——Could you tell us about the concept of your new book “Another Girl, Another Planet”?
Valerie : The concept is really my favorite pictures. My favorite girls. My favorite pictures from the last 15 years.. Or maybe less like 7 years. I think earliest pictures in there are from like probably about 2000’s. But it’s mostly more like the last 6-7 years. There are some famous people like PJ Harvey, Florence and the Machine, and also people not famous at all, just girls I met all over the world. It’s the mixture. And I approached them all the same way. It’s just a little invitation into the world of all of those different girls. I also wanted the pictures to be very happy experiences for me. So when I look at those photos in the book, I want to be happy. To me, they are really really happy and positive and weird and exciting and mysterious. So that was the theme.
ーーYou have so many fans in the world. But what kind of people are buying your photo books mainly?
Valerie : I think mixture. Definitely people who are young like teenagers and people in their 20’s. Photography collectors, and a lot of men are into it as well. I think it’s a lot of different people. I think in Tokyo, probably a lot of girls, which I love. So I don’t really know.(laughs) I’m just glad people liking it. Whoever they are, it means a lot to me.
——Yes. A lot of girls especially in Tokyo are into your photo books.
Valerie : All these girls in Tokyo looks brilliant and have such cool individual styles. I feel very excited by that and very inspired.
——What do you think about Japanese Kawaii culture?
Valerie : I like it. I’m fascinated by it. I love walking in Harajuku and seeing those people.
——I think it’s too pink, iit’s too much. (laughs)
Valerie : In the west, we don’t have so many totally different mixtures like “Hello Kitty x goth”. In the west, it’s either Hello Kitty or goth. I’ve always liked lots of different things didn’t belong together, like jesus and a donut. (laughs) Japanese weird fashion senses and styles are like fairly tales. So I love walking around and seeing those kids. I can do that all day everyday, or a whole year. I’ll never get bored. You can take inspirations from those bits of that. You just see the craziest things in Harajuku. In Harajuku, I saw a tree outside a shop. Lots of different handbags but they were all animals and looked like they were all climbing the tree. Its just… everything is so pop. I love that. I like Kawaii culture. I think it’s interesting.
——So you love youth couture.
Valerie : Yes. Very much. People always think that my girls are so young. But they’re not so young. They just don’t have loads of make up and hairdos. They just look like young. People always think they are 12 years old. But they’re like 23, 25, and 27 or sometimes 19. Some people might think what they’re wearing are not appropriate for their ages but they’re just wearing whatever they want to wear.
——What do you think about the latest youth culture?
Valerie : It’s a very hard question. I don’t really know because it can be so many different things. But I think it’s interesting that people are not afraid of being themselves more. Gay, straight, feminist, crazy maniac, (laughs) there are so many kinds of people. I think youth culture is just whatever youth is into at the time. I think people are still interested in art and music, going to parties and skateboarding. But it’s just so many things are brought into the youth culture. it’s not narrow. I think it’s just the celebration you’re living in the world. And I think Tokyo has such amazing youth culture.
——There are so many styles and so much information.
Valerie : There are so much stimulation.
——What do you think about young people in London?
Valerie : I think there are a lot of different young people and things here. I think people like being themselves as much as they can. They like to reflect their own individualities. I think London has been always good with that. A lot of young designers, bands are here. And they are like, “This is what I like. I’m gonna make this, and I’m gonna do this”. I think it’s more free than New York. Until London became very expensive now. Maybe more like the 90’s or 00’s. You were more able to do whatever you liked, like “I’m gonna start a magazine today!”. When things were cheaper, you could have your studio space. But now, not so much.
——Why did you move to London from New York?
Valerie : Because of that. At that time, New York was a bit corporate and conservative. People were not so interested in letting young photographers just kind of try to be. It was like, “What have you done?” “Let me see this”. You had to kind of already have prove in yourself. I wanted to be more free and invent my own being at my own pace. I have a lot of friends here, and all the music I like was from here. So it kinda happened by accident. (laughs)
——Where do you think the trends today come from?
Valerie : I think it comes from anywhere now, which is really interesting. It could come from Israel, LA, Hangary and Japan. I think the world is so open and everyone travels so much. And now on like Facebook, you can say “Hey, I’m gonna be in Kazakhstan next week. Can I sleep on your sofa?” or Airbnb. So all younger kids are able to get a cheap flight and go traveling. So I think all those influence could come from anywhere, which is really really interesting. For me, my inspirations come from my whole childhood, my friends, conversations. Just my own life experiences.
——please send a messege to Japanese fans.
Valerie : Well, It was just really fun to getting to make this book. Just like my dream come true in a way. It’s really special to me to have a lot of Japanese fans because its really my favorite place to go. I get so excited to go. Japan is my favorite favorite place. Thank you so much.
Valerie Phillips
『Another Girl Another Planet』
発売中
（DU BOOKS）
日本のファッション界からも熱い注目を浴びるヴァレリー・フィリップス。
これまで被写体となったアルヴィダ・バイストロムやサラ・カミングスは、日本をはじめ世界のファッション誌でも大活躍中。インディペンデントなファッション感覚をもつ若い女の子たちの、こわいものなしのガール・パワーが炸裂する一冊。
自らを「ピーター・パン」であると認めるヴァレリー・フィリップスは、「若さ」というものを瞬間の中にとらえるのが得意だ。
被写体の女の子たちは、それぞれクセのある個性を、カメラの前で堂々とさらけ出してくれる。
そして彼女たちの頭の中では、思いもよらない考えがひらめき、駆け巡っているのだ。
本書には、ヴァレリー・フィリップスがこれまで限定で自費出版していた写真集のほか、
雑誌記事、広告、音楽アルバムに使われた写真のなかから、ヴァレリー本人が選び抜いた作品を掲載。
シエナ・ミラー、デイジー・ロウ、フローレンス・ウェルチといったIt Girlも登場する。
『ANOTHER GIRL ANOTHER PLANET』は、それぞれの宇宙のなかにのびのびと存在する女の子たちを写した
ありのままのポートレイト集であり、本能的でパーソナルな「ガール体験」を見せてくれる。
自分なりのやり方の追求、女性的な生命力、ふつうじゃないところに存在する美しさ、
そして、ヘンテコでクレイジーでクールな「女の子であること」という日常から生まれる強烈なパワー。
ここにある写真たちは、そういったものへの賛歌なのだ。
http://diskunion.net/dubooks/ct/detail/DUBK148
https://www.amazon.co.jp/ANOTHER-GIRL-PLANET-アナザー・ガール-アナザー・プラネット/dp/4907583923/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1480267722&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=ヴァレリー%E3%80%80フィリップス
Valerie Phillips
NY 生まれ、現在はロンドンと NY を拠点に活躍するフォトグラファー。 女性同士の共感とともに踏み込めるティーンの奔放な日常と、健康的なセクシーさを捉えたガーリーで躍動感のあるファッション写真は、90 年代後半の世界的な女性写真家ブームの渦中で注目を集めるように。あらゆる雑誌やドクターマーティンの広告写真など幅広く活躍。
http://www.valeriephillips.com
