DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Vogue Italia “helps the environment” by featuring no photos in its latest issue

Jan 8, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 8 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Climate change is one of the burning issues in our society, and many photographers are doing what they can to raise awareness about it. But Vogue Italia recently turned to a pretty unusual method of helping the environment – they banned photography completely. The latest issue of the popular fashion magazine features no photos whatsoever, and it caused mixed reactions in the community.

In a series of Instagram posts, Vogue Italia shared previews of cover images for its January 2020 Special Issue. Each of the captions reads “NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE,” making it clear that there were no photographers hired for this particular issue of the magazine.

“All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends,” Vogue Italia writes.

“The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vogue Italia (@vogueitalia)

But wait, what’s the point? Well, the entire issue of the magazine was “created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way,” Vogue Italia explains. In his note to readers, Emanuele Farneti, the editor in chief, described what it takes to fill one Vogue issue with professional photos:

“One hundred and fifty people involved. About twenty flights and a dozen or so train journeys. Forty cars on standby. Sixty international deliveries. Lights switched on for at least ten hours nonstop, partly powered by gasoline-fuelled generators. Food waste from the catering services. Plastic to wrap the garments. Electricity to recharge phones, cameras …”

By ditching photos from the January 2020 issue, the money was saved in the production and it will go towards financing the restoration of Fondazione Querini Stampalia. This is a cultural institution in Venice that was severely damaged by the recent floods. The idea is certainly great: it gives a new look and new dimension to the magazine, but most of all, it was done for a noble cause. But is it sustainable?

In my opinion, this not a permanent solution, unless Vogue Italia has decided to have illustrations instead of photos forever. As PhotoShelter’s Allen Murabayashi puts it, and I totally agree, “The elimination of photos might help to raise awareness, but it will most certainly not materially alter the effects on the environment.”

With the very next issue, the magazine will again fill its pages with photos. That’s great news for photographers, but it means that making a single Vogue issue will again leave a significant carbon footprint.

I do like this experiment, but I think more needs to be done if Vogue really wants to contribute. I certainly hope that Vogue (and other magazines) will think of more long-term solutions for their future issues. They could organize the shoots locally, for starters: hire local models, photographers, and other production members. Also, they could organize the shoots in more nearby locations so they don’t have to fly half of the world for a single photoshoot. Perhaps also think of alternative ways of wrapping and shipping the clothes… These are only some ideas, but some of them have to be implemented if Vogue really wants to help the planet, at least a bit.

[via PhotoShelter; New York Times]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

BTS look at the latest Vogue cover shoot, featuring a light painted portrait of Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones Vogue Italia under fire for giving Gigi Hadid a “blackface” British Vogue ditches models – adorns latest covers with essential workers Apple fixes the BeautyGate issue in the latest iOS 12.1 update

Filed Under: news Tagged With: Climate, drawing, Illustration, Vogue, Vogue Italia

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Nikon announces COOLPIX P950, a 4K version of Nikon P900
The honesty in film photography »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Panasonic PanaTrack is a big bendy motorised camera slider
  • Once again, tourists are getting too close to bison for photos
  • Fujifilm announces shipping delays for the new Fuji X-S20
  • International Photography Awards reveals breathtaking 2022 winners (mildly NSFW)
  • 7artisans launches a 24mm f/1.4 lens for only $109

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy