Tim Gutt

For one of our latest projects during our seminars, each group were given a Vogue editorial shoot to analyse and discuss what we thought the shoot was trying to portray. We then had to come up with five words which we felt summed up the style and feel of the photographs. 

My team had a Vogue shoot from December 2010 titled Star Signs photographed by Tim Gutt. This was a really interesting shoot as each photo interpreted each of the star signs in a unique way, using the model and props to achieve this. After analysing the photographs carefully we could easily see each of the star signs in each photograph and we felt that it was really well composed. The photographs were also very whimsical and fairy-tale like with a strong sense of surrealism. This particularly made us think of Tim Walker as his work is very similar. The photos are also very abstract and unexpected. The model's legs were also used as a prop and really stood out in many of the photos which reminded us of the work of Guy Bourdin, who focused very heavily on legs in his work. 

 I really like this shoot as I have always had an interest in star signs and I really like the way Gutt has managed to interpret each of them in a new and interesting way. The shoots set design was also created by Shona Heath, her influence can definitely be seen within the photos from her use of scale and colour. She is also known for working very closely to Tim Walker on a lot of shoots, which again explains why the photos feel so magical and surrealist. 

The five words we decided on as summing up the shoot were; Surrealism, Abstract, Storyteller, Dreamy and Fantasy. 

I also went to the library to explore the Vogue archives and look at the editorial in person. This allowed me to see the correct layout and order of the shoot and see the colours in the photos better.