There’s a thin but fluid line between fine art and fashion for the artist who is now making accessories for Loewe, writes Edward Behrens
Lynda Benglis’s wearable sculptures are a perfect fit
When the art market is tight, quality is key
After the sale, like a soldier stoically acknowledging defeat, Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti told assembled journalists: ‘It’s a good reflection of the market.’ Josh Baer, a New York-based art advisor and CEO of the Baer Faxt newsletter, also suggests that the sale be understood as part of a bigger picture. ‘People look at the Fineberg sale as a flop,’ he says. ‘I’d say given what he spent on art, maybe it wasn’t a flop. I’d like to have that $153m as my flop […] If Paul Allen had died this year [2023], we’d be having a different discussion.’ The sale of Allen’s collection in 2022 at Christie’s delivered a record-setting $1.6bn.
Focusing on prestigious single-owner sales is an important way to gauge the state of the market. In November, the sale at Sotheby’s New York of the estate of the collector and philanthropist Emily Fisher Landau told a different story, garnering $406.4m.
Unlike the Fineberg sale, all of the 31 lots offered from Fisher Landau’s collection were fully guaranteed, either by Sotheby’s or anonymous third parties. Auctioneer Oliver Barker received the symbolic white gloves immediately after the last lot sold – but of course, that it would be a ‘white-glove’ sale (auction parlance denoting that all lots have sold) was a foregone conclusion.
Pablo Picasso was the star of the evening. Femme à la Montre (1932) – depicting his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter, prominently sporting a wristwatch – brought in $139.4m with fees against an unpublished estimate in the region of $120m, making it the most expensive work of art sold at auction in 2023.
Despite the big tally, many of the lots presumably sold to the third-party guarantors since bidding was mostly quiet, apart from a few notable exceptions – an exquisite Agnes Martin abstraction, Grey Stone II (1961), shot to a record $18.7m against an estimate of $6m–$8m. ‘Guarantees are very important,’ Hoeveler says, ‘not just in incentivising sellers but instilling confidence in the marketplace in general. I feel that 2023 can be characterised as a risk-averse market as an overall frame of mind.’
If art-market rumours are true that Sotheby’s guaranteed the Fisher Landau trove at $450m, beating their arch-rival Christie’s for the chance to win the market-share prize, one wonders if the house managed to break even on their bet.
‘The family did quite well,’ says Philip Hoffman, founder and chief executive of Fine Art Group, an art advisory and investment firm. ‘[They] got their $450m. What the economics were for Sotheby’s is another matter.’ As Hoffman sees it, ‘2023 was a pretty tough year and I think that the auction houses navigated very carefully and cleverly through the market. [They] clearly gave signals of a reasonably solid market because they advertised 90-per-cent-plus sold lots and some strong results.’
El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile) (1983), Jean-Michel Basquiat. Courtesy Christie’s New York
Other qualified success stories of the year include the 30-lot sale of the Netherlands- based Triton Collection Foundation at Phillips New York in November; with every lot guaranteed, the auction brought in $84.7m. It was led by Fernand Léger’s jubilant piece of cubism, Le 14 juillet (c. 1912–13), which made $17.6m against an estimate of $15–$20m, and by Pablo Picasso’s Femme en corset lisant un livre (c. 1914–18), which sold for $14.8m against an estimate of $15–$20m. (The art historian Pierre Daix characterised the painting as an example of ‘amorous Cubism’).
Beyond that trio of single-owner sales, there is still an evident hunger for standout works, defined by rarity and beauty. Gustav Klimt’s final painting, Dame mit Fächer (‘Lady with a Fan’; 1918) fetched £85.3m at Sotheby’s London last June against an unpublished estimate in excess of £65m, making it the most expensive work of art to sell at auction in Europe. It sold to an anonymous Chinese telephone bidder, raising hopes that the critically important Asian market was back in full swing after a temporary lull. In May – two days before the Fineberg sale became the canary in the coal mine – Christie’s New York sold Jean-Michel Basquiat’s mural-sized figurative canvas, El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile) (1983), for $67.1m against an unpublished estimate. It was one of 34 Basquiats sold at auction in 2023, bringing in a total of $202.2m – a figure second only to the $466.5m raised by the 214 Picassos that sold last year (figures courtesy of ArtTactic).
