Editor’s Note: This video is a segment from the CNN Style show.
With a list of clients and collaborators that reads like a who’s who of fashion, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott are two of the most in-demand photographers working today.
Known for their hyper-saturated, digitally manipulated images, the duo – who go by simply Mert and Marcus – have shot high-profile editorials for Vogue, W and Interview, and collaborated with the likes of Givenchy, Gucci and Calvin Klein on provocative ad campaigns.
Their work, according to the photographers, is fantastical and complex, incorporating elements of strength, beauty, darkness and vulnerability to a glamorous effect.
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“It represents our way of seeing fantasy now, or our way of seeing the dark side, our way of seeing glamour, our way of seeing youth,” Alas told CNN Style host Derek Blasberg.
Kate Moss, a friend and frequent subject, speaks only effusively of the photographers. Their relationship spans decades, and hit an apex in 2013, when Mert and Marcus photographed her for Playboy’s 60th anniversary issue.
“I trust them. I would never say ‘I don’t want to do that,’” Moss said. “Lots of people have their idea of what a girl is, whereas when I work with them, it kind of is more playing.”
Fashion photography's most daring duo
That playful spirit is something up-and-coming American model Taylor Hill, who was photographed by the duo for French Vogue’s September 2016 issue, clocked as well.
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“The image inside (that issue), that’s one of my absolute favorite pictures actually of all time. You really get more of a sense of who you are when you see these images of you.”
But while they’ve worked with many of the world’s top models and A-list celebrities, and operate primarily in the context of fashion magazines, Mert and Marcus are hesitant to call themselves purely fashion photographers.
“I don’t know why that should be a fashion picture or an art picture or an exhibition picture. We just do pictures,” Alas said. “Some like to put it in a magazine, some like to put it on a wall.”
Watch the video above to find out more about Mert and Marcus’ glamorous and fantastical photography.