Corinne Day and her relationship with Kate Moss

Throughout her career Corinne Day discovered a number of models, but the most famous of them all that we associate with her work is Kate Moss. The relationship between both Day and Moss is something that other photographers could only dream of, it was as if there were no boundaries between them, changing the look of fashion photography; it was in spring 1990 when Day first came in contact the name 'Kate Moss' while she was searching the files of a London based modelling agency, and from then on the rest is history.

Corinne Day was a self-taught photographer, whom before she took to a carer behind the lens had experienced what it was like being the subject, working as a model. When you looked at days work they near enough always show a raw, exposed feeling; never over edited or drastically over staged. Which is the approach taken on the July 1990 cover of 'The Face' magazine featuring a teenage, bare faced Kate Moss with a child like smile on her face that looks as though she doesn't have a care in the world, wearing a Indian style head dress, this cover not only had an impact on the fashion world, but beyond. Kate had a refreshing element about her that matched the era perfectly.

Phil Bicker the then art director of 'The Face' magazine was quick to state that "although the fashion shoot seemed casual and unstyled, it was, in reality, the opposite. It looked natural and simple but it was carefully constructed to look like that. In fact, as I recall, I sent them down there two or three times until they got it right. Kate hadn’t been modelling for very long but, even in her awkwardness, she had that thing about her that Twiggy had in the 60s, a freshness that matched the times.” which really contrasts what we see with Day's photography; is it really natural and raw or is it all cleverly planned?

Personally I like to believe that although the shoot was planned and created with purpose for the editorial, it was still very basic, simplistic which is why the final image used for the cover doesn't appear to have any post production, which is where Corinne Day brings her own experiences as a model into her work “It was something so deep inside, being a model and hating the way I was made up. The photographer always made me into someone I wasn’t. I wanted to go in the opposite direction.” Which at the time both Kate Moss and her Agency weren't too please with the photographs they were something that up until this point had really featured within the fashion world.

The most iconic shoot that Corinne Day did with Kate Moss was for British Vogue in 1993 entitled 'Under-exposed', and is still to this day one of the most backlashed shoots to date. The 'Under-exposed' shoot really featured the model in a different light, she looked sad, down beat as though the whole world was resting on her shoulders, the photographs were really controversial for the fashion world at the time, they seem to be Corinne Day speaking out about the unruliness of the fashion world, in particular fashion photography; especially the normal editorial associated with Vogue provoking outrage and headlines within the media about glamorising anorexia and hard drug use.

The pictures from the shoot show Kate Moss in her home surroundings, they are almost a personal insight into her world away from the camera, she is dressed down as if she was just lounging around the house the feeling that is captured through most of the images is as though Day wasn't there at all and they are freeze frames taken throughout Kate's day; dressed in baggy tights and stringy underwear that highlights her skinniness.

The photograph to the right is probably the most staged photograph within the shoot (although staged probably isn't the word for it) Corrine Day said that this particular shot was taken after "Kate had been crying after a fight with her then-boyfriend" the photograph is quite a personal one that lets us have an insight into the relationship between Day and Moss; it was such a bond that even when Kate was at such a low point she still let Day in, allowing her to capture such vulnerability in an environment that most photographers would never be allowed to see. For this very reason it became one of the most controversial yet iconic images in the 90s, since the image is the most reproduced of the editorial yet the simple styling is not remembered which for me makes the image. The pink Liza Bruce vest paired with the Hennes (H&M) chiffon knickers are quite powerful, the vest looks ill fitting which is probably not intend but it adds to the vulnerability but it is also quite an innocent look; although standing in her knickers with a vest that is almost revealing too much there isn't anything sexual about it, in fact there is something empowering about her stance that almost makes you forget about the styling, and when thinking about the events before the image was capture on first glances the vulnerability is hardly noticeable instead showing a strong women who could over come such a thing.

#corinneday #katemoss #relationship #photography