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A D V E N T U R E S A N D PHOTOGRAPHY NOW M A R Y A M 27 EISLER OBSESSION

Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 1983 Photograph by Dafydd Jones The Last Hurrah Eighties Photographs by Dafydd Jones

Print Room Photographers’ Gallery 3 August - 7 September

Print Sales Gallery The Photographers’ Gallery 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW T: +44 (0207) 087 9320 thephotographersgallery.org.uk/ @tpgprintsales CAPTURED BY DAFYDD JONES i SPY [email protected]

James and Claire Hyman

Tim Attias Tamara Beckwith Martin Parr

Dylan Jones Michael Hoppen

Dougie Wallace Chloe Dewe Matthews James Danziger

Tim Jeffries

Tom Hunter Bruce Gilden

Terry O’Neill

Photo London 2018 Somerset House Francis Hodgson Jillian Edelstein Gabriel Speechly

6 | F22 COVER IMAGE | ISSUE 27 CONTENTS | 27 Cover Story

Maryam Eisler After Fragonard 2017

From the artist’s on-going series in search of the ‘femine sublime’

JOHN FRENCH the Fifties mentor of so many famous 12 snappers - now all but forgotten

NADAV KANDER Journeys with a camera to record the 22 philosophy and moods of moving water SERPENTINE PARTY famously revived and 06 I-SPY 08 SNAPSHOTS 16 COVER FEATURE 14 glitzed up by the collaboration with Vanity Fair

EDITOR CORRESPONDENTS PEOPLE | PLACES | PROJECTS Mike Von Joel Kate Enters [email protected] Lou Proud f22 Magazine is available at selected galleries, Holly Howe libraries, art schools, museums and other art venues across the UK. PUBLISHERS SPECIAL Karl Skogland CORRESPONDENTS TOTALLY FREE, f22 is not a dull We value your [email protected] review magazine - it is about comments. Lyle Owerko PEOPLE worth serious NEW YORK Jeremy Levison consideration; PLACES that Tell us: [email protected] Anne Chabrol EDITORIAL PUBLISHED BY are hot and happening; and [email protected] PARIS ASSISTANT State Media Ltd. PROJECTS that will interest ADMINISTRATION Silvia Maietta LONDON David Tidball photographers. Combined with [email protected] [email protected] STATE Magazine, f22 reports the To apply to stock f22 Julie Milne BERLIN email: Julie Milne: [email protected] Elizabeth EDITOR AT LARGE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE THOSE fusion of art + photography like Michael Barnett OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT no other with a Crompton NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF THE [email protected] MELBOURNE [email protected] PUBLISHERS OR PARENT COMPANY truly international perspective.

F22 CONTENTS| 7 SNAPSHOTS O’Neill Drama POPULAR SOCIETY and candid Terry O’Neill press photographer, shortly after (79) a woke NHS cataract up one operation.morning withHis consultant hazy vision,

sug­­- gestditioned that age-related can lead to macular a loss degeneration (AMD) a con

of central vision. Around 600,000 people in the UK have some degree of sight loss as a result of it and AMD typically- strikes people in their 50s or 60s. O’Neill commented: ‘Los ing my sight was my worst now be ­completely blind. To- nightmare. My eyes have beenwould myend livelihoodup blind. It forwas over like - 50 years and I was terrified I day, regular injections block an old scratched lens. A cou- the action of vascular en Mario Testino accused of inappropriate and overtly sexual behaviour looking through the middle of dothelial growth (responsible for abnormal vessels under NOT SO SUPER MARIO ple of weeks later my eyesight the macula) which stabilises Mario Testino Lavely & Singer had deteriorated further, so by an individual’s vision­ in 90%- - complainants ‘cannot be considered reliable thensee the I was hands struggling on my to readwatch a of cases. ‘It’s not a lot of fun,’ FORMER SOCIETY darling, , yers, , reportedly said that the book or paper and couldn’t O’Neill says. ‘But the alterna fashionmale models photographer and former and assistants once Royal had favourclaims - tive – going blind – is much ite,reported began in The 2017 New mired York Times in scandal. Thirteen- sources’. Adding that several former employees very well.’ There are two kinds worse.’ He still works: ‘I still - it had spoken to were ‘shocked by the allega of AMD; dry and wet. O’Neill do the odd charity job, my Ryan Locke of alleged grop tions’ and ‘could not confirm any of the claims’. has wet AMD, the cause of AMD hasn’t impacted on that, ing, masturbation and attempts to seduce em more devastating visual loss if although I’ve pretty much ployees. One, , a model, appeared notmore treated. than likely Had thathe developed he would now photographedwww.iconicimages.net everyone to call Testino a ‘sexual predator’. ‘[He] crawls this condition 20 years ago, its I want to photograph.’ on the bed, climbs on top of me and says, “I’m the girl, you’re Vogue the boy”,’Vanity Locke Fair told and theGQ NYT. Testino Gucciwas thenBurberry highly Versacepopular Michaelwith fashion Kors Rare NASA prints Chanelmagazines and (e.g.Dolce & Gabbana, ) and sultrylabels (studies, of Princess, Diana, , THE NASA print collection Royal Family ). Made famous by- featured numerous newswor- Prince William and official to Kate Middleton photos,. He Testino, was awarded 63, took an OBEthe of in ficial photo for ’s engagement thy ‘firsts’, including the first walk on the moon, the first in- 2014. Condé Nast Vogue space11 years walk of andmanned the firstmissions man to orbit the Earth. Cataloguing in 1961. The Apollo 11 mis- Naturally, , the publisher of , the Mercury Gemini and programme that launched took the moral high ground and responded- fromApollo 1961 to 1972, including immediately saying it would no longerA dvanceemploy Bruce Weber accusations echoed across the net , withsion mission was the commander first on to landNeil PublicationsTestino ‘for the Inc foreseeable future’. This the is iron im- missions, highlights Armstrongon the moon and on 20pilots July 1969Buzz ic,mensely because popular Condé Reddit Nast is owned by Bruce Weber - also included photographs Aldrin and Michael Collins. ., who also publish The NYT also reported another photographer, showingand the dark lift-off, side of astronauts the moon. online forumNSFW (‘a place- , faced similar claims of inappro floating in space, Earthrise,- to post your own kinky pictures’).Gone Reddit’s Wild; priate behaviour by 15 male models. Weber Armstrong became the first mostHot Wife) viewed section is called (its nu- responded saying: ‘I’m completely shocked and tPre-digital,o news outlets the actualbut when photo de- person to walk on the moon, merous sub-sections have titles like - saddened by the outrageous claims being made graphicmand ceased prints these were were supplied usu- saying: ‘That’s one small step which consists of thousands (literal against me, which I absolutely deny.’ At the time ally destroyed. Created by an foron [a]the man; lunar one surface giant leap while for ly) of women of all ages uploading nude ‘self- of writing neither Testino or Weber have been employee of a national picture mankind.’Collins remained Aldrin in also orbit. walked The ies’ which the word ‘intimate’ does not even arrested over the historicSource: allegations The New York or beenTimes - begin to describe. Meanwhile, Testino’s law found guilty in a court of law. cured in 1972 after a total of Ex-Goldsmith’s student murder compound used by the YPG (Kurdish agency,binders thisand print sold archivein April was for last12 astr­ Apolloonauts moon had landingwalked the oc People’s Protection Units). Islamic arranged by theme in nine lunar surface. BRITISH filmmaker, Mehmet Aksoy terrorists drove into the base, in the Notes: Apollo was a NASA Source: Swann Auction (32) a former Goldsmiths student, Semra district of Raqqa, in three $52,500 (estimate $12,000). travelled to Kurdistan via Germany vehicles and opened fire, killing Aksoy last year to join the Kurds as a press before being shot themselves. Aksoy, officer. He died along with a female who was born in Turkey, had lived in journalist – shot six times by militants Luton, Bedfordshire. www.state-media.com who had tricked their way into a Source: Daily Mail for back-issues | by post option | & more

