In the latest book by English photographer Glen Luchford, Roseland, a very young Kate Moss throws a punch at a very tough opponent: New York in the 90s. Even today, but then more than ever, the city represented an ideal, in which everyone wanted to live to realize their dream. That image, born without a precise intention, turns out decades later to be the perfect synthesis of the spirit of her time. Metaphorically the whole service of which the shot is part seems to embody the projections and hopes of every boy who arrived in New York. In a narrative arc that goes from morning to evening, the frenzy of a city that never sleeps is told: chaotic, compressed, dirty. And the initiatory journey of a young woman through her streets. “At the time”, says Luchford, “I was amused by the idea that the most famous girl in the world would get a little angry in front of the lens that had made her famous: the camera. I liked this contradiction.”
Why do you think it has become an iconic image?
“It captures a moment when all the elements were at their best. Kate was radiant and the city had a crazy energy, which it would later lose.”
New York enters the shots through the gazes of its inhabitants, not as a simple background but as a total protagonist.
“Sometimes I would sit on a wall or a bench just watching people go by. I found it fascinating to see street kids, crazy people and Bible fanatics, pimps and prostitutes, homeless people and hustlers living in harmony on top of each other. Today it’s a gentrified city, but in the late ’80s, early ’90s, you could still get rent for little money and join the circus. Later in that decade, sex was banned everywhere, all the performers moved away in Williamsburg and New York he died.”
At a certain point the writing “Roseland” appears, why did you choose this title?
“It was a legendary Jazz hall. Among others, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong played in that mythical place. When I saw the space for the first time, everything spoke to me, even the trivial graphics of the writings on the walls. Another piece of a glorious New York that no longer exists.”
In his work the reference to cinema is important. Looking at the shots, Scorsese’s films come to mind with the portraits of NY communities, car patrols and the hot cinemas of Taxi Driver…
“When I saw Taxi Driver and Mean Streets, I was impressed by Scorsese’s determination to show the reality of the city. His documentary shots, combined with Michael Chapman’s stylized cinematography and Bernard Herrmann’s incredible score, gave shape to an absolutely innovative type of story. It was after seeing those films that I decided to go and live in New York. When I arrived, at the end of the 80s, some parts of the city had remained intact. To testify that time had passed there were only the clothes that people wore, but the faces and places were the same ones that had fascinated me at the cinema.”
The photos communicate a feeling of authenticity and simplicity. In some shots we also see the involvement of assistants or other team figures. A human-scale set, with few people. It seems like a much more instinctive way of working than today.
“Almost amateurish. In the photos you can constantly see the van we used for changes. In those days we worked only with a camera and a bag of films; I often shot with an assistant, stylist, hairdresser, make-up artist and no one else. Recently on a There were 200 people at my set. Things have really changed a lot.”
Wandering the streets is Kate Moss, to whom you were already linked by a deep friendship. With her non-conforming aesthetic, this petite and wiry girl would define the new aesthetic of the 90s, introducing an idea of vulnerable femininity. Did you imagine it yourself?
“Absolutely not. She was short and thin, with no boobs or bum. Her chances of success were slim, yet I wanted to work with her from the first meeting; there was something unique, magnetic about her face. Many London designers I had shown her images didn’t understand her in the slightest. The photographer Corinne Day was the first to support her and to understand the extent of the change that Kate would trigger.”
You have had significant relationships with two Italian fashion brands. You shot campaigns for Prada in the 90s and recently with Alessandro Michele for Gucci, establishing a partnership that helped develop the definition of the brand’s identity. How were the two experiences similar?
“I felt many affinities between Miuccia Prada and Alessandro Michele. They are two intellectuals with a very clear and personal vision of work. I immediately understood that there was a unique creative opportunity within the two collaborations.”
In the Gucci campaigns there is a fundamental ingredient that mixes with Michele’s surrealism, a sense of reality, of direct contact with life. How did you interact?
“Alessandro was the first client who invested in moving images. I had been waiting for a client like this for a long time. Thanks to him I was able to work on the story to the end.”
Whose idea was it to revisit the story of Noah’s ark?
“By Alessandro. A set with truly daring technical challenges. However large, we were a fashion team, without the budget of a film. An ambitious project made possible thanks to ingenious creative ideas. Gideon Ponte, the set designer, worked miracles in that production”.
In the past he has talked about every form of counterculture among young people: graffiti, skateboarding, punk music. What interests you today?
“The world of teenagers has always been an important field of investigation for me, but today I no longer feel a great transport. I was at a concert at my son’s school and I noticed that all the kids were wearing the same t-shirt and jeans , only the logos were different. Individuality seems to have become unattractive among young people. I am waiting for a new rejection of this conformism.”
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– 2024-03-16 18:25:57
