Vogue Living Netherlands owes its entire existence to Bruce. And as talented as they are, individuals from Annemarieke van Drimmelen to Emma Summerton, owe their sensibility to Bruce.
Such an amazing reminder of how even Bruce’s very seemingly spontaneous brand of snapshots together tell a story. Of course the creative talents that once populated these publication— mainly the AD, had a hand in shaping the story, but Bruce’s shoot had to have something of substance for them to work with. Not so much anymore these day with these lesser photographers and even lesser creative teams, where a shoot is just a random display of frames, hardly indistinguishable from any given InstaGallery. Admittedly, Bruce these days is more of a lesser version of great self.
More than the beautiful anonymous people of Bruce’s world, it’s the story— captured golden moments that his cast inhabit which transports the viewer: The environment, the mood, the tone, the spirit. I feel the warmth, the heat of the sun, the wind and smell the grass, the perfume, the sweat of his imagery. No one in his casts, even the anonymous beautiful men, ever have a blank, empty, directionless stare like they do now of so many forgettable faces staring out into the void. Everyone is an individual that’s a part of a story. God, what a dream it would be to go through every frame of these shoots…
