In ‘Two Beauties and no Beast’ Aglaja Brix & Florian Maas combine vintage looks from the eighties styled by Matteo, with modern poses by model Masha – a rhetorical contortion of the Disney film.
Your photo spread was shot in the style of the eighties. What's the idea behind it?
We'd had the model, Masha, in front of the camera a couple of years ago in New York, and, when we saw she was staying in Berlin, we absolutely wanted to work with her again. She was only here for a short while, so things had to move pretty quickly. So, the concept for the series emerged relatively spontaneously as a result of a few basic ideas (such as studio setting and lights), the atmosphere on the set, and also Matteo's vintage styling, as well, of course, as Tina's hair styling. Masha is a great and special model, who is very creative in her poses and gives a lot of herself. Furthermore, the interplay with the extreme lighting also makes it so modern, so that the spread isn't completed submerged in the eighties. Consequently, the series is the outcome of many spontaneous decisions taken by all those involved.
What does the title ‘Two Beauties and no Beast’ mean?
It's a play on words! With “two beauties” we're referring to the model, Masha, and to our cat, Coco (who is very photogenic, far from shy, and who at some point insisted on being in front of the camera in one of our photo shoots). The “no beast” bit plays with the facts that, one, an animal is also a “beast”, and two, in her crazy performance, Masha also pulls faces like a little animal. It's based on a transformation of the Disney film, ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
You did some experimentation during post-production. What special effects did you use and why?
Many of the effects are 'real' (analogue), produced with different props. Of course, some of them were added later during post-production: we wanted the colour scheme to somewhat emphasise the vintage and analogue look of the eighties, but at the same time give the series something modern with digital and lens effects.
Vegan and Fair Trade labels are often present in your work. What's your position in this regard? Vegan Good Life is the name of a magazine that you've been publishing for a while. What's the intention and who do you want to reach?
Aglaja grew up with an awareness of the need to protect animals and the environment; Flo was inspired and has internalised the issue. This gave rise years ago to an interest in ethically-produced (also meaning animal-free) fashion, as well as other consumer items, including food and the whole lifestyle behind that, of course.
Society is in transformation and, in contrast to the horrific news that reaches us every day, many people are changing the way they think in a positive direction, which is based on empathy and environmental awareness. We see ourselves as part of that movement and we want to contribute (increasingly) to it. One little idea we have is to push our name as “ethical photographers” more. The market is growing rapidly, which can already be seen in the fact that increasing numbers of great fashion houses are bringing out collections with no animal furs, as well as organic collections.
Vegan Good Life is the name of a magazine that you've been publishing for a while. What's the intention and who do you want to reach?
As Photo and Fashion Editors, we are part of the core team of Vegan Good Life. The magazine sees itself as a high-end, lifestyle magazine, with a mission to show that veganism (and ethical consumption per se) does not have to mean renunciation; on the contrary, it makes a good life possible.
We want to reach everyone, but, of course, mainly vegans and any person who is open to the subject, but who needs a bit of help.
The most interesting thing, however, is to put the subject at a high-end level, and to reach a certain main stream who, up until now, have seen it as a matter of renunciation and eco-looks. We reveal the contrary, and captivate people in the process – it's moving ahead with power!
You shot the series with the S. Which of the S system lenses is the most important for you and why?
It depends on the shooting situation... in the studio we often use the 70mm, because it offers a good medium: it's not too close and it's not too far. It's a classic! If we had to decide...
Then again, whenever shooting one of our series, we can never do without the wide angle 35mm, or the macro 120mm! We love mixing and combining different perspectives within our series.
