ULTIMATE CAMPAIGN Bruce Weber Ric and Natalie, Villa Tejas, Montecito, California 1988 Gelatin silver print, printed 2017, flush-mounted. Image/Sheet: 177.8 x 127 cm (70 x 50 in.) Frame: 185 x 133 cm (72 7/8 x 52 3/8 in.) Signed in ink, printed title, date and number 1/1 on an artist label affixed to the reverse of the frame. This work is number 1 from the edition of 1 and is unique in this size.
Catalogue Essay 'We never knew what was going to be in a Calvin Klein picture' Bruce Weber April 2017 For nearly four decades, Calvin Klein’s advertising campaigns have produced provocative and generation-defining images. In 1982 when Klein launched his underwear line that would come to define the brand, he commissioned Bruce Weber to shoot the advertising campaign. Featuring Olympic pole vaulter Tom Hintnaus, Weber’s groundbreaking photograph stopped traffic when it appeared on a billboard in New York’s Times Square. When the moment came to create another explosive campaign, this time for his fragrance, Klein once again turned to Weber. Introduced in 1985, Obsession would come to produce some of the most famous campaign images of all time. An exceptional example is Weber’s black-and-white photograph of a naked couple on a swing used for the 1989 Obsession ad. This provocative and sensuous image was seared in the memory of a generation that experienced the consumer culture of the 1980s. As the highlight of ULTIMATE CAMPAIGN, we are excited to present a unique oversized gelatin silver print of this iconic image by legendary photographer Bruce Weber Phillips’ Yuka Yamaji and Bruce Weber discussed beginnings, working with Calvin Klein and the Obsession campaign. Taking Up Photography Yuka Yamaji: Let’s start from the beginning. You were privileged to study photography under Lisette Model at The New School in New York. How would you describe that experience? Bruce Weber Lisette really pushed all of us. Her class was really great. She accepted all ages and all kinds of people. It was very democratic and I always believed that photography has to be that. I found out about her through another woman I got to know quite well, Diane Arbus I used to meet Lisette down in the Village where there were all these drag queens, prostitutes and heroin addicts, and we would sit there and talk about photography. And not photography in the sense of what shoot did you do or what was your f-stop. We talked about experiencing things and recording history. I always think that the best photography is recording somebody’s personal history or some historical event. YY: So you met Lisette Model through Diane Arbus who was also one of her former students. BW: Yes. She gave Diane a lot of courage to go out and take pictures that she had a feeling about. Diane was so interested in the viewpoint of people who were individual. I think today, we don’t really remark on that – we don’t celebrate the individual. I’ve always liked when photographers, even the kids who work for me, find somebody that they want to celebrate in that way. I think it’s really healthy. YY: The first time you met Diane Arbus was that by accident? Didn’t she approach you at a café? BW: No I approached her! YY: Did you recognise her straight away? BW: Oh yeah, instantly. We hadn’t sat down together yet and she asked, ‘Well, do you want to take photographs like me?’ And I replied, ‘Oh god no, I wouldn’t even know how to begin.’ And she said, ‘Okay good. Sit down.’ Because at that time, a lot of people were trying to copy her work and take pictures in her style. From then on, we had a friendship. Working with Calvin Klein YY: Between 1979 and 1991, you worked closely with Calvin Klein producing a number of iconic campaign photographs. How did this collaboration begin? BW: Calvin had seen some pictures I had done of a water polo player called Jeff Aquilon for Details [in 1978], which then was sort of an underground magazine. He called me in and said, ‘Look, I like your pictures and it would be fun for you to shoot my jeans.’ So I said, ‘Yeah okay, it sounds good.’ I was pretty open … I still am I hope. But then he said, ‘If you don’t like the guy, you don’t get the job.’ So I was pretty cocky and replied, ‘Well let me see the guy.’ This guy’s name was Romeo and he looked a lot like James Dean. Just quiet, very shy. So I said, ‘Well you’re lucky I like him!’ And I can’t believe I said that
ULTIMATE CAMPAIGN Bruce Weber Ric and Natalie, Villa Tejas, Montecito, California 1988 Gelatin silver print, printed 2017, flush-mounted. Image/Sheet: 177.8 x 127 cm (70 x 50 in.) Frame: 185 x 133 cm (72 7/8 x 52 3/8 in.) Signed in ink, printed title, date and number 1/1 on an artist label affixed to the reverse of the frame. This work is number 1 from the edition of 1 and is unique in this size.
