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Iâve had a few days to process Harryâs AnOther Man shoot now and I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and impressions with you all. Itâs evident that a huge amount of thought has gone into these images so I wanted to examine the images and spend a bit of time speculating on their meaning.
First of all, we have been given three distinct series of images. A photographic triptych if you will. This is significant.Â
Cultural & Religious Symbolism of the number 3:
Its roots stem from the meaning of multiplicity, creative power and growth. Three is a moving forward of energy, overcoming duality, expression, manifestation and synthesis. Three is the first number to which the meaning âallâ was given. It is The Triad, being the number of the whole as it contains the beginning, a middle and an end. Below are some common cultural references to 3 stages or phases within a cycle:
past-present-future | heaven-human-earth | thought-word-action | beginning-middle-end | birth-life-death | body-soul-spirit | transformation-temptation-denial | Faith-hope-love
First Photo Sequence: Willy Vanderperre
Favorites from the sequence:
First of all, what a glorious set of images. Amazing for so many reasons.
What struck me about these images was their simplicity. Itâs just Harry, beautifully lit and photographed in a studio against a white or black background. In this way these images are not âsituatedâ. They are devoid of any context beyond what is constructed within the studio.Â
The focus is on Harry. Harry the persona. Harry the performer, the burgeoning legend. He is androgynous, playing with notions of gender, masculinity and femininity. He displays strength and power as well as a vulnerable sensitivity. I love the images where his eyes are closed. It is as though he is allowing us to see him. We can look at him freely without feeling self-conscious about our gaze or our curiosity. But there is a limit to what we can see
I wondered at the white background. Could this point to his lack of ownership and authorship within his current (recent past) situation? Does it suggest a lack of meaning? Perhaps heâs suspended in limbo?
And then of course, there is the collar. There has been plenty of fan speculation about the collar. Could this signal his former submissive, slave status or that he felt âownedâ. Could it symbolise restraint, control, humiliation? Could this collar signify a period of training? There is no lead attached. Perhaps he is no longer being led around by the neck, but he is not yet entirely free from these restraints.
In this series, we also see his many tattoos. For me, the tattoos have always appeared to be attempts at communicating elements of his identity, personality, interests and loves that do not necessarily fit with the âHarry Stylesâ marketing persona. To me they have always felt like a rebellion, a resistance to the reductionist control exerted upon him. Â
Is he making a statement on the nature of celebrity and fame? Although beautiful, his image has been designed, constructed (the tailored suits) and controlled (the collar) and is ultimately meaningless (white background) as it has no real connection or grounding in the complexities of his identity.
Second Photo Sequence: Alasdair McLellan
Favorites from the sequence:
Within this sequence Harry is solidly grounded in both his personal context (Holmes Chapel) but also his historical and cultural context. The images are rich, textured and full of details to absorb. They are full of nostalgic nods to his personal history - his school, the bakery, the pub etc - The places he spent time as a youth and no doubt the places that he returns to when he needs grounding. But these images are also so full of nods to his cultural context, his music and fashion idols, his Britishness and even the cold! Â
Itâs fitting that he looks so young in these photos. He is dressed in rich, textured, warm layers of clothing. Protected, yet free to express him-self. Mobile and independent but still with a strong connection to home. His body language is frequently small, closed or crossed. He looks pensive, contemplative, uncertain, but not unhappy. For me, they really capture that space between boyhood and manhood. The dusk of juvenility just before a dawning maturity.
The images are cropped mid-scale; full of details to ground Harry in his context, but itâs local, urban, man-made, constructed and controlled. We donât see expanses of nature, no swathes of sky or sea. No earth, wind, water, fire.
Third Photo Sequence: Ryan McGinley
Favorites from the sequence:
And then we get the final sequence. Here Harry is firmly situated in nature. Itâs all about the elements here. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. The scale is larger. We see great expanses of space, landscapes symbolic of all the possibilities to come.
His clothing style is much more relaxed. Heâs wearing solid, strong boots, ready to stride forth into whatever may come. Finally, we see that golden smile of his in two of the images. In one of those images he appears to have tears in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. Does he cry from joy? From laughter? From relief? From Hayfever (haha!)? Â
We see the collar again in the image with the cobweb and this time there is a lead attached. But after that image, we donât see the collar again, but we do see the orange lead and several navy ribbons in almost every image. These âtiesâ are no longer attached to a collar (with that sole exception perhaps to indicate that they once were) - no, now they are coming from somewhere else. Are they symbolic of roots? Or his heart strings? Even an umbilical cord? Do they signify ties to his history, to family, to nature? I think they signify attachments, but chosen attachments. Â Not enforced, dominant controls.
And THENâŚ.. thereâs the rebirth metaphor! (See below images) In the first image Harry assumes a crouched, almost foetal position within a womb-like cave. To me, this imagery is suggestive of the period of gestation or development between conception and birth (or rebirth in this case). In the second, he is emergent from the cave (hence the birthing metaphor). He assumes a confident, star position, making his body as large as it can be but he is still dwarfed by his context. He emerges grounded but with room to grow and develop.
Goodness me! How I love these images. All of them. Â
Harry & AnOther Man - THANK YOU for all the thought and effort you put into these images. The concept development, art direction, styling and execution of these images is absolutely exceptional and unlike anything Iâve seen in a long time. I have loved thinking about them.
Based on this collaboration, I honestly cannot wait to see what Harry does from here. Respect, Peace & Love.
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