Russell James Photographs the World’s Most Famous Fashion Models—Minus the Fashion

Supermodels seem to exist in another dimension. Just the name alone places them somehow outside, above the everyday world. In his photographic series “Angels” and “Seminole Spirit,” James pays homage to these beautiful creatures, stripped bare. At Berlin gallery Camera Work, the Australian photographer presents more than 30 photographs of some of the world’s most famous women—in a more intimate, natural light than we usually see them.

Printed in luscious black and white, the images in Angels comprise 15 years of work, and feature top models including Abbey Lee Kershaw, Adriana Lima, and even newcomer Kendall Jenner—many of whom he met during his time as a photographer for Victoria’s Secret. James’s photographs of these women attempt to celebrate them without commodifying their beauty. There are no logos or fashion labels here.

In “Seminole Spirit,” James explores Florida’s Seminole tribe with a series of richly printed works on handmade Japanese Igarashi Kozo paper. In this series, James combines abstractions full of organic texture with images of the model Behati Prinsloo, her hair wild, the edges of the handmade paper they are printed on fraying. Here, the crisp black and white of the Angels series is replaced by a natural softness and a sense of mysticism and passing time.