Carl De Keyzer Geneva, Switzerland. 1999.
“This image is an odd duck in my archive. This was the only time I ever did a fashion job.
A model was flown over to Geneva, there were a couple of vintage cars, an ass
(...) istant for me, and make-up for her. The job was for a new Swiss magazine, Edelweiss. I gave some direction, but the model did almost all of the work.
With my own projects I never stage anything. Reality provides more powerful images and situations than anything my imagination could come up with. Many elements can prevent an image from being satisfying or surprising. Staging offers security, but usually comes hand-in-hand with predictability.
I do believe that some stories can only be told when you arrange situations. So I don't condemn colleagues who do it, but it’s not for me. 20 years ago, this approach was considered fraudulent in documentary photography. Some did it anyway, and claimed they hadn't. I believe, whenever you stage photographs, you have to be forthright about it.
Reality can be a bitch, and now it feels like the trend is toward staging and artistic images. This lowers the respect for photographers who still 'work' with reality. Nobody believes you didn't alter reality. I don't care — I still think interacting in an intuitive way with your subject provides more powerful images.”
– Carl De Keyzer © Carl De Keyzer | Magnum Photos
