INEZ VAN LAMSWEERDE

A Two-Tone Stretch Satin and Lace Pantsuit by Bertrand Marechal - The Face, 1994

Inez van Lamsweerde and her partner, Vinoodh Matadin, were pioneers of digital manipulation in fashion photography. One of Inez's early successes, 1994's For your Pleasure, was a series of images altered on a Paintbox computer. People freaked out, and an appreciation for making photos look all crazy with a computer was born.

Inez and Vinoodh have been together both professionally and personally for close to two decades. They're basically inseparable, which is both cute and pretty intimidating when you think of the artistic powerhouse the two of them make. Their work blends fashion and art perfectly, which means an ad they shoot for Gucci will have as much creativity and originality as their personal projects. I called up Inez to talk about her work and get advice for my love life.

Me Kissing Vinoodh (Lovingly), 1999

Vice: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. You made a name for yourself with For Your Pleasure. What do you think your work has done for the acceptance of digitally retouching photos?
Inez van Lamsweerde: I think quite a lot. That series in The Face was one of the first times a fashion series of that kind was published in a magazine. The technique had been used to put more shine on cigarette packs or cars or to make rabbits fly, but in the fashion world it hadn't been done. We discovered that the possibilities for manipulation were interesting, and that you could use it in a subtle way. We were constantly changing images in a way so that it wasn't immediately visible that it had been done on a computer, but there was still a sense of unease or duality in the picture.

But now every photographer in the world can use Photoshop. Does the competition intimidate you?
No. Although we were a little afraid when we had just started and other, much bigger photographers started using it as well.

Like who?
Like Mondino. He had all the money in the world while we did all of our computer work on a super low budget. We had to save up a lot of money and then work on the series for a long time.

Anastasia, 1994

I read that it took you two months to finish For your Pleasure.
Yeah, but we quickly realized that we had found our ideal way of working--that we were on the right path.

And then it didn't matter so much what other people did.
Exactly. What did happen was we started reacting when other people went way too far with retouching their images. The flying bunny phenomenon is what we like to call that. We responded to that by destroying our images and just leaving the mistakes in. We used the mistakes to undermine the perfection that results from using a computer, and that lead us to a new visual language as well. There came a point though, when we quit using the computer to alter images, that some people didn't even notice anymore. They would say, "Look at these strange big hands!" while looking at the untouched image.

Joanna - Herve Leger Campaign, 1995

For your Pleasure was published at a time when grunge was big. That whole scene not only made people wear checkered shirts, but also influenced photography. You've said that it was mostly depressing, black and white images during that time, and that your colorful and energetic work was a reaction to those kinds of pictures. What would a photographer have to do now to be anti? Is there anything left to react to?
I think the underground is disappearing. Everything is public now because of the Internet. Everybody has a stage from the moment they starts taking pictures, and that automatically gives people a chance to make it. There are also so many more magazines these days. When we started you had to have Linda Evangelista or Naomi Campbell in your portfolio or magazines wouldn't even look at it. Also, if you had done stuff for Yohji Yamamoto like we did, you didn't even think about shooting for H&M. That just wasn't something you did. But now it doesn't matter who you shoot for and what you shoot it for. Everything's work, and everything is at an equal level, so to speak. I don't think there's anything to rebel against for younger people. I don't know if that's what it's about anymore.

Well Basically Basuco is Coke Mixed with Kerosene… The Face, 1994

But for you it was a way to gain recognition and jump-start your career. Wasn't that the intention?
No, it wasn't. My mother, a fashion journalist, always brought home French Vogue, so I grew up with that. I saw Helmut Newton's and Guy Bourdin's images in the magazine--they were powerful, colorful photos, and that's where my colorful visual language came from. I was a total misfit in fashion during the grunge period, but we kept on doing what we believed in. The only thing I can say to someone who's just starting out is keep doing what you believe in. Doing what you want to do is the only thing you have. When you start out, you're constantly working on putting 400 ideas into your picture. Then, with experience, you learn that a picture like that has something spastic about it and you go, "OK, so I put this idea here, that one there, and this fits best with this." And then, because you found a certain way of working, you feel--this is me.

Natalie Portman - New York Times Magazine, 2005

It creates freedom.
And then it just flows. If you know what you're looking for, it just goes. But you have to figure that out for yourself, and that's why I encourage people to keep on studying for as long as they can. Stay in school and don't start working as soon as you can, because then you'll have the pressure of having to deliver 12 good shots per day. That leaves you very little time to develop your own visual language.

So give yourself time and make sure you don't have too much to do.
That's what I did at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.

You were born at the right time in Holland for that though, the government was giving students an easy time back then.
Yes.

Clint Eastwood - New York Times Magazine, 2005

The resume your assistant sent me before this interview was 20 pages long and goes back to 1992. It mentions numerous exhibitions in big museums, campaigns for the world's largest fashion brands, and editorials for the biggest magazines. What do you like so much about your work that has kept you going strong for this many years?
That has to do with the choice we made for our way of life. It mostly consists of photography, and we try to work together with people we respect and who inspire us as much as we can. They're a small group of hairdressers, make up artists, stylists, and other people in fashion, and they're like a group of friends. It's a great feeling of being together, and that's why what we do never feels like work.

Antony - Fantastic Man, 2006

Why are you two asked for so many different fashion campaigns?
I think it's because our work doesn't look like most other photographers'. It contains subtle gestures and emotions that make it very much our own. At the same time, everything remains possible, so we don't do only black and white studio photography, or just bright colors on the beach. Some photographers do only one thing, and they do that for everybody they shoot for. For us, the idea is really important, and we try to find as much as we can within that idea that's interesting to us, and that's what we're trying to show in the image. People also like the fact that we think with them from the start. We're not the kind of photographers people approach with a completely finished idea. They usually talk to us first.

Thank You Thighmaster - Britt, 1993

Is the fact that you try to bring out what's interesting to you in a photo for say, a fashion brand, the reason that you're so popular in the art world as well?
I'm not sure. I think that the disappearing boundaries between art and fashion are what makes us interesting to the art world. But it boils down to the same thing--that it comes from so many different worlds, and that that's the thing that makes it interesting. There's also a kind of beauty to our work that's not always a given in the art scene.

Speaking of art, your work My Little Darling Trish from 2002 was shown at an art exhibition curated by Shaquille O'Neill. I find that remarkable.
Haha, yes.

Final Fantasy - Wendy, 1993

What happened?
That exhibition was initiated by an art collector who had bought that work. The print he bought was life-sized. He then asked Shaquille to curate an exhibition where size mattered. Shaquille probably went through his collection and chose things he found interesting compared to his own size.

Were you there? Did you talk?
Yeah, we talked, shook hands, took a picture, all that. He was really big. Twice my size.

I'm in a relationship with a girl I'm working with. We're having trouble. You and your partner have been together both personally and professionally for 18 years. How do you do that, and can you save my relationship?
Vinoodh and I chose to spend every moment in life together. "Why do something apart from each other when you can be together all the time?" we thought. Of course there are difficulties that come with that. You never have any distance and the divide between being at work and at home isn't there for us. Everything mingles--the work stress as well. I'm guessing you have that too, but if you know that, and you identify the dangers it poses to your relationship, you can discuss those matters. I think talking is really important. You need to be open as well.

OK, I'll try that. Thanks!

JAN VAN TIENEN