Among the events scheduled during the Copenhagen Fashion Weekend event that took place last week in Denmark there was also a small yet interesting exhibition organised at the Italian Culture Institute of Copenhagen that allowed visitors to rediscover the work of photographer Franco Franceschi.
The exhibition, entitled “Vintage”, featured images from the ‘80s and ‘90s.
All the photographs included in the exhibition – featuring top models wearing creations by famous designers such as Valentino – were taken for photo shoots commissioned by fashion magazines and designers.
Many images bore testimony to the power-dressing ethos, with models wearing tailored suits with sharp shoulders, others are mementos of a time when not even the Gulf War could have stopped a fashion photo shoot. What follows is an extract from my interview with Franceschi on Dazed Digital.
Question: Painting and drawing were two of your main passions before you started working as a photographer, do you still paint?
Franco Franceschi: I used to draw rather well, but now my skills are not as good as they were, yet I do paint every now and then since I find it very relaxing. Both painting and sculpture remain two major influences in my work.
Question: Who is your favourite fashion photographer?
Franco Franceschi: Gian Paolo Barbieri, his work is extraordinary and I think his images are simply perfect. He was the first fashion photographer I spoke to when I started working in the fashion industry and he was also the first one who warned me in the ‘70s not to get into this industry since, according to him, real fashion was already dead then!
Question: What plans do you have for the future?
Franco Franceschi: I have recently started taking pictures of nautical inspiration and I’m also focusing on architecture. Like fashion, architecture fascinates, moves and surprises me, so at the moment I’m gathering quite a lot of material about different cities. I have taken 5-600 photographs in Copenhagen and also while I was in Lima in March. I would like to organise one day an exhibition that compares 4 or 5 cities together or exhibit in Lima the photographs taken in Copenhagen and vice versa. Such an exhibition would allow visitors to see how one place is evolving compared to another one and how these changes have an impact on architecture and society.
All images in this post copyright Franco Franceschi.
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