Topshop are recreating Helmut Newton’s famous Photo Machine in their stores in Oxford Circus, Manchester and Dublin and whilst you’ve already missed the London sessions, if you get yourself down to the Manchester Arndale branch or Dublin’s St Stephens Green store by the weekend (22nd June) you can be in with a chance of making it to their brilliant online gallery. The 1970’s concept conceived by one of fashion’s all time great photographers, Helmut Newton, allows the subject to be the model, photographer and stylist in one as they are given a remote control for the camera, a mirror, a selection of clothes and their imagination to create unique fashion shots.
More images from the fabulously voyeuristic image gallery if you continue reading……
Newton’s concept, a specially designed studio to take fashion images without the photographer being present is frighteningly prevalent in todays society where the fashion conscious and image-led consumers are so obsessed with their own image, something which indeed can quickly be seen with only a few clicks through the online gallery which showcases wannabes, hipsters and the nonchalant ‘non-posers’ who are predictably more conscious of themselves than those striking a pose! That said, the gallery demonstrates that there some great looking, well dressed potential models out there on the high street each and every day and if the images from Manchester and Dublin match the quality and consistency of those from London then it is an interesting exercise in capturing the state of the nations fashion sense.
Of course for every potential model and hip young thing, there are an equal number of desperate young pretenders, freaks and geeks who ensure that the gallery is both amusing and captivating and if like us, your inner voyeur is just itching to get out then this can waste a considerable amount of time, ideal for those painful days in the office.
If you are planning on getting down to Manchester or Dublin, before or on the weekend then bear in mind these considerations from Newton’s assistant, Philippe Serieys;
“First, you have to choose the right clothes because taking a good photograph is a question of seduction. Seducing other people, but also seducing yourself.
Don’t stand still in front of the camera or the mirror; just move, look at yourself and turn around. A slight movement, a smile, a quick look… the shape of your body.
You will soon find what makes you different and unique. This way, you can start taking pictures. You’ll then feel relaxed and confident; This is the time to simply pose and act. Just concentrate, forget about everything else and you will feel so at ease that you will look wonderful in the pictures.”
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