D a v i d   S i m s

' T h e   B e a t '

David Sims is another one of my favourite Fashion Photographers, if you haven't guessed from all my blogs so far Fashion Photography is probably my biggest interest. Just like Mario Testino, Nick Knight and Patrick Demarchelier, David Sims sits among my favourite photographers in the Fashion Industry. And what better way to finish my 12 blogs than with one of my favourite campaigns directed and shot by him for the Burberry 'The Beat' Fragrance made in the Summer of London 2007. 

For me David Sims is a brilliant photographer anyway (and I've included some of his other work below) but my favourite work I've ever seen him do was shooting the campaign for Burberry, the idea of 'The Beat' fragrance was to get younger and more youthful people interested in what is usually a very old and gone brand, and he didn't disappoint. He made the campaign fast and edgy with harsh lighting and quick movement, conveying a youthful and updated look to the brand of Burberry, consequently along with the campaign, the model and all the media advertising 'The Beat' was one of the biggest selling Fragrances of 2007, making it a complete success and I think when you look at the shoot and the end results it's very obvious why.

S e m i o t i c s

R o l a n d   B a r t h e s

Semiotics, also called semiology or semiotic studies, is the study of sign processes, both individually and also grouped together in systems of symbols. It includes the study of how meaning is constructed and understood in humans. Semiotics are included in everything and are considered vital in communication.

Semiotics can be very important also in the world of Art, in Photographic pieces different symbols and different images can give the various viewers totally different feelings towards a piece of Art.

Roland Barthes born in 12 November 1915 and died in 25 March 1980, Roland Barthes's wrote the semiotic book Mythologies, the book centered around the idea of interrogating various pieces of cultural material to expose (to society) how society used them to assert its values upon others. In The Fashion industry Roland Barthes showed how this abuse of signs could easily be translated into words and showed how the industry were using Semiotics to in pact on their customers. In this work he explained how in the fashion industry any word could be transformed with idealistic emphasis. For example Barthes pointed out, if trends in fashion say that a ‘blouse’ is ideal for a certain situation or event, this idea is immediately accepted as truth, even though the actual sign could just as easily be changed with any other item in the Fashion Industry for example a ‘shirt’, ‘vest’ or any other fashion item. 

N i c k   K n i g h t  

T h e   N o m i n e e s 

For the 2007 CFDA Awards, America’s most prestigious fashion awards ceremony, world famous fashion photographer Nick Knight was asked to make a film and shoot a photo shoot featuring the nominees for the Best Womenswear Designer category, a list that included Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Oscar de la Renta. 

On Friday 20 April before the actual awards SHOWstudio (Nick Knights own photographic company) broadcasted the making of the film from a London-based studio, starring model of the moment Agyness Deyn who wore creations from each designer’s last two seasons’ collections. The finished film was later shown on the SHOWstudio website and was featured at the CFDA awards ceremony in June that year.

It's one of my favourite films using photography, and as a fan of Nick Knight I always like his work but this one in particular I think is fantastic, his choice of model (Agyness Deyn) and the way he uses the lighting and her movents along with the shadows to show off the collections is amazing.