Sebastian Faena

When Carine Roitfeld left the helm at Vogue Paris, she was left with the predicament of being unable to collaborate with any Condé Nast affiliates, which meant that talents like Mario Testino, Craig McDean, and Patrick Demarchelier — to name a few — were ruled off a long list of longtime photographer friends. But as everyone knows, the words "Carine" and "predicament" are like oil and water, they simply do not mix. So tenacious Carine went out and did what she does best: search for new talent and make dreams come true. Her chosen one was none other than fellow Virgoan photographer Sebastian Faena, a rather seductive Argentinean, with a propensity for hiding behind his dark tresses and showing just a little more skin that is considered “politically correct” in his shoots. Reminiscent qualities of a certain someone, non?

Monsieur Faena hails from Buenos Aires and was already making a living as a photographer at the tender age of sixteen, but went on to study literature and music at Columbia University in New York. After two years at Columbia, Faena left to write and direct the film La Mujer Rota (The Broken Woman), which was eventually produced by Mario Testino himself. The film was claimed to be “a lush, visual masterpiece that harkens back to the golden days of Argentinian filmmaking.” With glimmering reviews as such, Mr. Faena could have continued on with filmmaking, but decided instead to return to his photography roots by premiering in the most prestigious V Magazine, thus establishing his name in the list of legendary fashion photographers. One need only look at the editorials he captured to realize that his remarkable talent is completely deserving of recognition.

In a V Magazine behind-the-scenes shoot with the immensely talented and theatrical Lady Gaga, Sebastian Faena describes his photographing philosophy by sharing, “In the end, when I take pictures, I’d rather create something myself with the person who’s in front of me, than taking a picture of what already exists — I’d rather transform these people into something they’re not.” I don’t think he meant “transform these people into something they’re not” by taking away their personality or in the literal sense, but as in a different character just for the sake of transporting them from reality to fantasy, and that’s the whole objective of a photo shoot.

Carine was already cronies with Sebastian Faena from their work together with V Magazine, but the friendship truly blossomed when she asked him to shoot for her first CR Fashion Book issue, “Obsession.” And obsession it became. Roitfeld and Faena continue to make the magic happen with their unapologetic images. You may remember “The Animal Nursery” in Harper's Bazaar which featured Kate Upton holding some ferocious animals, or the precious “Carine’s Sweet 16,” an homage to Carine’s young modeling days. These works mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and if you got chosen to be Carine Roitfeld’s main photographer, you know you’ve got it made.

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Sebastian Faena and Carine Roitfeld photos courtesy of instagram.com/sebastian_faena and models.com

Juergen Teller

Carine Roitfeld and Juergen Teller have combined their talents innumerable times over the last few years to create memorable fashion images for Vogue Paris, such as the editorial pictured above, "Strip-Jean." Model Raquel Zimmerman teases us via her denim outifts styled by Carine and shot by Juergen for the May 2009 issue of Vogue Paris.

Widely considered to be one of the most influential fashion photographers shooting today, Teller achieves his raw, overexposed style wielding a Contax G2 camera with onboard flash. Born in 1964 in Erlangen, Germany, Teller studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photograhie in Munich and developed his interest in portraiture. He began snapping photos of celebrities, mostly musical, including then unknown Nirvana. In 1986, he moved to London where he now lives and works. From shooting the rising stars of grunge music Teller went on to help shape grunge fashion via his lens' perspective. His partner and mother of his daughter is art director Venetia Scott. If you are interested in exploring his work further, I definitely recommend Juergen Teller Go-Sees.

For those in the New York area, don't miss Juergen Teller's Fashion Week talk with Cathy Horyn of The New York Times. The free discussion of his work is open to the public at the Visual Arts Theater at 333 W. 23rd Street on September 12 at 7 p.m. Additionally, a new exhibition of Teller's work will be on display beginning September 10 at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery and his photographs will be showcased at the New Museum for the launch of Shoot, along with the work of Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans.

Raquel Zimmerman in "Strip-Jean" editorial from Vogue Paris May 2009 © 2009 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.
Juergen Teller "ME 1, selfportrait, 2000" image courtesy of Fotomuseum Im Stadtmuseum, Munich.

Helmut Newton

Carine Roitfeld believes that we all dress with a fantasy in mind; hers is to look like the subject of a Helmut Newton photo — erotic, stylized, fetishistic, existing in black and white. Newton is renowned internationally for his particular style of fashion photography, helping to shape the look of Vogue Paris and Harper's Bazaar beginning in the 1960s and clearly still a major influence on today's issues. Fantastic news for those that need a primer on Newton's seminal work: Taschen is publishing a new edition of the infamous and elusive Helmut Newton: Sumo slated for release 1 September 2009. Unfortunately I do not think it comes with the chic Philippe Starck stand (pictured above).

Helmut Newton: Sumo and Philippe Starck stand image courtesy of amazon.com