Fashioning Fiction in Photography Since 1990

Fashioning Fiction in Photography since 1990 is a collection of photographs curated by Susan Kismaric and Eva Respini, presenting photographers using narrative structures as a technique for fashion photography. This book showcases fine artists whose work has also been featured commercially, such as Philip Lorca DiCorcia and Tina Barney. Kismaric and Respini also provide the reader with a thorough introduction to the history of fashion photography and the context through which it has become such a prevalent art form today. The introductory essay also describes how the narrative world of cinema and the snapshot have influenced fashion photography over the last 20 years, giving artists an opportunity to change cultural attitudes. Kismaric and Respini also define the forces that have influenced the evolution of fashion photography. No longer is the fashion photographer's job simply to showcase the clothing through idealized members of an upper social class. Due to social change brought about by war, advances in technology, and the challenges of anti-establishment thinking, the world of fashion photography has become an important segment of mass culture. The group of photographers Kismaric and Respini chose to feature provides an overview of artists' work that is making an impact in the world of fashion photography but who also may not be art-world household names, such as Crewdson and Wall.

What a great book. I was a little hesitant over how I would receive and enjoy this book at first, but after having leafed through its pages several times now I realize that this is exactly what is cool about narrative art today. This book does not contain the fine artists Crewdson, Garfield, Wall, or the young Yale ladies, instead it surveys in many ways the influence these artists, and the movements they are following, are having on fashion photography. And vice versa. What I have to say is that many of the photographers I did not know of before opening this book are just as good as anyone out their. Philip Lorca diCorcia and Nan Goldin are well known artists in their own right and you will see them in this book. DiCorcia's work is interesting in that this is not what I would expect to see in a gallery judging from his earlier work. But it is pretty interesting and a new avenue for the guy. The better showings by artists here are those I had never heard of. There is some twisted stuff here. Not violent, but subversive 1950's post modern irony. Hey, this is a great book. You will find yourself pulled back again and again. And the best thing is that it is easy to enjoy. Much more so than many other recent surveys that tackle the fine arts.