William Wegman : Fashion Photographs [Paperback]

Ingrid Sisch (Author), William Wegman (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Published to accompany a major travelling exhibition, this book presents a collection of eerily anthropomorphic photographs by William Wegman. They feature clothes by Helmut Lang, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake and others deing modelled by dogs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dress these dogs up and photograph them...and they're irresistible...Now he's done it again...Doggie divas dressed to the canines." -- Philadelphia City Paper

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810929449
• ISBN-13: 978-0810929449
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 10 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Runway Models-- Look Out For Some Heavy Competition!, March 29, 2000

By 

"janelle-louise" - See all my reviews

This review is from: William Wegman : Fashion Photographs (Paperback)

Precious, precious darlings! I originally bought this book for my nine year old Godchild who loves to "play" fashion model with her dog. The minute I opened this book the weimaraner models stole my heart and I knew I had to get a copy to keep on my cocktail table. Everyone, who, like me,loves haute couture and adores those fabulous creatures who are best friends to us all will not be able to put this book down. Everyone who sees this book at first smiles ear to ear--then simply goes wild with laughter. They all want their own copy. The models look so very elegant and poised in trend-setting fashions. This is classic fashion photography with warm precious amber eyed beauties looking back at you. It is dog photography at its best.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Fashion, and Photography: Putting on the Dog!, December 31, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: William Wegman : Fashion Photographs (Paperback)

You can love this book for any one of three reasons:

1. You enjoy dogs (especially weimaraners) and enjoy seeing them unusually well posed to look like attractive humans.

2. The connection between haute couture model and the fashion fascinates you, and you are open to seeing how line, tilt of head, and connected ratios form pleasing images.

3. You love photography and want to better understand how much of the "art" is in the scene itself, versus how much comes from the photographer.

Naturally, if you like all three elements, you have a much more than five star book in your hands.

You have to see these photographs to believe how good they are, unless you already happen to know Mr. Wegman's work. Take a look at the cover to get a hint.

Basically, Mr. Wegman takes his weimaraners (Chundo, Batina, Crooky, and Chip) and treats them like human fashion models. He dresses them in stylish hats, wigs, dresses, suits, shoes, mannequin parts, and other accessories to create "human" poses. Think of this as being a little bit like what Cindy Sherman does in posing as a well-known actress in her own photographs of famous movie scenes.

The approach is mostly done in a slightly campish way, emphasizing bright and bold background colors which contrast and make a context for different bright accessory and fashion colors. The natural color of the weimaraneers is the "coolest" part of the visual image.

What was brilliant to me was "seeing" what draws my eye in a photographic composition. Normally, I think I'm looking at a model, but based on my reactions to these photographs I'm really drawn much more to a curve, a line, a tilt of the head, or an incline of the body in the model. Seeing the weimaraners anthromorphized in this way allowed me to understand the appeal of the photographs at a much more fundamental level. I thought that Mr. Wegman's works with hats and fur coats were especially successful from this perspective.

The brief essays in the book are also valuable for describing how similar it is to work with either human models or the weimaraners. That relieves a certain tension in your mind as you imagine this work being unpleasant to the dogs. But, reportedly they love it and get nice breaks during the day.

Here are my favorite images in the book:

Three hat photographs: Migratory, Calla Lily, and Ben Day -- all from 1999

Two fur coats: Polar Extreme and Blue Powder -- both from 1994

Evolution of a Bottle (Series of 5) from 1999

Bikini 1999

Glamour Puss 1999

Opening 1999

Melissa 1994

To extend your learning after you finish enjoying this book, I suggest that you try something similar with scarves, hats, and wigs with say chunks of wood, large crystals, or flowers. Whether you photograph the scenes or not, you will learn a lot in composing what is appealing to you.

See beauty and classic style all around you . . . always!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful photographic blend of comedy with fashion insights, September 6, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: William Wegman : Fashion Photographs (Paperback)

William Wegman, famous for incorporating clothed dogs in his photos, here presents a fashion statement to accompany a major traveling exhibition: anthromorphic fashion photos modeling some of the best designers' creations - with canines. The result blends comedy with fashion insights.