8 | F22 NEWS LIKE A LEICA? canon retire last film camera YOURS FOR £2.1 MILLION CANON HAS deleted the single EOS-1V, its last Kwannon. featuredThe lens anwas engraving a Nikkor depicting lensof an reflex 82-year history. The the thousand-armed film camera, marking the end 5cm f/3.5 Kwanon Nipponand the rangefinderKogaku. The optics Japanese and first Canon film camera, the focusing mount were made by , was producedKwannon ,in the prototype form in 1934. They company will continue to named it after Kasyapa, repair the EOS-1V until 2025. Buddhistafter Mahakasyapa goddess of mercy. The Canon’sElectro currentOptical Systemdigital camera camera’s lens, called line-up still carries the EOS , also took ( , the first its name from Buddhism. Sales electronic connectionLeica between ofas itsthe first Hansa commercial Canon, began 35mm body and lens) name, and has Leica 0-series No. 122 focal-plane-shutter unit, known forsales over of its30 a years. hugely popular recently M7. revealed it was also stopping AN EXTREMELY rare ­ Leica in 1936. The top of the body one of only three Nikon still offers a film camera. German Westlicht Photographica camera Auctionmade in 1923 and thought to be left in original condition sold at the in Vienna. With an estimate (start) price of £350,000 it was hammered at £2.1 million – making it the most valuable camera in the Ernstworld. Leitz After a bidding war it went to a private collector from Asia. The German Leica is a Leicastill high-end 0-series brand with today. In 1923, produced 25 test cameras, and this is one of only three known original condition the production number 122. The previous recordSource: was Westlichtheld by AP a Leica 0-series, number 116, auctioned in 2012 for £1.9 million.

35mm focal-plane-shutter Hansa Canon, 1936.

Rob10th Byrnelargest city in the United SanStates. Francisco Film preservationist Silent Film Festival (president of the - ble, instead) notes: what ‘This you issee not is a survey of smouldering rub

city bustling with life, clearing up, rebuilding the streetcar tracks, and getting on with puttingby pioneers, the city the back Miles to ­getherBroth.’- ersThe nitrate film reel was shot

. They recorded almost 7,000 feet, some two hours of footage, and practically none has survived. This footage corresponds­­ to their most NOW THAT WAS A PRODUCT TEST Miles Brothers Rare 1906 Disaster Film William Etherton ARCHIVE REELS FOUND IN FLEA MARKET HULL SCHOOLBOY, (10) lost his action camera in Thornwick Bay, East Yorkshire, when filming off rocks. Taken by the sea, it apparently drifted Rolandfor two monthsSpreer before washing up on the tinyHolger island A RARE 1906 film, shot two up the reel with nine minutes A Trip Down of Süderoog some 350 miles away. IslandFacebook resident. The weeks after San Francisco’s of footage capturing the deva­ Market Street - , 67, found it and his son historicthe Alemany April earthquake, was stated city. The earthquake ­famous work, posted its memory card content on Jasonpurchased Wright by , a of filmmaker the Silver at lasted for less than a minute, , a 13-minute si Etherton family spotted it and travelled to Germany to Shadows Gallery Flea, snapped Market. but the fires burned for three lent film shot from a cableSource: car AP be reunited with the waterproofed unit Source:– which AP /still NDR days, roaring across 430 days bef­ ore the earthquake. works. Endorsements beckon? blocks in what was then the F22 NEWS | 9 #SheLEFT HAND PAGE SIZE PAGE TRIM = 240mm x 300mm BLEED + 5mm = 250mm x 310mm INT. TEXT AREA = 220mm x 286mm (i.e. text should no be closer to 18-30the trimSeptembe, edge than 7mm)2018 OFFSET FOR PUR BINDING = + 6mm AT SPINE

ARTWORK Mode: High Quality Print PDF same size artworkarya (.tif files acceptable) isle ALL full page ads are portrait format unless by prior agreement.

