Viviane Sassen brings her groundbreaking Fashion photography to exhibition in the UK for the very first time at the Photographer’s Gallery in London. Named after a curve that describes the changing position of the sun as viewed from the earth, “Analemma.” Presented as an immersive installation of more than 300 images created from 1992 to 2012, a period that also marked her career over 20 years in the fashion industry.
Sassen trained as a fashion designer, but it was after taking on work as a model that she eventually discovered her interest in photography. Her work has, in the meantime, been featured in a number of publications that includes Dazed & Confused, i-D, AnOther, Purple and POP, while Stella McCartney, M Missoni, Acne, Carven, Bergdorf Goodman and Miu Miu are just some of the names with which she has collaborated in the past.
Interestingly enough, her images avoid typical concepts of glamour: not only does she prefer saturated hues and bold contrasts, as her human figures are many times featured in awkward poses with their faces obscured. With a constant and well curated slide show of images flowing along the wall, the show was stood out beautifully in the dark room, the huge images commanding attention and effortlessly piquing interest. Sassen also has a great sense of humour where she mixes nudity with humour in quite surreal way. The exhibition synopsis referred to this as ‘unusual viewpoints, geometrical forms and playful compositions’. (Text Teuku Ajie)
Viviane Sassen: Analemma: Fashion Photography 1992–2012 will run until 18 January 2015, at The Photographers’ Gallery in London.