Nouvelle Vague

Lately I've been addicted to old French movies. The Bride Wore Black and Last Year at Marienbad are two of my favorites, both part of the French New Wave movement. I had originally rented Last Year at Marienbad for designing inspiration as I had read that Coco Chanel herself had designed the costumes and I was mesmerized at the beauty and elegance of the fashion.



"These whisperings, worse than silence, that you're imprisoning me in. These days, worse than death, that we're living through here side by side, you and I, like coffins laid side by side underground in a frozen garden...."










Raymond Cauchetier was a famous amateur photographer who would photograph the French New Wave actors on set. If you're in London, you can see his work in a new exhibit at the James Hyman Gallery. Such beautiful pictures that capture the fashion and carefree ease of that time. He has a quote that I love that proves sometimes an amateur can have just as amazing work if not better than a professional:

"I've never received the slightest advice from a professional. I've always improvised, and invented what I needed to do, with my own inspiration. Is that why some people think my photos never look like other people's?"

I can see a lot of his photography and the inspiration it has had on fashion photography now, but he was ahead of his time.

















A video from the band Nouvelle Vague that reminds me to that French era. Love to listen to them when I'm trying to draw inspiration.