cultural life
A person of note tells us what they’re watching, listening to and more…
Known for his highly stylised, vibrantly coloured fashion photography that often references film noir, pop culture and art history, Miles Aldridge’s iconic images have appeared in glossy magazines and many major exhibitions, plus he has collaborated with artists such as Gilbert & George and Harland Miller. He is famed for primarily shooting on film, and his latest book, Please Please return Polaroid: Special Edition (£470, Steidl) (7) explores his faithful dedication to analogue processes. milesaldridge.com I was around 14 when punk exploded; seeing the Sex Pistols (3) perform Pretty Vacant on Top of the Pops felt like a piece of me. It was a moment of separation from my father’s [renowned art director and illustrator Alan Aldridge] influence, which included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Cream.
When I started working in the mid 90s, you would rock up to the studio with five or six CDs that would be played on repeat, so an album would be embedded in the memory of making images. I associate Queens of the Stone Age with a particular period of my work; earlier it was Smashing Pumpkins (4).
At the moment I’m readingAlex Danchev’s Magritte: A Life (1). Magritte is one of my heroes. He has this wonderful way of presenting images that are shocking but incredibly everyday; deadpan.
My favourite film is Federico Fellini’s 8½ (8). It’s incredibly stylish, with phenomenal photography. My work often has cinematic tropes – I always wanted to be a film director but got distracted by photography. The best room I have stayed in was the presidential suite at Le Meurice (5). Early in my career I was working for Vogue Italia in Paris; they gave us the space for a shoot but stipulated ‘you are not allowed to sleep in it’. When we were done, I waved everyone off and stayed the night. In the early hours, the fax machine went off and scared the hell out of me. The idea that I was
