Side by side

Working process: British photographer Nick Waplington reflects on shadowing Alexander McQueen
By Lewis Firth | Art | 25 March 2015
Above:

Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process. Image courtesy Tate Britain

Top image: From ‘Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process’. Image courtesy Tate Britain

An affliction of acute creativity, a phrase attributed to some of the greatest works of art and beauty of all time – in the fashion world, it’s a term more than aptly applied to the genius of Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen.

With McQueen, our thirst to comprehend his consummate practices and virtuosic mind became insatiable: his incessant denial of any behind-the-scenes documentation only perpetuated our yearning for greater comprehension.

Apart from Anne Deniau, Nick Waplington was the only photographer that was personally invited by Lee, and permitted access to his working – and personal – life. An unparalleled collation of work, Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working Process is an exacted insight into McQueen’s working process, attention concentrated on the idiosyncratic journey of his final show, The Horn of Plenty, for FW09.

Images of landfill sites and recycling plants accompany the candid, photographical reportage of Lee; a perceptive narrative of disposal and regeneration is established, highly reflective of the repurposing nature of a collection widely interpreted as a comment on fashion’s failure to help revive a crumbling economy. A bold statement, reflective of the intellectual current underpinning all of the designer’s work – both menswear and womenswear – and one closely tied to the elements of British culture and societal reality that defines much of Waplington’s own photography.

Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process. Image courtesy Tate Britain

Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process. Image courtesy Tate Britain

Originally released in book format, the photographs are now on show at the Tate Britain. There you will find more than 130 images, many of which are being unveiled for the first time.

Lewis Firth: How did you meet Lee? What prompted you both to work together?
Nick Waplington: I met him through friends as we both lived in the Shoreditch area of London in the mid 90s when the creative community there was small and close knit. I did the project because he insisted; he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process. Image courtesy Tate Britain

LF: Did the collection itself have any influence on you, or was it purely the nature of the working process you were interested in exploring?
NW: I didn’t look for inspiration within the collection itself, that wasn’t the purpose of my work. I made the work to bring Lee’s innovative and unique working process to an art audience. It was my remit to make work that enlightened and captured the creative nature of both our working methods. The title Working Process refers to both of our ‘working processes’.

LF: Were there parallels between McQueen’s collection – and the way he worked as well as his personality – and the people you capture outside of the fashion circle?
NW: Of course – I am used to working in difficult and highly charged environments, and while the element of danger I often encounter when I’m working wasn’t present with Lee, a whole set of new dynamics were. That is where the fun was for me. Good art is about solving problems to make it work.

Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process. Image courtesy Tate Britain

Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working process. Image courtesy Tate Britain

LF: Do any anecdotes spring to mind from your time capturing these images?
NW: There was a tense moment when he [Alexander McQueen] realised that there needed to be a section of the book that dealt with Phillip Treacy. He said, “This is my book, not Phillip’s!” but in the end he came around.

LF: Were there any rules involved in the process?
NW: No rules as such or I wouldn’t have been able to make the work. But a rule I had was that the staff weren’t allowed to talk to me; I wasn’t there to make friends. I first spoke to them after the show in Paris, and it was fantastic to finally meet them after six months.

‘Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working Process’ runs until 17th May at the Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG


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