Corinne Day

Corinne Day was born in England, and started her career as a model. While travelling and doing work for catalogues, she met Mark Szaszy in Tokyo and he trained her in photography. She began looking for fashion photography work with magazines and got her first job with The Face magazine for which she did a fashion editorial called “The Third Summer of Love” featuring Kate Moss. Although she was successful in commercial work, she decided she preferred “reportage” so she continued on to more documentary photography about her life and her friends.

   Day’s photos have an element of casualness and seem to reflect real life. She doesn’t put make up on her models, much of her photography is candid and she seems to use whatever lighting and surroundings that are available to her.  This first photograph that inspired me is from her “The Third Summer of Love” photo shoot. Kate Moss is sat against a grungy backdrop with a bed-head hairstyle and a cigarette in hand. She’s not very consciously posed and she’s holding her face in a natural expression. Everything from her wardrobe to her composure reads as casual and unforced.

   The second photo that I was inspired by was from her documentary photography phase; she put this one in her autobiographical exhibition titled, “Diary” and her biography of the same name. Judging by the look on her friend’s face, this photograph seems candid and unplanned. The pale colouring and unpolished setting are reflective of her style. I love the simplicity of her photography. She doesn’t try to make life seem any more extravagant than it is but she manages to create such a beautiful mood.

    The last photo I took inspiration from was also of Kate Moss in the “Third Summer of Love” exhibition. It’s taken portrait style so the subject was clearly aware of the photo being taken but there is real emotion being conveyed through her expression. Day’s photography really has an element of natural influence. As mentioned before, she doesn’t like to put make up on her models, she leaves their hair natural only adding occasional braids or crimps and she incorporates organic elements such as the necklace Kate has on in this picture. I think this makes for a feeling of freedom and youth that I really like.

              The three photographs of the ones that I took that I chose to edit actually turned out to be similar to the three I was inspired by.  I tried to achieve the effortless, grungy look by giving my model, Olivia, no make up except a smudgy dark lip colour, braiding her hair loosely and picking out a simple, vintage inspired outfit. I left the backgrounds natural, refraining from tidying up any clutter or grime. In my editing process, I dulled out the colours and added some light blur textures to replicate the camera quality that seemed constant through Day’s photos. I hope that I have achieved the same effect and mood that I take from Corinne Day’s photography, I love her work and she’s definitely a model for me in my work.

Sources

"Corinne Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinne_Day>.

"Corinne Day - Home." Corinne Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://www.corinneday.co.uk/home.php>.

"Corinne Day (Vogue.com UK)." Fashion News, Latest Trends, Catwalk Photos & Designers (Vogue.com UK). N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://www.vogue.co.uk/person/corinne-day>.