The above photo is shot by Hedi Slimane for Dazed and Confused’s Jan 2009 issue called Teenage Takeover. Slimane and Dazed’s creative director Nicola Formichetti searched the streets of London and casted teenagers for the shoot. Quotes from the Dazed website: “The shoot was four days long and we’d go out every night searching for kids to shoot the next day.” “Every model here has their own story. There were kids that we had our eyes on in the earliest stages of research, and there were kids that we approached when they were having a coffee on Brick Lane. We found people at gigs, in clubs, everywhere… For the week of the shoot, we just went anywhere we thought we would find amazing characters, and then shot them the next morning.”
Hedi Silmane is most famous for designing the Dior Homme line from 2000 to 2007, he single handedly brought the slim silhouette into trend and you can say he is responsible for all the skinny jeans that are all over the world right now. Slimane has many friends in the British indie rock scene and seems to immerse himself amongst many young, thin and pretty people. He’s street casted many teens for his runway shows and launched many model careers.
I’ve been considering street casting myself for a little while, Slimane does it, Bill Henson does it, so why not? But why you ask? Because a lot of models on Model Mayhem are shithouse, the good models wouldn’t give someone like me a chance and also sometimes I want that rawness, that edgy sense. I’ve started to notice teenage girls on the street, trailing behind their parents, the way they look and feel so displaced, wow, I’d love to shoot them. Even though I approach people all the time for xssat, but that’s for fashion, the reason is straight forward and the whole process is over in less than 2 minutes. But how do I explain myself when I approach someone for athe proper photo shoot, all I can tell them is that I find them intriguing. For kids that are under age, with all the paranoid parents around… forget it.
Anyone got any thoughts on this topic? Or has street cast experience? Please share with me!
Related links:
London Teenagers – The rest of Hedi Slimane’s photos for Dazed.
Hedi Slimane Diary – Slimane’s photoblog.
