INTERVIEW: ALI MAHDAVI talks to FILEP MOTWARY during the PARISIAN CATWALK WEEK
Dear iDEALS, today I am presenting one of the most influential people in fashion, Monsieur Ali Mahdavi. From Vanity Fair to Vogue Hommes International, from Tank to GQ, the Iranian born Ali, is maybe responsible for why fashion still remains glossy and sparkling no matter what the designers decide to present in their collections. As an artist of our times, photographer and stylist, he certainly knows best what a woman's curves are about, what does fashion means to a woman when trapped into a fantasy of dreams, filled with diamonds and bright lipcolors..This interview is one to be presented in the next issue of "ISTEROGRAFO" in Cyprus. Ali has provided me with some images of my choice, not revealed here....
FilepMotwary: Do you think that your background and origins formed your aesthetics? Ali Mahdavi : I wouldn’t say the origins but rather the experiences of childhood which mark the human existence. Being Iranian and having lived my childhood in Teheran, I’m evidently marked by this culture. But not in the obvious way which one could expect. I do not make photographs of women armed with chadors and Kalashnikov nor of any other political or social reference of this kind. Moreover I had an extremely protected childhood in Iran. I was going to a French school and when I wasn’t there I was constantly staying with my family. Even though I never lived in a very traditional Iranian culture, I remain convinced that if my origins were different my work would be quite different too. I think that my oriental influence in my work comes from an uncontrollable fascination for everything flamboyant even if my French education of classicism and Cartesianism has moderated this tendency much.
FilepMotwary : If I were a film director wanting to remake Visconti’s masterpiece »The Damned », I would have given you the part of HELMUT BERGER. How do you see yourself in this? Ali Mahdavi : Thank you !! Marlene Dietrich, Helmut Berger et Visconti all together, I cannot see a more exciting compliment… 
FilepMotwary : Does it bother you that the art and fashion mainstream borrows off your ideas? Ali Mahdavi :Yes it does when for a campaign, one commissions a photographer that reproduces the same image in a precise way with the same concept, the same poses, in tones and merry (and the whole image seems more commercial at first sight, as this happened to me in several occasions),. This carries me to a great unfairness. It is not me who profits from the benefits of this campaign, even though I have a commercial work too and I feel completely capable of reproducing my images myself within a framework which fully holds account of the requirements of a commission. Unfortunately when you are labelled as an artist with a specific work, people cannot imagine that you are able to adapt to a precise request. There is a story even more twisted. It happened that one of my photographs was literally copied for a big campaign which had an international repercussion. The resemblance was so obvious that when I showed my work that was used for reference; I’ve been accused of plagiarism.
It is unfortunately a big problem but one can nothing do there. I do not wish to clash with the big advertising agencies that I could collaborate in the future and even more when the legislation on the royalties of the image is so complex that it is almost impossible to prove legally that a photograph is a plagiarism. Taking also into consideration that big companies have all possible and of great importance means that in the event of lawsuit there are strong chances that the case will be turned against me.
FilepMotwary : What would you say motivates you before taking charge of a photo shoot or art project? What is the aim to have as a result? Ali Mahdavi:First of all I distinguish a personal artistic work from a commission. By definition, a commissioned work follows rules and codes of which one is necessary to be fully conscious because they control the final result. My artistic work emerges directly from an inner world, Most of the time there are images that my unconscious imposes to me in a very precise way and I have nothing more but follow the path that it was indicated to me. I would like to add though that I put the same energy and have the same implication to a personal work as to a commissioned. I do not value one more than the other, I just approach them both in a different manner. 
FilepMotwary: It is very rare in your work to see naked flesh exposed as porn, yet, there us something more than sexual and provocative about it, maybe something close to perversion. What is SEX for you ALI? Ali Mahdavi : The sexual tensions in my photographs are par excellence of an aesthetic and psychological nature. In my personal sexual life, I have rather primary tastes and practices. What one would call a certain perversion in my work, it is only the result of an aesthetic research for the ideal in which the seduction has its share. It is about an intense fascination for everything that one could do to be transformed physically to an ideal which often was dictated to him, in order to conform himself to the desires of the other. I myself consider that all extreme sacrifices that one can make in this subject are beautiful, touching and tragic. FilepMotwary : Your work for me is spotless. I like the fact that it is very clean, neat with a clear message. Is it a reflection of you? Ali Mahdavi: I see beauty as a goddess of an extreme demand and myself being at her service, I must fulfil the height of her expectations. Nevertheless, this search for perfection is not a purpose in itself; and would not have any value if it were not there to reinforce the expression of an emotion. FilepMotwary : From all the people you worked for, I want to ask you about Rocco Siffredi? 
