Sometimes getting a good shot is just being in the right place, at the right time, and actually realizing that you are in that moment.
Marina (above) and I were waiting for a show in Paris and I saw this incredible light and told her “quick, jump into the street, the light is perfect!”
It could have been with almost anyone and the photo still would have turned out this way – luckily, Marina always looks very cool.
Recently, I have been reviewing my photos from the last two years for a few projects and as much as I love Milan I get so many great shots in Paris.
I think it must have been a photographer that first called Paris “The City of Light”
Oh wait, isn’t Paris also called “Big Sky Country”, I never got that one.
I also don’t understand why New York is called “The Buckeye State”.
Carolina Lange
August 5, 2007 at 10:22 am
Very beautiful shot! Love it! And she looks great , love her look, all of it!
Martha
August 5, 2007 at 10:52 am
Montana is Big Sky Country. And it’s Ohio that’s the Buckeye State, because it had a lot of buckeye trees.
…unless you were joking and I totally fell for it.
t38
August 5, 2007 at 11:03 am
Great shot! Classic & modern.
Liz
August 5, 2007 at 11:06 am
Ohio is actually called the buckeye state, at least partially due to the proliferation of buckeye trees. And the picture is beautiful, by the way.
Amber Fairweather
August 5, 2007 at 11:11 am
Paris is called the city of light because it was known as a center of education,ideas, enlightenment and literally…its early adoption of street-lighting. However, it is the birth place of photography, and the father of photography…Louis Daguerre. And I hear the light from the sun is different there…so I can’t wait to go…the buck-eye state…that’s just a handbag of silly…although the sunlight is pretty here too.
Zaydoun
August 5, 2007 at 11:19 am
Come on Scott.. Yes Milan can be exciting, but seriously.. outside the golden triangle (rectangle?) it’s simply not a very pretty city. Paris is gorgeous almost all over, so of course you’ll get the better shots there.. this one is terrific, and the light really is perfect!
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 11:25 am
Great shot; delightfully unhinged post.
callista
August 5, 2007 at 11:30 am
i will hazard a guess that new york is called the buckeye state because so many ohioans end up there….at least i, as a native of columbus, ohio, can’t believe how many fellow ohioans i run into in the city. it seems like everyone knows someone from ohio/i think it’s a bit of a joke because of that….love the shot btw.
dot
August 5, 2007 at 11:50 am
ZOMFG, this one’s a Celine Dion lookalike, yet with a futuristic Aeon Flux-like feel in style :)
Maria
August 5, 2007 at 12:36 pm
SO public spaces and architecture comes into play in the fashion realm!
Paris buildings are high enough to allow light to flow, at the same time the amount of greenery is such that the balance between the “human” and the natural is just happy. Light comes from this state of mind too. NYC happens to have that type of light flow in some areas in Brooklyn (brownstone type of architecture)…Manhattan’s buildings are to high and to industrial, and greenery is not public but very very private. NOT many public policies that extend aesthetics in the public sphere like in Paris…through many many years. When we will begin to think in those public architectural terms as a matter of fashion?
Her attire is perfect in my opinion.
Julia
August 5, 2007 at 1:53 pm
does anyone know where the shoes/sandals are from? really gorgeous!
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 2:06 pm
New York is called the Empire State.
Ohio is called the Buckeye State.
Montana is called Big Sky Country.
Kisses!
calm.cool.collected
August 5, 2007 at 2:17 pm
wow…the lighting and your subject are beautiful..fabulous shot!
valentina
August 5, 2007 at 2:57 pm
uhh she’s skinny!
Miss Zen
August 5, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Sure Paris light must have something to do with intellectuals and Les Lumieres. But the light here is just something I can’t have enough of it, even when it rains….
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Paris is called Big Sky Country because it is where Claude Montana was born.
Scrappy
August 5, 2007 at 4:05 pm
simply to die for.
The Sartorialist
August 5, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Maria
New York is actually very, very green and getting greener.
i have shot a few editorials lately and all the green in the background actually creates a problem
there are not as many trees on the avenues but check the crosstown streets (outside of Midtwon) and many are packed with trees.
For paris I think it has something to do with the humidity.
Florence in winter is another city that has unreal quality of light.
fatima
August 5, 2007 at 4:36 pm
My God … INCREDIBLE photo. And Marina looks absolutely stunning!
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 4:54 pm
balenciaga sandals- i have them and they are gorgeous and sexy but hard to walk in all day. made for limo riders! :) fyi, barneys 4th floor shoe dept has them.
Candid Cool
August 5, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Chic. Effortless elegance. This photo she is going to look back on 10, 15, 20 years from now and think wow
ricpic
August 5, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Is there anything more thrilling than looking down the length of Park Avenue at the violet hour with the street lights doing their red to green stutter step? Or the acetylene torch plunge of Manhattan canyon light at noon? New York light is non-pareil.
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 5:51 pm
you should have been in paris this past summer when there was NO sun and it was raining all the time….its not as perfect as the occasional american tourist likes to think….try living there for a bit and you will agreee…nuff said ;)
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Well, if this is Marinna Larroude, last photographed by Sart in Milan. in July, at Bottega Veneta wearing a MiuMiu (?) black dress, she is an exquisite example of what a difference clothing can make! She looks like an entirely different person here.
It also says something about how powerful a photograph can be in giving us a (perhaps erroneous) impression of someone. There she looked delicate, pensive, reserved, which is certainly not the way she looks here.
That she can pull off two such different looks so successfully suggests she is a woman who really understands the chameleon and theatrical nature of clothing!
fashionista
August 5, 2007 at 7:00 pm
that is the most beautiful picture EVER! so pretty.
