Javier Vallhonrat

Are you familiar with the photographer Javier Vallhonrat? Maybe you know his work but not his name. In doing a little research for posts for this blog I was flicking through an old British Vogue and came across one of his shoots which I remember being blown away by . Then, when doing follow up online, I realised that the walls of my studio are littered with Vallhonrat images. I had torn them from magazines and pasted them on my walls for inspiration never realising they were from the same hand.
He originally trained as a fine artist in Madrid before moving on to photography. His images definitely have a painterly approach. His colour palette varies and can be muted or like fondant icing with a neon pop as above but they are always razor sharp! His use of lighting is astonishing, you can see every crinkle in the voluminous chiffon sleeve below. They remind me of photo realist paintings, I think it is fascinating how photography influenced painting and now painting is influencing photography. A subject I am exploring.........(more posts on this theme coming up).In this story entitled "A Very private Affair" and originally shot for British Vogue there are sands, creams and nude with an accent of that zingy red in each shot. This flow of the palette from one image to the next is certainly a signature of his. I wonder how he works with the stylist? Do they decide on a palette together? Is it the same stylist for each shoot? I will have to do a little more research and get back to you on that .

In the shoot below entitled "straight forward" again the colours in each individual photo relate back to the story as a whole. It is like each shoot is a little collection. I love the way her eyeshadow in the third image matches the fluoro pink of her collar and the skirt in image no. four

You can check out more of his work on his agents website Michele Filomeno and I highly recommend a visit.

All images Javier Vallhonrat and originally shot for Vogue UK