Ali Mahdavi I feel happy that you particularly raised the his name because Rocco Siffredi with Vincent Cassel and Tom Ford, although in a different manner, have a charisma, a sexual attraction and a capacity of seduction of a rare power. I put at the challenge whoever, heterosexual man or woman, gay or lesbian to spend fifteen minutes with him and not feel his influence… FilepMotwary : How is Ali at home and among friends? Ali Mahdavi On the contrary of what people think or believe about me, I do not live in a coffin among foetus. Besides, often, when the journalists visit my atelier they are extremely disappointed because they see a messy apartment, a badly arranged place of work which does not reflect of anything my work is about. For a reason that I cannot perceive at all, I have young fans of the Gothic community, that they feel often disappointed when they write to me and I reply to them that I do not share any of their passions and that I do not know absolutely anything of the references they mention to me and in particular the musical ones since I am unconditional when it comes to disco music from 1976 to 1981. By surprise, I love the sun, the animals, aerobics, the flying trapeze, horse riding and scuba diving even if I particularly pay attention not to get a suntan. And I choose my friends above all for their humour and their kindness.
FilepMotwary : Who are your heroes and why? I s there a person you consider as your mentor?Ali Mahdavi Marlene Deitrich and Joseph von Sternberg, Michael Powell, Fellini, Helmut Newton,Yves Saint Laurent, Francoise Dolto, Madame Claude and Kristen Mc Menamy. They all have an extremely strong universe and a total personal work, a search for the essential and a concern of Pygmalion and the aesthetics that they could apply either to themselves or at their works.
(Photo Ali Mahdavi&Suzanne von Aichinger). FilepMotwary : What is your greatest fear in life? Ali Mahdavi Loosing the ones I love. FilepMotwary : What are you working on now and what are your future plans? Ali Mahdavi I carry on with my personal artistic work and fashion projects which are time consuming though but give me the satisfaction I always dreamed of. Moreover I prepare an exhibition of my celebrity portraits in Moscow and in Paris. Lastly, I think more and more seriously of the realization of a feature film. . Note: This interview is under copyrights and belongs to FILEP MOTWARY and Un nouVeau iDEAL. I would like to thank my dear friend ROBERTA NITSOS for helping me with the French-to-English translation
FilepMotwary: Do you think that your background and origins formed your aesthetics? Ali Mahdavi : I wouldn’t say the origins but rather the experiences of childhood which mark the human existence. Being Iranian and having lived my childhood in Teheran, I’m evidently marked by this culture. But not in the obvious way which one could expect. I do not make photographs of women armed with chadors and Kalashnikov nor of any other political or social reference of this kind. Moreover I had an extremely protected childhood in Iran. I was going to a French school and when I wasn’t there I was constantly staying with my family. Even though I never lived in a very traditional Iranian culture, I remain convinced that if my origins were different my work would be quite different too. I think that my oriental influence in my work comes from an uncontrollable fascination for everything flamboyant even if my French education of classicism and Cartesianism has moderated this tendency much. FilepMotwary : If I were a film director wanting to remake Visconti’s masterpiece »The Damned », I would have given you the part of HELMUT BERGER. How do you see yourself in this? Ali Mahdavi : Thank you !! Marlene Dietrich, Helmut Berger et Visconti all together, I cannot see a more exciting compliment… FilepMotwary : Does it bother you that the art and fashion mainstream borrows off your ideas? Ali Mahdavi :Yes it does when for a campaign, one commissions a photographer that reproduces the same image in a precise way with the same concept, the same poses, in tones and merry (and the whole image seems more commercial at first sight, as this happened to me in several occasions),. This carries me to a great unfairness. It is not me who profits from the benefits of this campaign, even though I have a commercial work too and I feel completely capable of reproducing my images myself within a framework which fully holds account of the requirements of a commission. Unfortunately when you are labelled as an artist with a specific work, people cannot imagine that you are able to adapt to a precise request. There is a story even more twisted. It happened that one of my photographs was literally copied for a big campaign which had an international repercussion. The resemblance was so obvious that when I showed my work that was used for reference; I’ve been accused of plagiarism. It is unfortunately a big problem but one can nothing do there. I do not wish to clash with the big advertising agencies that I could collaborate in the future