Melinda Szepesi. Photo by Mark Pillai
On a rainy July 5th, in the midst of a manic Berlin Fashion Week, photography and fashion admirers came together to see the opening of fashion photographer Mark Pillai’s Casting Diary project, “Thanks for Coming” at Galerie Pavlov’s Dog.
This is the first solo exhibition for the German fashion photographer who, based in Paris, has worked for international publications such as Vogue, Dazed&Confused, and Harpers Bazaar.
Pillai projected an extensive slideshow, displaying around 240 models photographed at castings in his Parisian apartment and studio over the past seven years. Even though the photos are fashion by nature, the black and white projections ooze an intimate, documentary feel, luring the viewer to feel they’ve been permitted a glimpse into the private, “behind the scenes”, side of a model’s life, rather than simply being a hurried shot from a casting.
The images often adopt a playful tone and, while they may not necessarily depict a private moment, Pillai manages to capture what feels like a personal aspect of each of the models, whether it’s their looks or individual character. Completely un-photoshopped, the information-rich projections certainly demand your attention – just as much as the model in them demanded the attention of Pillai for those full 15 minutes.
Open from 6th-28th July 2012.
Pavlov’s Dog
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