Photographer, Collier Schorr, is not your average woman with a camera. She is a musician, who uses the camera as her instrument. Her objective is to not capture the materialistic components on film but to give her audience art.
In late February, Schorr opened her 10th exhibition at the 303 Gallery in Chelsea. Her exhibit “8 Women” was a combination of photos she has taken at fashion shoots going back to 1996. None the less, her style is timeless. She remains current with the way she styles her shoots, darkening the background lighting with an emphasis on the objects. Schoor also asks the models to remove their shirt, expressing different angles focused on the physical form within her images.
In the heat of the moment, Collier has had many peculiar ideas spark from fashion shoots. Journalist, William Van Meter expressed in his interview with Collier earlier this year in March, that, “The aim of her Fashion images never seems to be selling clothes. They’re about people, not just items to purchase.”
It is noticeable that Collier challenges the predicted female image. You don’t see glamour, or any particular type of pattern with her models. She breaks boundaries with her abstract presentations of sexuality with men and women. Being in the industry for 25-years, Collier has conveyed that the inspiration for her latest exhibit came from a multitude of artistic outlets. In her interview with Open Ceremony she discusses how François Ozon film 8 Femme, was one of them.
“I like to find out how the model wants to pose, I’m more interested to see her, than to see her become my ideal. That’s why I don’t bring references to most shoots. I’m super curious who they are. Because I don’t really know those feelings. Having this show of “Women” is actually my first experience of having beauty.”
