MyÜberLife

ALEX PRAGER | FASHION’S NEW PERFECT FIT?

The collection of images above are from LA born artist / photographer Alex Prager.   

Prager has been lighting up the art world with her dramatic and emotionally-charged photographic work since 2005.  

Prager’s style of photography has often been described as dramatic and highly stylized photographic stories dripping with emotion.  At the center of each of her photographic stories lies a female protaganist surrounded by a supporting cast of vibrant colors, clothing, and environment, evoking a cinematic quality to her work.  Its no wonder many of her works take reference from classic films such as North by Northwest and draw inspiration from prolific directors such as Alfred Hitchcock.

Alex made her first official splash on the art scene with the well received art book, The Book of Disquiet:  An immoral Drama, a collaboration with artist Mercedes Helnwein which explored a visual representation of the seven deadly sins.

Since the release of the book, Prager has gone on to develop her cinematic portrayals of the “past-meets-present” female through various art projects such as her exhibition at the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London entitled The Big Valley, and her short film called Despair.

But arguably, it wasn’t until her work being featured in MOMA’s 2010 New Photography exhibition that Prager began receiving attention from the luxury fashion world for her moody and visually stimulating style of photography.  

This year alone, Miss Prager provided her artistic skills for a variety of high fashion brands. Prager shot Bottega Veneta’s SS11 campaign featuring top model Karolina Kurkova.  She also shot the advertisements for the well-publicized masstige collaboration of Missoni for Target [for more details read Missoni x Target | Masstige Done Right] just before NYFW SS12.  And as of most recent, Miss Prager did ‘back-to-back’ work for Vogue US and W Magazine - shooting an editorial for Vogue’s Septemeber 2011 issue that featured accessories from Gucci, Alexander Wang, and Givenchy, and shooting another editorial for W Magazine’s October 2011 issue which featured Elizabeth Olsen and was styled by Lori Goldstein.

With all these new opportunities coming from the fashion world, what is it about Miss Prager’s work that is making her so palatable to high fashion luxury brands?  Is it that her particular style of photography perfectly aligns with the needs of high fashion luxury branding?  Below are some key points to shed some light on this idea:

1. “Past-meets-Present” woman - Alex Prager’s work offers a romantic and often iconic view of the chic heroine in a retro or vintage setting.  Miss Prager uses these visual cues of the “past” for their ability to conjure feelings of casual unrest and tie the past and present together.  As the artist states: 

“I want the pictures to be a fusion of the past with the present.  That’s how I see the world.  We’re never entirely in one period at one time.”  

She has a talent for capturing the subtle essence of past eras in her photographs. This technique may be especially synergistic with high fashion luxury brands as their marketing efforts often make references to the past heritage of their brands; a subtle way of reminding their target audience of their brand’s “iconic” place in history and the enduring values that are still consistent with their present day goods.  

2.  Storytelling - Each of Miss Prager’s photos is like a slice of larger story which is left to be filled in by the imagination of the viewer.  Through her careful staging of each photograph, Miss Prager is able to elude to certain emotions that the viewer can detect.  High fashion luxury branding constantly uses stories to develop themes that are inherent to the brand [for more detail on this topic read Storytelling Should Be The Focus For Luxury Brands].  Miss Prager has become increasingly well-known for her ability to consistently imbue each photograph with an intriguing story; and as a result, high fashion luxury brands may perceive her as a viable option to articulate their unique fashion stories with a fresh style that is currently relevant.  

3.  Sensory Detail - Miss Prager’s work is known to make use of bold hues and vibrant colors, much of which is exemplified through vintage clothing from the era in which she is trying to capture.  And often, the colors and hues work in conjunction with the elements of the shot to emphasize a specific mood or feeling.  A big fashion trend seen in countless collections for SS12 is the use of ‘color blocking,’ a popular styling technique that involves combining different colors that support and compliment each other.  That being said, many high fashion luxury brands may want to enlist a photographer who is capable of making a visual statement with colors and hues; thus, Miss Prager’s unmistakable style could be the perfect fit.

4.  Drenched in Emotion - Emotion may be the single most important component to Miss Prager’s artistic work.  As the artist states:

“Often once we get on set, all plans and ideas go out the window and it becomes just pure improvisation at that point.  I can never go about it in a logical or analytical way- it’s more based on instincts and energy.”

In every photograph Miss Prager seems to be playing with a range of dramatic scenarios designed to provoke, and sometimes confuse, the viewers emotional palette.  In an effort to constantly alter or maintain the perception of the brand in the eyes of their target audience, high fashion luxury brands are constantly looking for new creative endeavors that help affect the “emotions” of their target audience.  Miss Prager’s work stirs emotions; and does so particularly with woman, who are primarily the focus of her work and undoubtedly the core target audience for most high fashion luxury brands. 

The aforementioned themes, combined, evoke a sense of mystery, which has characterized the essence of Miss Prager’s work for most of her career. 

However, and more importantly, the demonstration of these themes are the key to successful branding in today’s consumer-driven world; and at the very least, three out of the four components are absolute necessities for a thriving high fashion luxury brand.  Selling high fashion luxury goods is about the full experience - an idea making reference to Philip Kotler’s concept of atmospheric marketing which states that a tangible product is only a portion of the total consumption package.  Buyers respond to the total product, which includes services, warranties, packaging, advertising, financing, pleasantries, images and so on.  

Miss Prager and her work represent a portion of the high fashion luxury consumption package and it is for that reason that I believe Miss Prager’s work is being sought after by some of the most well-known names in the fashion landscape, and could very quickly have her name amongst the leading photographers in the fashion industry.

Definitely keep an eye out for Miss Prager’s signature photographic style in the coming campaigns for SS12.

You can check out more of her work by clicking here.

posted by Kwasi Gyasi of MyUberLife

These pictures and quotes from Barbara Kruger embody timeless creative, social and business issues; one of the reason why art is enjoyable and necessary.  Art is both timeless and momentary.  Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

Quotes:

“I think that I’m trying to engage issues of power and sexuality and money and life and death and power. Power is the most free-flowing element in society, maybe next to money, but in fact they both motor each other.”-Barbara Kruger.

“I think there are lots of ways to make good work. You can throw big bucks at a project and make what some would call crap, or you can work very modestly with eloquently moving results.”-Barbara Kruger.

“I think what I’m trying to do is create moments of recognition. To try to detonate some kind of feeling or understanding of lived experience.” - Barbara Kruger.

“I try to deal with the complexities of power and social life, but as far as the visual presentation goes I purposely avoid a high degree of difficulty.” - Barbara Kruger.

About Barbara Kruger: 

Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist. Much of her work consists of black-and-white photographs overlaid with declarative captions—in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique or Helvetica Ultra Condensed. The phrases in her works often include use of pronouns such as “you”, “your”, “I”, “we”, and “they”.

Much of Kruger’s work engages the merging of found photographs from existing sources with pithy and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. In their trademark white letters against a slash of red background, some of her instantly recognizable slogans read “I shop therefore I am,” and “Your body is a battleground.” Much of her text questions the viewer about feminism, consumerism, and individual autonomy and desire, although her black-and-white images are culled from the mainstream magazines that sell the very ideas she is disputing.