Fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar on the Versace campaign in the 1980s
The Versace campaign shot by legendary photographer Richard Avedon in the 1980s is a masterpiece. The timeless campaign that featured supermodels Stephanie Seymour and Marcus Schenkenberg was indeed a work of genius and has always been an inspiration for me.

There was not much happening in fashion in the 1980s and making a photograph work when fashion itself was sort of exhausted was not art but more of a craft. This campaign made an extremely strong statement with minimum frills. Take one picture of the campaign, in which Seymour seems to be riding Sthenkenbdreg like a horse. There is no exquisite light, no obvious composition, no narrative or an attempt on seduction. It is not even posing. It is just an accurate picture and a natural shot, yet it’s a strong image that makes an impact. The other pictures in which the two are squarely looking at the camera are equally good.

The Versace campaign was one of the sexiest of its kind, but not vulgar. Also, we have to consider the fact that there was no Photoshop back then and retouching was a crude art. The core of the image is so strong that you don’t need anything else.
Avedon had the power to reveal expressions of his subjects that were difficult to capture. A lot of credit does go to the models as well.
I saw the campaign for the first time in 1989 when I was studying at the Brooks Institute of Photography in the US. And since then I have gone through many internal tests myself.
Whenever I shoot my own pictures, it is that timelessness which I target. It has become a yardstick in my professional career not in terms of shooting similar pictures but in terms of making an image transcend all trends. It is a forever piece.

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