Hoosier Sartorialist Returns
“A picture speaks 1,000 words.”
And sometimes, so do people, without saying anything.
I had the privilege of participating in a seminar last night conducted by Indiana native Scott Shuman, a.k.a. The Sartorialist. Whether you know him from his long running column in GQ Magazine, his blog site, thesartorialist.blogspot.net, his ranking as one of fashion’s 100 most influential people, or not at all, it was a pleasure to hear him speak.
He started his lecture by humbly pointing out that what he does, in the grand scheme of life is… well… miniscule. Although it may not rank to high on the priority list, to some it is their only artistic outlet to express them selves. By walking the streets snapping photos of “real” people he has created a worldwide awareness of how people can speak to others without words, one of my personal beliefs.
Throughout the evening Scott showed us photos from his archives that when attached to a story, became more than just a good photograph. Some transformed into mind-opening images of the everyday person that, even the least judgmental of us, would have categorized incorrectly. From NYC’s “Bum” who turned out to be Ralph Lauren’s leading vintage buyer. To the pair of gentleman dressed almost identical, one, a Rastafarian looking fellow from South Africa, the other, an elderly, scholarly looking fellow who turned out to be one of Europe’s leading academics. And my favorite, the little old Japanese man who unknowingly influenced the Sartorialist himself in his wardrobe choices.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Hoosier Sartorialist Returns
Hoosier Sartorialist Returns
“A picture speaks 1,000 words.”
And sometimes, so do people, without saying anything.
I had the privilege of participating in a seminar last night conducted by Indiana native Scott Shuman, a.k.a. The Sartorialist. Whether you know him from his long running column in GQ Magazine, his blog site, thesartorialist.blogspot.net, his ranking as one of fashion’s 100 most influential people, or not at all, it was a pleasure to hear him speak.
He started his lecture by humbly pointing out that what he does, in the grand scheme of life is… well… miniscule. Although it may not rank to high on the priority list, to some it is their only artistic outlet to express them selves. By walking the streets snapping photos of “real” people he has created a worldwide awareness of how people can speak to others without words, one of my personal beliefs.
Throughout the evening Scott showed us photos from his archives that when attached to a story, became more than just a good photograph. Some transformed into mind-opening images of the everyday person that, even the least judgmental of us, would have categorized incorrectly. From NYC’s “Bum” who turned out to be Ralph Lauren’s leading vintage buyer. To the pair of gentleman dressed almost identical, one, a Rastafarian looking fellow from South Africa, the other, an elderly, scholarly looking fellow who turned out to be one of Europe’s leading academics. And my favorite, the little old Japanese man who unknowingly influenced the Sartorialist himself in his wardrobe choices.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
It is evident that modern society thrives on visual images to function, thus as humans we may find ourselves attempting to determine the ‘bigger picture’ behind images or basic photographs we come across every day. Upon first glimpsing at an image we usually cast a generalized and superficial judgment on what is occuring in the photo and the basic characterization of those who occupy the photo. If we examine the images in detail we may often find ourselves trying to create a character profile of the people within or a story behind the situation presented (regardless of whether our created story is applicable or not). As for myself, I thrive on the ambiguity of trying to figure out others, though I am aware that my judgment could possibly be completely wide of the mark. Despite this, the media has become so contingent on emotional images that I find my opinion compromised as I read about general news topics and view pictures of various events, issues or even what we establish to be images of “everyday” people. At times I am confronted with such feelings of empathy or even shock that it is complicated to determine the character of those within each image. On occasion it is stimulating to just take time to view personal photos and generate a foreign judgment on how you believe an outsider would view the photograph without having known you at all. It could perhaps put into perspective the way we view others.
Post a Comment