WestEast #24 Spring 2008 : Du Juan by Gilles-Marie Zimmerman

[la_sonnambula]

[Source: books.com.tw]

I bought this issue yesterday at Borders.

 

[la_sonnambula]

Editorial: Asian Beauty
Photographer: Gilles-Marie Zimmermann
Source: Gilles-Marie Zimmermann

The editor Jing Zhang wrote in the introductory article to the editorial, "The 'Simply I' portraits that you see on these pages are the work of a photographer who wanted to portray these women in their real essences. These striking black and white photos of iconic Chinese beauties show an understanding of them, rather than a fetishization of their Asian looks."

 

[la_sonnambula]

Name list: 1. Du Juan 2. Emma Pei 3. Maggie Cheung 4. Lu Yan 5. Amanda Strang 6. Zhou Xun 7. Li Ai 8. Patina Lin 9. Fan Bing Bing 10. Li Yu Chun 11. Li Bing Bing 12. Qu Ying 13. Qi Qi 14. Li Xiao Ran 15. Mary Ma 16. Hou Hong Lang 17. Chun Xiao 18. Feng Jing 19. Du Juan

There are also portraits of Jacqueline Zhao and Zhang Jing Chu in the editorial but I can't find them. The Maggie Cheung picture that I've posted here is a little different from the one that is printed in the magazine.

Tyson Ballou channels his inner samurai in an interesting editorial in this issue of WestEast. Check out him and his samurai sword here.

 

[modeldom]

Du Juan is absolutely breathtaking...

kinda like The asian version of VI's all-black issue...

 

[agneslo]

this look sooo beautiful!

 

[la_sonnambula]

kinda like The asian version of VI's all-black issue...

That thought crossed my mind too even though this issue, like the other issues of WestEast, features non-Asian models also. The motivation and execution of the Asian Beauty editorial and Vogue Italia's all-black issue are similar: gather a group of pretty, or at least famous, faces and present them in a way (in this case the women are all dressed and made-up simply without any of the "Asian"-themed styling that often takes place when a photoshoot involves Asian models) that creates a visual impact that challenges the way people sees a particular group.

 

[Lackuiew]

The face close-up shots of Du and Emma are really heartstriking...remind me of some girls who lost their families in the major catastrophes.....i bet it is in memory of the "5.12" Wenchuan earthquake ....

 

[Milho]

The face close-up shots of Du and Emma are really heartstriking...remind me of some girls who lost their families in the major catastrophes

seriously, I can't agree more about the "girls losing their families" part. it's my thought at the first glance as well.

 

[seansun]

beautiful chinese girl!go go go

 

[sethii]

Some styling wouldn't have gone amiss

 

[darri]

Some styling wouldn't have gone amiss

lol, i think that would have gone against the photographers aim

to portray these women in their real essences