Glen Luchford.

Great new interview with Glen Luchford on what it's like to be a fashion photographer today on models.com

Copyright Glen Luchford 

Photographers of the Month: Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello

Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello are an Argentinian photography duo who create sharp, quirky and sexy fashion stories for numerous glossy editorial titles. 

Sophia & Mauro met in Argentina while Sofia was studying cinema, and Mauro was playing in a rock band. After moving to Paris, they won the Picto prize for young fashion photographers in 2002, and their career too off.

The duo (once a married couple, but now separated, yet still closest friends) explore female sexuality, fetishes and fantasies in their work, which is often provocative without being explicit. 

Although they shoot beautifully simple and intimate portraits, it's their fashion work that really stands out. Numéro Magazine has been a great forum for them, and they've contributed main fashion stories to almost every issue for years now. They have also been published in Flair, The New York Times, 10, Interview, and various editions of Vogue. 

Obviously as a photo duo ourselves, we are often interested in how other teams work. There are several very successful partnerships like Inez & Vinoodh and Mert & Marcus working today, and their working dynamic is often complicated - sometimes one will style and have the idea, whilst the other concentrates more on the technical side of capturing the pictures.

After a bit of digging, I found out that like us Sofia and Mauro prefer to take turns shooting. Mauro usually starts, then steps back whilst Sofia continues working with her camera. They talk and discuss what's working and what's not during the shoot, then take a break to go through the images, and agree on whether they have got the shot or not. Later, they'll edit the images together and almost always agree on which is their strongest image. 

Several Numéro editorials 

One of my favourite editorials with Canadian Mode Model Megan Collison. Love the styling, the props and the whole concept. So simple, yet so striking.

La Captive,  Numéro, May 2008

Numéro October 2008 with Siri

Numéro Korea,  January 2009 with Myf

Numéro, May 2010 with Varlerija

All images © Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello

Inspiration: Paolo Roversi, Natalia Vodianova and Flashlight

We're big fans of Paolo Roversi's work here at W&W, so when I came across this old editorial, it brought back fond memories of seeing it for the fist time. I remember seeing this in an 2003 issue of Vogue Paris, and even though at first I hated the clothes, the shoot grew on me. I think the lighting is beautiful. Enjoy!

Haute Tension, Vogue Paris, March 2003 by Paolo Roversi

Photographer of the Month: Laurie Bartley

Born in 1977, British fashion photographer Laurie Bartley, got his start when he got involved with magazines like The Face, Dazed & Confused and Pop. I remember first noticing his work in a sauna themed editorial in Vogue UK May 2005 issue, and later again in November's Vogue China spread with Sasha Pivarova. 

Vogue UK May 2005

Vogue China Nov 2005

Laurie has the ability to light a scene so naturally that the ambiance is not lost but the subject still pops out of the scene. His lighting is brilliant! He embraces a cinematic approach that brings a mysterious sensibility to fashion photography. 
 
Supermodel Collette in Flair, December 2005

Beautiful winter editorial with Hye Park in Vogue Nippon Dec 2008

Various Editorials

His latest, New York State of Mind, photographed for September's US Elle is impeccable.

 
All images copyright Laurie Bartley

Photographer of the Month: Javier Vallhonrat

Javier Vallhonrat is a Spanish photographer, born in Madrid in 1953.  He began working for Italian Vogue in the mid 80s, and most of his current photos can be seen in Flair and British Vogue. His use of lighting is extraordinary, and he has a really strong signature style. It's nice to see that he is still going strong after over 25 years in the business.

Mr. Valhonrat is represented by Michelle Filomeno

Some earlier work from the late 80s

Vogue Italia 1989

Vogue Italia 1988

Some more recent editorials

Flair

Vogue Germany April 2010

Vogue UK May 2006

Vogue UK October 2005

Flair May 2006

Flair March 2005

Vogue UK 2008

Vogue UK April 2010

All images copyright Javier Valhonrat