photographer / director / publisher
165 PAGES FOR GRAZIA MAGAZINE – PHOTOGRAPHY BY INDIRA CESARINE
Another flashback to my archives – this portfolio features over 165 pages shot for Grazia Magazine. I started shooting for Grazia in 1997, and traveled extensively with the magazine. We shot on a regular basis in Paris and Milan, and on location in Italy, Switzerland, England, and Australia. All of these images were photographed on medium format film – the location shoots were primarily with a Pentax 6 x 7 and the studio shoots on the Mamiya RZ 6 x 7 camera. I hand printed all of the C-41 prints they published in the magazine, and was also very involved with the casting for all the shoots – which was rather unusual for them at the time. The first shoot in the portfolio, “Luci Della Notte” was shot in the Piazza Della Scala, Milano – they closed off the entire square so we could do a night shoot there with snow and smoke machines, it was amazing. The series “Nouvo Chic Thermico” was shot on location on top of a mountain in Switzerland in real snow – we were freezing! I could only take a few frames at a time it was so cold, we had to run back and forth to the chalet to warm up between shots. I went to Australia in 1999 and as I had already been shooting for them a lot in Europe, I suggested they send me some clothes for some shoots on location while I was there. I booked stylist Thelma McQuillan, who had never worked with them before, and scouted locations for the shoots all over Australia. They sent over boxes of clothing from Prada and loads of other gorgeous Italian brands, and we shot on Bondi beach, on sand dunes in the North of Sydney, and in the jungle. They ended up publishing 4 stories, “Spirito Jungle”, “Il Toni del Mare”, “Neohippy”, “Bianco Utile & Chic” and 3 covers from that trip. I worked solidly with the magazine for about 2 years. I loved working with them although they took over one year to pay any of the editorial fees or expenses – which was highly problematic for a young photographer. Eventually I stopped shooting for them at the advice of my french agent. The politics in fashion were always very complicated. Overall I shot over 200 pages for the magazine in those 2 years I worked for them, and still find many of the images striking – Italian fashion is always timeless. For a look back at more of my fashion photography archives – check out portfolios from Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire.
