When I first encountered the work of Philippe Ciaparra, it was his personal photographs that I chose to reflect upon here. These black and white landscape’s, which exhibit the influence of the New Topographic’s, are collectively titled, Beyond Fashion, a title that hints at the commercial assignments that the Paris based photographer undertakes.

The minimal sensibilities that we experience in Ciaparra’s landscapes, are also much in evidence in his fashion work, which see’s the photographer — whose primary focus is on the portrait — working with a restricted monochromatic palette and minimal composition. 

In one of these portraits, a woman looks over her shoulder making eye contact with the viewer, the right side of her face is hidden in gentle shadow; whilst the left side, her long elegant neck and bare shoulders are bathed in a light that resonates beauty. ‘My characters exude a certain independence in a minimalist environment,’ says Ciaparra, who opts to focus on the ‘complexity of their beings, perhaps in doubt of their certainties, far more than their appearances.’

Above Untitled. (©Philippe Ciaparra/Courtesy of the photographer).

In another of these sensitive portraits, a young woman is depicted bare-breasted, her gaze downwards reflecting her vulnerability, her flawless skin — like that of all the portraits in this series — is rendered as smooth as alabaster under Ciaparra’s glowing light. In a third portrait, Ciaparra’s model again looks over her shoulder, her long glossy mane cascading down over her back and breasts, her piercing gaze forming a visual tension that places the viewer at unease. 

Whilst we experience the same simplicity of form and composition in both Ciaparra’s personal and fashion photographs, the latter is marked by a painterly chiaroscuro, that gives these portraits a distinct warmth and visual vitality.

Further reading Philippe Ciaparra Beyond Fashion