Gustavo Marx: The Making of a Brazilian Fashion Photographer

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW HIM
With a shoot nearly every week, Gustavo Marx is one of the most in-demand fashion photographers right now, and having won a slew of IPA, Prix De La Photographie Paris and other awards, his work and approach serve as great inspiration for shooters across all genres.
@gustavomarxny

Bold colors, dramatic lighting, high contrast, and an overall crisp look. When you see a Gustavo Marx photo for the first time, you never forget his signature esthetic. The process behind the fashion photographer’s composed photos, however, might come as a surprise.

Brazilian-born Marx is an of-the-moment type. Taking projects for New York and Brazilian fashion houses and magazines, he often chooses his plan for a shoot after getting inspired by a model’s look just a day or two prior. When it comes to lighting, Marx does research in advance, but otherwise bases his approach on the shoot’s atmosphere, sometimes modifying lighting after outfit swaps to evoke different moods.

This rather organic approach that might leave room for error sits right with Marx, who embraces flaws. “I like when mistakes bring good things to the shoot,” he says. “Those mistakes are not ‘mistakes’ to me, but what I call ‘special defects.’”

Take, for instance, a recent shoot for Brazilian company Apartamento 03’s Fall/Winter 2014 collection, which was inspired by Lillian Bassman’s work and the designer’s memories of his great-aunt. “I didn’t want to overthink every single step of the shoot,” he says. “[I wanted] a simple approach with a model, and a simple light and atmosphere.” Using a vintage camera and lens, he went for a “not so clear effect,” a nod to Bassman’s esthetic, and chose continuous HMI lights to achieve a more cinematic look (plus he “didn’t want to worry about the recycling time of strobes,” he says).

“I started walking around the set taking pictures, and in some of them you see the stylists and other people behind the scenes,” he says. What some would consider an outtake with potentially difficult Photoshop finessing became a welcome visual element for Marx—and the designer, who told him, “You know what? I love it.”

Bred From a Boutique
Marx’s mother had a small boutique in their hometown of Belo Horizonte (Portugese for “beautiful horizons”) in Brazil. “I was like the mascot of the boutique,” Marx says. “Everyone would say, ‘Oh, let me see if Gustavo likes this outfit.’”

His father, who Marx refers to as a “serious amateur” photographer, let him play around with his cameras and sparked a curiosity for the medium. He went on to study photography at the School of Visual Arts in his early 20s and, after a brief stint photographing cars, shot portraits of friends. Discovering an instinct to style his subjects, he realized he could combine his interest in fashion with his career as a photographer.

The Avedon Exercise
Most emerging fashion photographers ask models to do test shoots with them, a win-win for both parties who get to add new images to their portfolios. This is not the way it went for Marx; as an assistant for fashion photographer Weber Pádua in his mid 20s, he was asked by model Adriana Picinin to test with her. Marx didn’t quite have the know-how to direct a model—at the time, he was just getting a grip on the technical side of things—but Marx guesses that because Picinin picked up on the passion he had for assisting, she was curious to see how he’d do behind the camera.

When they met up to test, she brought a few Versace books by Richard Avedon and told him, “I want you to do this.” Marx laughed, saying, “‘You don’t understand, I just started assisting. Richard Avedon is a god, and this is impossible,’” he recalls. “And Adriana said, ‘I don’t care. Let’s try.’” With Picinin selecting photos to emulate that she could style herself, Marx set up a white backdrop in a studio and shot her with his Hasselblad 503CW and 150mm lens. He loved the results of the shoot, and Picinin spread the word to other models. Pádua wound up being the only photographer Marx would assist before going solo.

Embodying Bruna
His international breakout point came later, when Marx did a free test for Bruna Velho, a 13-year-old aspiring model. “She was a tough girl and had a hard past, having lost her father,” he says. “When I saw the photos that I took while talking to her, I couldn’t believe it.” Marx submitted a photo of Velho and won IPA’s first prize in beauty/fashion and the Prix de la Photographie Paris.

“Talking to the people and understanding their world in the few moments we have together changed my work and the way I shoot,” he says. It also gained him two reps: ABA in Brazil and MergeLeft Artists in New York, where he now splits his time.

Teaming Up
For Marx, it’s a no-brainer that shooting fashion is all about collaborating with others. “I love to talk to the clients and stylists, and build and create ideas,” he says. Marx has his go-to people, and makes it a point to work with those who are as eager to collaborate as he is, keeping things low-stress. “You need to bring people that you trust to a shoot,” Marx says. “I need to be friends with the people I work with.”

The Quirks of Connections
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Marx; he remembers once going to magazine publisher Hearst with 18 x 22-inch promos he printed with handwritten notes for specific editors and art directors, and then being lead to a room full of employees receiving packages just like his. One of them told him, “‘I think you’re photographer number 100 who’s hand-delivering a package.’ You think you’re doing a personal thing, but you’re not really sure the final person will see it,” Marx says. “So I knew I have to find little connections.”

That meant tapping into his professional and personal networks. A stylist saw his work once and recommended him to one of his first jobs; from there, he shot look books regularly for Brazilian fashion companies such as Vide Bula, Drosophila and Alphorria. Another time, one of the editors of Dossier was dating a friend of a friend of Marx’s, which he found out after expressing interest in the magazine; soon after, he met with the editor and was booked for multiple gigs.

Beginning to shoot for high-profile fashion magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire also has more to do with connections than Marx would sometimes prefer. His “in” with Marie Claire, for example, was through ABA, who introduced him to a stylist who recommended him for a Fabio Ishimoto project in 2013. Later that year, he did two small shoots for Vogue Brasil. “It’s a bit sad that connections are the most important thing in this industry, but they are,” he says. “Getting to know the right people, going to meetings, dinners—these can make you.”

IN GUSTAVO MARX’S BAG
Cameras: Nikon D810, Contax 645
Lenses: Nikon 35mm, 58mm, 85mm, 110mm and 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom; Contax 55mm, 80mm, 140mm
Lighting: Profoto B1 strobes, HMIs

Related Links

Lara Jade’s “Dog Days” Journal: Breaking Down a High-End Fashion Shoot

Editor’s Pick: Thierry Joubert’s Foray into Fashion

The New Forces of Fashion Photography