Wasted Wonderland

For Leica Camera Europe, shot on Leica M6

Benoît Daniel-Pham x George Redhawk
2015

In a luminous convergence of vision and intuition, fine art photographer Benoît Daniel-Pham unites with George Redhawk— the legally blind native American visionary known as DarkAngelOne - for a groundbreaking collaboration that redefines "moving art." Benoît Daniel-Pham's ethereal photographs, capturing the soul-stirring interplay of light and shadow in fashion portraits, serve as the canvas for Redhawk's alchemical "RedHawk Effect." Once a medical professional whose world dissolved into darkness, Redhawk transformed adversity into artistry, infusing static images with kinetic poetry: swirling vortices of color, pulsing rhythms of emotion, and narratives that unfold like whispered secrets.

Joining forces amid the French Riviera's enchanting azure coasts and golden sunsets, this project, Echoes of Light, breathes life into Pham's frozen moments, serene seascapes ripple with bioluminescent waves, portraits awaken with fleeting expressions of joy and longing. Redhawk's intuitive mastery, honed without sight but guided by an unyielding inner light, animates these works into mesmerizing GIFs that tell untold stories: resilience blooming from obscurity, beauty emerging from blur. Their synergy: Pham's precise gaze meeting Redhawk's boundless imagination, yields breathtaking hybrids of photography and digital sorcery, evoking wonder in millions.

Extending the project's impact beyond the canvas, Pham has showcased Echoes of Light through exclusive exhibitions with private collectors along the Riviera. These intimate viewings not only celebrated the fusion of sight and intuition but also raised an undisclosed sum, every cent destined for the Valentin Haüy Association (AVH) - France's leading organization supporting the blind and visually impaired. In honoring Redhawk's journey, this gesture amplifies voices in the shadows, fostering accessibility and innovation for those navigating a world of unseen wonders.

Echoes of Light

David Gandy,
D&G Light Blue Press
Singapore, 2015

For Dolce & Gabbana
Shot on Leica M6

Tom Ford #TFLipsAndBoys
2013

For Tom Ford
Creative Direction, Set Design, Photography, Illustration

Editorials

Pham's curated visions unfold as meticulously orchestrated symphonies of light and shadow, a gallery of published stories, editorial campaigns, and commercial narratives that once illuminated pages and billboards of premier fashion houses and magazines. Here, his command of composition and narrative tension reveals itself in frames that capture the zeitgeist with unerring poise, blending the opulent with the intimate to redefine luxury's fleeting allure.

At the core of this practice lies a creative ethos deeply indebted to the era's most audacious visionaries: the androgynous edge of Hedi Slimane, Karl Lagerfeld's architectural grandeur, Nick Knight's digital reveries, and Filep Motwary's subversive elegance, among others - figures whose boundary-defying imperatives shaped Pham's aesthetic into a dialogue between reverence and reinvention. This lineage manifests in his unyielding pursuit of the sublime, where every editorial becomes a manifesto: a space to interrogate identity, desire, and ephemerality through the lens of high couture's inexorable march.

Yet, true to his documentary roots, Pham navigated these realms with a playful fidelity to duality-wielding color as a mischievous provocateur, its saturated hues injecting vitality and caprice into otherwise austere compositions, all while remaining steadfastly loyal to black and white's monastic rigor. This tension, a hallmark of his approach, strips away superficiality to expose the raw poetry beneath, ensuring each image endures as both a commercial artifact and an artistic provocation, archived now for discerning retrospection.

”Mr. Pham's role as an ambassador for Leica during the launch of the Huawei P9 marked a pivotal moment in our inaugural collaboration with Huawei - a pioneering fusion of optics and mobile innovation. Through his lens, he captured the subtle, ethereal essence of backstage scenes at fashion weeks, demonstrating the device's capacity to bridge traditional craftsmanship with digital immediacy. This work quietly heralded a seamless evolution for emerging creators, inviting a new era of accessible, expressive mobile photography.”

- Leica Camera AG, 2016

Shanghai Fashion Week 2016
Shot on Huawei P9

Vivienne Westwood by Andreas Kronthaler
Printemps-Été 2018

Commissioned by Vivienne Westwood
Shot on Leica M6

Backstages

Pham's lens pierces the veil of glamour to reveal the unvarnished alchemy of creation: raw emotions and orchestrated chaos swirling in the liminal hours before the runway's glare. From the hushed urgency of Paris ateliers to Milan's fevered fittings, New York's kinetic scrums, Mumbai's vibrant improvisations, Tokyo's meticulous rituals, and Shanghai's emergent fervor, these images distill the backstage as a microcosm of human endeavor-seamstresses' deft hands, models' fleeting vulnerabilities, and designers' quiet intensities converging in a ballet of anticipation and release.

Throughout his active years, film photography reigned as the quiet sovereign of this domain, its deliberate cadence mirroring the backstage's own suspended rhythm. Each emulsion-saturated frame demanded patience and precision, yielding textures that digital haste could scarcely evoke, and imbuing the ephemeral with a patina of permanence. This analog devotion found a pivotal inflection through his ambassadorship for Leica during the Huawei P9's launch - a landmark fusion of mobile ingenuity and optical heritage that beckoned him deeper into black-and-white's austere elegance. Predominantly wielding the Leica M6, with its rangefinder's unerring gaze and silver-halide soul, Pham unearthed subtleties in shadow and contrast that amplified the backstage's stark poetry, transforming candid disarray into contemplative elegies. Archived here, these works invite a lingering regard for the unseen labors that underpin fashion's grand illusions.

EDITORIALS