Tag: photography / 写真

V&A: ‘Tim Walker: Wonderful Things’

~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

The Tim Walker: Wonderful Things exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum was among the last exhibitions I got to see before the Covid-19 physical distancings restrictions were set in place in the UK. I have been a fan of Tim Walker and his work ever since I was in my late-teens; his photo collection book ‘Picture’ was prominently placed in the corridor of my apartment in Berlin, with my walls being decorated with his fantastic and strange images. Tim Walker might also be part of my decision to study fashion design at ESMOD which was the reason for me to move to the capital city of my native Germany in the first place (and which I only did for a year – the reality of the fashion industry somewhat caught up with me …). The exhibition took me back to those time, and was simultaneously a good opportunity to catch up with the more recent work of the artist.

The first room gave a brief history over the career of Tim Walker, with the walls being filled with photographic images forming a sort of retroperspective of the artist’s creative ventures so far. Among them was the famous image of musicians Mari Hirao and Yui Yamamoto clad in full geisha kimono ensembles while operating Gen h-4 flying machines you can see below. Another one was one of my favourites by the artist which portrays model Xiao Wen Ju placed into a recreation of Hokusai‘s popular ukiyo-e woodblock print ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa‘.

Mari Hirao and Yui Yamamoto operating Gen h-4 flying machines, Nagano, Japan (2016).
© Tim Walker Studio, London.
Xiao Wen Ju with Hokusai’s Great Wave of Kanagawa, Eglingham, Northumberland (2012).
© Tim Walker Studio, London.

The second part of the exhibition focused on the works Tim Walker exclusively created for the exhibition. Taking different objects, or: ‘wonderful things’ from the V&A’s vast and diverse collection as the basis of inspiration, the photographer created ten series of photographs which were creatively displayed in different sections. The displays really added an emphasis in emersing oneself in the world of the artist.

My particular favourite was probably the Lil’ Dragon photo series inspired by an 18th century Chinoiserie snuffbox depicting a dragon on its front. Walker himself said about the series: “As soon as I saw [the snuffbox] with a dragon on it, I visualised an empress walking her pet dragon at night and picking a flower that only blooms at full moon”. I love how Walker translated the colours and strange imagery into darkly romantic photographs using UV light in front of dark black backgrounds, with main model Ling Ling’s make-up being done by Berlin-based drag artist Hungry.

Snuffbox by unknown artist (c. 1745).
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Lil’ Dragon by Tim Walker (2018).
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Other sources of inspiration ranged from Aubrey Beardsley’s black ink illustrations over the storage objects used by textile conservators at the V&A all the way to the wardrobe of the eccentric British poet Edith Sitwell.

All in all this was a truly wonderful exhibition, showcasing the creative talent of the British fashion photographer in a very approriate, Walker-esque way. It would be great to see more exhibitions like this in the future, with different artists taking inspiration from the museum’s collection to create new commissions.

Viictoria & Albert Museum
Tim Walker: Wonderful Things
Exhibition Dates: 21 September 2019 – 22 March 2020

All images, unless otherwise stated, © Carolin Becke.

Keep on reading!

Kimono Fashion Photoshoot with Marion Gabrielle: ‘Clearing Lines’

~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

The places your research leads you to … I never thought that I would be involved in a kimono photoshoot but this is precisely what happend two months ago!

I took my friend Marion Gabrielle, a fashion photographer, to the KIMONO MAGIC SOCIETY POP-UP at the beginning of March and she was immediately fascinated by the designs of the presented garments! This led to us organising a full photoshot on very short notice (knowing the kimono designers and their garments wouldn’t stay in London too long), with the whole organisational process taking less than three days! The kimono and obi were kindly provided to us by Modern Antenna who gave us complete artistic freedom over the use of their garments. Marion got in touch with model agency Titanium Management who sent along the two lovely models Vera and Aanandita for the shooting. Jubby S. was in charge of styling, providing us with pieces of garments to wear with the two kimono that were chosen (see pictures below!).

On the day of the shooting we met at Titanium Management who are based in a small side street in Shoreditch, to have the models styled and put into their respective clothing ensembles. Having never put another person in kimono, I have to admit that this was quite the challenge! It all worked out in the end however, thanks mainly to our concept being based on a very fashionable approach towards kimono (and also A LOT of improvisation!).

After Vera and Aanandita were styled and dressed, we headed out with Marion looking for inspiring spots in the back streets of Brick Lane. This is were some of my favourite images (see below) were shot, at the parking lot and entrances to the storage space of a fabric supply company to be precise, providing us with a beautiful backdrop of brick buildings, heavy industrial doors, warehouse materials and (above all) shipping boxes!

The second location for the shooting was Brick Lane Vintage Market which provided a slightly more colourful, vintage-y visual context for the kimono ensembles. I loved how some of the motifs of the different pieces communicated with their surrounding; the lines of the Union Jack on Aanandita‘s obi for example visually respond strikingly to the The Who t-shirts logos in one of the LP record shops (see last image below).