Work by the younger generation of contemporary artists has long been more likely to set off bidding fireworks, and last year was no different. The 31-year-old painter Jadé Fadojutimi’s large-scale, colour-charged abstraction Quirk my mannerism (2021) set a new record for the artist of $1.93m at Phillips New York in November, against an estimate of $600–$800,000. Among the Old Masters, the top result was for Rubens’ wonderfully gory Salome Presented with the Head of Saint John the Baptist (c. 1609), which sold for $26.9m against an estimate of $25–$35m at Sotheby’s New York last January. It previously sold at the same house in 1998 for $5.5m.
‘When an opportunity presents itself,’ Hoeveler notes, ‘even in a market where people are cautious and risk averse, they will step up to purchase these kinds of once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity works. That’s always been the case and I think that always will be the case.’
Salome Presented with the Head of Saint John the Baptist (c. 1609), Peter Paul Rubens. Courtesy Sotheby’s New York
From the February 2024 issue of Apollo. Preview and subscribe here.
Head to Ocean Park to experience the thrill of ice sculpture
The ice city of Harbin comes to town with a massive dragon on display at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Par
394 hot dog ice sculptures later, Seattle man quit his day job
The man behind the dogs is a 29-year-old artist who calls himself Sunday Nobody.
These Virtual Photography Award winners are blowing my mind
Virtual in-game photography is the act of capturing a still image within a digital game space or virtual world. This started as a hobby for most, but the photographic industry is finally beginning to take this creative art form seriously, recognising and embracing its potential. The latest Virtual Photography Awards is proof of this, and the resulting images are nothing short of breathtaking.
Yes, you could argue that virtual photography isn’t “real” photography, but what is? Especially with the rise of AI image generators and Adobe Firefly tools integrating with Photoshop, most images in our digital age either haven’t been created with a camera or don’t resemble a RAW file in the slightest.
The Virtual Photography Awards was created by TheFourthFocus.com, and exists to celebrate the most outstanding individual images captured through in-game photography by digital artists around the globe. Virtual photography can be achieved by using fully featured Photo Mode tools, where players can tweak surroundings, freeze the action, and compose artistic shots that tell a story.
A shared appreciation for game-derived art brings players, photographers, and studio creatives together, and plenty of careers have emerged from this modern strain of photography. There were 2,750 entries into the competition, and a judging panel of real-world photographers and game industry professionals selected the winners across six thematic categories.
The overall winner and crowned Virtual Photographer of the Year for 2023 is Takashi Yoshida from Japan, with this portrait captured in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. “This shot shows the face of my character and the hand of my friend’s character while using an emote to create this combined pose” shares Yoshida, “It is a simple composition, but one that was taken with a lot of ingenuity and time.”
The incredible images below comprise the rest of the category winners and runners-up from the Virtual Photography Awards 2023. Seeing this gallery has me tempted to jump back into virtual photography, as I used to spend hours doing this at university. Trust me, it’s really fun and addictive. You’ll get lost looking for details in the virtual worlds, and these digital game spaces are full of photographic potential.
If you’re looking to get into virtual in-game photography, you’ll need a capable console (or PC) to run the games. We have some deals below on next-gen consoles from retailers in your region.
Zanele Muholi’s Potent Portrait of South Africa’s Queer Community
As their new exhibition opens in San Francisco, Zanele Muholi talks about their powerful photos of queer survivors of hate crimes, couples in everyday moments, and self-portraits referencing history
February 02, 2024
“Surreal beauty!” – Jose Canseco’s daughter Josie mesmerizes fans with a seamless fusion of AI and photography
Josie Canseco, the daughter of two-time World Series champion Jose Canseco, has made big steps in her modeling and acting career. She has been featured in a few web series and musical videos and has also walked the ramps for many fashion houses. Being a model, she engages in photoshoots often.
Recently, Josie did a photoshoot for Steiner Creative, founded by Franz and Sally Steiner. Equal Parts Agency partnered with the Steiner duo for the photoshoot, which featured Canseco and several other models. The photography from Steiner Creative was a seamless fusion of AI and photography.
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Fans were mesmerized by the photoshoot posted on Instagram as they commented to give a shoutout to the pictorial.
“Surreal beauty!” one fan said.
Here are a few fan reactions:
Josie Canseco’s relationship with Logan Paul
In January 2020, Josie Canseco and Logan Paul sparked dating rumors. The couple split the following month but reconciled in May.