Asian Models Blogger
August 5, 2007 at 7:59 pm
You are right about the light and the model! Perfecto!!
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Celine Dion? Sure a great singer, but I don´t think someone would like to be physical or sartorial connected with her… especially being different
I understand mention Mia Farrow, Sophia Loren as iconic looks, but Celine Dion or Sandra Oh, etc? Sure is the celebrity/tabloid influence of our times.
Kelly
August 5, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Mmm . . . Paris.
Jack Daniel
August 5, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Yeah Scott, another great picture.
Gudl
August 5, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Wow, she looks great! Great shot!
Blaise
August 5, 2007 at 8:51 pm
That’s a wonderful shot you got there.. ;) Very “in the moment”
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 8:58 pm
look at those cheekbones! great shot, sart.
Sara
August 5, 2007 at 9:36 pm
simply beautiful+
Anonymous
August 5, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Yes, this is a repeat. Please do not confuse my native New Yorkers with Buckeyes, they are from Ohio!
New York is called the Empire State. Ohio is called the Buckeye State.
Montana is called Big Sky Country. Rinse & repeat!
Jenna
August 5, 2007 at 11:30 pm
I thought Ohio was the Buckeye state
Hugh
August 6, 2007 at 1:08 am
Uh, who’s Marina?
positively the same dame
August 6, 2007 at 1:26 am
is it just me, or is anonymous at 3:59 the only one here making any sense at all? must be a french intellectual. except i always thought it was joe montana and that new york was the blackeye state. oh, well…
positively the same dame
August 6, 2007 at 1:43 am
oh, and before i forget (temporarily distracted by thoughts of joe montana) stunning photograph of an italian woman (is she not?) in paris. she isn’t by any chance from milan???
lucy
August 6, 2007 at 1:43 am
Hey that is a perfect shot! I particularly love the her clarity juxtaposed with the blurred yet dazzling background. She really leaps out! Which I guess is a product of the lighting. Congrats on the very awesome shot.
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 1:55 am
amazing shot!
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 1:56 am
beautiful beautiful shot
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 2:42 am
that really is a great shot. fabulous job, sart!
Spray Glue
August 6, 2007 at 3:14 am
Wow she looks amazing. I think she looks stylishly comfortable in her own pose.
South Africa definately takes the title of “biggest most beautiful skys in the world”.
You should hit Cape Town soon, you would find great photographs there.
Gary*
Timothy
August 6, 2007 at 3:15 am
San Francisco is green too! Too bad there are more NAGLs (my acronym for Not A Good Look) than Sartorialists here…
Nicolas
August 6, 2007 at 3:16 am
Something make me look at this one harder than it is….something wrong with the sleeve.
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 4:11 am
Sart, you do realize you’ve got the quintessential Midwest-farmer sense of humor, don’t you?
It’s a beautiful shot and we look forward to hearing about these secret projects!
– desertwind
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 4:13 am
Thanks .A very nice shot and lots of it is due to Maria,who nicely obeyed what she was expected to do.
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 4:23 am
But, seriously: The light in a northern country.
Visiting Amsterdam and Ghent and Antwerp and Paris is a revelation. The light really is different from our American light.
It’s more crisp somehow.
– desertwind
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 5:27 am
Lisbon is also supposed to have a special light.
call me
August 6, 2007 at 6:08 am
Very classy!
Lucy
August 6, 2007 at 8:39 am
I have to say, I think I prefered her in the other shot in the black dress. Whilst this is a great shot, I think the clothing is too skinny and too all-black. The dress looked fresher, I think…
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 9:32 am
I like the lady with the “boring look”(not bored !)in the second picture. The lady with short,highwaisted trousers and flip-flops. Sort of ordinary with a twist. Inspires me !
Deja Pseu
August 6, 2007 at 10:10 am
I totally agree with you about the quality of the light in Paris. It was one of the first things I noticed on my first visit there. That’s a beautiful shot.
Zaydoun
August 6, 2007 at 11:19 am
Wait… she’s in the middle of the street. Good thing she didn’t get run over by a parisian taxi driver!
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 1:34 pm
STUNNING.
daniqueconijn
August 6, 2007 at 3:46 pm
envy
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 4:25 pm
The City of Light…to be there is to understand it all. The light is different there and this shot made me miss Paris to the point of tears. What a shot! Kudos to you for seeing what’s there, Scott! And she looks marvelous–so bien dans sa peau…
Marline
Holly
August 7, 2007 at 11:42 am
BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
everything is just perfect!
Anonymous
August 9, 2007 at 4:58 am
Tell me, why oh why am I thinking of licorice?
Is this girl French? Why is it that the French think being skinny is so sexy? (Check out Charlotte Gainsbourg in the great French comedy “I do” – she’s painfully thin – ouch!) And smoking? Why do I see models in French Vogue with fags hanging off their top lips or dangling between their fingers? Is this merely a sexual metaphor? Non, non, non!
It took me a while to scroll down to find Valentina who agrees with me.
Nice photo; nice light; nice outfit; nice city, no doubt; but, sartorially speaking, I would have thought less-tight jeans would flatter Marina more.
Anonymous
August 9, 2007 at 6:48 am
perfect shot of the year!
Anonymous
August 12, 2007 at 7:03 am
breathtaking shot! Love it- and now at last I also learned about the true Big Sky Country and Buckeye State. Thanks to all of you.
Anonymous
August 15, 2007 at 6:17 am
She’s just right! everything about her is right, I love this shot!
David Hart
August 20, 2007 at 10:56 am
This reminds me of a photo of Jorie Graham that Annie Leibovitz took…it’s in the book “Women” Nice image.
Endoxist
February 21, 2014 at 5:10 pm
Chanel in Paris… can it get any better?
http://www.endoxist.com/