Mert and Marcus
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Mert and Marcus are Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, fashion photographers. Their work strongly resembles the photography of Guy Bourdin.
Mert and Marcus, both born in 1971 in Turkey and Wales, respectively, met for the first time in England in 1994 after having worked for a brief period in completely different areas, the first in classical music and the second in graphic design. Marcus was an assistant photographer and Mert was a fashion photo modeler. After working together in the photography business, they decided to create a team. When they showed their first photos to "Dazed and Confused", the London fashion magazine, they immediately made the cover.
Known for their portraits of sophisticated, powerful women, Alas and Piggott's photos lend an air of grace and unmistakable perfection to advertising. "The difference between us and other photographers is that we care a lot about appearance," says Alas. "We spend most of the time in the make-up and hairstyling rooms, focusing more on the look than on more technical aspects. The technical part influences the final result only by about 50%." The team works today for magazines such as Vogue USA, Vogue Italia, W Magazine, Pop Magazine, Numero and Arena Homme Plus. Some of their major clients are top fashion labels such as Louis Vuitton, Missoni, Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Fendi and Miu Miu. They created the images for perfume houses such as Gucci, Yves St Laurent, Givenchy and Lancôme. Alas and Piggott have also worked with celebrities of the caliber of Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Björk, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Charlotte Rampling, Kylie Minogue and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
