• 25th May 2013
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• Working with photographers in 23 countries.
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april 2008

Photography Holly Malone

Fashion Chapter 2
The winners of our Fashion Chapter 2 competition were exhibited at Calumet on 24th April. In this month’s newsletter, we catch up with three of the winners and one of the judges…

Judge: Emma Fountain

Emma Fountain is the founder of The Hidden Wardrobe, an online store which provides a platform for independent fashion designers to sell their collection to a wider audience (a bit like our own Gallery 1839 does for photographers). It champions unique, creative, design-lead individuals and prides itself on nurturing grassroots talent in fashion photography and design. Emma is also involved with the design of Frost and Fountain Limited Collection label.

“Being new to the judging panel of Fashion Chapter 2, I entered the process with an open mind,” Emma says. “I set out my criteria for judging based on what I would look for within my own company when analysing photography. The winning image or series had to reflect fashion as well as be a good photograph. I look for something that jumps out of the page at me: an image that expresses fashion, tells a story and shows off the clothes to the full potential. Some of the images in the competition achieved this better than others. In general, I thought the series shots were stronger than the individual images in this category.”

What advice would Emma give to budding fashion photographers? “Always check the brief,” she advises. “A good image is not always necessarily a good fashion image. As somebody who works with fashion photographers on a regular basis, the main aim of a fashion photographer in my opinion is to capture the essence of the clothes on the model.”

In this newsletter we feature some of the winning Fashion: Chapter 2 photographers. We asked Emma for her opinion on their competition entries.

Of the Single Gold winner, Frank Herholdt, Emma says: “He produced a good shot in the single image section. I would use this image in one of my summer collections. It had an old-fashioned style, with the subject projecting a carefree spirit. To be strictly more fashion-focused, I would have had the model turn her body to the front, so you could better see the dress she was wearing.”

Of the Series Gold winner, Fabiano Avancini, Emma says: “I particularly liked Fabiano Avancini series entry as he carried a theme through each individual shot which told the viewer a story. His use of lighting and the angles of his shots were also sympathetic to the jewellery. Good work.”

Single Gold: Frank Herholdt
Frank Herholdt has been a respected name in the London advertising and editorial business for the past 30 years. More recently, he has been doing tutorials and workshops with photography students and has joined a consortium of photographers who market their own picture library of images.

The image which won him Gold in the single image category has proved very popular. “It was taken as part of a series as a speculative submission for a fashion magazine. It wasn’t accepted in the end but that one image got me a job with a Singapore ad agency. I’ve always loved the image, and clearly a lot of people like it too, so I thought it was worth entering into the competition,” Frank explains. “I enter competitions as regularly as I can. If I do well, it provides a lot of extra positive publicity and is a news item for my website and my agent’s site. News like that keeps me in the public eye.”

After decades in advertising and editorial photography, Frank is enjoying branching out into different areas. “I do photography workshops with students at Falmouth College in Cornwall, giving them experience of a genuine hands-on shoot, helping them learn about digital downloads and giving them access to my sophisticated equipment,” Frank says. “I get a very good response from the students, and I’ve got my last two assistants from the graduating classes of the course.”

From his London studio in Shoreditch, Frank is working on commissions and personal shoots. “Recently I shot a series of images for a major Italian bike saddle manufacturer. We chose 10 actors from a casting of about 160 and photographed them on London streets near my studio. The actors ranged from a 10 year old boy to a 65 year old woman. Next, I am going to do a personal shoot at a beautifully restored house. The idea for the shoot was influenced by the art of Eric Fischl. The images will be more like fine art: I’ll probably put them on Gallery 1839.”

Frank is a member of both the LPA and Gallery 1839, believing that both sites help with self-promotion.

Series Gold: Fabiano Avancini
Fabiano Avancini won the series Gold for his subject-led, stylish images. “As you can see from my images,” Fabiano says, “I need a subject. I don’t do surrealism or digital fiction.”
The winning images were taken in 2005 as a campaign for the Gold Vicenza Trade Fair. The brief was to show the beauty and elegance of women against the backdrop of the redundant images of women which our modern culture favours. “I wanted to show that beauty, elegance and style are something that come naturally with culture and history,” Fabiano recalls. “We simply have to recognise that what we see is a consequence of our culture.”

Based in Italy, Fabiano works as a commercial photographer and photojournalist. He is currently helping some fine-art friends with a photography project, photographing their art for them. He is also planning a reportage trip to Africa and the UK to reflect on different cultures and the first world. Most of his career has been spent dedicated to developments in digital photography, but now he is at the stage where he can see the importance of getting his work seen by the industry. “Now I want to see my work through the eyes of someone that is different from the client, the market and me,” Fabiano explains. “Competitions like Fashion: Chapter 2 are really important because you are putting your images in front of the industry alongside your peers.”

He finds that membership of the LPA is one of the best ways to keep in touch with the best of British photography. “It is absolutely important to face reality and to be in contact with other professionals,” he says.

Series Bronze: Lauren Alderman

Student Lauren Alderman won the series Bronze whilst still studying Fashion Photography at Southampton Solent University. “Since winning the bronze prize, the LPA has given me great exposure that would not have been possible otherwise,” she says.

The images that won Lauren the Bronze prize were part of a University project. The brief was to produce thirty photographs to highlight a decade of fashion. Lauren chose to explore a decade of Elizabethan fashion, drawn to its eccentric designs and elaborate costumes. She looked into surrealism when brainstorming ideas for her shoots, then sourced obscure locations and created outfits from paper. This approach resulted in the winning images.

“I have hugely enjoyed the three years of studying as it has given me the chance to push myself creatively and has helped to define my signature style,” Lauren says. “I studied fashion design at 6th form college for two years; this helped to produce clothing for styling my photo shoots.” After completing her degree, she will move to London to pursue a career in Fashion Photography, initially aiming to assist a photographer. One of her main goals is to photograph high profile fashion advertising campaigns.

One of Lauren’s biggest influences is Tim Walker, whom she met in my first year at University. “His passion and imagination is truly spectacular,” Emma says, “and I feel we work in the same way: the model becomes part of the image as a whole and is not the sole focus of the photograph.

Lauren thinks photography competitions are hugely significant to anyone in the industry, as they provide great exposure and recognition as well as acting as a platform to fast-track winners’ careers.