Valerie Belin

I first came across this series by Valerie Belin in Face: The New Photographic Portrait. I was struck by the perfection, beauty, and isolation of the images. She used new faces from Parisian modeling agencies. These works are a departure from a previous series in which she photographed extremely realistic mannequins. Info from the Michael Hoppen Contemporary website. I love how she makes you question whether or not the figures are real. When I saw these I knew they were only because I recognized the first model as Lucien Thomkins because he was becoming successful as a model.

Camilla Akrans for Sisely

It's interesting that this was merely another test shoot for the model but Ms. Belin was making art. Actually there is probably a similar (perhaps smaller) crew involved in her process and in the making of a fashion image.

^I really wish this could be part of my life.

I wonder if Lucien uses Belin's photograph in his portfolio. Would the clients respond to it as art at the castings? The multiple functions of an image is a fascinating and sometimes frustrating aspect of photography.