POP 204 Weekend, 17 January 2010

This weekend’s POP is Filep, he’s just done an excellent interview with Mariano Vivanco, and being a great collaborator with POP we thought we’d give you a pleasurable read. Grab a glass of wine and snuggle-up!

NOTE: The interview of Mariano Vivanco is part of the 6th issue of ISTEROGRAFO magazine dedicated to fashion, coming out in a few days. All photographs courtesy of Mariano Vivanco.

Mariano Vivanco is a fashion photographer whose rich cultural heritage informs his unique aesthetic.

Originally from Lima, Peru, he now divides his time between London and New York, regularly shooting for internationally renowned magazines such as,Dazed & Confused, Vogue Nippon, Vogue Homme Nippon, Numero, Another Magazine, Man About Town, Allure, Details, GQ Italy, L’Uomo Vogue, 10 and 10 Man.

Vivanco has also published four books for the Dolce & Gabbana label: Calcio (2003), which was the first book of its kind to capture the emergence of the soccer superstar, Milan (2004), Nationale (2006) and Milan Family (due for release). In 2006, he was also asked to shoot the French rugby team for the Dieux Du Stade Calendar for 2007.

In 2007, Vivanco held his debut solo exhibition at the Print Space Gallery in east London, supported by Dazed and Confused. Here, he exhibited two innovative editorial stories produced for Dazed entitled Cult and Artist. His second exhibition followed quickly, this time in Milan’s Gold Restaurant. Here, he exhibited his images of the model David Gandy for Dolce and Gabbana’s 2008 calendar, which fused the classical ideal of Michelangelo’s David with modern ideals of masculinity.

In 2008, he published Ninety Five Chapel Market. A retrospective look at his first years in London, documenting the likes of Sienna Miller, David Gandy and Lily Cole to name a few, at the start of their careers.

Vivanco has worked with the likes of Eva Mendes, Dita von Teese, Cillian Murphy, Rupert Friend, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova and Sir Paul Smith.

FilepMotwary: Mariano, one of the reasons I wanted to present you in the issue was the kaleidoscopic way you work. On one side, your photographs can be a frivolous canvas filled with color and surreal postures, ultra couture garments and make-up and on the other, you have a very preppy and minimalistic approach… How do you manage both “extremes”?

MarianoVivanco: Hey!  Cool, thanks for noticing.  Yes, changing styles is something I consciously do to try and capture the essence of each assignment.
Fashion and imagery is such a diverse and varied field.  There are so many combinations!   I approach each story (or fashion assignment) in the most creative and imaginative way possible.

FilepMotwary: Your origins are Peruvian… How did you enter the big publisher salons of Europe, being a man from so many miles away, with completely different cultural references?

MarianoVivanco: Well, I grew up in NZ, so that is part of my cultural heritage as well.  The British are kind of similar to the New Zealanders; therefore moving to London was not a very big cultural clash.  Entering the publishing world in the UK is was very interesting.  Like chipping away at a marble sculpture… it takes time!

FilepMotwary: Your work sometimes looks like a mashed-up cultural manifesto, which I find very intriguing, since it is executed with such careful details and approach. How do your “roots” and general history reflect in what you do?

MarianoVivanco: You answered the question for me, that is exactly what it is and what I am. Born in Peru, raised in the USA, Peru, NZ and Australia, lived in the UK for 9 years and now NY. Not to mention all the wonderful places I have travelled to, it is all in my head.  All this affects the way I react to fashion and how I approach it, hence the way I see things.  Also, I think a lot of it is my personality…. I am a dreamer; I am romantic and a flirt. I love the notion that a photo can make someone happy and also I love the concept of peace and unity. I think this would create a happier world!

FilepMotwary: Also, drama is part of your photography. Especially when you work with women models.. Why does a dramatic heroine interest you?

MarianoVivanco: Everyone loves a bit of drama….  It makes you have a special feeling…. Heroines are always compelling, like great a great actress. This is something that always attracted me and is very important to me. You could say movies were my very first love.  My mother brainwashed me with the glamour of Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale.  BW Italian films from the 40′s seduced me from a young age….  Those films were so modern and cool, like Rosellini’s Rome Open City, a film like that well executed in terms of making an audience “feel”, would not be able to be made today…

FilepMotwary: How different do you work with female models compared with the way you deal with men models?

