| |
 |
|
| Underrated Photographers - Mike Reinhardt |
Mike Reinhardt’s fashion pictures are characterized by an exuberant sense of fun. He seems to operate in an eternal summer. If the sense of joie de vivre appears authentic, it is for good reason. Reinhardt was not illustrating an aspirational ideal; he was making pictures of his own life. His favorite models were his girlfriends, and he lived to the hilt the playboy life that the pictures recount. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Reinhardt led a working life of beaches, beautiful, lively girls, and exotic travel, courtesy of Condé Nast, the Hearst Corporation, and other sponsors.
Reinhardt’s style appears simple, but it is a deceptive simplicity that can only be achieved with a good deal of charm, energy, intuition, and visual flair. Details of dress, makeup, hair styling, props, and location had to be carefully prepared. All was then thrown into an unpredictable race against time to catch a mood or a gesture on the run, like a glass of champagne that must be quaffed before it goes flat. Reinhardt was one of a generation of photographers who favored this seemingly spontaneous, more naturalistic approach at a time when high glamour, styling, and production values dominated the pages of fashion magazines. These photographers, including Frenchmen Patrick Demarchelier, Alex Chatelain, Gilles Bensimon, and American Arthur Elgort, wanted their pictures to have the vitality of good snapshots, the girls to be animated and to convey a feeling of youthful energy.
Reinhardt could boast a distinguished artistic lineage. American born of German parents, his grandfather was the celebrated theater producer Max Reinhardt, his grandmother the actress Helene Thimig. He did not opt for an artistic career; he was practicing law when he was drawn into the world of fashion, working from 1965 for the New York–based Dorian Leigh model agency. Within a couple of years he decided to move from the business to the creative side and he learned the skills needed to become a fashion photographer.
Reinhardt came to prominence through his encounter with model Janice Dickinson. She was extroverted and expressive, unpredictable and completely uninhibited. Dickinson had an irrepressible smile and a dynamic energy that brought fashion pages to life. She and Reinhardt became lovers and close collaborators. Reinhardt’s relaxed, instinctive way of working gave Dickinson freedom to perform for the camera. They made countless vibrant and seductive pictures that celebrate their close personal and professional collusion. Reinhardt’s subsequent muse was Christie Brinkley, an archetypal all-American blonde. Inspired by these and other models, and with an instinct for the qualities of light and color that could make a picture sparkle, Reinhardt brought his particular magic to fashion magazine pages over a period of years. Eventually he turned his back on this profession and established himself in the restaurant business in Los Angeles.
|
