Monday, October 10, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Simon Procter shoots Noemie Lenoir for Vs. Magazine
Simon Procter shoots Noemie Lenoir for Vs. Magazine
A personal thanks to my wonderful team and the inspiring grace of Miss Lenoir.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Girl in a Pink haze, Bescherelles Northern France
It is amazing the farm house has truly become a home. Upon each new visit the garden gives up new treasures. In these bright days we discovered a walnut tree and a tiny hidden pear tree with 3 perfect fruits.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sandside Beach, Graemsey Island, perfect light, mirror sea
On a near deserted island listen to my deaf fathers roaring and near endless television.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Leaving Northern coast of Britain
Heading truly North over an endless blue black water. Tiny two prop plane fiercely droning.
Out into the North Atlantic all from the real world is starting to be forgotten.
There is still light.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Mons, before the champagne district, northern france
The golden land seems to go on forever. The season has been too dry. The bails are already cut and stacked. Fantastical straw architecture, often so ambitious, reminds of an evening long time ago in England. Guy stopped the car and ran into the field. He said he always dreamed of rolling the great drum bails. I was so afraid some one would come, I think in this time I was always afraid. But he was so happy and he was right. A Long time ago.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Simon Procter celebrations for Bastille day with friends
Simon Procter with the Italian architects Francesca Bonesio and Federica Martinetto.
Private boat Paris,Bastille day.
Photos by my freind Nicholas Guiraud
Private boat Paris,Bastille day.
Photos by my freind Nicholas Guiraud
The English photographer Simon Procter and the Italian architects Federica Hurgon & Francesca Bonesio
Photography by Nicholas Guiraud
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Bastille Day. Simon Procter s Official Portrait of the Garde Republicaine presented to the President of France
Simon Procter s official portrait of the Garde Republicaine presented to the president of France
2 years of preparation, 150 infantry and cavalry from the Elite French Garde Republicaine photographed by the english artist Simon Procter.
The Artwork is destined to be the diplomatic gift to visiting royalty and heads of State.
"Pour la gloire de la France, le pays de mes enfants"
Simon Procter, Paris, July 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Simon Procter, preview image from last weeks Stiletto magazine shoot
The wonderful new german model Ilva Heifmann waiting on set for styling.
Simon Procters' beauty & jewellery shoot for Stiletto Magazine to be published next month.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Simon Procter behind the scenes at the Elite Garde Republicain shoot today
Friday 10th June 2011 Paris.
Simon Procters most ambitious Project to date.
A portrait of the "Garde Republicaine" (elite french Cavalry Regiment) 2 years of planning and involving 100s of cavalry and infantry in full ceremonial uniform. These are a few backstage photos actual images are literally government state secret for moment. More news later.
Reportage photography Virgine Devaux.
Simon Procters most ambitious Project to date.
A portrait of the "Garde Republicaine" (elite french Cavalry Regiment) 2 years of planning and involving 100s of cavalry and infantry in full ceremonial uniform. These are a few backstage photos actual images are literally government state secret for moment. More news later.
Reportage photography Virgine Devaux.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Gil Scott-Heron dies aged 62
"The revolution will not be right back after a message about a white tornado, white lightning or white people,"
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Simon Procter shooting in Versailles, Portrait of David Marvier, Simons first assistant
Portrait of David Marvier, (Simons first assistant)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
QVEST Magazine, 10 page story on the english Photographer SImon Procter
AN ODE TO BEAUTY...
text YORCA SCHMIDT-JUNKER
Qvest Magazine, artists portfolio edition out now.
AN ODE TO BEAUTY...
text YORCA SCHMIDT-JUNKER
Qvest Magazine, artists portfolio edition out now.
AN ODE TO BEAUTY... no less: photographs by simon Procter, widely considered as the grand master of haute couture photography. His signature style, presenting fashion as a mise-en-scène, imbued with an iconic aura, is legendary. mr. Procter delighted us with beautiful images from his private archive of the chanel cruise collection 2009/2010, shot on the Venice lido. the photos published as an exclusive here demonstrate just why this englishman is one of the top names in his profession ...