Colourspace: CMYK ONLY Resolution: minimum 300dpi 5mm bleed on full page ads. Sizes/measurements MUST BE kept. Output = FOGRA39 HAvanA BeAuTy & DerELiCtioN MAryam EisLeR

18-30 September, 2018

183–185 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UW Opening times: Tuesday–Saturday 11–6

0203 441 5152 | [email protected] | www.project-space.london A not-for-profi t platform supporting the fusion of art, photography and culture RAY BANNED Ray Bellisario - SO LONG Britain’s first paparazzo: , dead at 81. FamousPrince for Philip icon ic snaps of the Royal Family throughout the ’50s, ’60s and 1970s, - waged a particular vendetta against the intrepid Yorkshireman (his par ents were Italian immigrants who ran- an ice-creamthe Queen shop). It began in 1954, when the 18-year-old novice took a pic ture of sheltering under an- umbrella that was published by several- news­papers. He said later concentrat ing on the Royals ‘was a business deci sion, nothing more, nothing less’. Some images became trulyDuke historic of Windsor– such as, the Queen meeting with her supposedly WINNER 2018 Sony/ZEISS Award Nick Hannes (Belgium) estranged uncle, the for Garden of Delight - the changing face of Dubai who had come to London in 1965 for The 10 Open category winners: eye surgery. He gave up photographing Andreas Pohl the royals in the mid 1970s for more- Panos Skordas serious work, in conflict zones like Architecture:Klaus Lenzen Northern Ireland, Nigeria and the West Culture: Veselin Atanasov ern Sahara. Latterly, Bellisario came to Enhanced:Fajar Kristianto resent the paparazzi label. In 2013, the Landscape &Nick Nature: Dolding artist put up his entire 23,000-strong Motion: Richard Frishman catalogue and its copyright forSource: auction AP Portraiture: Manuel Armenis in aid of charity. Still Life:Mikkel Beiter Street Photography:Justuna Zduńczyk Travel: Wildlife:

WINNER Street Photography: Manuel Armenis (Germany) Sony World Photography Awards

THE 11TH edition saw a record breaking 320,000 sub-­ missions by photographers from more than 200 count­ ries and territories. The winners of the Open Compe DDD DIES tition and ­National Awards were selected from images David coming from Australia, Argentina,Zelda Cambodia, Cheatle China, Douglas Duncan Kenya, Saudi Arabia and beyond. ‘Each winner had to be THE AMERICAN photojournalist ­ an exceptional photograph,’ said , Chair has died in France at- the age of 102. Producing over 20 books, of Judges, Open, Youth & National Awards. many articles and hundreds of thou BJP INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD sands of images, Duncan was one of the Sara Galbiati, Peter Eriksen world’s greatest photojournalists with a and Tobias Markussen International prolific career that spanned more than PhotographyCOPENHAGEN-based Award collective The Merge, Bakelite60 years. BornUnivex in 1916, Duncan took his are the winners of the Candida Höfer Recognised first steps in 1934 when he was given a 2018, with their series camera by his sister. a visualFatamorgana exploration School of the of possibility Photography that we are ‘living Outstanding Contribution to Photography USHe Marine was recognised Corps as a professional inside a simulation’. The three artists met while attending Candida Höfer photographer when he enlisted in the the in Denmark, The 2018 Life in Miami in 1943 and where they now share a studio. The collective has developed ­recipient was . The German artist (b. Ebers­ became a combat cameraman. In 1946- he joined magazine. AsidePablo from Picasso war. a conceptual and subjective propositionBritish which Journal considers of walde, 1944) is one of the world’s most recognisableMary photo Ellen­ issuesPhotography founded on theories and first-person accounts, rather photography, Duncan is known for icon than actual fact. Now in its 14th year, grMarkaphers, Eve – typicallyArnold, powerfulBruce Davidson static images, Elliott of vast,Erwitt empty and ic portraits of his friend ’s award has been instrumental in launchingSource: BJP interiors. PreviousMartin recipients Parr. of the title include HarryIn 1996, Ransom Duncan Center donated. his archive, the careers of some of the most influential and respected Source: Sony World Photography Awards stored in more than 400 boxes,Source: to BBC the photographers today. most recently,

F22 NEWS | 11 John French flanked by many of the top models from the previous three decades including Barbara Goalen, Jenny Hocking, Tania Mallett, Celia Hammond and Pattie Boyd Terence Donovan 22 October 1964 © Terence Donovan Archive THE FRENCH CONNECTION Often overlooked in surveys of fashion photography from the 1950s and ’60s in favor of his more notorious assistants … he rejected Tungsten lighting … discovered Jean Shrimpton … and got in bed with the booming broadsheets. Who was John French?

