Name the five photographers who, more than any others, defined the dramatic shift in the approach to magazine photography in the late eighties and early nineties. There’s Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel. Richard Avedon, of course.
Who’s missing? I’m getting to that.
Today’s guest was discovered while still a student at ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles—by Andy Warhol, no less—whose upstart (and budget-deficient) team at Interview couldn’t afford to send a crew to LA for a shoot. His first subject, newbie film director Steven Spielberg, launched his photography career, and soon he was shooting for every magazine you could imagine.
We’re talking, of course, about Matthew Rolston. He, along with his fellow rebels, changed everything by bringing both a sensuality and a sexuality to newsstands that big publishing hadn’t seen before. Readers ate it up. Ask him to explain this transformation, and you’ll get a hot take that will completely change how you think about media and celebrity:
“I think glamour—and glamour photography—is a substitute for god and goddess worship. The altar is the photo studio. So the goddess comes to the dressing room like she would’ve come to the preparation chamber of a temple. She’s anointed with oils and potions—that would be the hair and makeup team. She’s dressed in symbolic raiment—that would be the styling. And she’s led to the altar where the adherents kneel before her—that would be me on the floor with my camera. It is really the same thing. It’s just a modern, twisted version of the same impulses that we have to idolize people and worship them.“
Just this year, ArtCenter, his alma mater, presented the photographer, director, author, artist, and educator with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring both his creative legacy and his role as a mentor to the next generation. It’s the perfect moment to look back on his remarkable career, and to hear directly from Rolston himself.
Anne Quito caught up with Matthew in the lead-up to the premiere of an evocative new body of work, Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits, a site-specific installation at ArtCenter, which premiered in September and runs through November 9.
Read the full episode transcript here.
Print Is Dead (Long Live Print!) is a podcast about magazines and the people who made (and make) them. Magazines that combined thought-provoking attitudes and values with a distinctive look and feel, and cast a long and powerful shadow on American culture and public discourse. Hear stories and learn lessons from legendary designers, editors, writers, publishers, photographers, illustrators, photo editors, and more—stories and lessons that capture a magical history of innovation and inspiration, and that point the way forward. We’ll go deep into the lives and careers of this astonishingly talented group of creators, and tease out what these giants—past and present—have to teach the next generation of creators.
If you’re in the magazine business—if you’re in any business focused on content creation—this podcast is for you.
This episode is made possible by PIDLLP sponsors Commercial Type and Freeport Press.
The team behind Print is Dead (Long Live Print!) also produces The Full Bleed, a podcast about the future of magazines and the magazines of the future.
The post A Modern Form of Worship | Matthew Rolston appeared first on PRINT Magazine.