Paris, a hot muggy July day: the thermometer is already indicating a tropical 24 degrees celsius at 9 in the morning. it’s been that way for days. and is gradually starting to get on my nerves. i rush from the »bastille« metro station through the 11th arrondissement, first along the boulevards, then through narrow streets and finally down tiny alleyways, doing my best to be on time. at long, long last i reach the street i’m heading for and spot the house number above the large heavy wooden door. i enter the code my host has given me into the electronic security device by the door. a quiet buzz, i push hard against the door and step carefully over the threshold – and find myself in another world. i forget the heat, my lack of sleep and the ever-present bustle of the metropolis, still so tangible just outside the doorway. looking at the magnificent, sweeping courtyard, surrounded by old trees covered in a thick mantle of creepers, not to mention the fragrant bunches of jasmine that seem be tumbling in cascades down the walls of the houses, i feel as if i’ve suddenly landed in the 19th century. Full of amazement, i stroll past small picturesque ateliers and workshops that have set up shop here, including an old tapestry workshop. as if that weren’t enough of a cliché, the courtyard is also bathed in a light so lovely that not even william turner could have done better. everything here has a wonderful aura of the archaic about it, untouched by the high-tech world outside.
the atelier of the man i have arranged to meet for a photo shoot of the exquisite pieces from the Chanel haute couture, presented the day before, looks more like an artist’s studio than the work- place of one of the world’s most famous fashion photographers: a light-filled maisonette, the glass roof strikingly draped with ruffled fabric. the centrepiece is a generous set of sofas, with my host’s children and cats taking turns to leap across them – or simply tumbling around together all at once. the real heart of the space however is the open-plan kitchen, where assistant aimee is just baking croissants and pains au chocolat.
it is important to give such a detailed description of the surround- ings in which simon Procter works. that is the only way to understand why his images look the way they do, and to grasp the signature style of this self-taught photographer, who is one of karl lagerfeld and Vivien westwood’s favourite photographers when it comes to creating unique stagings of their work. John galliano is a fan too. but more about that later.
Simon Procter’s works are different from his colleagues’ photographs: whereas fashion photography – particular in the blog era – always seems to be trying to be as up-to-the-minute and as much in keeping with the zeitgeist as possible, often deploying aggressive sexualisation as a stylistic device, this english photographer’s work seems downright old school. not in the sense of being old- fashioned, traditional or from bygone times, but instead in terms of artistic virtues such as careful composition of the image, a coherent setting, virtuoso play with light and a generally ethereal air far removed from any kind of artificial posing or strident attitudes.
In keeping with this, Procter, who has made France his home, has an english Fine art Honors degree to his name, with a particular emphasis on painting and sculpture. He came to Paris in the late 1990s, in order to survive, he had to take on all kinds of jobs, and sometimes these seemed more like a kamikaze mission than artistic work. One of these jobs turned into his first photographic assignment: when he happened to meet James kaliardos, make-up artist and co-founder of new york’s Visionaire magazine, kaliardos suggested he should just take a few photos. For example, of the next Dior show. to top it all, not only did he send this beginner straight off to face the Galliano circus; the next surprise awaited the novice on the spot. the idea was that he would shoot the catwalk from above, balanced 35 metres up with only wobbly scaffolding beneath his feet. he rose to the challenge, producing brilliant work, which shaped his dazzling entrance into a new metier. »the day before my first photo shoot i didn’t even know how i was going to pay for the batteries for my flash. Five weeks later i was already shooting a global advertising campaign for Nike«, he recounts, summing up how it all began.
however, his artistic home has become the world of haute couture, for with his flamboyant, sensual and opulent style he fits into that milieu better than almost any other photographer. his work always exudes a sense of enchantment and rapture; the models seem to be literally floating in the space, elevated beyond the here and now. his admiration for the legendary painter and illustrator gustave doré can be seen shimmering through in these photos, whilst other works by Procter recall paintings by gainsborough and reynolds, as exemplified in the current Royal Ascot campaign showcasing creations by Vivien Westwood and milliner Stephen Jones. Procter transports us into another age, another world; he breaks out of the rapid pace and short-lived apparitions of fashion, which he describes in the following terms: »the speed is the most fascinating thing about fashion – and the most exhausting«.
with hindsight, a photo that Procter took of his compatriot John galliano backstage in 2006 seems downright visionary. it shows Dior’s former chief designer shortly before the show when the acade slips for a moment and his traits reveal the extent of the burden he was struggling with. this is not the radiant countenance of fashion: this is the face normally so carefully concealed, resigned, painful. For all its bluntness, it is still a lovely portrait, revealing a glimpse behind the mask of genius. a record that seems to presage his demise. an image that exposes the fact that fashion is no gentle muse but a tough business. this is no excuse for galliano’s unspeak- able outbursts, which signalled the end of his days at Dior. yet per- haps an explanation, already documented here. simon Procter is aghast at galliano’s inglorious demise: »this whole affair makes me really sad, something within it is deeply wrong«. nevertheless he still wishes galliano – to whom, indirectly, he also owes much of his career – all the best.