TEXT LOU PROUD IMAGES JOHN FRENCH | TERENCE DONOVAN PROFILE

TIGHTLY, PRISTINELY and ­elegantly French was not concerned about presented and notably fastidious, de- ­pressing the shutter himself but about John French Jean Shrimpton 1963 © V&A, London scribed by Brigid Keenan as ‘a tall, the meticulous staging of his fashion thin, elegant man in a grey suit who epiphanies. An integral part of French’s looked exactly like a Crane’, John canopy was the lighting – he worked ­Leonard French (1907-1966), was closely with the newspapers, notably the - Daily Express, so it was essential that the pher of the optimistic 1950s. With his image would reproduce ­perfectly in the perhaps the last influential photogra cheap, thin, broadsheet papers. ­Bailey, methods, he paved the way for the next possibly the only photogr­ apher still generationimmaculate ofstyle industry and specific talents: working David alive who was lucky enough to be one Bailey, T­ erence Donovan and Brian of the names that came out of French’s Duffy – the likes of who became the ‘ce- studio (in hindsight the prep school lebrities’ of their trade a decade lat­ er, for would-be famous photographers) creating the London scene as much as notes: ‘He had a good understanding photographing it. of the technique that worked perfect- The legacy of French is not a ly with newsprint.’ This was down to ­predictable one. In his era, portrait/ Born in Edmonton, London, French, fashion photography was a job that a natural creative who trained and light to its greatest advantage, carefully you worked hard at, it wasn’t consid- worked as a commercial artist, became his skill at exploiting reflected natural ered art but commerce. By the time he a photographic director in advertising Pattie Boyd in the 1960s shortly before World War II. The ne- ­manipulatingBailey’s close itcontemporary with reflector andboards. fellow had one career – and experiences such cessity of neatness, attention to detail member of the Black Trinity (a nick- asopened ­participating his first instudio the Allied he had landing already in PATTIE BOYD transcended the role of and rigid standards – which must have - - fashion model to become a successful been a daily component of life as an chioed, Norman Parkinson to the sexy hind him. Retrospect is a great lux­ ury photographer – initially through eye- Grenadier Guards during namebad boys gifted of bythe the swinging flamboyant, ’60s mousta ­fashion Sicilyand not during without World fantasy, War IIwe – nowfirmly mar be- witness documentary shots of key the war – seemed to have remained in pages), Terence Donovan, seemed to vel at the style, the look, the brand, figures in the so-called Swinging Sixties place­officer once in the he returned to civvy street, be in total awe of how French ­managed of these exquisite images and easily era, but latterly with images of landscape directing his studio arena with military to make a scene effervesce: ‘He [John assume that life itself was glamorous and travel. As a young girl-about –town, precision. French] was photographing in day- due to the convincing world French be- whose natural beauty inspired the light and there was this model and she guiles us with. How­ever, certainly in the ‘London look’, she epitomised the Sixties Like Irving Penn there was an im- was surrounded by white light. And it late 1940s and early 1950s, there was fashion staple image of blonde hair, blue mense structure to French’s creations looked so glamorous. I thought I real- still the post-war diet and fashion was eyes, long straight hair and mini skirt. In but, markedly unlike Penn, the models ly wanted to be a part of this. I loved still getting used to Christian Dior’s 1962, at the beginning of her decade as were not envisaged as interchangeable it to death [...] the room glowed with a New Look with its swathes of swirling a model, she recalls encountering John textured shapes or breathing replace- fabric. It was so gratuitous after the French, then still an industry force. ments for architecture or glassware. the room seemed to be illuminated in stringent stretched styles that it even - ­magicalan exquisite reflected way. The light. light The was people unlike in caught Robert Capa’s camera eye. ‘I remember going to John French’s sonality which resonated through his anything I had seen before.’ studio for one of my first assignments in Holborn. It was a shot with a lot of cTherhiaroscuroe was images. a definite, Static, palpable to French, per In his career of nearly 10,000 sittings, the older models from the 1950s like was not considered ; his Donovan is often listed as one of John French took fashion photography de rigueur Barbara Goalen. I was not a regular muses were strong elegant women – French’s prodigies but although he was to the masses by realising that it was not model for the French studio and, as I was masters of their own destinies. One of a friend and attended his memorial at only important for work to be published so new to modelling, I did not take in too his most photographed models was St Dunstan, Fleet Street on 4 August in Harpers Bazaar, The Tatler and Vanity much. I was totally in awe of John who Jean Shrimpton, said to be French’s 1966 (recorded in his diary) he did Fair, but also in newspapers; identifying was tall and elegant with a commanding not actually work with French but with editors’ desire for high contrast, punchy voice. I felt very young in my Thea Porter the frame in her most doe-eyed mono- John Adrian of the John French Studio. pictures. He created images from an en- purple dress with its lovely square neck. hottestchrome discovery,incarnation. who Coming graphically under fills his In Donovan’s own shot of French – sur- during craftsmanship, produced with He arranged where we should sit/stand gaze at the beginning of the 1960s, the rounded by models (spanning three painstaking attention and perseverance in front of a white backdrop. With his aesthetic had become more soft-edged decades of shoots!) – getting the light from within his cathedr­ al-like studio. Hasselblad (I think it was) on a tripod he and sensual, leaving behind the 1950’s absolutely spot-on was quint­essential He transferred the look from his own would stand close to it and the assistant points and edges. Shrimpton, under to his homage to someone who had neat, tailored physique with a certain clicked the shutter after John’s count of French’s direction, becomes the per- ­truly inspired him. French himself amount of personal vanity, to his female three.’ seems to gleam like a deity, sitting in fashion muses – their task was to tell a an exaggerated way on a glowing plinth story nobly but without stiffness. Un- French, so often overlooked today in fectfemale balance silhouette between at its most pale contempo flesh and- looking quietly pleased with himself. like the generation who come after him favour of the young tyros who rapidly elegrary.ant Prior couture, to Shrimpton’s defining the appearance powerful he did not become muse-like himself, came to dominate fashion photography, French had focussed on the pencil thin that he had brought a new glamour to still had his finger on the pulse as the beauties – Susan Abraham, ­Barbara Hefashion knew photography. his work was flawless and job without projecting beyond his role Fifties gave way to a new sensibility. Goalen, and Anne Gunning – who butas a remainedphotographer, firmly working rooted inat hisa time day He is reputed to have ‘discovered’ Jean were perfectly posed to exaggerate French died of Lymphoma in 1966, when people were far more interested Shrimpton (still an icon today) although the cleanest of lines and angles. Once which meant that we never got to in the designer than the photographer Pattie Boyd does not recall it. ‘I did not - see how he would have presented or the model. He treated those who know that John discovered Jean – but I’m not surprised to hear that.’ And the fact ly) would shout ‘still’ in his grandest, the models­ and the fashions of the worked with him kindly, was charming that French was still a trusted favourite satisfiedcampest vwithoice. the sitting he (apparent 1970s. A true loss in photographic and taught those lucky enough to be with Fleet Street meant he offered the history. His wife, Vere French (nee ­under his charge how to carefully pose, right sort of exposure at a time when ‘One thing you need to know was Denning) a fashion journalist, gave light and construct a picture. French models became celebrities in their own that David Bailey pressed the shutter, his archive to the V&A in 1982, and in ­believed in (now) one of the most right, as opposed to being the anony­ not French, that’s very important’, iconic faces in fashion, Jean Shrimp- mous mannequin. ‘I think that appearing recollects John Swannell. Swannell ­catalogue of his work to coincide with ton, and ­introduced her to now leg- in newspapers did help my career. I did assisted Bailey in the 1970s and has a 1984 the ­museum made the definitive endary British photographers. And a lot of fashion shoots for The Times and few second-hand tales to tell. He also bringing together shoots from London probably her most famous partner- – in retrospect – I think I unconsciously mentioned that French was supposed anand ­e xhibitionParis including – based designers on his filessuch and as ship, David Bailey – who incidentally learnt from a lot of photographers I to be a very charming and kind man, Yves Saint-Laurent, Nina Ricci, and still speaks warmly of John French worked with at that time...’ Madame Paulette. with respect. An accolade indeed. later confirmed by Bailey’s studio. F22 | 13 CAPTURED BY DAFYDD JONES i SPY [email protected]

