Visiting James Sherwood in Bloomsbury, London
Artist Paolo Canevari in front of his 1940s Japanese hand painted screen, NYC
Night shooting with Winston Chesterfield around his picture perfect neighborhood in Westminster.
The writer, Nathaniel "Natty" Adams, and I have been having a wonderful time on new shoots for the book. He finds the same joy in discovering amazing characters and stories as I do. In recent months we have been in high gear, and have been on most of the shoots together, interviewing and photographing at the same time. It's extra fascinating to be able to hear their stories as I shoot, because normally I'm kind of quiet and focused. Certainly whole books could be written on individual men!
Taking a look back at all the shoots as I edit them for the book has raised the question, what do all these men have in common - and, essentially, what defines a dandy for this project? There are a lot of differences, but seemingly just as many similarities. I've certainly tried to avoid hard and fast answers in favor of the view of an explorer into a new world. But the question has come up time and again, and because I've never been able to "answer" it, it has propelled me deeper into the project. I've been so immersed, and now I am attempting to try to understand what someone new to the series or concept might think. I would love to hear your thoughts - if you have just stumbled across this, or have been following from the beginning - what are your definitions, what are your questions, why is it so hard to define?
All photos by Natty, of course!
Hello! Just recently discovered your blog and am delighted that finally there is someone that looks at the dandyism and mens style not as silly oneupmenship game but apparently complex way of self presentation to the world. To me there's two unifying factors to the fenomenon - a demand for detailed protocol and personal rethoric of defining it for oneself. Hence are wildly individual takes on seemingly rigid rules of fine mens dressing. Personally i am not a dandy while working in menswear field, but what fascinates me most is acute feel all true dandies display for fabric and color. Those are emotional aspects concerning the impact for the final look. It shows in your photographs and fine representative choices of your style subjects. Another aspect you seem to excel at is a getting the cultural character of styling attitude from your subjects. French dandy is quite different form english or italian. Put together they present a rich tableau of the subject in question. Hope to see your book soon in stores. all the best. ES
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