Mert & Marcus
Find out as much as you can about their life.
What inspired their work? Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton
What significant impact did their work have on the photographic world?
Compare your thoughts to other critics writings.
What is it that makes this photographer’s work different?
What is their vision/style?
How is this vision expressed or realized?
What inspired their work? Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton
What significant impact did their work have on the photographic world?
Compare your thoughts to other critics writings.
What is it that makes this photographer’s work different?
What is their vision/style?
How is this vision expressed or realized?
Widely known in the fashion photography industry, Mert and Marcus met and sparked their start in fashion photography in England dating back to the 90's. They are known for their strong partnership and bond as photographers, hence why they were dubbed the name Mert & Marcus, rather than Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot. When observed of their photo shooting process, it is said that they share one camera, sometimes fighting over it, and one who might look over their pictures won't even be able to tell whether Mert or Marcus took each one. One of their first photographic works was done for Dazed and Confused Magazine, as one of their photos made the cover. Their other photographic works also appeared on Vogue, Pop, Numero, and Areno Homme with commercial clients of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Pucci, Versace, Missoni, Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, Kenzo, MAC and Miu Miu.
What sets them apart from other fashion photographers is that their images are very much saturated in color, highly edited or polished in that the majority of the models look "plastic", and they develop a sense of either hyperrealism or surrealism. Mert and Marcus have been commonly known for the heavy manipulation of their photos. They enjoy the "fakey, fakey, fakey" images they create as Grace Coddignton, director of Vogue magazine states, however, because the ability to create something or achieve something that may not necessarily be there in the image gives more freedom, as Mert explains.
What sets them apart from other fashion photographers is that their images are very much saturated in color, highly edited or polished in that the majority of the models look "plastic", and they develop a sense of either hyperrealism or surrealism. Mert and Marcus have been commonly known for the heavy manipulation of their photos. They enjoy the "fakey, fakey, fakey" images they create as Grace Coddignton, director of Vogue magazine states, however, because the ability to create something or achieve something that may not necessarily be there in the image gives more freedom, as Mert explains.
Mert, who is Turkish, and Marcus, who is Welsh, both perform their work always in a pair- they never shoot solo or ever plan on working solo anytime in the future. Both born in 1971, Marcus was a fashion model in his previous occupation, and Mert was a photographer's assistant. When shooting celebrities, they try to stray away from the former "glamour" of the celebrity and embrace them more as their own subject. Instead they like to bring the celebrity into their own realm, and embrace their beauty as they are, not as how they are advertised in the media. Their work is inspired by other elite photographers like Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, and Robert Mapplethorpe, incorporating some their themes or ideals into Mert & Marcus's own work:
Although they obtain their inspiration from the best of fashion photographers, there has been controversy in the past of their career when their work has looked a little too similar to another photographer's work, and they have received criticism for it as a result, as it appeared to some that they "copied" the ideas of some photographers. Despite this, however, they currently remain true to their own work and continue to maintain their innovation and creativity. They express themes like a "New Romantic" or "Remake of New Romanticism" into their photography, and their photographic process looks something like a football game or movie set. They would take one picture, then have them and the rest of their crew huddle around the monitor and discuss what their next move would be.
Mert & Marcus, and critics would agree, take bold risks in fashion photography,and that is why they have become as popular and widely known in the fashion photography industry today. Their hyperrealism and highly saturated and edited images draw the eyes of many, inspiring others to take bold photographic risks as well.