'test - a new platform'
Glass speaks to Jaime Perlman, British Vogue's art director, on her latest creative endeavour
Amidst the drama and posing of London's Fashion Week catwalk shows, a new website, TEST was launched. The brain child of British Vogue art director Jaime Perlman, TEST aims to showcase personal work from London's photographic talent in both film and print form.
Philadelphia born and bred Perlman moved to New York at the tender age of seventeen and embarked on her creative journey by enrolling at NYU. Whilst majoring in Graphic Design she found a love for video design and worked extensively in analogue format before landing her first and very significant role as assistant to Fabien Baron at American Harpers Bazaar.
Her tenure at Harpers lasted for one and a half years before she jumped ship to American Vogue. A fruitful five years was spent on the publication as Associate Art Director, when a chance meeting with Robin Derrick whilst on holiday in London, led her to cast her net further afield. Jaime had "always wanted to work abroad and had a romantic notion of how cool and creative London was." Derrick, thoroughly impressed with her work offered her the position of Art Director at British Vogue.
The celebration of the individual and the championing of creativity that is so prevalent in London led Jaime to rediscover her love of film and the genesis of TEST was born. A showcase on the internet was the logical step for Jaime and her collaborators talents, as the audience is ever increasing. The results immediate. For her it was simple enough. " It goes without saying that there's a sense of instant gratification with the internet. The minute a project is finished you can share it. And the audience is so limitless and random."
The platform's name is derived is from the idea of a "test shoot", where creative teams are given the opportunity to explore their own personal themes and ideas. Perlman works essentially as art director and curator on the site, delicately balancing the concepts and forms between photography and film. Contributors range from fashion stalwarts such as Norbert Schoerner to artist and innovator Danny Sangra.
In the spirit of a "test shoot" the website was lovingly formed in only 2 months, many long nights and weekends were spent organising and producing - life was put on hold until the project could be realised."It was a lot of hard work to get TEST up and running on my own. I made a lot of personal sacrifices, but there was no other way. I felt passionately about it, so it was easy to stay focused."
The end result was well worth the effort. As a rule, we are not all privy to the personal works and processes behind some of our most interesting and dynamic image makers, however Perlman has allowed us just this. A visual reference point for viewer and artist alike, artists and curator combine to give us a fresh insight into the world of fashion imagery.
Marie Louise von Haselberg
Click Here to view the Test website
Philadelphia born and bred Perlman moved to New York at the tender age of seventeen and embarked on her creative journey by enrolling at NYU. Whilst majoring in Graphic Design she found a love for video design and worked extensively in analogue format before landing her first and very significant role as assistant to Fabien Baron at American Harpers Bazaar.
Her tenure at Harpers lasted for one and a half years before she jumped ship to American Vogue. A fruitful five years was spent on the publication as Associate Art Director, when a chance meeting with Robin Derrick whilst on holiday in London, led her to cast her net further afield. Jaime had "always wanted to work abroad and had a romantic notion of how cool and creative London was." Derrick, thoroughly impressed with her work offered her the position of Art Director at British Vogue.
The celebration of the individual and the championing of creativity that is so prevalent in London led Jaime to rediscover her love of film and the genesis of TEST was born. A showcase on the internet was the logical step for Jaime and her collaborators talents, as the audience is ever increasing. The results immediate. For her it was simple enough. " It goes without saying that there's a sense of instant gratification with the internet. The minute a project is finished you can share it. And the audience is so limitless and random."
The platform's name is derived is from the idea of a "test shoot", where creative teams are given the opportunity to explore their own personal themes and ideas. Perlman works essentially as art director and curator on the site, delicately balancing the concepts and forms between photography and film. Contributors range from fashion stalwarts such as Norbert Schoerner to artist and innovator Danny Sangra.
In the spirit of a "test shoot" the website was lovingly formed in only 2 months, many long nights and weekends were spent organising and producing - life was put on hold until the project could be realised."It was a lot of hard work to get TEST up and running on my own. I made a lot of personal sacrifices, but there was no other way. I felt passionately about it, so it was easy to stay focused."
The end result was well worth the effort. As a rule, we are not all privy to the personal works and processes behind some of our most interesting and dynamic image makers, however Perlman has allowed us just this. A visual reference point for viewer and artist alike, artists and curator combine to give us a fresh insight into the world of fashion imagery.
Marie Louise von Haselberg
Click Here to view the Test website
Posted: 8 October 2009
