Luca Zordan has worked with stylist Tracey Jacob for nearly 15 years. Not on every shoot, but on many. Both advertising and editorial—and always with a certain style and sophistication that you don’t find in most children’s fashion photography.
Perhaps what makes their work stand out is their unexpected influences. For a recent Guess campaign, for example, they were inspired by the 1956 James Dean/Elizabeth Taylor movie, Giant, and for a story for Vogue Bambini—Luca has shot for the Italian children’s fashion magazine for many years—they drew on the spirit of 1960s Harlem.
Here, Luca, who is based in New York, and Tracey, who lives in Cape Town, South Africa, talk about how they work together—and why their collaboration works.
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From a recent fashion for Vogue Bambini, inspired by Harlem in the '60s. Photo by Luca Zordan. Styling by Tracey Jacob.
Photo by Luca Zordan. Styling by Tracey Jacob.
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LUCA ZORDAN: “I’ve known Tracey for a long time, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with her on many occasions. Our collaboration is rich with exchanges of ideas, usually over a nice cup of tea. The images and inspiration from which she forms her ideas are always filled with cinematographic references and just enough of that English cultural touch that makes her a unique stylist. When I need someone with good taste, style, and more complex vision that’s outside mainstream fashion, I know she’s the right person.”
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Luca knows that when you work with kids, you have to roll with the punches. (Click on the image to see more photos of Luca on location throughout the world.)
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TRACEY JACOB: “Luca and I have been collaborating on editorial stories for around 15 years, and the outcome is always a great one. The relationship between a photographer and a stylist is so important, and in our case, we have similar views on life and both understand each other’s vision, which is the important thing. And we have a great passion for the work we do.
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From a recent campaign for Guess, inspired by the 1956 movie "Giant." Photo by Luca Zordan. Styling by Tracey Jacob.
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I was lucky enough to be booked on the summer 2010 Guess campaign with Luca. We happened to both be in Cape Town at the same time and had the chance to brainstorm with each other. After throwing a few random ideas around, we both settled on Giant as our inspiration. Both Luca and I felt it was something that complemented the collection of that time and wanted to take Guess back to the days of Ellen Von Unwerth’s iconic images, which put Guess on the fashion map. We wanted to emulate these images but give them a childlike quality.
We also recently shot an editorial for Vogue Bambini. Our inspiration was ’60s Harlem. The photos have a movie/reportage quality to them. This is the way I like to work—I get a lot of my inspiration from movies/books from all eras. Within the world of children’s fashion photography, you can play a lot with those sorts of influences. And the children enjoy it too—they love to play with roles.”
For more of Tracey’s work, visit her portfolio at her U.K. agent’s site, Era Management, or at her New York agent, Walter Schupfer. And to see more of Luca’s wonderful photography, click on the portfolio below:
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Click on the image to view "Kids!"
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