and even more when the legislation on the royalties of the image is so complex that it is almost impossible to prove legally that a photograph is a plagiarism. Taking also into consideration that big companies have all possible and of great importance means that in the event of lawsuit there are strong chances that the case will be turned against me.FilepMotwary : What would you say motivates you before taking charge of a photo shoot or art project? What is the aim to have as a result? Ali Mahdavi:First of all I distinguish a personal artistic work from a commission. By definition, a commissioned work follows rules and codes of which one is necessary to be fully conscious because they control the final result. My artistic work emerges directly from an inner world, Most of the time there are images that my unconscious imposes to me in a very precise way and I have nothing more but follow the path that it was indicated to me. I would like to add though that I put the same energy and have the same implication to a personal work as to a commissioned. I do not value one more than the other, I just approach them both in a different manner. FilepMotwary: It is very rare in your work to see naked flesh exposed as porn, yet, there us something more than sexual and provocative about it, maybe something close to perversion. What is SEX for you ALI? Ali Mahdavi : The sexual tensions in my photographs are par excellence of an aesthetic and psychological nature. In my personal sexual life, I have rather primary tastes and practices. What one would call a certain perversion in my work, it is only the result of an aesthetic research for the ideal in which the seduction has its share. It is about an intense fascination for everything that one could do to be transformed physically to an ideal which often was dictated to him, in order to conform himself to the desires of the other. I myself consider that all extreme sacrifices that one can make in this subject are beautiful, touching and tragic. FilepMotwary : Your work for me is spotless. I like the fact that it is very clean, neat with a clear message. Is it a reflection of you? Ali Mahdavi: I see beauty as a goddess of an extreme demand and myself being at her service, I must fulfil the height of her expectations. Nevertheless, this search for perfection is not a purpose in itself; and would not have any value if it were not there to reinforce the expression of an emotion. FilepMotwary : From all the people you worked for, I want to ask you about Rocco Siffredi? Ali Mahdavi I feel happy that you particularly raised the his name because Rocco Siffredi with Vincent Cassel and Tom Ford, although in a different manner, have a charisma, a sexual attraction and a capacity of seduction of a rare power. I put at the challenge whoever, heterosexual man or woman, gay or lesbian to spend fifteen minutes with him and not feel his influence… FilepMotwary : How is Ali at home and among friends? Ali Mahdavi On the contrary of what people think or believe about me, I do not live in a coffin among foetus. Besides, often, when the journalists visit my atelier they are extremely disappointed because they see a messy apartment, a badly arranged place of work which does not reflect of anything my work is about. For a reason that I cannot perceive at all, I have young fans of the Gothic community, that they feel often disappointed when they write to me and I reply to them that I do not share any of their passions and that I do not know absolutely anything of the references they mention to me and in particular the musical ones since I am unconditional when it comes to disco music from 1976 to 1981. By surprise, I love the sun, the animals, aerobics, the flying trapeze, horse riding and scuba diving even if I particularly pay attention not to get a suntan. And I choose my friends above all for their humour and their kindness.FilepMotwary : Who are your heroes and why? I s there a person you consider as your mentor?Ali Mahdavi Marlene Deitrich and Joseph von Sternberg, Michael Powell, Fellini, Helmut Newton,Yves Saint Laurent, Francoise Dolto, Madame Claude and Kristen Mc Menamy. They all have an extremely strong universe and a total personal work, a search for the essential and a concern of Pygmalion and the aesthetics that they could apply either to themselves or at their works.(Photo Ali Mahdavi&Suzanne von Aichinger). FilepMotwary : What is your greatest fear in life? Ali Mahdavi Loosing the ones I love. FilepMotwary : What are you working on now and what are your future plans? Ali Mahdavi I carry on with my personal artistic work and fashion projects which are time consuming though but give me the satisfaction I always dreamed of. Moreover I prepare an exhibition of my celebrity portraits in Moscow and in Paris. Lastly, I think more and more seriously of the realization of a feature film. . Note: This interview is under copyrights and belongs to FILEP MOTWARY and Un nouVeau iDEAL. I would like to thank my dear friend ROBERTA NITSOS for helping me with the French-to-English translation