Catalogue Essay 'We never knew what was going to be in a Calvin Klein picture' Bruce Weber April 2017 For nearly four decades, Calvin Klein’s advertising campaigns have produced provocative and generation-defining images. In 1982 when Klein launched his underwear line that would come to define the brand, he commissioned Bruce Weber to shoot the advertising campaign. Featuring Olympic pole vaulter Tom Hintnaus, Weber’s groundbreaking photograph stopped traffic when it appeared on a billboard in New York’s Times Square. When the moment came to create another explosive campaign, this time for his fragrance, Klein once again turned to Weber. Introduced in 1985, Obsession would come to produce some of the most famous campaign images of all time. An exceptional example is Weber’s black-and-white photograph of a naked couple on a swing used for the 1989 Obsession ad. This provocative and sensuous image was seared in the memory of a generation that experienced the consumer culture of the 1980s. As the highlight of ULTIMATE CAMPAIGN, we are excited to present a unique oversized gelatin silver print of this iconic image by legendary photographer Bruce Weber Phillips’ Yuka Yamaji and Bruce Weber discussed beginnings, working with Calvin Klein and the Obsession campaign. Taking Up Photography Yuka Yamaji: Let’s start from the beginning. You were privileged to study photography under Lisette Model at The New School in New York. How would you describe that experience? Bruce Weber Lisette really pushed all of us. Her class was really great. She accepted all ages and all kinds of people. It was very democratic and I always believed that photography has to be that. I found out about her through another woman I got to know quite well, Diane Arbus I used to meet Lisette down in the Village where there were all these drag queens, prostitutes and heroin addicts, and we would sit there and talk about photography. And not photography in the sense of what shoot did you do or what was your f-stop. We talked about experiencing things and recording history. I always think that the best photography is recording somebody’s personal history or some historical event. YY: So you met Lisette Model through Diane Arbus who was also one of her former students. BW: Yes. She gave Diane a lot of courage to go out and take pictures that she had a feeling about. Diane was so interested in the viewpoint of people who were individual. I think today, we don’t really remark on that – we don’t celebrate the individual. I’ve always liked when photographers, even the kids who work for me, find somebody that they want to celebrate in that way. I think it’s really healthy. YY: The first time you met Diane Arbus was that by accident? Didn’t she approach you at a café? BW: No I approached her! YY: Did you recognise her straight away? BW: Oh yeah, instantly. We hadn’t sat down together yet and she asked, ‘Well, do you want to take photographs like me?’ And I replied, ‘Oh god no, I wouldn’t even know how to begin.’ And she said, ‘Okay good. Sit down.’ Because at that time, a lot of people were trying to copy her work and take pictures in her style. From then on, we had a friendship. Working with Calvin Klein YY: Between 1979 and 1991, you worked closely with Calvin Klein producing a number of iconic campaign photographs. How did this collaboration begin? BW: Calvin had seen some pictures I had done of a water polo player called Jeff Aquilon for Details [in 1978], which then was sort of an underground magazine. He called me in and said, ‘Look, I like your pictures and it would be fun for you to shoot my jeans.’ So I said, ‘Yeah okay, it sounds good.’ I was pretty open … I still am I hope. But then he said, ‘If you don’t like the guy, you don’t get the job.’ So I was pretty cocky and replied, ‘Well let me see the guy.’ This guy’s name was Romeo and he looked a lot like James Dean. Just quiet, very shy. So I said, ‘Well you’re lucky I like him!’ And I can’t believe I said that
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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