the art of

CONTROVERSIAL
FASHION
PHOTOGRAPHY

This book documents a series of controversial fashion photoshoots,

highlighting the messages and photographers behind the camera and
the photographs of the Vogue spreads. Many think photographers aim
to to be controversial, different or out there, whilst this series shoots
aims to showcase why these are carried out for more than simply, the
shock factor.

CONTENTS

01

DAFY HAGAI 00 - 08

02

LOUIE BANKS 09 - 20

03

STEVEN MEISEL 21 - 28

04

RAJ SHETYE 29 - 34

05

GIAMPAOLO SGURA

06

TERRY RICHARDSON

07

STEVEN KLEIN 59 - 66

08

LORAL AMIR & GIGI BEN ARTZI

09

VASIL GERMANOV

10
11

Israeli Girls.

Mrs Malone.

Make Love Not War

The Wrong Turn

35 - 44

MGSM
45 - 58

Icon

New Order
67 - 72

Downtown Divas
73 - 78

Victim of Beauty
GUY BOURDIN 79 - 86
The Body
HELMET NEWTON
Women

87 - 94

ISRAELI GIRLS

DAFY
HAGAI

Photographer & Director

Location | Tel Aviv, Israel
Website | www.dafyhagai.com

01.

DAFY HAGAI

01

ISRAELI GIRLS

Photographer Dafy Hagai has got this whole female self empowerment
thing down pat. In a nod to her own coming-of-age in Israel a place so
often soaked in horror stories from the Gaza Strip as over a decade of
tensions continue to simmer Hagais new work Israeli Girls captures a
gang of youths from her hometown, poised on the cusp of adulthood in
an Americana-teen tinged summer dream, transported to the dusty streets
of Tel Aviv. But behind the cheeky smiles and nostalgia-inducing snaps,
essentially, Hagai, who is often surprised to hear that people expect these
girls to be covered up and conservative, is championing a generation of
females exploring their sexuality, body ownership and the beauty of girl
power amongst an uncertain political and social climate.

MODELS
Unknown. Scouted in Tel Aviv, Israel.

02

DAFY HAGAI

03

ISRAELI GIRLS

04

DAFY HAGAI

05

ISRAELI GIRLS

06

DAFY HAGAI

07

MRS MALONE

LOUIE
BANKS

Fashion Photographer & Part-Time Drag Queen

Location | East London, UK
Website | www.louiebanks.com

02.

MRS MALONE

Splashed in colour, tattoos, and peroxide in equal parts, 22 year-old

Louie Banks from East London has been on the radar for a while.
Iggy Azalea, Daisy Lowe, Kelis and Rita Ora have all been added to his
client list in the past year, whilst engaging with an ongoing chapter of
work focusing on his own friends beautiful men captured in drag.
Louie Banks is known to be big on pride, empowerment and fashion,
and captures this through his alter ego visage and a beautiful series of
photography titled, Mrs Malone.

MODELS
Oly Innes, Kurt Herbst, Solomon Thompson, Ash Stymest, Adam
Wiseman, Glynn Famous, Tschan Andrews, Princess Julia, Dina Lux, Lou
Bones & Jonbenet Blonde.

12

MRS MALONE

14

LOUIE BANKS

17

MRS MALONE

18

MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

STEVEN
MEISEL

Fashion Photographer
Location | New York, USA

03.

STEVEN MEISEL

23

MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

American fashion photographer Steven Meisel stirred up some

controversy for this photoshoot he did for Italian Vogue in 2008. His
Make Love Not War series depicts sweaty, dirty soldiers in the middle of
a war-zone interacting with models in a very heated fashion.
Meisel took inspiration from the Iraq War, and during an interview with
O32c Magazine was asked What do you say to critics that accuse you
of glamorizing issues like the war in Iraq or terrorism? To this he replied,
I hate war. I wasnt trying to glamorize it. I hate violence. I hate violence
against women. I am trying to make a statement against it and yet
everybody then says that I am for it? Basically, if you put something in
peoples faces they might see it, which in this case means dont do this!
stop this! Everybody interprets these things in their own way, but its not
my intended meaning. I am simply holding up a mirror.

