with Frederic Aranda

• Spanish
• English
• Italian

Photographer

Frederic Aranda, this episode’s fabulous guest, is a photographer who has perfected the art of creating images that are not only filled with beauty, but are also lucid and elegant. Specialising in portraiture, and with an exceptional talent in the difficult art of photographing large groups, Frederic has spent his career creating iconic images which we discuss, in detail, throughout this interview.

With more than 20 years of experience, he has a photographic style that is serene, clean, diaphanous and gentle, while his cv tells tales of his work on the pages of magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, The Sunday Times, WSJ and Esquire. Frederic was born in the city of Geneva, in Switzerland, but has lived in the United Kingdom since he went to Oxford University, having decided, at a young age, to study Japanese. Indeed, his love for the Japanese culture is another of the themes that we explore extensively throughout this encounter, not only because it has come to define some of the more important aspects of his stylistic, ethical and aesthetic sensitivities, but because it was in Japan that Frederic began to explore the infinite possibilities that photography can offer when it comes to dedicating your life to artistic expression.

This year his photograph entitled Ian at Home – which portrays the formidable British actor, Ian McKellen – was included in the Royal Photographic Society International Exhibition, so of course we talked about all the anecdotal details behind an image which proves that, despite the limitations and realities of years like 2020, opportunities can continue to be reaped and important works of art can still be created. We also spoke of the first time one of his images went viral (despite it being taken in the days before Instagram) and which, by the way, was a group portrait made up exclusively of powerful and prestigious women from within the international publishing arena. And, as if that wasn’t enough, we also talked about the famous photo session in 2016, in which he worked with the queen of British punk, Vivienne Westwood and her husband, the designer Andreas Kronthaler, as well as the portrait he took of the American designer Tom Ford whilst still a university student, blessed with nothing but a head full of dreams and ambitions and a brightly lit career path stretching before him.

This chat with Frederic Aranda was, without doubt, a luxurious moment for Metralla Rosa. It was an encounter that gave us the opportunity to share with the world the visions of an artist, whose humility is directly proportional to his greatness.

And now, enjoy the interview!

Watch Interview | Listen to Podcast
This interview was recorded on the 28th of September 2020 and released on the 15th of October 2020

Further Information:

Related Links
Website | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr

References during the interview
Japanese Culture 07:21 | Kintsugi 07:30 | Geneva 07:58 | Nintendo 08:10 | Anime 08:12 | Ochitsuita 11:26 | Kabuki 12:45 | Opera 13:54 | Shakespeare 14:18 | Bunraku 14:20 | Chikamatsu Monzaemon 14:25 | Mandarin 18:35 | Kosher 21:53 | Orthodox Judaism 22:02 | Rabbi 23:11 | Atheism 23:40 | Judaism 24:07 | Vivienne Westwood 24:52 | Andreas Kronthaler 25:01 | Vogue 29:11 | Editor 29:12 | Anna Wintour 29:43 | Franca Sozzani 29:45 | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami 30:11 | Photographic Studio Lighting 31:13 | Vanity Fair 31:42 | Condé Nast 32:37 | Getty Images 32:57 | Grand Hyatt, Tokyo 36:51 | Harper’s Bazaar 40:32 | British Vogue 45:51 | Alexandra Shulman 46:00 | Naomi Campbell 47:44 | Analogue Photography 48:14 | Light Metre 48:34 | Ian McKellen 55:04 | Camp 56:41 | Queer 57:25 | Kitsch 58:00 | Susan Sontag 58:13 | Notes on ‘Camp’ 58:14 | Art Deco 58:33 | Paris Métro 58:37 | Peter Pan 01:01:33 | Pantomime 01:01:34 | Diane Arbus 01:02:22 | Henri Cartier-Bresson 01:03:57 | Reportage & Documentary Photography 01:04:03 | Caravaggio 01:05:49 | Margaret Thatcher 01:10:55 | Tom Ford 01:13:10 | Oxford Union 01:13:37 | The Times 01:14:03 | The Guardian 01:14:05

Portrait of Frederic (above) by Karel Polt

Personal Images:

Marie

Japan

Student Headshots:

Nat Coleman | Dan Snow | Jennifer Allen | Carina Moerch | Rosamund Pike | Kathryn White | Juliet Haysom

Portraits:

Prince Philip | The Ivor Novellos | Anish Kapoor | Patrick Whitaker & Keir Malem | Pharrell Williams | Marko Matysik | Taiye Selasi | Dr. Alex Moulton | Alan Cumming | Steve Hackman | Vivienne Westwood & Andreas Kronthaler | Dina Asher Smith | Ian McKellen | Margaret Thatcher | Tom Ford

Group Portraits:

Vogue Japan | Vogue Editors | Sketches for Vogue Editors | Oxford | NHS England | British Vogue | The Ivor Novellos | Young Family | Master Watchmakers, Vanity Fair UK | Archivists & Librarians, Vanity Fair UK

Editorials:

Greedy Hedonistic, Harper’s Bazaar China | Esquire, China | Harrods Magazine | Edelweiss Magazine | Harper’s Bazaar, China | Nargis Magazine | UNIQLO | Zaqatala, Baku Magazine

Kosherface:

All images used by kind permission of Frederic, taken from his website and Instagram.

Behind the scenes videos:

All videos used by kind permission of Frederic, taken from his website and YouTube channel apart from Vogue Editors, which was filmed by Aleksandar Dragičević.

Interview Credits:

Production by Carla Tofano & Toby Deveson | Subtitles by Valentina Sarno | Onset artwork: Photography by Toby Deveson & drawing of Carla by Alexandra Veres | Title music written and performed by Maya Petrovna | Cameras & Sound kindly supplied by Jim Shannon & Murray Stewart