Memo Pad: Bottega Veneta Taps Robert Polidori…
Re-Posted from WWD  06/22/2011, Luisa Zargani

Robert Polidori
Bottega Veneta, Fall 2011

NEW LENS ON BOTTEGA: Bottega Veneta has tapped Robert Polidori to photograph its fall ad campaign.

It’s the first time the house has worked with Polidori, but he is the latest in a string of artists and photographers to shoot Bottega Veneta’s campaigns. Polidori, whose portfolio includes images of the restoration of Versailles, the aftermath of Chernobyl and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, follows the likes of Robert Longo, Sam Taylor-Wood and Alex Prager. He worked with models for the first time, portrayed against the background of the 16th century Palazzo Papadopoli, on Venice’s Grand Canal.

“What is unusual about Robert’s work is that it both documents and interrogates,” said Bottega Veneta creative director Tomas Maier. “His attention to detail creates layersof meaning that extend beyond the formal beauty of his images. I was interested in seeing what would result if he turned his lens on Bottega Veneta’s design and the brand’s roots in the Veneto, specifically Venice.”

Polidori works with a custom-built large-format camera. The end result is a selection of photos charged with ample and voluptuous details in a vibrant color palette that includes bright shades of carnelian, orange resina and peridot.

The campaign will bow in August. A video documenting the photo shoot will be added in July to the Art of Collaboration video series at bottegaveneta.com.

Tags: Film Processing, Robert Polidori