MODELS
Missy Rayder, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmermann, Julia Stegner,
Daniel Pimentel, Blaine Cook, Chad Dunn, Chad White, Isaac Haldeman,
Nathan Nesbitt, Oraine Barrett, Rodrigo Calazans, and Travone Hill.

24

STEVEN MEISEL

27

THE WRONG TURN

RAJ
SHETYE

Fashion Photographer
Location | Mumbai, India
Website | www.rajshetyestudio.com

04.

THE WRONG TURN

In 2014, photographer Raj Shetye famously recreated the 2012 Delhi

gang-rape as a glamorous fashion shoot which took social media by
storm, and in turn was removed from Shetyes website and Behance.
The gang-rape allowed for new and stricter laws protecting women and
children in India to be billed, however Shetye saw the event as potential
to showcase his own opinion on the matter.
I wanted to throw light on Indian patriarchy and a male dominated
society. I actually was using the photoshoot to highlight womens
empowerment and lack of safety in India. Its not true that I used the
Nirbhaya incident to create awareness. This is my depiction of the
current situation using a medium I know and can communicate well in.
Consider this. I did with photography what a writer would do if he had to
write about that incident.

MODEL
Jitin Gulat.

32

RAJ SHETYE

33

THE WRONG TURN

34

MGSM

GIAMPAOLO
SGURA

Fashion Photographer
Location | Milan, Italy
Website | www.giampaolosgura.com

05.

GIAMPAOLO SGURA

37

MGSM

38

MGSM

The Italian fashion photographer Giampaolo Sgura has teamed up with

MGSM for a romantically themed A/W 2014 photoshoot, whereby gay
couples of both men and women, act as the focus.
Intertwined with lust, romantic symbolism and subtle gesture, this series
of photographs showcase homosexual diversity and acceptance within
the fashion industry and the media.

MODELS
Womenswear: Antonina Petkovic and Kate Bogucharskaia.
Menswear: Mariano Ontaon and Dominik Bauer.

40

GIAMPAOLO SGURA

41

MGSM

44

ICON

TERRY
RICHARDSON

Fashion Photographer
Location | New York, USA
Website | www.terryrichardson.com

06.

TERRY RICHARDSON

47

ICON

Terry Richardson is one of the most famous, yet controversial fashion

photographers in the world, working with every high-end fashion
magazine from Vogue to Harpers Bazaar, and every known Icon from
Lady Gaga to Mykki Blanco. Known for his portrait based studio shots, his
work often includes photographs of himself, frolicking with celebrities or
of nude women.
At the end of 2014, Richardson was charged with 4 sexual assault
charges from previous models he had worked with, such as Jamie Peck.
The series of images shown showcases the signature style of his work,
playing on the subjects personality, passion, persona or past.

MODELS
Mykki Blanco, Crystal Renn, Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus.

48

TERRY RICHARDSON

49

ICON

50

TERRY RICHARDSON

51

ICON

52

ICON

54

TERRY RICHARDSON

55

ICON

56

TERRY RICHARDSON

57

ICON

58

NEW ORDER

STEVEN
KLEIN

Fashion Photographer
Location | New York, USA
Website | www.fuckyeahstevenklein.tumblr.com

07.

NEW ORDER

Steven Kleins New Order photoshoot turns to the revolutionary for

inspiration, resulting in a strict uniform dominated by leather polish and
black-on-black. Known for his stark and thought-provoking photoshoots,
Klein made a big impact on the industry with this controversial shoot
glamorising the military and the use of war weapons.

MODELS
Aline Weber, Christina Kruse, Kirsten Owen, Conor McLain, Eian Scully,
Biu Rainey, Lenz Von Johnston, and Isaac Lacey.

62

STEVE KLEIN

63

NEW ORDER

64

DOWNTOWN DIVAS

LORAL AMIR &

GIGI BEN ARTZI

Artistic Duo
Location | Moscow, Russia

08.