Annabel Neilson Malcolm McLaren Anthony Fawcett

Elle Macpherson

Victoria Duffy Dennis Hopper

Graydon Carter Diana Princess of Wales

Rocco Forte Terence Donovan

Louise Herbert

Bob Colacello Lucy Ferry Nicholas Logsdail

Mark Weinberg

14 | F22 Damien Hirst Jane Wilson Maia Norman Louise Wilson

Malcolm Mclaren Bob Geldof

Duke of Marlborough

Jay Jopling Annabel Neilson Julia Peyton-Jones Diana Princess of Wales Helen Windsor Karsten Schubert Helen Taylor

Kay Hartenstein Charles Saatchi Jeremy Irons Diana Princess of Wales Martin Amis Joan Juliet Buck Dennis Hopper

The year that put a little-known British art gallery on phenomenon. When Diana became the patron she the map. Julia Peyton-Jones, challenged to renovate attracted party sponsorship from the magazine a crumbling 1934 tea pavilion in Kensington Vanity Fair. The princess famously arrived at the Gardens, enticed the chairman of the trustees,Peter first VF Serpentine party in a black-chiffon Christina Palumbo, to recruit Diana, Princess of Wales to Stambolian cocktail dress. Getting glittering non-art 1994 help transform its summer party into a fund-raising people involved remains the gallery strategy today.

F22 | 15 STATE OF ART

XX | STATE MAGAZINE PROFILE

DREAMS MADE REAL

Maryam Eisler : adventures with a camera

TEXT | MIKE VON JOEL IMAGES | MARYAM EISLER

PERSIA IS one of the world’s oldest, and greatest, civilisations – beginning­ with Chelsea Arts Club the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth mil- London 22 March 2018 lennium BC. Its earliest ar­ chaeological artefacts indicate a human presence Mike von Joel: You were born in since the Lower Paleolithic period ­Persia – a quite wonderful heritage… (some 2,580,000 to 200,000 years ago). By the sixth century BC, the Achae- Maryam Eisler: …3000 years of menid Empire, stretching­ from Eastern ­culture. People focus on the last 40 Europe to the Indus Valley, had become years and forget about the rest. P­ ersia one of the largest in history. Whilst has made a great contribution to ­radiocarbon dating has established the world civilisation in the arts, science, city of Susa existed as early as 4,395 BC. ­mathematics… it goes on and on. ­My Literature, philosophy, ­mathematics, family left in December 1978 thinking ­medicine, astr­ onomy, art and, particu- we would ­return, but we never did. larly, science and poetry, were the key- The revolution happened in February stones of Persia’s cultural explosion 1979. We went to Paris when I was during the so-called Islamic Golden ten and I think the shock ­crystallised Age of the 10th and 11th ­centuries­ and my ­memories of ­Tehran. I ­remember Persia’s medie­ val poets ­remain famous, ­clearly my house, my school, my friends, like Saadi Shirazi, Omar Khayyam events. But I did not have a ‘normal’ and Nezami Ganjavi. Its literature has childhood in a sense. The same with reputedly inspired western writers my arrival in Paris and my schooldays such as Goethe and Thoreau. Today, there, and – of course – as a teen in Paris, it is the second-largest country in the what better place to grow up? When I’m Middle East. asked about my i­­nterest in photography I always quote the Man­­ Ray exhibition I In 1979, a popular revolution deposed saw at the Centre Pompidou. the ruling Pahlavi dynasty and the ­establishment of an Islamic republic, Pre-revolution Tehran is quite often with its correspondingly dour ­political ­compared to Paris?

