Tim walker is known for his high fashion conceptual queer pictures and photographing for Vogue Magazine aswell as publishing several books, directing several short films and co-directing a music video by Bjork
His work is consistently high-fantasy editorial and gives a strong feeling of whimsical escapism
"Russian Dolls" Shot for Vogue magazine
The focal point for this shoot was to display the couture costumes that feature in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
In the third image of this series, I'd describe the composition as intentionally off-balance due to the asymmetric pose somewhat jarring position the model is in.
I'm a big fan of the contrasting back sheet and how it feels like it's shot in a makeshift scene in the backstage of the ballet and the sheets were just sort of grabbed and thrown over a table.
These shots are from featuring garments in John Galliano's Artisanal Collection for Maison Margiela
This is one of my favourite collections of all time so discovering that Walker shot some pieces for it brings me a lot of joy to be able to talk about it prior to me starting my core research (where I'll be showcasing this collection as a primary inspiration piece for where my portfolio will focused)
Gwendoline Christie is stood in a concrete corner wearing a garment draped for her by Galliano
The composition of this piece might look simple, like it's just about focusing on the garment with a simple background but if you look right behind Christie there's a really gorgeous aura of light that feels like she's a radiant figure of motherly comfort. Considering the concept of the collection, maybe this was intentional to portray what's she's known for to her clients, in the environments she regulars
The next photo of the french gambler looking-type, i love the side silhouette, the intentional heavy tired eyes and the frizzed out hair. I think the plain white background and the high contrast ambient occlusion on the wall really emphasises the energy of the character having a sort of "dark background" in a literal sense, especially when you know the concept of the collection.
The foundation Christie is wearing took over 2 years to develop and is a mixture of several different face masks and foundations. Galliano was very specific about wanting his models to have a porcelain doll-like texture to their faces.
The overall theme for this collection was related to 1800's paris underground speakeasy/hole in the wall environments, with the models and garments designed to look like thieves, bandits, prostitutes, gamblers and queer folk.
I'll do a deeper dive on this collection and why it's so significant to my referencing at a later point
During my research it became apparent why Tim Walker is such a prolific editorial photographer.
