JULIA GROSSI
A FLUENT TRANSFORMATION
12 June 2017
In her latest spread for Vogue Italia, ‘Masculine Femininity / Feminine Masculinity’, Julia Grossi presents a striking new series of photographs celebrating androgyny. Low angle shots give the models a regal authority, their otherworldly beauty offset by assertive physical expression and then further amplified by stark composition and the photographer’s keen understanding of contrast and complementary colour. The angular shapes of bodies and clothing are delineated and highlighted by the muted backgrounds and an idiosyncratic use of shadows and reflections.
The featured locations are not chosen at random: Grossi deliberately selects a collection of indefinite interiors, with tones verging on the monochrome, to add a radiant glow to both the subjects and their garments. Gloriously lanky tomboy/tomgirl figures occupy hazy rooms with sun-bleached drapes and blinds, or pose in eerily empty stairwells, offices or corridors, creating what could be perceived as stills from miniature science-fiction narratives. Having previously worked in the fashion world as a model, Grossi is a photographer who possesses an intuitive understanding of what it is to be viewed through and captured by the lens – which also explains the confident demeanour and cool autonomy she gives her subjects. Julia Grossi is based in Berlin.