­Persia – now known universally as Iran. The whole Persian culture, and society­ strictures,Here in the West, has definedthe ­gener modernal ­perception day in general, was very much led by is that culture and art are no longer at French style. I went to a Lycée français the forefront of that ­country’s agenda. in Tehran, and our laws were Napole- Image from the series HAVANA: Beauty and Dereliction onic, so France had pr­ eviously had a Photographer, ­­Maryam­ ­Homayoun, Left: Paulina Korobkiewicz Maryam Eisler 2018 - was born in Tehran in 1968, although al paradise before the r­evolution and her family emigr­ ated to Paris when she took a BA in Political Science ­at Soviet Union for Vienna when he was hugemy mother influence. was Tehranvery keen was on a ar­ culturtistic was 10 on the eve of the ­revolutionary ­Wellesley College in the USA, then later only four. The Eisler­ ’s support of the events and took me with her. In fact, turmoil. It is appropriate to ­describe an MBA at Columbia. A brief foray into arts through their ­private ­foundation before the revolution we owned a small her today as Persian – a direct as is well ­reported elsew­ here and apartment in Paris and spent many ­descendent of that glittering cultural of consumer marketing for L’Oreal needs no r­epetition here, because now summers in France, so it was a coun- legacy – as opposed to Iranian, with its financeand Estée had Lauder been . rejectedIn New inYork favour she the f­ocus is on Mary­ am Eisler herself. try I felt very comfortable with. My contemporary connotations. ­For she, met and married (the now former) She has taken the decision to put an mother was a ­home-maker and my fa- too, has embraced the arts with an en­ Goldman­ Sachs Edward ­ ­emphasis on her own adventures with ther an ­industrialist – a ­manufacturer. viable and tireless dedication – and Eisler­ . He shares her commitment photography, not ­unrelated, perhaps, to In fact, my father was not involved to art and ­artists – financier,and especially ­­­­­­­ the the critical ­acclaim received for a ­series in ­government at all – but he still her essential character. ­contemporary art of Iran. Eisler, ­himself, of striking photographic books she lost everything in 1979. But very few with an intellectual rigour that reflects could identify with Maryam’s ethnic ­created with friend and accomplished ­people know my grandmother was After teenage years in Paris, Mary­ am ­disconnect – his own family had left the publisher, Hossein Amirsadeghi. from Liverpool!

F22 | 17 MARYAM EISLER

Peaks and Troughs from the series The Sublime Feminine

BELOW Image from the series HAVANA: Beauty and Dereliction

But I’m not a ­stay-at-home by nature so I used the time to e­ xplore other things – one of which was ­photography. Ralph Gibson’s former ­assistant, Natasha Mote, ran a small photography class near Kensington Square. I learned prop- er camera skills and darkroom tech- nique, the whole gamut of photographic practice. And then life took over…

You mean your immersion in all ­aspects of the visual arts?

I got involved in other aspects of the art world – in institutions and the way they work. This has led me to get active in organisations like the Whitechapel In 1989 I went to the USA, to an all and the Tate and I am very interested women’s college [Wellesley]. I also in the management of the art world. worked in banking in New York brief- And as you know, lately I have been ly, which I hated! If you were remotely active in publishing books – six in all – academic then the expectation was that about London, artists, artist’s studios… you worked in banking or management consulting. Since I was 14 my father England is famous for its resistance had been telling me I was going to be to multi-discipline creatifs. You a lawyer or banker – or a tax lawyer! know, musicians who want to paint, These are very dry subjects. I then screen writers who want to direct… went to business school – still to please my parents! – and got an MBA from …people do pigeonhole you in a ­certain ­Columbia. This led to L’Oreal, where for - like ‘supporter’, ‘collector’, ‘publisher’, ance between business and creativity. way.­‘patr on’… Define so when you. Putyou come labels out on with you theWhat first eng timeaged I meexperienced were the campaignsa nice bal your own work the reaction can be – the image led, visual side – ­colours, ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘what’s that about’ – and ­innovation, product development. It ‘really!’. My answer is why not! I’ve was fun! I did similar things for Estée been immersed in this world. I have Lauder with Aveda, which they had just had an interaction with some 430 lead- purchased. Estée Lauder enabled me to travel the world – China, Asia, India year period, have been on the operative – an amazing opportunity for a young sideing artistsof things, in theirworked studios creatively over ain fiveart person. publishing. This has been an ­education and the experience gets absorbed in Maryam Eisler’s experience of China led more ways than one. I have had the to an early interest in contemporary best ­on-the-job learning process, equal ­Chinese art, which reportedly faded once to any course in an accredited school. it became feature of the commercial My own creative response has been auction houses and speculation distort- through photography. My passion in ed the marketplace. But the Eisler’s have life is getting to know people, ­especially remained faithful to the contemporary creative people, and to interact with art of Iran and actively encourage its them, to connect with them. visibility on the world stage. Maternity then created an opportunity to eschew When would you say your own ­image fashion and to get seriously involved in making became a driving force? the art world. About 18 years ago I started to look at You left your terrific job Estée photography seriously – althoug­ h of ­Lauder after just three years? course I have always taken ­photographs for myself. But around six years ago I I got married in 1998 and took a break really started to look at the nude form, to have children. I loved being a mum and my priorities today are my childr­ en. in all its historical and contemporary figuratively, interpreting the ­female form

