“The work that Guy Bourdin was doing in French Vogue in the 1970s was a case of using editorial to do whatever he liked and believed in at that time: not an attempt at selling frocks. It is now totally different. There is no Conde Nast magazine on earth that is engaged self expression: that’s how the business has changed. Quite clearly, Bourdin and Newton were on a mission to challenge social stereotypes and barriers. Nobody is doing that now. The work that pastiches their photography is meaningless, it’s just karaoke. It’s the comfort zone of retro or nostalgic. It’s familiar. Most of our popular culture these days is based on familiarity. It’s good business. Challenging is not good business.
I don’t think that there is anything of any interest whatsoever in fashion media now. There is nothing for it to pioneer. It’s done. The audience has learnt it. As pretty much with music. It’s on auto repeat. I feel that fashion is on auto repeat. Pornography has gone through its phases of challenging moral codes. I think it’s past this in any kind of liberating way. My engagement with pornography now is occasional. More than anything, I got bored with it because it’s in a lull stage. It’s difficult to know what its next stage could be. Currently, it’s in a phase of degenerating social behaviour.” (thanks, Jenne!)