In looking back at every history related to fashion, we are accustomed to quoting the scriptures: "When a designer introduces a certain style in a certain era, it immediately triggers a popularity." "In reality, however, when we look back at those fashion archives, it is not difficult to find that the fashion moments that really became classics and influenced an era almost mostly came from the streets.
Clautia Schiffer, a supermodel under the lens of Ellen Von Unwerth, Vogue, USA, April 1989.
In people's impressions, street photography seems to have started from the popularity of color photography and portable cameras, and it seems that the history of fashion street photography from the scenes and contents of images to infer the emergence of fashion street photography seems to be earlier. In the 1890s, mathematician and astronomer Carl St rmer became the first known "street photographer." He was a student at the time and photographed fashionable women walking the streets in Oslo. More than a decade after the introduction of the 35mm camera, St rmer used a "spy camera" - wearing components on the body, the lens was exposed through the buttonhole of the clothes, and the finger pulled the mechanism in the pocket to complete the shooting.
This kind of photo taken in almost hidden conditions can be said to be not much different from the immediacy and randomness of today's street photography, but it is precisely this way that when every street photographer is looking for the beauty of the unexpected encounter on the street, the beauty of this real life scene can make everyone feel and know. It can be said that in the half century since St rmer, street photography has always been a scene choice for photographers to take pictures, and not a fixed professional attribute can be defined and distinguished.
Then, whether it's the elegance of Christian Dior's New Look on the banks of the Seine in Paris, the dashing moment when Helmut Newton freezes the frame for Yves Saint Laurent's "Le Smoking" smoking in the streets of rainy nights, or the legendary photographer Arthur Elgort's extra vivid fashion blockbusters on the streets for Vogue in the 1980s. Perhaps these masterpieces of fashion history are somewhat different from the word "street photography" as we understand it today, but at that time, these choices that dared to go from the studio to the streets and alleys had already surprised traditional fashion photography.
Under Arthur Elgort's lens, the streets are the best set. From left to right, vogue is published in July 1974, August 1982, September 1986, February 1989, and April 1989.
It wasn't until Bill Cunningham and his New York Times ace section, "On the Street," that people really got a spotlight and understanding of the street photographer's business, somewhere between fashion photography and documentary photography. We may be familiar with this street photographer who always wears a blue overalls and rides a bicycle through the bustling downtown area of New York, and because of Anna Wintour's sentence "We all dress up for Cunningham", we feel his great appeal in the field of street filming.
It was also during the same period that the popularity of portable cameras made street photography one of the best means of documenting history, from Jackie Kennedy's elegant suits for foreign affairs occasions, to the aviator glasses, knitwear and wide-legged pants style of female equalist Gloria Steinem in street activities, and the uninhibited neutral outfit of style icon Jane Birkin, which became an important reference for future scholars to study the connection between fashion and social development.
Jackie Kennedy's street shots are always accompanied by suits.
Gloria Steinem's public wear
Become a symbol of a generation of women's affirmative action movement.
Jane Birkin's signature look,
High-rise jeans with a loose, effortless white shirt and sheer top.
Entering the 21st century, especially since 2010, the outbreak of social media and the continuous acceleration of the pace of fashion shows, as well as the emergence of more and more cross-field fashion fans, so that street photography has both the function of "dressing guidance", almost every fashion media will open a street photography column, the success story and the negative typical juxtaposition, after all, not everyone has a model-like perfect body, look at the ordinary people in the dress loss, but also let themselves make less mistakes.
Bill Cunningham on the On the Street section of the New York Times
Among them, fashion editors who understand fashion and have a lot of say in the fashion industry have naturally become regular customers on the dress red list, including both the "extravagant faction" like Anna Dello Russo, the "everyday refinement faction" represented by sarah Harris, the current deputy editor-in-chief of Vogue Europe, and the "colorful mashup" such as the former well-known fashion editor and now creative director of Swarovski, Giovanna Engelbert.
Anna Dello Russo, Sarah Harris, and Giovanna Engelbert have very different and equally wonderful street beats.