In October, the duo celebrated their six-month anniversary, but the couple again called it quits in November after Paul revealed the breakup on “IamPaulsive.” Talking about the split, the WWE wrestler talked about the split and mentioned that it was mutual.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can give more right now,’” Paul said. “‘This is the best I got.’ … I wasn’t, in this particular scenario, ready to give myself in that way. She left my house that night … we haven’t texted or spoken since.”
“It was a very mutual, like okay. It’s clear this was fun, but we’re not compatible,” he continued. “At the end of the day, we’re not. She doesnt like ‘The Book of Mormon.’ That was a problem for me!” [via Dexerto.com].
In a Feb. 2021 New York Post article, Josie revealed her side of the breakup and deemed that the duo were not fit for each other.
“So, me and Logan split a little bit ago,” Canseco said. “We just didn’t necessarily see a future with what we had there at the time, granted we’re fine now. We just went through some s–t.
“We’re finding out a respectable place. Also he has a lot going on with his fight coming up. He has training camp, I’m just trying to be supportive and be what he needs in a partner, and I think vice versa.”
Both individuals are focused on their careers and have seemed to move on from short-lived relationship.
Edited by Bhargav
Rare views into an earlier age: Clark Art Institute exhibits some 80 original images in paper and photographs
Greenfield Recorder – Rare views into an earlier age: Clark Art Institute exhibits some 80 original images in paper and photographs
Mary Cassatt was strongly influenced by Edgar Degas and was the only American woman allowed to join and exhibit with the Impressionists. Here is her 1898 pastel, “Portrait of Mrs. Cyrus J. Lawrence.” COURTESY CLARK ART INSTITUTE
“The Baggage Train” is a masterful, seamless blending of several woodcuts made in 1518 by the artist and Renaissance figure Albrecht Altdorfer. COURTESY CLARK ART INSTITUTE
Hilaire Ledru’s early 19th century rendering of the final hours of Joseph Lesurques was created with white gouache, crayon and white chalk. COURTESY CLARK ART INSTITUTE
Gustave Le Gray’s 1856 image of a “Brig on the Water” wowed viewers at the time, given its uniqueness. COURTESY CLARK ART INSTITUTE
There are those who see winter not as a season but as a siege. They tire of shoveling white glittering fractals from their driveways and see snow as the unnecessary freezing of water.
If you’re among those who don’t consider the frozen monochrome of winter as character building, a welcome escape is yours at Williamstown’s Clark Art Institute. A celebratory exhibit of some 80 original images in paper and photographs displays color, intrigue and sights of many delicate works created more than five centuries ago.
During a press reception, Anne Leonard, curator of the Clark’s prints, drawings and photographs, explained that in the past half century some 4,000 images in paper have been acquired, triple the amount as when the institute began in 1955. “The collection continues to grow. It continues to develop,” she said. “The collection is a living, breathing thing, continuing to change.”
The exhibit ranges from a woodblock by Paul Gauguin and Albrecht Durer engravings to a pastel by Mary Cassatt. Among these treasures are the 19th century’s most well known photograph and a depiction of one of France’s most reviled injustices.
To combat fading, since paper will darken over time, in staging the show there was great care in determining how much candlepower or lumens would light each work. This required a calculation for each image. A lumen is equal to the light cast on one square foot, 12 inches away from a single candle. The illumination for the exhibit, however, is so subtle as not to be noticed.
“It’s incredibly precise,” Leonard said. “We don’t want it so dark here that it feels like a cave and that people are groping around, tripping over benches.” The curator added that “there’s an ironclad rule that (black and white) paper doesn’t get exhibited more than every five years.” Color works are only shown every decade.
Revelation and injustice
Upon entering the exhibit, the largest and one of the more striking images was created in the early 16th century. “The Baggage Train” by Albrecht Altdorfer measures five feet in length and is the seamless construction of several woodcuts.
The German is considered to be the first modern landscape painter, finding subject matter solely in the environment. One of his paintings, “The Battle of Alexander,” is considered to be the first to show the curvature of the earth.
“The Baggage Train” illustrates a parade of suppliers bringing equipment and food stores to the armies of Maximillian I. It’s a masterful rendering of a complex scene complete with camp followers, dogs, a musician and a caravan that stretches out to the horizon.
“It’s a magnificent example of an immensely detailed, realistic and yet beautifully posed design,” Leonard said.
