IRIS BROSCH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW & FASHION FILM!!!
Iris Brosch is one of the greatest photographers of our time and with love in her heart and not anger she champions feminism for all humanity showing feminine, charismatic and strong women in her photography. For her, women are heroines. The soul and the spirit of women are the focal point of her photographs.
Iris photographs fashion, nude and art photography and creates artistic videos and performances. Her art photography and films have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Canne film festival, World Expo in Milan, Goethe Institute in Washington, Palais de Tokyo in Paris... Iris's fashion photographs have graced top magazines including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Marie Claire. She has photographed numerous celebrities such as Claudia Schiffer, Sophie Dahl, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Heidi Klum. Some of her clients are YSL, Hugo Boss, Pantene, Tommy Hilfiger, Escada, Jaguar, and Lancel.
Iris graces our new issue "LOCOMOTION" with her incredible shoot "Metro Boulot Dodo". It was shot at several metro stations in Paris with two amazing twins. Getting to know Iris and watching her shoot has been one of the highlights of being the co-editor-in-chief of IRK Magazine. Her generosity with sharing her knowledge and talent have been an amazing opportunity for our magazine and this interview with her is a gift to you our readers. Enjoy!
MIA: How did you get started as a photographer and what was your big break?
IRIS: I am a completely autodidact. I wanted to go to art school in Germany but they refused me. I had presented a portfolio with traditional drawings, paintings and sculpture but the school thought it was too traditional and they told me in a letter that I should learn something manual. I tour the letter apart and went to Paris which was the best art school I could give to my soul. I came from post war Germany where everything was destroyed so Paris felt like being in heaven.
Maybe I should have been demoralized by not being accepted at university and being told I was not good enough but I didnt and instead dove into photography on my own. I started to do a lot of tests with actors and models. I photographed a lot of people and I made some money too. It was a time you could still make money shooting headshots and model tests. Not a lot but enough to survive. By doing this I could earn money and I was able to educate myself by taking photos with a lot of different people.
MIA: How did you get into the fashion and modeling world in Paris?
IRIS: As I was lucky to be tall and blond I was scouted to be a model. That was how I got in touch with the fashion industry. However, I wasn't a model for long because I never understood their way of thinking. I was told to be beautiful but I was not allowed to talk. I even felt that I was not allowed to be smart. They gave me advice on how to dress and I thought that I already had a great style. Plus I thought I was going to make a lot of money flying on around the world but when you start you don't make much money at all. One of my last modeling jobs was for Jeanloup Sieff at French Vogue as Ophelia.
I became a photographer pretty quickly there after. I photographed none stop and I learned a lot of technical knowledge on my own. My photographer friends told me to read a book so I did and I learned. I probably learned the most by making mistakes. For example, I heated developer and I shook the developing reel tank so the grain exploded and it looked like an impressionist painting. It was not what one was supposed to do but it was great.
Do you know what is great, when you have no teacher, you have no limits!
MIA: So did you create a darkroom in your apartment?
IRIS: Yes in my kitchen and I had a great apartment and I rented out a room in it. All my roommates were complaining a little but it was my apartment so they could go or stay. I was in my darkroom a lot. Daytime photography and nighttime darkroom, daytime photography and night time darkroom and over and over again.
I also made my own paper using liquid light which is an emulation that one puts on paper. I made my own silver emulation and I created my own paper on different supports. I miss these moments where I spend my time in the darkroom and created things and developed pictures.
MIA: I see nothing has changed. You work as hard as ever.
IRIS: Yes you are right! I should change something. I am 52 and I should relax a little but I don't know how. I think whatever you do in life if you are passionate about it and you work you will succeed. On one level or another.
Just a lot of work and passion mixed.
MIA: Do you think there are any icons in photography who have influenced you?
IRIS : Not so much in photography. It is nearly too young a medium. I am very influenced by paintings. I like the Italian Renaissance, especially. I like the beauty and the smartness of it. These were the first paintings which showed the body completely naked. They were so beautiful that even the church could not say something against it. I like the powerful messages in these paintings.
