Blurring the Lines of “Fashion”

I recently had the pleasure of attending the shows of Alex Prager and Erwin Olaf.

Alex Prager’s work is set in her hometown of Los Angeles. The artist has described the city as “a strange picture of perfection… with a sense of unease under the surface of all this beauty and promise.”  Her photographs mirror this tension magnificently.  Her uniquely cinematic style, hyper-saturated color, use of negative space, and one-person narrative reveal her astute view of modern women.

Erwin Olaf’s dedication to his craft, his passion, and his genuine engagement with his subjects are clearly visible in the imaginative refinement of the final photographs. Never one to shy away from controversial topics, his approach is one that that mixes the studied nature of still life and provocative boundry-pushing elements of studio photography.

I left these shows inspired, but importantly pondering the blurring lines between photographic silos. Where does fashion end and fine art begin?