Nearby is another German rendering by Hermann Wohler, a college professor of art. His works were unknown until 1987, some 25 years after his passing, since he created his unique visions in seclusion. His black ink rendering of “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” is a nightmarish scene of raging horsemen under stormy skies with shining stars seen above. In the foreground, as a nod to Surrealism, John The Elder is describing the pandemonium for The Book of Revelation.
During the very real pandemonium of the French Revolution, of the 17,000 people estimated to have been executed during that decade, the notorious conviction of Joseph Lesurques had the most resonance. In 1796 he was found guilty of theft and murder. Despite 15 witnesses providing an alibi and scores more attesting to his noble character, he was brought to the guillotine.
“It was a case of a wrongful conviction,” Leonard said. “He only had the misfortune to bear a strong physical resemblance to the perpetrator.”
It’s suggested that the artist Hilaire Ledru was allowed to sketch the wrongfully accused on his last day, given the attention to detail.
Four years later the gang responsible for the crime was captured and executed, yet the French courts never admitted their error. Lesurques’ family was reduced to poverty and his wife went mad. This tragedy spurred the writer Victor Hugo to campaign against the death penalty and a theatrical play made the rounds. France outlawed the death penalty in 1981.
Subtle enough to be missed is a soft graphite rendering of a lion’s head by Rosa Bonheur, the most famous female French artist of the 19th century. Largely self-taught, from an early age she copied the classics at the Louvre and her oil paintings are virtually photographic in detail. She spent hours in abattoirs studying anatomy and for this reason she was among the few Parisian women legally allowed to wear pants. Bonheur wore men’s clothes, smoked tobacco and lived in a castle with a menagerie of animals. A 2022 film, “Rosa Bonheur dame nature,” dramatizes her remarkable life.
Early black and white
Leonard noted that in 1998 the Clark began to collect photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries. “It was felt particularly with our role as teachers and educators … it was very important to have this in our collection.” The curator added that “it was an aggressive campaign with money put towards a very rapid acquisition of the early years of the medium.”
It’s been said that the most reproduced photograph of the 20th century was taken by Dennis Stock of 1950s actor James Dean walking in Times Square. Almost 100 years earlier, the 19th century image of a ship at sea, taken in 1856 by Gustave Le Gray, became the most popular photograph of its time.
“Brig on the Water” is deceptively simple yet it’s the first time that the details of both the ocean, or landscape, and a pattern of clouds overhead were in the same photograph. With the characteristics of film at the time, it was impossible to correctly expose for both earth and sky on the same glass plate. The Frenchman achieved this by combining two different negatives for the final result.
“It’s not just a mark of his immense skill in the medium, but also this esthetic power,” Leonard said. “It’s a magnificent image.”
Gustave Le Gray was a painter, teacher and author, doing much to advance photography as an art while forecasting that “the entire future of photography is on paper.” He was a better lens man than a businessman and, at the age of 40, he ran away from creditors and family, spending his remaining years in Egypt.
The work of Lenox born photographer James Van Der Zee is also exhibited. He spent most of his career photographing the personalities of Harlem and gained international fame for his pictures. Twenty years before his passing in 1983, the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibited his images. An accomplished musician, for several years he also played in Fletcher Henderson’s band.
Here a 1926 photo “Wedding Day Harlem” displays a handsome bride and groom in finery posed against a painted backdrop. At their feet Van Der Zee has deftly inserted the transparent image of a child holding a doll. The photographer was renowned in creating special effects, often enhancing a picture by drawing on the negative.
Among the photographs shown, from the institute’s collection of more than 1,000, are the works of Berenice Abbott. She was a proponent of “straight photography” with no tricks or gimmicks. Without her, the name of early lens man Eugene Atget, also on display, may not be so widely known. He is remembered for documenting late 19th century and early 20th century Paris, which he knew was quickly vanishing to modern architecture. Abbott successfully campaigned for his work to become more widely appreciated.
She had begun her career working in the studio of the Surrealist Man Ray and went on to create may of the definitive photographs of such luminaries as the poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau and the author James Joyce.
For those not choosing to travel, the majority of the institute’s collections may be viewed at their website clarkart.edu. Works on paper, print and photography may also be viewed by appointment.