MarianoVivanco: Men can be more sensual, women can be more fashion.  Again it depends on the job…  In general this makes more sense to me.

FilepMotwary: How important is  sex in your work? What does it mean for you and how is it reflected in your photographs? For your own point of view as the creator of these wonderful stills?

MarianoVivanco: Sex is very important…. It is the reason we are all here today…  Many people abuse it in imagery… Sensuality does not mean vulgarity, I feel.

FilepMotwary: Do you feel part of the creative generation that helps the fashion scene and industry move forward?

MarianoVivanco: Yes, my generation seems very passionate and loving of its craft.  Which leads me to think we are all going to push ourselves to a great creative level one day soon!   I remember fondly the times when I would orgasmically open the pages of Italian Vogue to see Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel, Bruce Webber and the Versace ads by Avedon in one MAGAZINE!

My job is to always “skim” over society and images around me.  Not to hold on to too many cultural references but to take them all in and have them in a small hard drive in my mind.  Then when the time is right, show what I know and feel through a fashion photograph.  I am also lucky to work with great people, in the form of fashion stylist, like Nicola Formichetti and Charles Varenne, who work with me to create my images.

It is not just in imagery actually.  Visionaries come in many different forms. Lady Gaga has come in and pushed her Amazing point of view to the mainstream, with a lot of success. Every time I hear her music I get goosebumps, she is capturing a generation, she is the voice of now.  Megan Fox, although I do not know much about her film career, is for sure the most exciting Person to come out of Hollywood for the last decade.  For one, there is no one more beautiful, she emotes Ava Gardern and Liz Taylor with a very contemporary touch. Her personality is like an ice cold shock, in a good way!!

FilepMotwary: How intense is the power of fashion photography these days compared to the past, when it was first established? Having in mind that now, anyone can be a photographer using the latest computer software.

MarianoVivanco: Yes, very true!  The power of fashion photography today seems a bit diluted… Not as strong as before. The first photographer I studied was Edward Steichen, and he is credited for taking the first “Fashion Photograph”, it was of a society lady in the 20′s.

You know, I was one of the last photographer (along with Tim Walker and Jurgen Teller) that did not use digital retouching…  I had to get it right in the picture.  The right dress shape, the right expression, the right make up and hair, the right everything!  Thus now I can be very demanding in a shoot, and I usually will shoot a picture for the length of one song.  Sometimes new clients look at me and say ” Is that it?” and I say “Please look at the screen, we got it!”  For my point of view, a picture is a captured moment, or as Henri Cartier Breson would say, “The Decisive Moment”.  This is something I must catch, and usually it is at a 1/250th of a second!

FilepMotwary: What are the morals of your profession?

MarianoVivanco: Be on time, be discrete, and give my client/subject my all.  Treat everyone with Love and respect, especially my models who give me all their energy, every time.

FilepMotwary: When is your favourite moment while working?

MarianoVivanco: When I see a beautiful picture come to live before my very eyes.  It is a very special feeling…

FilepMotwary: You could have chosen any other type of photography, yet you focused on Fashion. Why?

MarianoVivanco: It runs though my veins!  It is my purest, most honest form.

FilepMotwary: What is fashion photography about. Can you give me the Vivanco definition?

MarianoVivanco: MMM … I love your questions by the way….  It’s the creative mix of displaying fashion and garments in an interesting way.  Telling a story by mixing different parts of an equation, hair + make up, the seasons fashions, a location?  But most importantly  mixing all these elements with what I have learned through the years, my life’s experiences.

FilepMotwary: Do you ever sit back as the spectator of your own life? Where would you rather be? How do you describe your life?

MarianoVivanco: Sometimes I reflect, but very seldom.  I rather be nowhere else… My life is hectic…but I LOVE IT!!!!

FilepMotwary: Where are you now, professionally and personally?

MarianoVivanco: Right now, I am at an airport lounge waiting for my flight to the UK.  I am there for 8 hours at my retouchers (on a Sunday, I hope that is ok with him!!)  Then back on the plane to make my way to Istanbul to shoot the premier issue of Vogue Turkey…

Professionally I am content and grateful.  Personally I am happy and addicted to Facebook!

FilepMotwary: What is the short future holding for you? Any projects you would like to share?

MarianoVivanco: Lots of travel, heading to NZ to for my sisters wedding… and looking forward to making my visions and dreams into Images!

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