn the culture on the fly, and work on the sharp lighting of a place that was too hot to shoot during much of the day, and only small periods of time as the souk began opening (afternoon through evening) or intricate Moslem tilework indoors during the day.  Working with the children of Morocco and French-Morocco, was gratifying, in dealing with their excitement, enthusiasm, their doubts, and my limited French. 

           Shooting editorial material on location is always a balance of content with location and safety.  Getting the boy in a photo with a snake trainer and a cobra without endangering the boy in another language . . .  was interesting, but only one of our adventures. 

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial

Mixer Magazine – Tortured Souls – Five Doors – Personals

         MixMag changed their name to Mixer Magazine while I was shooting fashion and profile images for their DJ-focused and music event oriented publication.  I wanted to show the differences

        Tortured Souls was one of a number of fashion editorials I did for them based on whimsical stories we thought would be different in approach to mainstream fashion.

          It was released in early Spring, but had to be produced immediately after New Year, and I shot it on New York streets on a cold, windy, wet night. I usually didn’t abuse models like this but was grateful for their participation and support. 

          The clothes were all showy, nightlife, pulled together because the publication had so little production time or resources, but I wanted to create the feeling of illusion and excitement of the night world. 

          But Mixer had a whimsical, ironic approach to fashion and Five Doors and Personals mocked parts of society that it’s readers had knowledge and relationship of.

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial

A Magazine

           “A” Magazine was a publication aimed at a younger Asian audience. I was asked to do this shoot with a group of Asian models and actors who were cast by the editors of the publication.

          It was interesting for me, because while I have an extensive knowledge and understanding of race, color, diversity identities, it has always been from an “outsider’s” perspective. This project gave me another view.

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial

Pellice Moda – Rail Yard

      In working with luxury goods, and in luxury environments, I’ve always been aware of contrasts between the most valuable of items, the people who wear them, the people who create them, and what creates the idea of “luxury.”

           Contrasting the luxury of furs and the Old World that embraced that idea of luxury, with the age and romanticism of that world – I convinced my editors at Pellice Moda, that the editorial story would have beauty, interest and appeal. They introduced me to Nadya Khamnipour, a stylist who’s work I loved – lush, whimsical, contrary, resisting cliche,  her combinations of accessories with textured clothing created a balance with my need to focus on the evocation of emotion, or a stark, textural landscape.

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial

Italian Vogue – Intense Silhouette

          I used to describe the difference between working for European publications with America publications like this: In Europe, as a photographer, an artist, a creative, someone outside, with a wide mix of influences and resources, I could propose something, and while editors might not understand completely, they trusted in that background and allowed me to produce the piece.

         In America, I described publications as having a “Donald Trump mentality.” The people in offices, cloistered and separated from the trends and developments and people on the ground, dictated that “this was the way it was.” This was the way it was going to be. And because I was simply hired with a camera – I would do what I was told. (I was defining this “corporate” way of looking at the world, in the 1990s). 

       Italian Vogue editors didn’t always understand what I was trying to describe (a cross between imperfect Italian and overly complex English), but they often let me go ahead. They had products or trends or parameters which they wanted to cover (they had writers already working on an article), but they were looking for “creative,” “different,” “interesting,” visual images.  (Not surprisingly, those were some of the first words I learned in Italian.)

         I had been looking at textile shops and in New York, found some stretchy tubular material (I later found was used for undershirts), and bought a few rolls of it. In Milano, I tried wrapping it, and liked the form-fitting quality of the material – but didn’t see what I could do with it.

         Alberto Nodolini, and Luca Stoppini, handed me off to Vogue Pelle to shoot some handbags for a story. I saw the stark composition and silhouette of the bags, and wanted to contrast it with the forms, shapes and curves of the human form.

         The difficulty of accessories has always been the proportional difference between any accessory and the human body. When other items are added to the mix – they can create distractions.

          They let me run with this:

Phillip Wong Photography

Fashion/Editorial

Blitz Magazine – Brands

          While I have worked for established publications and designers, I have also sought to work with smaller, newer, developing and potentially influential magazines and designers.

          In London, The Face, ID, and Blitz came from the street to make influential statements in graphic design, photography and styling. The editors and graphic designers at the emerging publications shaped the publishing of France, Italy, Britain and New York as their work was recognized.

         Neville Brody, at The Face, commented on my choice of framing and composition, as editors from all three publications called when I went back to Milan, and they wanted content from the Continent.

              Branded was conceived by Blitz in London, but as all these publications were constantly on a tight schedule, they gave me a day to plan, shoot and send the material back to London.

           I was given a handful of branded items, booked friends who were available that night, shot everything on black and white Polaroid film, turned everything around in hours and had it going back to London by morning.  It reminded me of spot news photography in speed and production.

        The graphics on the vertical page sides echoed the the extreme sharpness of lighting and starkness of the black and white but was done in London.

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial Photography

Rust Belt

          Rust Belt was one of two editorial fashion stories shot at the same time at the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge.    

          Back in the early 2000s, Peter Jackson produced three films in the Hobbit tale at the same time – utilizing the ability to produce the stories in sequence, while maximizing the budget of cast, crew and location. Since then, multiple television films have been shot the same way.

           That had always been my goal, to produce editorial that would utilize story to thread elements together.

           It takes greater coordination and communication to do this, but the output can be significantly greater.