All in all, this was a very inspirational experience, which, besides providing me with a welcome distraction from my more writing-focused research activities, offered greater insights into the way kimono and certain kitsuke (the practice of dressing in kimono) relate to and look in photographic images. Putting another person into kimono was another fascinating part of this whole experience, which made me want to actively study and practice different obi ties and bigger variety of kitsuke, particularly in regards to creating different lengths of the hem (my one-off yukata lesson in Kyoto surely did not adequately prepare me for this!). As Marion and I are already thinking about possible future collaboration, you probably do not need to wait long to hear more from us!

Clearing Lines
Photographer Marion Gabrielle @mariongabriellephotos
Models: Vera and Aanandita @titaniummanagement @veralialko @aananditarajawat
Kimono Stylist: Carolin Becke
Stylist: Jubbi S. @jubbi.s
HMUA: Margherita Fabbro @margheritafabbro_mua
Kimono Designer: Modern Antenna @modern_antenna
Assistant: Katrina Spadaro

Find the full gallery here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/95744735/Clearing-Lines

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe: Kimono Photographs

~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

And another collection of kimono-related images from an online database, this time from the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe which is located in my hometown, Hamburg. The pictures are mainly from European photographers Felice Beato and Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenitz, as well as Japanese national Kusakabe Kimbei. Kusakabe worked for the former two as an assistant for many years, until opening his own studio in Yokohama in 1881. He came to be regarded as the most respected and successful Japanese photographers of his generation. Many of the images in the studio’s catalogue featured depictions of Japanese women, which were popular with tourists of the time.

Four dancers by Kimbei Kusakabe (around 1880–1890).
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
Photograph by Felice Beato (around 1868).
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
Photograph by unknown artist (around 1880-90).
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
Portrait of a young women by Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenitz (around 1870–1875).
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
Portrait of a young women by Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenitz (around 1870–1875).
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
Three young geisha by Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenitz (around 1870–1875).
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.

Women’s Hakama: Female student’s school uniforms

~ Carolin Becke ~ 1 Comment
Artist unknown.

The three young women depicted here are all wearing the first version of Japanese school uniforms, consisting of a hakama (袴) skirt worn over a short-sleeved furisode kimono. Hakama are wide trousers which were one of the main garments for men during the Edo period. These trousers were slightly modified and turned into skirts, being tied at one’s waist rather than one’s hip for the sake of becoming uniforms for young females.

Just like their male counterparts who adopted uniforms in 1879, the rising number of female students during the late 19th century likewise called for unified clothing on their part. Being adopted on a nationwide level in 1898 (and held in place until 1918), an emphasis was put on the functionality of the hakama / kimono ensemble within an environment in which students were expected to participate in regular practices of sports and physical exercise. The addition of boots or leather shoes, as well as a big ribbon in one’s hair would later come to quintessentially represent early female students of the Meiji and Taishō period.

Photograph by Elstner Hilton (1914-8).
「自転車に乗る女学生」from 新版引札見本帖、第1 (Meiji 36, 1903).
© National Diet Library (国立国会図書館), Tokyo.

Museum für Asiatische Kunst: Kimono Photographs

~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

Just a collection of images I found in the online database of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Old photographs can be very useful in observing how people in the past have worn and engaged with kimono, and this is something I’d like to further widen my knowledge on in a potential future research project. Until then, I’m just collecting these images here on my blog.

gofuku-shō 呉服商: Drapery Stores

~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

These images by Kobe-based photographer Teijiro Takagi (高木庭次郎) depict a so-called gofuku-shō (呉服商), a drapery store, during the Meiji (1868-1912) or Taishō period (1912-26). Panels of fabric are rolled out on the floor and hung up on the background, with customers examining the pieces of cloth they would like to have turned into kimono. Made from single bolts of cloth in a two-dimensional, flat manner, kimono are relatively simple garments to sew. Gofuku-shō did not just sell kimono fabric, but also orchestrated the extensive network, which included spinners, weavers, dyers, embroiderers, specialist thread suppliers, stencil makers and designers, involved in the creation of the individually commissioned garments₁. Some of Japan’s famous department stores such as Mitsukoshi originally started their business activities as gofuku-shō.

(₁) ‘Making Kimono’, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Shunshō Katsukawa (勝川春章), ‘The Cultivation of Silkworms’, (1767-1768).
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

一　ichi

~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

Just thought that I should would like to start blogging again, so here we go. Expect to mainly find images of kimono and other clothing / costumes related content accompanied by semi-academic short texts.

To get things started, here is a picture of me and my friend wearing hakama in Kyoto in 2018. We aimed for a Taishō Roman 大正ロマン look, trying to capture the aesthetics of the Taishō period (1912-26) in our chosen kosode / hakama ensemble.

© Carolin Becke