The Subtlties

Looking through an editorial in the new Vogue Germany of Georgina Stojiljkovic by Alexi Lubomirski, and I'm struck by this beautiful toning and blooming highlights, as well as falloff indicative of large-format glass. I've found myself in the habit of scrutiny - of needing to know whether it was done in digital. For sure, it would take a genius and someone with a seasoned eye to recreate this look with a combination of fast glass, post, and perhaps some promist filtering. But .... does it matter? Has the process ever mattered? Regardless of whether it's painted, filmed, shot, captured, synthesized, or grown in a petri dish, the final result is this ... magic.

EDIT: since I first posted this, I had the opportunity to work on set with Alexi and his team, and over a long shop talk conversation with his first assistant Rose, I got my answer about whether they were shot to digital or not ... though I'm not telling.





Having just returned from there myself, this collection tells the story of the beauty inherent in a part of Miami that remains timeless in the textures of linen and palm tree, lit by a sun that can't decide whether its continental or caribbean.

And the magic isn't only in the aesthetic, but in the pose. There's a quality to the postures here that show mastery. Poses like these (more of Steven Meisel's January 08 shoot with Guinevere van Seenus for Vogue Italia).