LORAL AMIR & GIGI BEN ATZI

69

DOWNTOWN DIVAS

Artists Loral Amir and Gigi Ben Artzi have created a controversial art
project called Downtown Divas. The project comprises of a short film
and series of photographs of heroin-addicted Russian prostitutes
dressed in high-end designer labels, including the likes of Louis Vuitton,
Miu Miu and Alexander Wang.
The subjects noticed at night in the city to of model-like characteristics,
the duo decided to dress them up as models to prove that heroin is not
chic. The photographs symbolise that even though heroin chic maybe
a fashionable trend to follow, the reality may be astounding.
At first glance, the photos appear to be like any other fashion shoot for
an editorial magazine, however, upon closer inspection the bruises, scars
and scabs from self-injecting drugs are more than evident.
Some critics have claimed that the photo shoot glamorises drug use,
however Gigi and Lorel argue the women were paid well for their time,
and their only intentions were to highlight the reality.

MODELS
Unknown. Russian Prostitutes and Heroin Addicts Scouted on the Streets.

70

LORAL AMIR & GIGI BEN ATZI

71

VICTIM OF BEAUTY

VASIL
GERMANOV

Photographer
Location | Sofia, Bulgaria
Website | www.versilgermanov.com

09.

VICTIM OF BEAUTY

Bulgarian Magazine, 12 Magazine, has sure been ruffling up some

feathers over a piece they ran in June 2012 entitled Victims of Beauty
for Max Factor SFX Make-Up. Photographer Vasil Germanov along
with MUAs Daniela Avramova and Slav have been making international
headlines along with 12 for depicting models beaten, bruised and cut.
Editor-in-Chief Huben Hubenov stated the controversial photographs,
show off the juxtaposition of beauty and movie makeup ideal for a horror
flick, but they arent intended to glamorize domestic violence.
This shoot was left without an introductory text, thus allowing
everybody to translate it the way they want. A lot of people read
domestic violence in those pictures, but it is their mind who came up
with that explanation of the shoot, not ours. And if they took the time
to actually examine the photographs, instead of superficially jumping
to [conclusions], they wouldve seen girls who look at us strongly, who
look confident, who are above the wounds, above everything. They are
independent.

MODEL
MUAs Daniela Avramova and Slav.

76

VASIL GERMANOV

77

VICTIM OF BEAUTY

78

THE BODY

GUY
BOURDIN

Fashion Photographer
Website | www.guybourdin.com

10.

GUY BOURDIN

81

THE BODY

Guy Bourdin was a French fashion photographer who reined the latter
half of the 20th century. Known for his controversial and risqu editorial
photographs of women, Bourdin made his mark across a range of
fashion magazines and advertising campaigns.
His photographs are often richly sensual but also rely heavily on
provocation and ability to shock. Additionally integrating erotic,
surreal, sinister components Bourdin configured a whole new visual
vocabulary with which to associate the goods of haute-couture. The
narratives were strange and mysterious, often plainly exhibiting violence
and graphic sexuality.
While conventional fashion images make beauty and clothing their
central elements, Bourdins photographs offer a radical alternative.

MODELS
Various; Unknown.

82

GUY BOURDIN

83

THE BODY

84

GUY BOURDIN

85

THE BODY

86

WOMEN

HELMET
NEWTON

Fashion Photographer
Website | www.helmetnewton.com

11.

WOMEN

Helmut Newton was a German-Australian fashion photographer. He was

known to be a prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose
provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay
of Vogue and other publications.
By 1960 Newton had established a particular style marked by erotic,
stylised scenes, often with sado-masochistic and fetishistic subtexts.
From this he was picked up by Hugh Hefner to shoot several pictorials
for Playboy, featuring Nastassja Kinski and Kristine DeBel.

MODELS
Various; Unknown.

90

HELMET NEWTON

91

WOMEN

92

HELMET NEWTON

93