The title of this slim volume may prompt a few music fans out there to think about Daniel Johnston's seminal album, and, in a way, this could be an apt reference.
There is indeed a certain degree of DIY freshness about the pictures Valerie Phillips took of young Swedish artist, photographer, Tumblr fan, online celebrity, modelling sensation and Meadham Kirchhoff muse (the design duo named a dress after her...) Arvida Byström.
Yet the genesis of Hi you are beautiful how are you by Valerie Phillips is not as simple as you may think: a mutual friend introduced Phillips and Byström and the two met later on via Skype. Byström was at first reluctant when Phillips offered to fly her to London to photograph her, but eventually things changed and the two creatives started working together.
They produced three zines, Meow and A Fantastic Kitten, both inspired by Byström obsession with cats, and This is My Drivers Licence, a title that naturally came to them when Phillips was asked to provide Byström's licence as a proof of age by a printer refusing to reproduce topless images of the young model.
Hi you are beautiful how are you is the result of the time Phillips and Byström spent in London: fans of her work know that Phillips is not interested in the gloss and glamour, but in real lives, and Byström brings her own girly wonderland made of plastic bracelets, Polly Pocket necklaces, and colourful garments like Barbie shirts into a grim and gritty reality, drawing rainbows in otherwise urban and shabby surroundings.
The images with Byström dyeing her hair, playing around with her colourful accessories or portrayed very naturally with her body hair, preserve the freshness of the early images of Kate Moss by Corinne Day.
Known for her exhibitions all over the world (her portrait of Sienna Miller is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery), Phillips has created with Hi you are beautiful how are you - her seventh book - a diary in the life of a young and fragile woman who challenges the conceptions of beauty and lifestyle.
This fanzine-like book could also be considered as a volume that hints at wider changes in the image-making industry: part of the female photography collective The Arduous and of an online generation well versed in creating their own sites and collections of bright visual memories, Byström proves with this collaboration with Phillips that the world's attention is shifting towards less glamorous sets and more gritty realism, and at the same time departing from studied poses in favour of a more natural and less contrived female gaze.
Hi you are beautiful how are you by Valerie Phillips will be launched in Japan at Vacant, Tokyo, on 14th September 2014, and will be accompanied by an exhibition at DNA, Tokyo, 15th-21st September 2014, and a book signing (20th September) at the Tokyo Art Book Fair (19th-21st September 2014). The book will be launched in London at the Ace Hotel, Shoreditch, on 8th October 2014, and at Claire de Rouen, on 23rd October 2014.
Images credits for this post
Cover for Hi you are beautiful how are you by Valerie Phillips © Valerie Phillips, 2014.
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