NYMag "The Cut" Reports: Magazines Nowadays Lack Creative Covers

So true.


(ugly cover that looks like the four actresses were photographed separately and slapped onto an artificial background...)

I'm very tired of seeing actresses on the covers of magazines. I understand the appeal of celebrities to editors because they not only get advertisements (movies to debut, aka Vogue's recent issue with four stars from this Christmas's "Nine") but a pretty face, too. But what about social commentary? What about the experimentation with photography? I feel like every photo spread has some 15 year old in orange lipstick pouting and jumping in the air with some kind of absurdly neon or spikey shoe and a ridiculous hairstyle. But how is this sort of playfulness and whimsy (2009's version of "surreal") relevant? Escapism isn't the right answer because fashion mags have been in this rut for years now, not just during the recession. What happened to the days of Helmut Newton and Irving Penn? Oh wait, they died (sorry to be so insensitive). Are we expected to believe that Mario Testino is a replacement? Or that noted fashion photographer from ANTM? Their work lacks depth, experimentation and mystery. In other words, fashion photography and magazines that claim to be high-end and edgy have, in fact, become stagnant in their own commercialism.


"Le Smoking" by Helmut Newton for Yves Saint Laurent, 1966


"Le Smoking" by Helmut Newton for Yves Saint Laurent, 1966 (version 2)



And now that the economy has plummeted and Conde Nast and other companies have no $$, they will be tempted to sink into the abyss of CoverGirl and Sketchers ads.

Fashion magazines should become more extreme, edgy and controversial if they want to sell. Not endorse Hollywood with boring interviews with Kirsten Dunst for the fiftieth time, or show a stupidly photoshopped picture of Demi Moore. I want to see no-name models pose and let the human body speak for itself without the constructs of communications and business deals shrouding them. But perhaps that's an impossible desire. Who knows.

This isn't to say, though, that NYMag is better than other magazines--it's just of a different breed, so I wouldn't necessarily include it in the same group as W, Elle and Vogue. Oh, and I love French Vogue. Nobody can touch it. Favorite issue=Lara Stone. Great photo spreads.

What do you think?