ROSELAND by Glen Luchford

Glen Luchford

1994Harper’s BazaarKate Moss235

19946231,000Edward Quarmby

52Roseland Ballroom

198042Mario Sorrenti

The new IDEA book is ROSELAND by Glen Luchford. And it is completely amazing! A simple review but deadly accurate. Glens pictures of Kate Moss in New York, shot for Harpers Bazaar in 1994 are fashion photography famous. What is less well known is that Glen, young and a little nervous about this big editorial opportunity, insured himself against failure that day by shooting 235 rolls of film. That is, to spell it out, two hundred and thirty rolls of film in a day! The ROSELAND* book started with 1000+ previously unseen shots from June 23rd 1994. Art director Edward Quarmby took a direct route to the best shots and, without any text, let them rip through the book, double page after double page, better and better pictures, all hits, one after the other. It is, as we said, amazing! Kate is incredible to look at. New Yorks Manhattan streets are incredible to look at. The people on those streets and in these pictures are incredible to look at. It is a triple whammy. New York, New Yorkers and Kate Moss.

When I arrived in NY in the late 80s, I found the streets absolutely intoxicating. Especially Midtown, where just walking blocks youd see diamond dealers, rag traders, hustlers and junkies. Crazy times. I went to see Robocop on 42nd Street with a pimp smoking crack on one side of me and a John getting a blow job in the row behind. Every time Robocop shot someone they all cheered like it was a circus. It was far from what Id grown up with.

Stupidly, when I was commissioned by Bazaar to shoot Kate, I thought Id hit the streets and capture her in the midst of it all. We even took Mario Sorrentis tough school buddy as a body guard. Bazaar werent feeling the pictures though, too gritty I guess, so I was let go. In retrospect, they were right, I wasnt being respectful of the magazine and was just entertaining myself. But I did get these pictures out of it.