The magazine was to evoke a walk in the woods at night, where at every turn the winding forest trails divert you from your actual destination whilst darkness and the rising mist retain the mystery, a recurring theme in her oeuvre. The girls who inhabit the woods, though they appear to be hunted game, are somehow haunted and bewitched, innocent and severe at the same time. Veronique’s penchant for the seemingly ordinary – everyday situations that unexpectedly take a bizarre twist – explains the discrete presence of David Lynch within these pages: quotes from his films haunt the different chapters.
In A MAGAZINE #6 Veronique stays faithful to the images that have dominated her work since the start, giving this issue a clear Branquinho signature. She likes what she describes as frozen images, such as the opening shot of As Black as Midnight on a Moonless Night: Snow White's blood-red apple pierced with a rusty nail. Or the naked girl on the cliffs somewhere in the north of France, her face hidden behind a mask of owl feathers. She wears a transparent cape that no longer conceals as capes normally do, the image therefore gaining a paradoxical erotic twist. These images are invariably both fragile and cruel. They suggest beauty with a dark undercurrent.
This duality is a constant in Veronique’s world: attracting and rejecting, playing and pushing away again. Things are never what they seem. The smoke, to be found in several images, sometimes as a kind of mist or haze, then again as cigarette smoke partially hiding a woman's face, seduces and shrouds and, above all, never telling the whole story.
But Veronique wanted to show us her fondness for the playful and the light-hearted as well. She often mentions how much she likes putting on records for friends and playing board games. It almost seemed like a game to hide references and allusions within the images and words of this magazine, which give it its subtle layers.
I’m pleased to introduce you to Veronique’s friends and family, her work and team, her favourite music, her home and the people who have been a lasting inspiration over the past ten years. A MAGAZINE #6 is an issue to read on a cold winter evening, comfortably seated in front of the open fire, in the company of close friends, with a good bottle of wine and some favourite French songs playing in the background…
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