The institute contains one of the most remarkable collections of French Impressionism, English landscape paintings and the 19th century $1.2 million Lawrence Alma-Tadema piano. When acquired, it was the highest price paid for a music box until George Michael purchased musician John Lennon’s Steinway for $2.1 million.
“50 Years and Forward” continues through March 10. Admission is free through March. The Clark is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information is available by visiting https://www.clarkart.edu/.
More Arts for you
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Flaco the Central Park owl has been free for a year. An NYC photographer looks back.
Friday marks a year since an owl named Flaco escaped from his home in New York’s Central Park Zoo after vandals damaged his mesh enclosure.
Within days, the Eurasian eagle owl amassed fans in New York and beyond who worried about his ability to survive in the big city.
But Flaco is thriving. New Yorkers continue to spot him on fire escapes and cornices, and have observed him peering into windows.
The owl’s feathery form even appears on sweatshirts, coffee mugs and stickers, among other merch.
Few people know Flaco better than Manhattan-based wildlife observer and photographer David Lei, who specializes in urban owls.
He’s been following and photographing Flaco for the past year and estimates he has taken tens of thousands of photos of the celebrity bird.
Lei caught up with WNYC’s Michael Hill to discuss a year of Flaco.
Michael Hill: David, you probably know Flaco pretty well by now. Describe him for us.
David Lei: First of all, Flaco is beautiful. Just absolutely majestic and magnificent. He looks much like our native great horned owls, but quite different with beautiful orange plumes and orange eyes. He’s got a massive 6-foot wingspan, and it’s just a delight to behold him.
In addition to that, he really has an interesting personality. First of all, he is very curious. Once, we saw him on a pitcher’s mound on one of the Central Park baseball fields, and somebody had left behind their pitcher’s rosin bag, and he started playing with it. Owls are occasionally playful, but it was very interesting to observe him do that.
Flaco on a Central Park baseball field pitchers mound.
In the beginning, there was concern that Flaco wouldn’t know how to hunt and survive outside captivity, but now he’s a true New Yorker. How do you think he was able to adjust?
He really just needed to embrace that instinct and rediscover his wild nature. He initially wasn’t very good at flying. He’d get exhausted quite quickly, flying a short distance from one tree to the next, crashing into branches when he went to land, but he kept at it.
And over time, he got better. He got better very quickly, actually. And before long, he was quite graceful in flight.
We were also quite fortunate to watch him learn how to hunt. One other way that I could see Flaco’s confidence increasing was in his hooting.
Initially, he would hoot quite softly. I overheard one of the zookeepers tell a fellow birder that he scarcely ever hooted in the zoo.
Flaco on a rock in Central Park
What’s your favorite photo you’ve taken of Flaco?
My favorite one, I would say, is of him sitting on a Central Park bench. That’s something that had been on my wish list of locations to see him. And amazingly, one night, it actually happened. And I think it just speaks to how he is an owl of the city.
And how’s he doing?
I last saw Flaco on the Upper West Side around 90th and Broadway two nights ago. He was hooting from what’s become a favorite building, and he looked great. He seems to be doing really well.
The hooting does appear to require a fair bit of energy to project that sound two blocks away, and to keep at it for perhaps hours on end.
I’m not sure how long he was at it the other night because he had more stamina than I did. But if he’s got the stamina to do that, I think he is quite healthy, and he looks healthy.
Flaco on a water tower
David, what has the last year taught you? Not just about Flaco, but about all the people who are really rooting for him.
Something I think that’s really resonated with people about Flaco is how he was able to completely transform himself. Flaco is now going on 14. He is well into adulthood for the lifespan of an owl. He had lived in captivity his whole life: born to captive owls, didn’t know how to fly, didn’t know how to hunt, didn’t know how to survive in the wild when he was first released.
And yet he was able to figure all that out and create a totally new life for himself in New York City.
So if Flaco can make it here, he can make it anywhere.
GUINEVERE VAN SEENUS: PHOTOGRAPHER
Interview by Jesse Hayes
Before I ever picked up a camera, brushes and pencils were my tools of choice. During college, I delved into multiple figure drawing classes, fascinated by the intricacies of the human face and form. To refine my skills, I regularly immersed myself in fashion magazines, using them as references to study and draw from.
It was within the pages of Vogue that I first discovered Guinevere, in an unforgettable campaign shot by Craig McDean for Jil Sander. From that moment onward, I saved clippings of photoshoots of her to draw inspiration from during my time at art school and have continued to follow her career.
