The dynamic photographers, writers and stylists who made Volume 6 happen are all originals in every sense of the word. For this issue’s contributors page, we asked a group of them about what originality means to them, in terms of their own identities and as it relates to those who inspire them. Their responses are as illuminating as they are entertaining—some tongue-in-cheek, some more reflective. Tim Walker, who photographed our Frank Ocean cover story as well as the fashion portfolio “Everyone is Welcome” considers the truth behind the well-worn adage “be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” And stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele credits her originality to her “wit, panache, style, energy, curiosity, and simplicity.” Stylist Katie Grand waters her plants while wearing a Prada coat. Definitely an original move, no matter how you define it.
Photographer, “Frank Ocean” and “Everyone Is Welcome”
What is originality to you? “Be yourself—everyone else is already taken.” This anonymous quote sums up the importance to embrace and celebrate your individuality…In a world of ever-increasing algorithms and consequent blandness, this may well be best heeded.
Stylist, “Rosalía”
Gardening in Prada is original.
Stylist, “Fortune Favors the Bold”
What makes you an Original? Wit, panache, style, energy, curiosity, and simplicity.
What is originality to you? Cerf style.
Who is an Original? C.C.D.: never following trends and always trusting my own instinct.
Who is your style icon? Countess Anne-Marie Errembault de Dudzeele, my mother.
What was your style like as a teenager? Bare feet, jeans, Rolex, and a tan…
Writer, “This Is the New Country”
What makes you an Original? What makes me original is that I am a white guy in my mid-30s who does CrossFit and is on the keto diet. Wait…
What is originality to you? Rearranging the magnetic poetry on someone else’s fridge.
Who is an Original? Swing-state voters are original.
What was your style like as a teenager? Bleached hair with a mullet, at one point. :-/
Photographer, “Rosalía”
What makes you an Original? We are all in one way or another an Original. There isn’t a second person exactly like you (yet). If you listen to your instinct and follow that all the way through, a different degree of originality is reached. The minute we try to be original is when we lose originality.
What is originality to you? Originality is futuristic, present, dated.
What was your style like as a teenager? A search for my own identity. Ever changing.
