Inkfetish and Vanity Fair
30-07-2009
It's featured in many films, Games, TV programmes and as stimulation for many songwriters, its status in L.A is high and been a backdrop for many ideas to spill from.
Chris Dunlop recently in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair. He asked Tom Blackford to help create his vision.
Blackford or famously known as ‘Inkfetish', set out to convey the striking imagery and colours for the backdrop
of the shoot that Chris had adored on a recent visit there, but both adding a real twist to the shoot itself.
The shoot location was a typical case of juxtaposition, as a vast area of warehouse space in East London
was recreated into a brother image of Venice beach. Three truckloads of sand were poured into the space,
whilst a BMW was dumped alongside, awaiting some Inkfetish customization.
Using the west coast's underground art scene as a focal point, with the vibes of young culture, Blackford
set out to recreate the graffiti whilst remaining his own style within the task. His love of tweaked old
inspired letter forms merged with the main idea is apparent.
His fascination with the typical imagery of tattooing thrives, with a dark figure of a skull hiding in most of the
images. A sinister atmosphere is then driven, with bold and bright colours, most fluorescent, with striking
slashes of markings and splatters of neon, as if to recreate a real damage to the surroundings and sense of crime.
The model herself wears clothes that clash with the artwork perfectly, with a sexy attitude and disregard to her
welfare, she carelessly ‘hangs around' with the notorious and damaged BMW, loose tyres and objects and almost
gang cultured graffiti.
The final shots are fantastic as the collaboration between Blackford and Dunlop show that Venice Beach is an
explosion of cool ideas, and that graffiti is a real art.
To see more, Blackford's website is
By Harriet Edgar
