Rankin Unfashionable
by rankin | contributions by jefferson hack, katie grand, kate moss and robbie williams
rizzoli | 304 pp.

Famously eccentric English fashion and pop culture photographer John Rankin Waddell—known simply as Rankin to most of the world—came into the spotlight in the 1980s at a time when a great dovetailing of media and other cultural influences was ramping up. Film and advertising was beginning to merge with the unruly vibe of music videos and the outrageous, surreal tropes of avant-garde fashion imagery. A widely imitated shooter, Rankin has also been continually out front in other phases of his ongoing evolution, as a publisher (Dazed and Confused magazine) and film director. In each of his roles, he’s driven by well-known penchants for innovation and bold execution.

A retrospective of this talented maverick’s photography debuts this month in Rankin: Unfashionable, with the photographer/author as curator.

His approach to expressing his contrarian take on most things is packed with quirky inspirations, such as a series of fashion shots done with couture models who appear suspended above the ground in an industrial district; a fairytale group of giant, “Gulliveresque” young women posed amid quaint, perfectly detailed miniatures of English villages; and the way he uses textures and colors, often positioning them around his subjects in strange, aggressive shapes. Like them or not, you’ll be revisiting these images for years to come.

Price: $65
rizzoliusa.com

Related: David Lynch Came Out With a Photo Book

What Great Artists and Photographers Can Teach You About Composition

The Making of “Generation Wealth”