here we see another of the hallmarks of this master photographer’s work: his closeness to people, the unconditional benevolence and friendliness he displays towards them. when i met simon for the first time on that hot July day the first thing he did was give me a
glass of homemade iced tea. his greatest concern, alongside making sure that everything was perfect for the Chanel photo shoot, was that the whole team hadn’t had a proper lunch. that’s why his assistant, aimee, was put to work preparing a thai curry, whose spicy aroma promptly infiltrated the exquisite Chanel gowns, a state of affairs, which, it is rumoured, made monsieur lagerfeld’s right- hand man utterly furious. Simon Procter is a family man through and through – which means at times he ends up holding his vivacious 3 year old son in his left arm whilst shooting fashion with his right, with his six-year-old daughter scurrying around the set in the background. the quality of his pictures doesn’t suffer at all from this: on the contrary, all the animation of the moment seems to seep into his shots, giving them their uniquely authentic yet magical air. Procter, from a working-class background in the north of england, a region shaped by the unglamorous influences of mining and heavy industry, never let himself be taken in by the dazzling surface beauty of the fashion world. despite his dealings with supermodels and gowns with a price tag approximately the same as for a luxury car, this father of two children feels deeply linked to his roots – growing humble at times as he comments: »on a personal level, the class struggle in britain is a darkness that touches in an oblique way. i think there is a whole generation in the north of my country that has been neglected and utterly forgotten. my brothers do not have the same life as me«.
in all probability this insight also has a decisive influence on his work. and turns fashion photos into visual poetry. that makes him a worthy inheritor not just of the tradition of gainsborough or turner, but also of John milton.
text YORCA SCHMIDT-JUNKER
Qvest Magazine, artists portfolio edition out now.
text YORCA SCHMIDT-JUNKER
Qvest Magazine, artists portfolio edition out now.
AN ODE TO BEAUTY... no less: photographs by simon Procter, widely considered as the grand master of haute couture photography. His signature style, presenting fashion as a mise-en-scène, imbued with an iconic aura, is legendary. mr. Procter delighted us with beautiful images from his private archive of the chanel cruise collection 2009/2010, shot on the Venice lido. the photos published as an exclusive here demonstrate just why this englishman is one of the top names in his profession ...
Paris, a hot muggy July day: the thermometer is already indicating a tropical 24 degrees celsius at 9 in the morning. it’s been that way for days. and is gradually starting to get on my nerves. i rush from the »bastille« metro station through the 11th arrondissement, first along the boulevards, then through narrow streets and finally down tiny alleyways, doing my best to be on time. at long, long last i reach the street i’m heading for and spot the house number above the large heavy wooden door. i enter the code my host has given me into the electronic security device by the door. a quiet buzz, i push hard against the door and step carefully over the threshold – and find myself in another world. i forget the heat, my lack of sleep and the ever-present bustle of the metropolis, still so tangible just outside the doorway. looking at the magnificent, sweeping courtyard, surrounded by old trees covered in a thick mantle of creepers, not to mention the fragrant bunches of jasmine that seem be tumbling in cascades down the walls of the houses, i feel as if i’ve suddenly landed in the 19th century. Full of amazement, i stroll past small picturesque ateliers and workshops that have set up shop here, including an old tapestry workshop. as if that weren’t enough of a cliché, the courtyard is also bathed in a light so lovely that not even william turner could have done better. everything here has a wonderful aura of the archaic about it, untouched by the high-tech world outside.
the atelier of the man i have arranged to meet for a photo shoot of the exquisite pieces from the Chanel haute couture, presented the day before, looks more like an artist’s studio than the work- place of one of the world’s most famous fashion photographers: a light-filled maisonette, the glass roof strikingly draped with ruffled fabric. the centrepiece is a generous set of sofas, with my host’s children and cats taking turns to leap across them – or simply tumbling around together all at once. the real heart of the space however is the open-plan kitchen, where assistant aimee is just baking croissants and pains au chocolat.
it is important to give such a detailed description of the surround- ings in which simon Procter works. that is the only way to understand why his images look the way they do, and to grasp the signature style of this self-taught photographer, who is one of karl lagerfeld and Vivien westwood’s favourite photographers when it comes to creating unique stagings of their work. John galliano is a fan too. but more about that later.
