Corinne Day - Who is she?

Corinne Day - Who is she?

Last week I could not have told you a famous photographer, let alone name one that I actually liked. Until recently I made a trip to my university library and began looking at resources, I had an idea of what aspects of photography I liked and what aspects I did not dare or want to cover.

I am originally an artist, practicing in fine art with the inspirations of Salvador Dali, Escher and Francis Bacon, so to be thrown into this whirlwind of unidentified territory that I had only briefly stepped in a couple of years ago was extremely confusing to me.

I knew from previous studies of artists that if I was to like a specific photographer, it would have to be one that uses shocking images that would take the viewer slightly out of their comfort zone, just like surrealism did to me. I then grew an idea as to what type of photographers to set out for; the ones that capture raw and exciting images, those who focus on not just the 'beauty' of the world, but also the true nature of some of life's 'behind the scene' cultures. I then found Corinne Day.

When I began flicking through the book 'Corinne Day -Diary' I had no idea what to expect. The pictures looked as if they would have been uploaded onto a very explicit unknown blog, or a troubled teenagers Facebook. I was so intrigued that I read the entire book and began doing my own individual studies following these images. The beauty of this book is the ugliness of the hidden truth, there are references to drugs, sex, abuse and hand in hand with those aspects of life will also include addiction. Corinne focused on her friends' lives (especially her best friend Tara) from the years 1992 until 1999 where the 'diary' finishes.


                                     (Photographs from the book - Corinne Day - Diary)

The book seemed to be something that had mistakably found itself into the library, or I thought that maybe she was an underground photographer that no one had really heard of. As an outsider to the world of photographers, I literally had no idea who Corinne Day was. After a little more extensive research I was quite shocked to realise that she was the infamous photographer who had worked with the young British Supermodel Kate Moss in 1993 on Camber Sands Beach in England. I carried on my search and realised that this woman was a very famous worldwide photographer that had worked for Vogue and had held exhibitions all over the world.

(Young Kate Moss Photographed by Corinne Day 1993)

Sadly Corinne died in 2010 from a Brain tumour that she had struggled with all throughout her career which had actually been visually documented in 'diary' that I read, which had pictures of her treatment. All of these images are so raw, so vulnerable and although the actions inside the pictures are extremely out of the picturesque genre, these have been the photographs that have inspired me. Corinne Day has become some what of a photographer for me to idolise in the sense of talent and the way she perceives her messages and her friends' personal lives in her photographs.

(Supermodel Kate Moss & Corinne Day)