Sarah Moon was one of the most legendary French fashion photographers and movie directors. Initially a model, she turned to fashion design around the 1970s, in an attempt to bring her art into the world, in addition to remaining in the world of fashion.
The idiosyncrasy of Moon’s work manifests itself in her dream-like, otherworldly type of photography, both in her editorials (as were published in miscellaneous fashion magazines, including Vogue), and in her narrative series and short movies. Her aforementioned style, as well as her storybook-esque visual language obfuscates the reader’s perception of fantasy and reality, as brought about by her vehement use of bold and deep color tones, abstract shapes, and melancholic moods. Thus, while staring at her photographs, the viewer is immersed in an otherworldly experience, letting the image take hold of their mind and let them enter Moons’s visual world. That is especially the case in her photograph depicting humans and models, since her compositions rarely show the full body, but is instead zeroing in on specific, delicate gestures and angles of the body.
In addition, Moon was among the first to elevate the fashion world from the palpable, physical realm, to that of images and photography, and created ethereal images for some of the biggest fashion houses, including Chanel, Cacharel, and Comme des garçons and more. Moon was also a revolutionary as a woman photographer, in a time where it was vehemently uncommon. She broke the glass ceiling when she became the first woman to photograph the Pirelli calendar (an annual calendar published by the UK subsidiary of the Italian manufacturing company Pirelli).
At Dan Alexander + Co, we were lucky to have the chance of a close encounter with Sarah Moon’s work, while creating the collection book Regard Transversal, depicting the entire body of work of renowned Italian fashion designer Mauricio Galante. The concept design and editorial work was done by Dan Alexander + Co.
