The Miles Aldirdge Exhibition

FASHION EVENTS DOCUMENTED:The Miles Aldirdge Exhibition

WHO IS HE?

A pop video director turned photographer, Miles Aldridge has captured a unique take on fashion since the mid-90s. Having graduated with a degree in illustration from Central St. Martins, he credits luck as the reason why he became a fashion photographer. British Vogue took no time to spot his talent, and from there on his career skyrocketed. Now based in New York, Aldridge has had work published in top publications across the globe from Italian Vogue to the New York Times. Aldridge is heavily influenced by his father Alan Aldridge, fashion photographer Richard Avedon and film directors; Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You To Love Me is the largest retrospective exhibition of the acclaimed photographer’s work to date. The high glamour photo fiction exhibition was held at the Somerset House from 10th July -29th September 2013. Featuring 55 large scale prints that form an overview of Aldridge’s multi-coloured universe, it was also accompanied by drawings and polaroids. The exhibition is testament to the fact that Aldridge’s love of drawing has always prevailed - sketches were always central to his process.

At the offset, it appears Aldridge has two obsessions: women, and his love for colour. Highly saturated clashing shades, overly- airbrushed models and cinematic compositions give Aldridges’ photography an eerily glamorous feel. By concentrating on unique scenes with psychologically complex characters in surreal settings, Aldridge offers an intriguing mixture of sensuality and melancholy, inviting the viewer to uncover a deeper layer of meaning behind his work.
 
A woman resembling Elizabeth Taylor sits in a red bed with green satin sheets, a bowl of half eaten grapefruit on her lap and appears to be screaming, arms flung in the air. In another, a woman clad in yellow sits on a checked tiled floor, seemingly ready to pounce, whilst glaring into the distance over broken plates and scattered food. His loud, conceptual photos featuring expressionless women all tell a similar story; both disturbing, yet beautiful. These are women at the edge of reason. The  verge of breaking point. Every sense and emotion is magnified through Aldridge’s bright, clashing colours which screams out loud, so the models don't have to.

In its final weeks, I Only Want You to Love Me became a behind the scenes backdrop to the marquees and catwalks erected for London Fashion Week. For those of you who want to enter Miles Aldridge’s Technicolor fantasy world, his recently released book “I Only Want You To Love Me” (Rizzoli, New York), is now available. For further information visit: www.milesaldridge.com.

-Sheshaya Surtani