Guinevere van Seenus is a photographer, jewelry designer, and has been a top fashion model in both print and runway since the mid-’90s. She has graced the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and W Magazine multiple times.
Born in Boston, MA, to Dutch immigrant parents, Guinevere attended primary school in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Santa Barbara, CA. At the age of 15, she embarked on her modeling career.
In 1996, while living in Paris, she shot her first major cover and editorial spread for Vogue Italia. This marked the beginning of her rapid ascent to become one of the most sought-after models in the fashion industry, appearing in the work of renowned photographers such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Karl Lagerfeld, Steven Klein, Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindbergh, Jan Saudek, Steven Meisel, and many others.
But there is much more to Guinevere than just fashion; she has a passion for cars, motorcycles, animals, and renovating her 1911 farmhouse with her partner Beau Friedlander. Today, our focus is on her love of photography, particularly film photography.
The following is an excerpt from a three-hour conversation Guinevere and I had in December 2023.
BEGINNING
Jesse: What was your initial exposure to photography and cameras?
Guinevere: I suppose my first real exposure was my grandfather, my mother’s father, he had a strong passion for photography. He was a product of World War II and had some obsessive tendencies around cameras, sound devices, and many other types of contraptions that he would collect, save and try to repair. Unfortunately, he had passed away by the time I really became aware of cameras and the beauty of film and polaroid (other than teenage point and shoots of course).
When my grandmother passed a few years ago there was a lot to go through, I grabbed a bin of the super 8, ordered a projector and checked a few of them out. There is fantastic footage of my grandparents at the world’s fair in Belgium, and various adventures through the 50s, and 60s, most are still stored, and I haven’t managed to get to them yet, but I can imagine there is a project there. We (as a family) have a plan to go through all his old still film this year. Sadly, a lot was destroyed by water, rot and mold, along with many international relocations over the decades. It is a thrill to get to see more of what he did and how their lives were, it’s an ongoing journey, being exposed to and exploring his passion.
Jesse: When did you start taking photography more seriously?
Guinevere: Before I started modeling, I wanted to go to art school. I liked painting and was mostly interested in painting the human form. I’m a little nervous around people and initially envisioned it as a more solitary process. I didn’t want to be in the same room with somebody for five hours while I was painting them, it seemed a lot to ask of anyone.
When I moved to New York from Paris in 1996, I got my first properly manual camera, a Rolleiflex TLR. My idea was I would photograph subjects and then paint them at home. The first roll of film consisted of nudes of my mother in my tiny bedroom, I just hung some sheets up and started practicing, they were terrible. I had no idea about depth of field, aperture, or shutter speed. I knew nothing. I remained mostly self-taught/ignorant, until I went back to school a few years later. In 2001, I made the decision to move back to California, where I enrolled at Santa Monica College.
I must say though that some of those early images are precious in their naïveté.
For whatever reason I never asked questions on set when I was modeling. I am still quite reticent in this area, but I push myself to be braver considering what a special opportunity it is to be able to observe and converse… essentially to have at times a personal master class from some of the best in the world.
Jesse: So, you took a break from modeling?
Guinevere: Yes, I took quite a long break. Several actually.
So, the Rolleiflex TLR was my first proper camera, it is obviously a particular camera, so I didn’t shoot it that much and my photography progressed quite slowly. At some point I also picked up a 35mm Rollei (such a lovely little camera) to be able to be
more mobile and spontaneous with things. Eventually I ran into the limitations (also the sweet gifts) of working with a guess focus camera and traded it in for what I was told was the pinnacle of 35mm…my first Leica. Which I believe was the M5. I only had this for a brief second before trading up to an available M6 in preparation of a long trip I was taking with my father to China around 2000.
Interspersed here were a few great point and shoots such as the Olympus Stylus and Yashica T4.
Jesse: Did you take photography classes?
Guinevere: During my sort of hiatus, I enrolled in classes at Santa Monica College (SMC), where I took advantage of their amazing photography program. They had one of the best labs in the country at the time because they had recently lost theirs in an earthquake and so had entirely rebuilt, state of the art facilities.
I took various art classes, figure drawing, theatre makeup, ceramics, as well as mechanics. I enjoy creating and working with my hands, whether it’s with cars, motorcycles, or engaging in the world of cameras and photography. I took photography basics, and just as I delved into their printing courses, I found myself pulled back into modeling and its hectic and lengthy travel schedule. Unfortunately, I had to drop the course midway several times. So, from that point on I was just shooting.