Of course, if you talk about the hottest street idols at the moment, it is not hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and other new generation fashion idols. Once, the fashion designers at the top of the pyramid of the fashion industry, determine the wind direction of street wear; and now, these idols who reveal the fashion potential from the street shooting lens, began to influence the choice of the fashion industry with personal charm, and then appeared in advertising blockbusters, brand cooperation, unconsciously, street photography fashion has been closely linked with the entire industry, becoming an indispensable part, with the advancement of technology, scientific and technological innovation, street photography does not matter "life" or "death", but with the energy surging on the streets of various eras , constantly upgrading and innovating.
Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid, and Kendall Jenner, who are closely followed by camera everywhere they go.
"Fashion and Beauty VOYAGE" Talked about the street photography in his eyes and the fun that street photography brought to him by Zheng Yumeng, the photographer we have worked with, on the topic of street photography.
Street photographer Zheng Yumeng
Who are your favorite street idols and street photographers?
I love the brave fashion fighters who put design and art on their bodies like experiments and appear on the streets. Fashion blogger Michelle Elie and fashion editor Anna Dello Russo are people I'm super looking forward to meeting and photographing on the street, their styles are bold, pushing the boundaries of clothes and everyday life, admirable; boys, I always look forward to stylist Luke Jefferson's outfit, very retro, very unusual, also very brave, is my favorite style.
My favorite street photographer has to be Phil Oh, I've been watching his street shots since I first started paying attention to fashion, and his current photos have a strong sense of street story, as if you're in the scene, and he can always take one of the best street shots with the least amount of time and shutter, and I'm amazed every time I look at him next to him.
Phil Oh's story-filled street style
During Fall/Winter 2022 Paris Fashion Week,
Photographer Phil Oh shot Chinese model Zhang Lina
When did you start working as a street photographer? What fun do you think street photography has brought you?
I started street photography in my sophomore year, and it's been 12 years this year. I started street photography because I love fashion and art, I like to see good clothes on the street, when some haute couture that others think can't wear out the door and shows that I have only seen in magazines appear in front of me, the sense of fantasy is intertwined with real scenes, and the moment you press the shutter, the fun comes.
Will you find the inspiration you're looking for in your street photography?
Of course, I prefer to see how these fashions feel in real people than in magazines and runways, and I can fantasize about how they look like on the body from these photos. I am also often inspired by these daring fashion elves to dress.
According to the experience of street photography, which places are the best places to find the ideal subject of street shooting?
In Shanghai, the most popular street photography place now is along some internet celebrity roads, but to find the real fashion essence, I prefer to go to some creative parks or near the boutique, where there will be people who are desperate for fashion.
What are the characteristics of the shape that allows you to lift the camera and press the shutter?
The first thing I notice is the combinations that are based on my own aesthetic system, I prefer more artistic and classic styling; then there are some details that I like, some wonderful mix-and-match, a handbag or accessory that I like, which may make me want to shoot.
From the peak of street photography in 2010 to the post-pandemic era, what do you think has changed in fashion in street photography over the years? What do you think of the "street shoots are dead" argument?
My friends and I often complain that people in the three years of fashion weeks because of the epidemic have begun to "relax" themselves, but no matter what era street photography is the best carrier for transmitting the spirit of fashion and street culture, the camera will always record the most beautiful moments at the moment. I think there will always be people who will put fashion on the street, there will always be people who want to see what people on the street are wearing, before we looked at the latest fashion street photography from style.com and Jak & Jil, now we see street photography from all over the world from Weibo, Little Red Book and Instagram, we have a more extensive and convenient channel to accept street photography culture, in the new media era, people can also create their own street photography, street photography will not die, it will only surround our lives from a wider dimension.
The pictures are all during Zheng Yumeng's Spring/Summer 2022 Shanghai Fashion Week
A street photography for Vogue for Costume and Beauty.
Author: Shan Lai
Editor: Lexi Chen
Art: Roland, Zhang Xiaoyi