MIA: My favourite shoot in the LOCOMOTION issue is the “Metro, Boulot, Dodo” shoot, your shoot. It is just amazing! We know that it is almost impossible to shoot in the Paris Metro. How did you make it happen and can you tell us about the shoot?
IRIS: That it is a good thing about being a woman. Nobody takes you seriously! In the Metro nobody thinks that you are a professional. They think you are just a decorative woman taking some pictures. So that was good.
We had a short time of a maximum of 10 minutes in each station. In every station we had the pleasure that security came and said we could not shoot in the metro. Of course I expected that to happen so we moved on. We shot in 7 stations and 7 people told us to stop.
Security and police are usually pretty nice when they see models. Especially in France where the men appreciate beautiful woman. The passengers even defended us when security tried to stop us.
In the end, I have to say, that the RATP was pretty lovely. They were really cool!
MIA: How was it to work with the twins Lauriane and Gaelle?
IRIS: A real pleasure. It was the middle of winter and freezing cold and you asked for a transportation theme. In my mind I had the idea just to stay inside and to work with projection. Relaxed, warm, simple! However, for the projection I needed a little more body and less clothing to have a white surface. So this would have included a little more skin. So the girls said we would prefer to do something outside. They were the ones who decided to go outside. They were real entrepreneurs.They gave me the idea and normally it is too tough for a normal model to go outside or even in the subway. They were so supportive. There was no moment they showed that they were cold. They were so powerful..They had strong willpower.
It was wonderful to work with girls who understood the importance of spirit and energy. If not I could not have done the shoot.
I liked that they were both french. The whole idea was to make it a little french. The idea of french freedom. They were able to speak to the passengers and to the RATP people. We were able to shoot everything in the Metro. There was an unspoken understanding between them and me. The were jumping and they were just happy. French Style!!!
What I also loved about them is that they had strong body language between them. If you use two models it is difficult to get a certain closeness. Their sisterhood was quite amazing. I liked this because I am a strong feminist. If you normally put two women together it is not always easy. There is too much competition as to who is more beautiful. The twin sisters just had it naturally. They liked being together. There was no competition. I hope in the future I will have the pleasure to work with them again.
You should try to do something with them, too.
MIA: Oh. For sure. We already have two shoots planned that we want to do with them.
IRIS: Yes. They are just amazing. Amazing french models. They are more than that. They are muses.
MIA: Was it the first time you shot twins?
IRIS:Yes. It was the first time. I never thought about it. Kim, the hairdresser told me that they would be nice. When I saw them the first time I liked them so much. I really enjoyed taking them instead of calling a new casting and always having the same kind of girls. They made the shoot possible. They are french, elegant, graceful and nothing bad came out of their mouths.
MIA:Yes and they were dressed in spring summer fashion. I was also there and it was really cold.
IRIS: Yes, I remember you were there. You know I am German so I always have this kind of German backup. So I thought if I can only do three pictures outside I will mix it with three photos inside. I had no idea what I was going into and I even didn’t know if it was possible to do it.
MIA: Your photographs always have a distinct atmosphere and style. We would love to know how your creative process is in general if this is not your artist secret.
IRIS: No it is not my artist secret. My process is to make everybody feel quite comfortable and relaxed. The first thing I am thinking of is, if the models are comfortable and relaxed. If yes, you can create something stunning and then they have this softness, too.
I think you can really see this softness in the pictures which is a strength at the same time. I know the subway is not like a painting but my pictures are often referred to as paintings. It is the softness which makes it look like a painting or something artistic.
I can photograph simple catalogues also. I like to do simple catalogues in front of a white background. I don't want people to think everything always has to be artistic. I like to do commercial work too.
MIA: Do you do a lot of research or create mood boards?
No. I know it is a new thing and everybody is making mood boards. I am not of this generation. I am from a generation where we didn’t have computers. No I don’t make mood boards.
Everybody is asking for mood boards. I always think it is strange to search something on the internet and to look what other people have done and then put it together. It is like your never really putting together what you are doing. Secondly, I like to create myself more.
I know many