I had at least acquired a basic understanding of how to operate a camera, but I never really excelled at printing or completed that part of my schooling. I took more classes when I moved back to New York, but that was much later.
FILM
Jesse: In an interview you said, “I don’t have the same emotional connection to digital as I do film”. What is it about film that makes that emotional connection for you?
Guinevere: It’s hard to say, I imagine it’s a number of things. Digital is so fast; there is a computer brain transcribing the information between the subject and the photographer not just a simple capture of the information onto a film plane. There is an often a monitor which places most people on set at the point of result instead of in the journey and process, and it adds many more opinions into the discussion.
But there is also the personality difference of cameras, for example, when I’m on shoots with an 8 x 10 camera, I feel as if I relax into a certain space. The slow and diligent pace of the process sets a place for opening up deeply. Breathing changes, posture relaxes, even into a contrived position, the eyes calm and take in the space which brings on a more real facial expression. One of seeing not just being seen I suppose. Like a proper portrait.
Digital also affords wonderful things and has its purpose. I’ve done a lot of different projects with digital now and can see the freedom of experimentation and much more. But when I look into the lens of a large format film camera, I feel like I’m staring into the eyeball of like a giant elephant, it has its own soul, and it seems as if it’s looking into mine.
CAMERAS
Jesse: What made you gravitate to the Leica M6?
Guinevere: It was the one I heard that was the best. I was also interested in photojournalism, so felt the M6 was more of an appropriate camera for that.
Jesse: The Leica M6 certainly has that reputation, although I must admit I’m a little biased towards the Leica M2. What other cameras are you currently using?
Guinevere: It depends on my mood and the project I suppose. Whenever I travel, I make it a point to always have at least one camera with me, generally I bring a point and shoot, a Leica Minilux. But it is a little problematic (In fact its broken again). I had actually helped my mom buy it as a gift for my stepfather 20 years ago. He never used it, so it came to me. With that I go between the M6 and the Rolleiflex.
At home it’s easier to play with some of the beefier ones, a longtime favorite is the Polaroid 600SE with a modified film back, as well as a Fuji GW690.
Jesse: I know you shoot Polaroids as well.
Guinevere: Yes. I have two Polaroid SX-70 cameras one of which came from my grandfather. I still have some of that old SX-70 film that is left from him, Polaroids of my brother and I as small kids. They are absolutely astounding. The color is so rich on the old film. It’s incredible. I used to take the SX-70 on trips as well, I found it doesn’t travel so well. It seems to be quite affected by the radiation at the airport and get exposed light patterns through them. So, I stopped bringing them.
AVEDON & PENN
Jesse: I wanted to ask what it was like to shoot with Richard Avedon.
Guinevere: It was awesome. It was interesting because it was an advertising job for The Gap with Avedon. When asked about the job, I of course said yes immediately.
The shoot was sort of different because at the time he was older and quite old school in the way his sets were. No one was allowed on set. There was no hair, no makeup, and sometimes not even a stylist or editor. It was just you, him, an assistant and no music. The concentration was a 1000%. It was a state of pure focus without any distractions. There was simply no room for them, and that’s what I remember most.
For me it was a different way of working. There’s this idea that fashion is one big party, and every shoot is loud. And some of them are like that. The music’s overwhelming and people are non-stop talking. But to shoot with Avedon was the polar opposite.
Jesse: And I’m sure he was using a large format camera.
Guinevere: He was.
Jesse: And what about shooting with Irving Penn?
Guinevere: For the initial project, I flew in several times (living in California at the time) once just to meet him. Once for the special fitting of the prosthetics we were using (by the talented team of SNL) and then again for the shoot.
This was a beauty picture for American Vogue. It was an incredible experience, but in all honesty, I don’t believe it counted as one of his great images. Not in any way because of him, but because of the nature of having prosthetics meant that there was going to be retouching required and he didn’t retouch.
While his pictures were inherently pure, the addition of this large rubbery prosthetic (which was meant to look real) was challenging. The melting of those two textures would be nothing now with digital and retouching but with his amazing detail of texture it was no easy thing. It was certainly something I had never worked with before either. But he was so sweet and gentle and lovely, and said some treasured words to me.
