Fashion week’s quieter side uncovered in Joachim Mueller Ruchholtz’s model portraits
Photographer Joachim Mueller Ruchholtz spent two years capturing the mellower side of the often correscating international fashion scene. A new book, launching in London on 1 October (in the hangover period after this season’s shows), contains Mueller Ruchholtz’s quiet series of portraits, depicting off-duty fashion models in Paris, London, Berlin, Helsinki; as they are, lounging, relaxing, simply existing, before majestically stalking the runway.
Each protagonist in Portraits also graces the books of Eva Gödel’s Düsseldorf-based modelling agency Tomorrow Is Another Day. ‘Gödel is in interested in male archetypes,’ writes Lucy Kumara Moore (of Claire de Rouen Books) in the books’ introduction, which is self-evident in the eclectic mix of male models represented in Mueller Ruchholtz's imagery. It becomes a catalogue not just for what it means to be a young male model, but what it means to be ‘male’, in general.
‘Are they boys or are they men?’ Kumara Moore continues. ‘They’re caught between worlds – between adolescence and adulthood, the ordinary and the luxurious, the known and the new – some of them were travelling out of their hometowns for the first time.’ It’s in these ‘in-between moments that identities are formed’, and Mueller Ruchholtz documents the unfolding of ‘I' on film.
Though not necessarily devoid of pose’, each image is categorised by its relaxed informality; caught in a hotel room here, a living room there. ‘They’re pictures taken at stolen moments along the urban circuit of a restless, globalised fashion industry,’ Kumara Moore writes. ‘But even though these men might be walking Raf Simons or Hugo Boss the next morning, there isn’t much to indicate privilege or decadence in their surroundings.’
Distinct from the complex, rarified fashion universe, the male models take on new personas in Mueller Ruchholtz’s photographs. Plays with light and colour dance upon these unique character portraits, creating sustained and meditative reflections on identities often moving too quickly to study with such exactitude.
INFORMATION
Portraits will launch on 1 October at 5 Carlos Place, London. For more information, visit the Palm Studios website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
How the west won: Ivan McClellan is amplifying the intrepid beauty of Black cowboy culture
In his new book, 'Eight Seconds: Black Cowboy Culture', Ivan McClellan draws us into the world of Black rodeo. Wallpaper* meets the photographer ahead of his Juneteenth Rodeo
By Tracy Kawalik Published
-
‘Package Holiday 1968-1985’: a very British love affair in pictures
‘Package Holiday’ recalls tans, table tennis and Technicolor in Trevor Clark’s wistful snaps of sun-seeking Brits
By Caragh McKay Published
-
‘Art Exposed’: Julian Spalding on everything that’s wrong with the art world
In ‘Art Exposed’, Julian Spalding draws on his 40 years in the art world – as a museum director, curator, and critic – for his series of essays
By Alfred Tong Published
-
Marisol Mendez's ‘Madre’ unpicks the woven threads of Bolivian womanhood
From ancestry to protest, how Marisol Mendez’s 'Madre' is rewriting the narrative of Bolivian womanhood
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Best contemporary art books: a guide for 2024
From maverick memoirs to topical tomes, turn over a new leaf with the Wallpaper* arts desk’s pick of new releases and all-time favourite art books
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
The best photography books for your coffee table
Flick through, mull over and deep-dive into the best photography books on the market, from our shelves to you
By Sophie Gladstone Last updated
-
Behind the scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining: new book charts the making of a horror icon
Published in February 2023 by Taschen, a new collector's book will go behind the scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, charting the unseen making of a film that defined the horror genre
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published