Andreas Kock

ANDREAS KOCK

Andreas Kock is an iconoclast in the mould of Helmut Newton. The Swedish fashion photographer, known for his extraordinary fashion shoots, looks to the ideas and images of art and film history for his inspiration. His new photo series is called “Little Miss Newton.” It is hard to picture a more fitting tribute to the founder of the fashion-nude genre.

Stephan Reisner

REAR WINDOW

Do you remember Hitchcock’s film “Rear Window” where through the window on the other side of the courtyard a mysterious story unfolds? Something of this expectant tension – even without the violence implied in the film – can also be found in the photography of Andreas Kock from Stockholm. Originally created as a fashion spread (fashion photography is again revealed as a source of inspiring photographs...) the images fascinate through their emotionality and the mise-en-scènes so precisely arranged to the last detail. Kock is a perfectionist; his stage sets continuously develop within a conceptual phase. On the set he behaves like a theater director and wants to transfer exactly the picture he sees in his head into his Hasselblad or Mamiya. His subjects are female, self-confident, and strong – often shown in provocative poses. His clear, theatrical control of colors and light/dark contrast are reminiscent of the American painter Edward Hopper. Thus he is bound to the desire for the subtextual, the stories that he only suggests with his photographs.

Andreas Kock is a man of full impact. With a background as an art director, his interest for photography, conceptual visuals, fashion and, not least, women soon took overhand. As a photographer, he instantly developed his own trademark idiom, based on qualities such as high energy, rich color and intense interaction with his models, with the rare capacity of creating images with ”stopping power” and sometimes an element of provocation. Andreas stages both his individual images and his fashion stories very carefully, meticulous in every detail, always based on a strong conceptual idea, often inspired by art, cinematography, sex and by women in themselves. Chinese film, and director Wong Kar-Wai in particular, are among his most important references. Of photographer colleagues, Andreas is an admirer of classic master Richard Avedon and of Philip-Lorca diCorcia, the great trendsetter of the late nineties. As his style of direction is highly personal, Andreas prefers to work with the same models over longer periods of time. Recently, Andreas Kock has worked extensively with high profile editorials for magazines such as Bon, Plaza, Glamour and Tush, and commercially for brands the likes of JC, Don Donna and Saab.