Simon Procter’s works are different from his colleagues’ photographs: whereas fashion photography – particular in the blog era – always seems to be trying to be as up-to-the-minute and as much in keeping with the zeitgeist as possible, often deploying aggressive sexualisation as a stylistic device, this english photographer’s work seems downright old school. not in the sense of being old- fashioned, traditional or from bygone times, but instead in terms of artistic virtues such as careful composition of the image, a coherent setting, virtuoso play with light and a generally ethereal air far removed from any kind of artificial posing or strident attitudes.
In keeping with this, Procter, who has made France his home, has an english Fine art Honors degree to his name, with a particular emphasis on painting and sculpture. He came to Paris in the late 1990s, in order to survive, he had to take on all kinds of jobs, and sometimes these seemed more like a kamikaze mission than artistic work. One of these jobs turned into his first photographic assignment: when he happened to meet James kaliardos, make-up artist and co-founder of new york’s Visionaire magazine, kaliardos suggested he should just take a few photos. For example, of the next Dior show. to top it all, not only did he send this beginner straight off to face the Galliano circus; the next surprise awaited the novice on the spot. the idea was that he would shoot the catwalk from above, balanced 35 metres up with only wobbly scaffolding beneath his feet. he rose to the challenge, producing brilliant work, which shaped his dazzling entrance into a new metier. »the day before my first photo shoot i didn’t even know how i was going to pay for the batteries for my flash. Five weeks later i was already shooting a global advertising campaign for Nike«, he recounts, summing up how it all began.
however, his artistic home has become the world of haute couture, for with his flamboyant, sensual and opulent style he fits into that milieu better than almost any other photographer. his work always exudes a sense of enchantment and rapture; the models seem to be literally floating in the space, elevated beyond the here and now. his admiration for the legendary painter and illustrator gustave doré can be seen shimmering through in these photos, whilst other works by Procter recall paintings by gainsborough and reynolds, as exemplified in the current Royal Ascot campaign showcasing creations by Vivien Westwood and milliner Stephen Jones. Procter transports us into another age, another world; he breaks out of the rapid pace and short-lived apparitions of fashion, which he describes in the following terms: »the speed is the most fascinating thing about fashion – and the most exhausting«.
with hindsight, a photo that Procter took of his compatriot John galliano backstage in 2006 seems downright visionary. it shows Dior’s former chief designer shortly before the show when the acade slips for a moment and his traits reveal the extent of the burden he was struggling with. this is not the radiant countenance of fashion: this is the face normally so carefully concealed, resigned, painful. For all its bluntness, it is still a lovely portrait, revealing a glimpse behind the mask of genius. a record that seems to presage his demise. an image that exposes the fact that fashion is no gentle muse but a tough business. this is no excuse for galliano’s unspeak- able outbursts, which signalled the end of his days at Dior. yet per- haps an explanation, already documented here. simon Procter is aghast at galliano’s inglorious demise: »this whole affair makes me really sad, something within it is deeply wrong«. nevertheless he still wishes galliano – to whom, indirectly, he also owes much of his career – all the best.
here we see another of the hallmarks of this master photographer’s work: his closeness to people, the unconditional benevolence and friendliness he displays towards them. when i met simon for the first time on that hot July day the first thing he did was give me a
glass of homemade iced tea. his greatest concern, alongside making sure that everything was perfect for the Chanel photo shoot, was that the whole team hadn’t had a proper lunch. that’s why his assistant, aimee, was put to work preparing a thai curry, whose spicy aroma promptly infiltrated the exquisite Chanel gowns, a state of affairs, which, it is rumoured, made monsieur lagerfeld’s right- hand man utterly furious. Simon Procter is a family man through and through – which means at times he ends up holding his vivacious 3 year old son in his left arm whilst shooting fashion with his right, with his six-year-old daughter scurrying around the set in the background. the quality of his pictures doesn’t suffer at all from this: on the contrary, all the animation of the moment seems to seep into his shots, giving them their uniquely authentic yet magical air. Procter, from a working-class background in the north of england, a region shaped by the unglamorous influences of mining and heavy industry, never let himself be taken in by the dazzling surface beauty of the fashion world. despite his dealings with supermodels and gowns with a price tag approximately the same as for a luxury car, this father of two children feels deeply linked to his roots – growing humble at times as he comments: »on a personal level, the class struggle in britain is a darkness that touches in an oblique way. i think there is a whole generation in the north of my country that has been neglected and utterly forgotten. my brothers do not have the same life as me«.
in all probability this insight also has a decisive influence on his work. and turns fashion photos into visual poetry. that makes him a worthy inheritor not just of the tradition of gainsborough or turner, but also of John milton.
