Melanie Pullen - Photographer: High fashion crime scenes

.francesca · 04-07-2005

melanie pullen is a photographer who shoots fashion in the spirit of old crime scenes. her 'victims' wear haute couture. i find them enigmatically beautiful!

www.highfashioncrimescenes.com

this image isn't from her site..i can't grab from the site (flash). it's from here: www.nazraeli.com/nazraeli/newtitle/136-x.html

these are from http://www.acegallery.net/past/p-r/p...iepullenpr.htm

Estella* · 04-07-2005

they are beautiful, but i am very oldfashioned and hate fashion-spreads with dead people

, misahoi posted a thread about a japanese(?) photographer who does something similar, you should have a look, francesca.
thanks for the thread.

.francesca · 04-07-2005

thanks, anna karina! i can totally understand the dead people thing. i find the lighting and settings really amazing. the dead model bent is quite frightening, but i like that about them. a lot of times, models who are very obviously alive look quite dead to me. at least here we can't often see their faces!

i'll look for that thread..thanks for letting me know about it!

softgrey · 04-07-2005

beautiful lighting and sets...
but i'm with anna on the subject...
too gruesome...

.francesca · 04-07-2005

really, gruesome? i found it decidedly not gruesome, precicely because it is all very subtle. the vertical blue one i'm not a huge fan of because of the blood, but the others, where there is nothing really to see, captivate me.

softgrey · 04-07-2005

it reminds me of helmut newton to some extent...
it's a personal thing....
i just don't like to see women portrayed this way...
i prefer more empowering images of women...

this is the ultimate in powerlessness...
not a positive image in my mind...

Alpha Femme · 04-07-2005

I think it's disturbing..... awful

and I agree with softgrey.

Quote:

Originally Posted by softgrey

i just don't like to see women portrayed this way...
i prefer more empowering images of women...

this is the ultimate in powerlessness...
not a positive image in my mind...

.francesca · 04-07-2005

you're right softgrey, and i agree to an extent..there is something of powerlessness in these images. for me, i am, and always have been, very interested in forensic science and crime scene photography, so this is sort of like a really strange marriage in some ways. it's something i find disgusting, but also beautiful. and very intriguing in an anthropological sort of way.

strawberry daiquiri · 04-07-2005

I really love them. Thanks for sharing.

jennifer~ · 04-07-2005

Thanks francesca... I'd like to think Bourdin would approve...

Spacemiu · 04-07-2005

I read about this in LA Weekly a few weeks ago....

it's pretty cool

mishahoi · 05-07-2005

izima kaoru http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums...072#post674072

i also find the subject addictively intriguing

travolta · 05-07-2005

given her prepartion and concept i have to say i'm disapointed in how her photographs turned out. it seems she had something really going w/ her crime scene photography research and experience and the idea of forensics being beautiful, and death being not seen as necessarily macabre, but possibly moving. it seems she has borrowed heavily from bourdin, and it becomes another masochistic/ sexual/ glamour photoshoot. the coen brothers are mentioned in teh article, and i can see the comparison to the barrell image, but there's was much more effective. heels sticking out of a barrell tells me nothing that i haven't already been informed of through previous fashion photographers. i was intrigued when she spoke about using latex and transformingt he bodies..i would have preferred more of that type of experimentation in replace of pretty high heeled shoes.

the thing i did find interesting was the parallels to her work and the current american obsession w/ foresic crime dramas. her work kinda reminds me of that -- except w/ no story line. i caught one show once and it was filmed as brillantly saturated and slick as any fashion editorial complete w/ highly saturated neon colors for a 'finger print' sequence on a corpse. i felt like i was watching a steven soderbergh movie. anyways i think the still of the leg sticking out of the incinerater in fargo was much more effective in terms of strikingly beautiful macabre imagery -- or the movie seven.

strawberry daiquiri · 05-07-2005

After looking at the other pics on the site, it feels a bit repetitive. 3 or 4 shots of the same barrel/feet.

