Mert Alas’s The Quarantine Days Is the Crowdsourced Photography Project We Need Right Now
Mert Alas understands the power of images. As one half of the duo Mert and Marcus, Alas has helped to shape the look of modern fashion photography. The pair’s signature aesthetic—surreal perfection, saturated colors, and in-your-face attitude—has been featured on numerous Vogue covers, in ads for the likes of Versace and Burberry, and on the album art of stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, and Madonna. Years of groundbreaking image-making came to an abrupt halt this March when Alas, like millions of others, found himself on lockdown in Europe. After weeks of seeing grim reports and updates from Italy, the hardest hit nation on the continent, Alas wanted to create something that could lift spirits and inspire those who have been trapped at home. “I thought what could I do that can get people away from the TV, YouTube, and the constant breaking news,” he shared on the phone from London. “Just for a little while, it would be cool to get people out of their pajamas. To be able to move around and do something with their creative minds that takes them away from reality for a short period.”
The answer came via social media, when Alas asked his Instagram followers to send in their photographs for a unique project. Dubbed The Quarantine Days, the user-generated images were given a high-fashion gloss thanks to Alas’s creative direction and photo editing skills. After putting out the call late last week, Alas assumed he’d mostly receive standard snapshots. But the submissions far exceeded his expectations. “At first I doubted myself, I thought that there wouldn’t be many people or that it would mostly be selfies with nothing of substance, but I was shocked,” he says. “I love that there are mothers, nurses, lawyers, all submitting. People were DM-ing me to ask questions: ‘How do I light things better?’ ‘Is it better at this angle?’ It was truly surprising.”
After receiving more than 2,000 images from around the globe, the hard work began. First step: selecting an edit of the very best. “I was looking for substance beyond self-love. We had to find a feeling here. I’d given them a little theme, told them to imagine a silent film or a mysterious dark romance,” says Alas, who encouraged his followers to think of the exercise like a movie instead of a selfie. “This isn’t about how pretty you are, it’s about how you can make a picture, star in it, do your fashion concept and lighting.” Once the selection was made, Alas painstakingly edited each shot the way he would an editorial. “As an artist, you grow to be subconsciously selfish about your work—you’re only as good as your last picture,” he says. “This time, it wasn’t about me or my audience. I wanted to take an amateur photo and do as much to it, put as much love into it as I can. [Adjusting] the tones, the colors, the crop, adding new layers, and just seeing what happens.”
The results are gallery-worthy pictures brimming with emotion: masked figures standing before curtains, ballerinas taking to the backyard, and corseted beauties perched on balconies. Even with limited resources and restrictions on movement, Alas’s collaborators managed to deliver artistic flair. Naturally, some familiar faces made their way into the portfolio. Marc Jacobs, Mariacarla Boscono, Amber Valletta, and visual artists Jake and Dinos Chapman all feature, though Alas insists he judged the images based on merit, not star power. “I had a lot of model friends send me pictures, and I said, ‘Look, guys, I’m not going to use all of these because then it’s going to look like I’m doing a fashion story!’ ” he says. “Everyone’s input felt like support more than anything else; they understood what we’re doing.”
Intended to highlight the importance of having an artistic outlet in even the darkest times, the photos reflect the ingenuity and the escapist power of fashion photography. “It’s a little escape, and it’s rewarding to create and be a part of a moment,” says Alas. “As artists, photographers, stylists, and magazine [editors], we sell dreams and make money from those dreams. Now it’s our industry’s time to give back, and how do we do that? By doing what we do best—creating things and giving people hope.”
Originally Appeared on Vogue
