When photographer Robert Capa famously said, “if your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough,” he was actually referring to war photographers who only took pictures from afar. But when it comes to the front lines of fashion, few get quite as close as blogger-photographer Scott Schuman, also known as The Sartorialist. He’ll be signing copies of his new anthology, Closer (Penguin, August 2012), at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue tonight at 7 p.m.
Schuman began TheSartorialist.com in late 2005, documenting men and women with striking style as they went about their lives on busy New York City streets. Ever since, he has photographed “real people,” sometimes without their knowing, looking fabulous in various cities. This artwork, combined with a few admiring remarks and notes about particular outfits, takes high fashion to the public. The poised, put-together subjects often convey a sense of vulnerability and relatability in their candid portraits.
The blog became a sensation read by fashion designers and aficionados alike. Schuman has long had the style credentials and eye for beauty that prevented any creepy factor while he snapped pictures of unassuming strangers. After graduating from Indiana University with a degree in apparel merchandising, he did marketing for Gaultier, Valentino, and Helmut Lang before becoming Bergdorf Goodman’s director of men’s fashion. As his name and international audience grew, seeing oneself pop up on the blog became a coveted point of pride.
Closer is Schuman’s second collection of fashion shots, offering a deeper look at style all over the world as he continues to travel. Of course, the book’s photography embodies Schuman’s vision inspired by everyday, spontaneous settings. And the title is not necessarily about a zoom lens: “I called this book ‘Closer’ because I’m getting closer to the niche of the type of people I want to shoot,” Schuman says. He adds that whether masculine or feminine, shy or outgoing, his subjects are united by “some kind of physical grace … very different for each person.”
Schuman contributes regularly to GQ, Interview and the French and Italian editions of Vogue. The Victoria and Albert Museum in the London and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography both feature his work. He lives in New York, has two daughters, and dates the Parisian illustrator, blogger and street-fashion photographer Garance Doré, who once said in an interview: “I fell in love before I met him by looking at his blog. He’s more than a great photographer; he’s changed the way we look at fashion.”
This event is free and open to the public. Attendees can bring their own books, or both books and posters will be available for purchase on-site.
