Distil Ennuistudio blog of advertising & fine art photographer Alexander James

Haus Editor Maks delves into the world of photographer Alexander James with his his latest Body Study series exploring sexuality, the body and issues of post production.

Too often idealism is said to be destroyed by ‘selling out’. London based Photographer Alexander James proves this doesn’t have to be the case. Although Alexander can easily boast of commercial clientele including Versace, Peugeot and Chanel his exhibited art work has been compared to ‘Man Ray meets Jet Li’ in the New York Times.  Currently running the Distil Ennui studios he brings together the experience of working on community projects with underprivileged children and the homeless to his artistic practice. Exhibitions that have taken place all the way from Miami to Tokyo deliberately take place in abandoned industrial spaces with an aim of engaging sub-culture rather than the PR process. Here Haus talks to Alexander about his latest Body Study series the crux of which is to move Alexander’s art form forward without the use of sensationalism – to oppose the main media stream in order find his own path.

I’ve heard the portrait artist Platon say photography is 97% psychology 3% art. Is that true for the way you work with your models?
I do shoot a fair amount of portraiture, and I agree that the scene set by the artists no matter what medium he/she is working in has a huge impact on the mood and aesthetic of the final result.

The name you use Distil Ennui which means ‘to extract the beauty in life…to appease world weariness’ seems to be justifying your art form. Is there insecurity about indulging in photography as an art form?
I have dedicated over twenty years if my life to this art-form. there is something mystical about the moment when light passes through a lens, things are different from one side to the other – I am fascinated with exploring this, why I have chosen to do this with my life is a mystery. I do think we have become very visually apathetic with the bombardment in today’s society – I am always trying to take elements out of a shot – Distilling away the impurities that I see, to re-awaken our passions in the simplest of things. Insecurity? No, absolute conviction.

What drove you to remove the process of post production and cropping from your personal work?
I see this in part as a direct response to my commercial work which is very choreographed and receives the very latest in post production techniques including CGI. I believe that there is an essential purity in presenting images ‘as-shot’ giving faith back to our audience – this is what happened and this is how it looked. The way I interpret a scene knowing that there is no post production can be a startling driving force in the artistic direction of the shoot. Great art has to unlock the valves of emotions and feeling, by this attempt to record the fact. To do this today what you need is a profound technical imagination.
 
This Body study is titled as homage to Helmut Newton a German photographer who was at one point forced into concentration camps. The gas mask and industrial chains seem to evoke this. What were the choices behind what the models do wear?
I think there is too much objectification these days; this shoot was setup so that all the models and crew were complete strangers. Over two days we shot four boys and four girls – all nude excepting for a few playful props – but all with discretion – no garish nudity for nudity’s sake. The props choice was driven by a need to create a visual parody – innocence with a twist. I am quite prudish and believe that less is more; I am not interested in seeing someone’s bits especially on film.
 
Your other influence for this shoot is Robert Mapplethorpe. His frank eroticism of black men was criticized as exploitative. How do you argue with those who still see the photography of nude female bodies as hyper sexualising them?
I shot 4 boys and 4 girls – there is a huge amount of imagery that I disagree with out there – I am certainly not trying to compete or get involved with them on that level. With this I wanted to directly influence the styling to show it as a beautiful art form – re-interpreting the human form in a more respectful way.

Both Newton and Mapplethorpe were in stark contrast to my practice, they often had a camera in the bedroom or wherever their subjects were at their most exposed; screwing in a dingy backwater club toilet or a pay by the hour hotel room. Their fixation was on transgression, sadism, evil, and death. Incapable of love, they used and abused people, including themselves. Whilst Mapplethorpe and Newton were perversely proud of their lack of technical knowledge Newton swings the balance, having a brilliant but cold eye, ruthlessly objectifying their sex partners, muses and models alike. ‘They were the forerunners in this practice, which is both mesmerizing and very unsettling to me’ says Alexander.

Where Newton and Mapplethorpe channel intimacy with their subjects to abusive extremes, I am driven by the sense of a unique and anonymous encounter.  The entire cast, crew and even the location were completely unknown to me before this two day shoot, a scenario purposely crafted. Their flesh fused with metallic tension, bodies triangulate between polished concrete, iron chains, ropes and rusted columns.

I have tried to absorbed the ‘in your face’ approach of Robert Mapplethorpe and blended it with the rich textured prowess of Helmut Newton defying their loveless and ruthless objectification. This blending of styles makes us want to see more but teases instead; and the eye is drawn more towards composition and space, creating a beautiful symmetry and empathy with his subjects; whilst remaining polished, tense and isolated.

Would you agree photographing in Black and White forces the viewer to acknowledge the process of photography while colour is instantly accessible?
I shoot both colour and B&W through film and digital – I think colour can be just as powerful as the perceived ‘artiness’ of B&W – yes colour is instantly accessible – but again you have a choice when shooting about which colours will come through, what light your subject is bathed in – how you decide to capture that light can have a profound effect on the resulting images.

What was the choice behind painting some of the models? Is the intention to highlight the body as an object?
They are naked yet not – they are either suited in French chalk (which we dusted over the models) or a gun metal metallic paint. I wanted to create a surface that despite the lack of clothing was impregnable – strong, sculptured, powerful. The way the light works with this more defining layer was pre-planned and in the end it worked beautifully – but was a lot of hard work for all involved – again no retouching this was all in camera.
Text: Maksymilian Fus Mickiewicz

SEE THE ARTICLE AT – HAUS DIGITAL