My favourite is still the third one posted here, with the stairs. Possibly because I would like photo without the body. And because the story is more suggested than stated.

Thanks for the other link mishahoi.

I like the idea of this since when you're alive you wear your clothes, but when dead they wear you. They may have a future, while you definitely don't. They somehow seem to have more importance, even when they shouldn't.

TheSoCalledPrep · 06-07-2005

I LOVE IT!!

Thank you for posting. Very Hitchcock.

FAQ	Calendar	Search	Today's Posts	Mark Forums Read	Rules	Links	Mobile	How to Join

04-07-2005	10
jennifer~ V.I.P. Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Long Island Gender: homme Posts: 8,276	Thanks francesca... I'd like to think Bourdin would approve... __________________ It flung up momently the sacred river.

04-07-2005	11
Spacemiu V.I.P. Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles Gender: homme Posts: 9,450	I read about this in LA Weekly a few weeks ago.... it's pretty cool __________________ Oceans of angels, oceans of stars

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

04-07-2005	1
.francesca about to fall or fly Design Team Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: montreal Gender: femme Posts: 3,988	Melanie Pullen - Photographer: High fashion crime scenes melanie pullen is a photographer who shoots fashion in the spirit of old crime scenes. her 'victims' wear haute couture. i find them enigmatically beautiful! www.highfashioncrimescenes.com this image isn't from her site..i can't grab from the site (flash). it's from here: www.nazraeli.com/nazraeli/newtitle/136-x.html these are from http://www.acegallery.net/past/p-r/p...iepullenpr.htm

04-07-2005	2
Estella* a dim capacity for wings Design Team Leader Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: la rue Gender: femme Posts: 7,651	they are beautiful, but i am very oldfashioned and hate fashion-spreads with dead people, misahoi posted a thread about a japanese(?) photographer who does something similar, you should have a look, francesca. thanks for the thread. __________________ mode schoepfung estella mare

04-07-2005	4
softgrey flaunt the imperfection.. Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: downtown... Gender: femme Posts: 49,970	beautiful lighting and sets... but i'm with anna on the subject... too gruesome...

04-07-2005	9
strawberry daiquiri seagreen serenades Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Montreal/Dublin Gender: femme Posts: 13,712	I really love them. Thanks for sharing.

05-07-2005	12
mishahoi loaded and locked Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: T-o-k-y-o Gender: femme Posts: 1,138	izima kaoru http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums...072#post674072 i also find the subject addictively intriguing

05-07-2005	13
travolta V.I.P. Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New York City Gender: femme Posts: 3,595	given her prepartion and concept i have to say i'm disapointed in how her photographs turned out. it seems she had something really going w/ her crime scene photography research and experience and the idea of forensics being beautiful, and death being not seen as necessarily macabre, but possibly moving. it seems she has borrowed heavily from bourdin, and it becomes another masochistic/ sexual/ glamour photoshoot. the coen brothers are mentioned in teh article, and i can see the comparison to the barrell image, but there's was much more effective. heels sticking out of a barrell tells me nothing that i haven't already been informed of through previous fashion photographers. i was intrigued when she spoke about using latex and transformingt he bodies..i would have preferred more of that type of experimentation in replace of pretty high heeled shoes. the thing i did find interesting was the parallels to her work and the current american obsession w/ foresic crime dramas. her work kinda reminds me of that -- except w/ no story line. i caught one show once and it was filmed as brillantly saturated and slick as any fashion editorial complete w/ highly saturated neon colors for a 'finger print' sequence on a corpse. i felt like i was watching a steven soderbergh movie. anyways i think the still of the leg sticking out of the incinerater in fargo was much more effective in terms of strikingly beautiful macabre imagery -- or the movie seven. __________________ "the way a problem is set up often suggests the resolution." http://michelleboxgirl.blogspot.com/ Last edited by travolta; 05-07-2005 at 05:41 AM.

06-07-2005	15
TheSoCalledPrep V.I.P. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Gender: femme Posts: 5,308	I LOVE IT!! Thank you for posting. Very Hitchcock.