the Straight Up

The Straight-Up is a documentary style of photography pioneered by Terry Jones, founder and editor-in-chief of i-D magazine, in 1977. Taking its name from a West Country expression meaning 'tell it like it is', a Straight-Up typically captures a head-to-toe portrait of someone street cast with great personal style, often accompanied by a short Q&A defining their life, likes and dislikes.

The origins of The Straight-Up

In 1977, inspired by the honesty of August Sander's social documentary portraits and Irving Penn's Small Trade series, Terry Jones commissioned British photographer Steve Johnston to photograph London punks head-to-toe against a plain white wall on the Kings Road. Jones intended the pictures to run as a cultural piece in British Vogue, where he then worked as Art Director.[1][2] The photographs however were considered too revolutionary, so Jones ran the images in a book he was art directing called Not Another Punk Book, published by Aurum Press.[3] These Straight-Ups went on to form the basis of i-D, a hand-stapled fanzine founded by Jones in 1980.[4] As i-D grew from a humble fanzine into an internationally celebrated fashion magazine, the Straight-Up-style of photography grew with it, culminating in an entire issue of the magazine dedicated to the photographic style in August 2003 (The Straight-Up Issue, No. 234). Today Straight-Ups continue to feature in i-D capturing new trends on the streets as they happen.[5] A number of other magazines, newspapers and blog sites have since adopted the style.

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "i-D magazine: Identity parade". The Independent (London). 15 October 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  2. ↑ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article5874273.ece
  3. ↑ "STEVE JOHNSTON TALKS PUNK - STRAIGHT UP".
  4. ↑ http://www.hintmag.com/hinterview/terryjones/terryjones1.php
  5. ↑ http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/defining-style-making-i-d

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, November 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.