Corinne Day- The Face of Fashion

Corinne Day is one of few photographers who started out her career in front of the camera rather than behind.  As a former model, she grasped the concept of photography naturally and by the time the early ninety’s came around, had edged her very distinctive style onto the fashion scene.  Her solitary taste comes across remarkably in her candid and hard-edged images, a style which she pioneered at the beginning of her career.  One of the reasons for this is perhaps the use of her unconventional and submissive models, many of whom she already held a close relationship with.  Her work poses a vast contrast to mainstream fashion photography, taking on a more documented and confessional style often very insensate and harrowing.

Her photographs from the 2007 exhibition ‘Face of Fashion’ saw many painful images taken of Day’s personal friends, many heroine addicts in several extremely bleak surroundings.  Her photograph of friend Tania Court is an uncomfortable image taken in a disordered, domestic setting with inhospitable lighting and distasteful décor reflecting the grey life of a drug addict.  As above, many photos from this collection present the girls wearing casual but revealing outfits showing off scarred skin, ironically posing provocatively.  Day’s pictures often evoke a feeling of invasion due to the apparent vulnerability of the girls and their dishevelled appearance.  Tania’s awkward, almost childlike pose in this photo induces an innocence about her and a contrast to her revealing top.  Clearly in a moment of thought, this picture of Tania also reveals Day’s carefree attitude towards privacy.  Her bond with Tania and many of the other models she photographs, allows her to capture moments of intimacy and private thought, contrasting typical fashion images and model-photographer relationships.  Up until Day’s arrival on the scene, fashion photography was often quite formal, carefully styled and civilized.  Day’s spontaneity and lack of technical attention has managed to establish her as one of photography’s revolutionaries.

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www.corinneday.co.uk