I came across this 2006 Vice editorial shot by Richard Kern while poking around the fashion spot and wow is it really of a time. It’s split into two parts: the first is photos of models posing in their underwear with digital cameras, and the second is photos that the models throughout the week using those cameras.
I think they were hoping that the models were leading some kind of glamorous, hedonisitic lifestyle that would lend itself to a lot of cobrasnake-esque photographs, but instead what they got back were photos of suburban houses and selfies. In Kern’s words, the photos were “kind of boring,” but a couple commenters disagreed. One commentor named sharma wrote that “what they chose to photograph is touching. One immitated the photographer, but for others, homes (real or desired) show what they value,” and another called out the male gaze’s impact on Kern’s decision to label the photos as boring: “Well, the photos are okay, but happens to be a bit boring (of cause not for the male readers, but that's another story)... Anyway, I live in a town that's so fucking small, that we don't even have Vice. And that's horrible. So applause to you, Vice and all the people that really tries, heh, but seriously, I love what y'all doing!”
I do love the first part of the editorial though. The sleek cameras add a sharpness to the low-effort styling on the models that feels very futuruistic, almost cyborg-esque (shout out to Donna Haraway). It’s sleazy yet minimal, high-concept yet low effort. I can totally see these photos being taken today by some ketamine-obsessed 20-something hipster living in bushwick to promote their indie fashion brand on instagram. And I’m not mad about it:
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