Yves Kortum finds limitless inspiration in a soft version of Newtonian fetishism. In ‘Sori’, he sets the stage for glossy and eccentric outfits in the streets of an Italian fishing village – underlined by the strong presence of the androgynous model, leva Seskute.
There are times when you do delve into colour, however, it seems that you prefer to cultivate your own style in black and white, staging strong, self-confident and desirable women. What is this obsession all about?
Practically all my commercial photos are, in fact, in colour, because clients usually want colour; that’s why I prefer to do my own projects in black and white.
Your favourite styling is defined by leather, latex, short and brief with suspenders. Do you have certain labels you prefer to work with and why?
Your favourite styling is defined by leather, latex, short and brief with suspenders. Do you have certain labels you prefer to work with and why?
‘Sori’ is already the third fashion story you’ve done for S magazine. This time you tried something different.
If I want to create something new and not always repeat myself, I have to be ready to step outside my comfort zone, conceiving new images, combining them with ideas that I’ve already had or realised. I don’t actually invent anything completely new, but I try to take new approaches, new lighting, locations, models.
The Italian urban backdrop gives the series a documentary touch. Was this a new approach?
In fact, I’m a bit like Marco Valdo in th novel ‘Italo Calvino’: I really like to get lost in the urban, classic or modern world and cultivate my thoughts and inspiration with new cultures, designs, architecture, history and so on. As I wander through the streets, I observe the light, the shadows and the reflections created. I was actually on holiday in Liguria, and as soon as I saw the little fishing village of Sori, I was reminded of the nineties when I worked on Helmut Newton’s sets in Monaco and Nice. It was as though time had stood still and all the images had returned. The people on the beach like Helmut also often included in his pictures.
Was there a particular reason why you incorporated maritime components?
In fact, we had intended to photograph everything in the small streets, but because the alleyways are very narrow and the houses very tall, the sun disappears very quickly; at that point you have to leave the path you’re on and do other things to complete the series. Then, however, I became quickly confused in my mind, and I photographed three different ideas and put them together into one series.
The work has an experimental feel. The model comes across rather androgynous, even masculine.
I was at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin recently, and I saw old pictures by Helmut with Brigitte Nielson in southern France. It became clear to me that this time it had to be that type of powerful model. As I explained earlier, I wanted to do something new, so the model also had to be different.
Do you also photograph men sometimes? If yes, how do you present them?
Yes, of course, I also photograph men. In fact, I ask the same of them as of the women: they should take on different roles for me. However, I do leave the erotic to one side, ‘cos it doesn’t work somehow. When I photograph men with women, it’s usually the women who come across strongest.
Which S system lens did you use most frequently for this photo shoot?
It was mixed: I took the Summarit-S 1:2.5/70mm, but very often the Summarit–S 1:2.5/35mm lying on the ground to make the legs appear longer and the woman more imposing. Sometimes I used the APO-Macro Smmarit-S 1:2.5/120mm.
Do you also use other Leica systems for your photo shoots?
No, only the Leica S, in fact.