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­aspects. Woman – as I always say – with ­avant-garde and a more ­personal and Eurydice – the temptation, the a capital W. ­project – where Eisler herse­ lf took the underworld, the joys and the trepi- accessingall his Mexican ­Weston’s ­moment house,os his from studio, the­ role of photographer, that ­stimulated In Santa Fe I did a short residency hisTin a­dar Modottikroom, ­int hiserlude. desk, Modotti and seeing is a the belief in her own creativity. where I explored the nude form in real obsession of mine as well. Inci- dation. Somehow along the way I find ­context. I only work with dancers dentally, Kim The books and the exhibitions have cross-references with film, literature- ­because form, muscular dynamics, become a friend. been well received and this must and art appearing in my photographs. , ­Weston’s grandson, has have been very encouraging for you? Oflik e course, Cunningham I also acknowledge and Brandt, anAnsel in You have a long association with the Adamsfluence and from Edward major Weston photographers – and definition,with just isthe more ­models, important it w asthan ­almost – say USA, but a British passport? Lucien Clergue in particular. Say, –like a fashionthe dawn figure. of time In the and desert, maybe alone the afraid to be out there before but the cat search for an elemental ‘Eve’. It was It’sis out mad. of Ithe have box new now wings. and I’mMaybe ready I was to - a very ­contemplative trip, with ­ideas in America and I travelled all over for roll! I want to explore the female form the 1930s through to the 1960s. But about self identity and one’s own place ArtYes. StudioA lot of America my photographs.(2) I spent are10 takenyears I’mneed very to relaxedbe unencumbered. about shooting And over I’m in the universe, set in this barren, - all. I leap around like a butterfly so I ­almost hostile environment. The Eve - more extensively. These things come Canon MkIII search ­concept continues to be a work ofism, my a lifework there ethic… and I thehave US the has fondest given in my dreams.palazzos I’m shooting in Eng atnot 24mm an equipment and 85mm. nerd. I Idon’t simply use use tri a- me a lot – it taught me professional land in an old castle (Chillingham).The Leopard I’m, digital with fixed lenses “may she never be found!”. ­always draws me back. thatlooking beautiful at palazzo in. PalermoMy work – does and in ­progress and my friends now joke: ­memories. Big nature, big sky, that dreaming of the film of Ipods do understand or lighting asthe a ruletechnicalities and tend toof Of course, Santa Fe was a ­personal, Two of Eisler’s major publishing ­camerwork intuitivelyawork. But – I thinkalthough, you haveof course, to be private project at the time, but an art ­triumphs – with Hossein Amirsade- tend to turn into ‘series’. A year ago I ghi and photographer, Robin Friend – went­historical to Provence connotations­ and marvelled of the ar atea. the It showed them to a ­­de­a­­le­r, Tristan Hoare, ­recorded leading visual artists in their lighthas a ­qualitysensual, nature the lavender that I hope fields, comes the a little careful mixing commercial stuff ­adandvisor the result friend was saw an ­e thexhibition ­images here and in private ­studio spaces, first in America Voguewith fine Arabia art work. and However,then another because com of- London.(1) and then in the UK. London’s Burn- missionmy work from with Elle women India I got a call from is an across in the images. I also worked series shotIt around just happened Edward organically. Weston’s exhilarating trawl through London in an ­abandoned quarry where I was- Maryam Eisler’s urbane – soand bring warmly it on. Inhome January in Carmel, 2019, California,I’ll be showing with another Tristan ­documentinging: Portraits in of ­pictur a Creativees the ­multif Cityarious shooting the figure in landscape.Jean Cocteau When hospitable nature – a characteristic of – these will be platinum prints made talents that thrive in the capital. But it I got home I foundLe testament out that d’Orphéethis particu.(3) I the educated Middle East – actually by Martin Axon, who printed Robert was Voices of East London – a celebra- lar quarry was where hides a feisty intellect and a restless- ­Mapplethorpe tion of the spiritual home of the ­creative hadthe essence filmed of the story of Orpheus revisited my own images and detected ’s work. It was amazing ness reflected in her constant search Image from the series The Sublime Feminine

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PROFILE

ABOVE & LEFT Images from the series HAVANA: Beauty and Dereliction Maralah (Born During an Earthquake) from the series Searching for Eve in the American West for knowledge and enlightenment. She certainly sets herself high standards, and it is sure that whatever creative tool she adopts it will be mastered and used effectively to realise the vision of this quite singular talent.

Maryam Eisler will be showing work from two series (Eve|Woman and Cuba) in a solo exhibition at the Bermondsey Project Space, 18-30 September – all proceeds willnon-profit be assigned to charity.

NOTES

1. Tristan Hoare Gallery Searching for Eve in the American West. 3 - 12 November 2016

2. Art Studio America: Contemporary Artist Spaces Hossein Amirsadeghi Maryam Eisler Thames & Hudson ISBN-13: 978-0500970539

3. Le testament d’Orphée 1960. Film directed by and starring Jean Cocteau. Portrait: Paulina Korobkiewicz Image from the series HAVANA: Beauty and Dereliction

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PROJECTS TAKING IT EASY Why Nadav Kander doesn’t believe you should rush photography

TEXT HOLLY HOWE | IMAGES NADAV KANDER

HILE MANY photographers w shoot both people and the one who possesses the skills and talent to be reallynatural good world, in it is rare Nadavto find Kander is one of those rare breeds, known for his series bothof photographs fields. of the Yangtze River in China, for which he won the ­Prix Pictet­ , as well as his portraits, ­including Time Person of the Year covers of both ­Barack Obama and Don­ ald Trump

Born in Israel in. 1961, Kander moved to Johannesburg when he was three, and came to London when he was 21, where his Yangtze River project, Kander creat- heed ahas series remained called everDust since.which As looked well asat the abandoned Soviet nuclear towns of Kurchatov and ­Priozersk, as well as his Thames Estuary­ project, which was ex- hibited at Flowers Gallery earlier this

Obamayear. and Trump are not his only poli­­­­­ticians, he has also snapped Emman­ uel Macron and David Cameron portraits include Brad Pitt, Judi amongDench , others.and Alexander His numerous McQueen ­celebrity, but morning, and would mooch around he has also documented those less in Holly Howe and Nadav Kander Each time hiring a translator and a and try to walk along the river or may- the public eye – holocaust survivors, Shoreditch House, March 2018 three years, probably six times I think.- Olympic torchbearers, and members of stand the process and I couldn’t tell I had terrible days and I had amazing Holly Howe: How do you choose the driver.them anything, They really all I wanted could say to underwas ‘I be drive and just see what happens. areas for your landscape series? want to go upstream and we just have Obama’sHe has also cabinet produced while work he was for in various office. Youdays usewhere the things term just psychogeography happened. corporates including Air France, Nike, Nadav Kander: I suppose what I am Sometimes you’d get out of the car and when referring to your work. What Puma, and Age UK looking for is to ask questions rather toyou’d drive. look We around need toand go you’d before get dawn’. back does that mean for you? with Christies’ auction house to make in and you’d drive a bit and the atmos- a video about ‘the last. He Da even Vinci’ worked – the in Russia [for the Dust series] and in phere picks up and something happens It’s something that has always encom- Salvator Mundi, which tracked visitors’ thanthe Yangtze answer series, them. IIn think Kazakhstan I was asking and passed my work but I’ve never had a reactions as they viewed the painting, the - unexpectedly capturing Leonardo tograph that is untold rather than is told, Withand y theou ­phot Thamesograph this something. was easier, in that Psychogeography to me, especially DiCaprio­ and question.that is also There the threadis much that in theruns pho be- I was alone most the time, or with an twitherm thefor Thamesit, and it estuaryfits really series, really is well. that tween the portraiture that I do and the assistant, but I would always start at although you are looking at pictures among the many visitors. a historical setting, so the town where ABOVE Conrad wrote Heart of Dar­ kness, Water I part 1, 2 & 3, (Shoeburyness towards Anlandscapes.d how do you then choose the loca- or Great Expectations by Dickens thatSince arethe seemingly Roman times, not influenced cataloguing by The Isle Of Grain) England 2015 tions within these areas for the shoot? was around Rochester, so I’d start at men,the amount they are of invasions,very influenced the amount by men. of LEFT Chatham which is on the river and then near invasions, the number of galleons Priozersk IX (missile on display beside the The Yangtze was a really painful expe- that would be it – it would just give me that have been sunk, the toil, the love, military house of culture) Kazakhstan 2011 rience in that I went back over two or the place I would go to at four in the

