Loewe presents a selection of portraits by Scott Schuman that testify to his overwhelming love for personal expression through fashion. His subjects, though geographically and culturally distant from each other, have something in common: a touch of style that has prompted Schuman to photograph them, focus on them in his style blog The Sartorialist, and thus bring them – almost in real time – to the attention of millions of readers worldwide.
Taking his camera onto the streets in search of interesting pictures, Schuman relies on instinct and a keen eye. Every photo is the product of a very brief, casual encounter; most of his subjects are anonymous passers-by. And any setting can provide a good photo, from top fashion capitals to remote corners of the globe, where there may be nothing but sand.
Schuman is not interested in laying down fashion rules, nor in recording the latest trends; instead, he devotes his boundless energy to sharing with us an infectious enthusiasm for the creative dress sense shown by real people. In a pose, an outfit, perhaps just a single striking detail, his unpretentious sitters are willing to be photographed against a fragment of their daily landscape. These pictures capture the remarkable side of ordinary life, stirring the imagination.
Every photograph freezes a fleeting moment in a dizzying whirl of settings: Milan, Madrid, New York and Berlin in just a few days. In using the Internet to edit and post pictures taken in far-flung places, Schuman manages to eliminate distances. Remote yet now global, every picture posted on his blog prompts hundreds of readers’ comments, in an open and constantly-expanding debate on the mysterious nature of style.
Mónica P Morales
Scott Schuman (United States, 1968) specialised in Fashion Merchandising at the University of Indiana before working for brands such as Valentino and Onward Kashiyama; it was around this time that he created his own showroom for up-and-coming designers. In 2006, after fifteen years in the fashion world, he launched his blog The Sartorialist, which was such a runaway success that it soon became his full-time job. His meteoric rise to fame led him to cover major shows in the world’s fashion capitals for style.com, and to work for GQ and leading brands such as Gap, Nespresso and DKNY Jeans. In 2009, Penguin published an anthology of his photographs, and his work is to be found in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Scott Schuman, the street-fashion photographer on the contemporary scene, was ranked by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 Design Influences. His blog The Sartorialist, which received a total of 14 million visits in 2011, shares photographs of people from all over the world remarkable for their style and dress sense. Schuman shoots rapid portraits, on the street, creating a fleeting dialogue between the fashion world and daily life.
The Sartorialist – Scott Schuman
06.06 – 05.08.2012
Loewe, Gran Vía, 8
Gran Via, 8
28013 Madrid
Monday – Saturday : 1pm – 8pm
T : +34 91 5226815