Jesse: Did you work with any other old school photographers like Penn and Avedon?
Guinevere: Very sadly I missed out working with Helmut Newton because of my hiatus in the early 2000s.
Jesse: Helmut Newton’s work is amazing.
Guinevere: I know… When I started modeling there was a crossover period where I was a part of this younger generation of models, and it took some people a little time before they wanted to work with us.
We were a different flavor than the supermodels of the day. And by the time that transition fully happened, I had already gone on hiatus. So, I did miss out on working with a lot of photographers.
But I did work with some very special ones like Jan Saudek. Getting to work with him was mind-boggling, I just assumed that he had passed away based on the dates on some of his film. Then, I got the call to work with him, I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me!
I also worked with Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Andres Serrano, Catherine Opi, as well as Susan Meiselas briefly.
Jesse: Are there photographers still shooting film on fashion photo sets?
Guinevere: Yes, and there’s very much a return to it. In a lot of cases, there’s no room for the time film takes, but there are certain photographers that know what they’re looking for and the sort of sensitivity that film provides. I think it depends on what you’re shooting, who you are shooting for, and who the photographer is.
But there’s a considerable amount of film and it’s nice.
PHOTOJOURNALISM
Jesse: What photographers influenced you?
Guinevere: Robert Capa. I wasn’t aware of his work when I went to school at Santa Monica College (SMC). Then, I opened the school textbook and became immediately transfixed by one of the frames he took on D-Day of the Omaha Beach Landings. They stuck with me, and I studied them a bit more.
When I went back to school at The International Center of Photography (ICP), in 2015, I enrolled in the two-year program. The first thing that they asked us to do was to bring in a photograph that inspires us. I brought in a photograph from that series. At the time, I didn’t know that Robert Capa’s brother Cornell Capa was the one that founded ICP. But the photo intrigued me, and it always lingered in my memory.
Additionally, the documentary The Mexican Suitcase, about the work of photographers David Seymour, Gerda Taro, and Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil War.
Jesse: Oh, The Mexican Suitcase is fantastic!
Guinevere: I think the photojournalism obsession started with the Oliver Stone film Salvador. It’s about a photojournalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War. A phenomenal film. It completely blew my mind when I watched it.
Then, I read about the work of Mary Ellen Mark, I was amazed by how a photographer could invest so much time to authentically become a part of a group, a family, a different society in order to tell their story. Or, in the case of war, to place themselves in these perilous scenarios that painfully tug at the soul. I deeply envy the incredible skill, talent and bravery it takes to produce such exceptional work, such an astounding act of service.
Robert Capa’s D-day photographs helped me to understand that you don’t need words, you get an idea of what it is to be somewhere without someone telling you. Somewhere you might never be, something that you might never experience, of a culture, a community, or a situation.
FUTURE
Jesse: Can you see yourself moving more behind the camera? Do you have any photography projects coming up?
Guinevere: It’s a great question. I want to say, I don’t know. I never really had a plan for life. It was more what unfolded into the next thing. I was surprised that I wound up in photography. I didn’t plan for it, and I didn’t expect it.
Half the time, I feel like I shouldn’t pursue it due to my inclination to doubt my abilities. There’s definitely a back and forth. But I still can’t help seeing images that I want to make and see ways I want to experiment with light and emotions through film.
A recent project involved embroidering on SX70 Polaroids, self-portraits, interpreting pieces from Alexander McQueen. So that combining of photography and art, sculpture, and mixed media, I’d like to explore more of.
I’m currently talking to a photographer, who is interested in collaborating on a book together. I really can’t talk more about it, but we’re in the planning stages, and I genuinely feel honored to be a part of it.
I want to express my sincere thanks to Guinevere for generously sharing her memories, thoughts about film, and insights into her personal work. It was a genuine honor to interview someone who has been a consistent source of inspiration for me over the decades, and undoubtedly, will continue to inspire for many more years to come.
Please take a look at Guinevere’s website by visiting www.guineverevanseenus.com as well as Guinevere’s Instagram @guineverevanseenus
Photographs used with the kind permission of Guinevere Van Seenus. Not to be reproduced without permission.
A huge thank you to Jesse Hayes and Guinevere Van Seenus. I really love these in depth interviews. Jesse has a knack for getting photographers to really open up. You can see Jesse’s other articles here.
JCH