the envy, the sweat that has happened. F22 | 23 NADAV KANDER

Donald Trump and Mike Tyson. How do you work with someone of whom you have strong opinions?

I don’t think I mind how I feel and if that

if it’s a person like Obama or Trump influences– that I don’t me, show but I’m my very view conscious because –I think it’s much more about a historical point in time. You know, a print is only a millimetre or two thick and people who go: ‘Oh you really got that guy, my God, you really looked into his soul’ – that’s bullshit! What I captured was a condition in that person one recognis- es – and you only know that because you felt it yourself. When you see a person who is upset or vulnerable – or envious – you only know that because you have been upset or vulnerable or envious yourself. It’s very much about ourselves when we view a portrait.

What was it like with David Bailey? Is it tricky to photograph another portrait photographer?

We like each other a lot so he wasn’t a schmuck. What’s amazing about David­­­ Bailey – I mean unbelievable – is how he can be so insulting but let you enjoy it. You laugh but he’s holding the power doing it. I got beaten to a pulp when I was 18, so one of my eyes is a

The depth of life that has happened ABOVE Kurchatov VII (ashes to ashes) Kazakhstan 2011 on that river is second to none of any BELOW Yibin V Sichuan Province 2007 river. All of that sits on your shoulder while you make slow work, while you return to the river. All of that encom- passes how you feel, how you frame your work, and how you process and how you edit it... because really all of my work is about man and how we feel, and the human condition.

What does ‘slow photography’ mean to you?

Slow photography, I suppose it comes in two parts. One, the physicality of it, the taking of a photograph in a slower manner than is often used today, and then taking on that photograph to the editing and to the printing. And any project that I seem to do, and I don’t will it this way, seems to take two to three years. I suppose that’s what en- compasses ‘slow photography’. It’s the physicality of slowing down. So there is something about the slowing down and what that brings the thought pro- cess when it comes to making pictures.

Your photographs have a painterly aspect. Did you ever want to paint?

I can’t paint. I can’t even draw – I mean really badly. No, I really love making

it seems to be the same and I seem to still,­always still come photos. back to When that stillness. I make film,

You have photographed some ­controversial characters, including

24 | F22 PROJECTS little bit more closed, and he looked at Bob Dylan. I think those are my two. me and said: ‘You have a fucking lazy I’ve asked The New York Times to please eye! What kind of photographer has put me forward if they ever got the a lazy eye?’ And if I said that to some- chance! one, they’d immediately say ‘Just fuck off!’ – but you just laugh and love him. *[American novelist Roth died 22 May, a What was telling is that I was there to few weeks after this interview] take his portrait and once I sat down Do you take photos of your own touch people and I move people and he ­family? hewasn’t was pleasedfine. I like with to direct that! peopleSo he called and I his assistant, who is his son, and he got I don’t do a lot of that. It’s kind of a r­ egret, a camera with a wider lens than I had, that I’ve never taken my ­family every six so I had to be a little further from him. months in the same position,­ a bit like As I stepped back to take his picture, he Nicholas Nixon’s book. So I have some had leaned forward to take mine and regrets about that. It’s not the kind of we went all round this studio taking picture that I take, but I am trying to – these silly pictures of each other and more out of regret than an­ ything. I sound

Chongqing IV (Sunday Picnic) Chongqing Municipality 2006 | TOP The Aral Sea I (officers housing) Kazakhstan 2011 really laughing. It was an amazing day. really sad saying that, but it’s true. thing. And I think it’s really exciting to about life for a much longer ­period. share in that way. But I think you have Until it was not interesting to them …and have you photographed What are your thoughts on ­platforms to ring-fence photography, you have to anymore. I don’t want to stop on ­anyone who has been really ­difficult? like Instagram? Do they devalue ring-fence computer imagery, and treat the Thames Estuary just because I photography? it quite separately to art. ­happened to have had an exhibition. Lily Allen was having a bad day. She I feel there are many questions I have wasn’t happy. But no, not generally – I don’t think it devalues it – in a way What are your plans for the future? about water, destiny, where I’m going,­ generally it’s great. it’s amazingly exciting, I think that lan- about what it means to me. So I’m guage is almost becoming old school, I’m not a big fan of moving on before ­carrying on – that’s what I’m doing for Anyone you want to photograph? photography is becoming a language – you’re ready to. I think if one looks at the rest of the year. you’re starting to even see it when you artists’ of the last century or before, I always wanted to photograph ­Philip buy a drill from B&Q. You get no words, ­people worked in a certain way and www.nadavkander.com Roth*. I’d love to have photographed you just get pictures of how you use the dealt with certain questions they had www.flowersgallery.com

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