Bookshelf: Luke Evans reveals a penchant for chocolate and high fashion

Date
16 July 2013

Although he’s still a student (with a whole year left until graduation no less) Luke Evans has produced one of the most innovative and engaging photographic projects we’ve featured on the site this year. Forge was an enigmatic series of images that appeared to be simple photographs of extraordinary landscapes. But what made the pictures truly extraordinary was that Luke had made them on his kitchen table with a variety of household objects. For such a young guy he’s clearly not short on inspiration (Forge is just one of a handful of exceptional projects) so we presumed he’d have at least a few interesting books knocking about the place to give him a creative kick. We weren’t wrong either.

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Green & Blacks: Ultimate

Green & Blacks: Ultimate

I’m a complete Mary Berry wannabe. When I’m not working on a project, you’ll usually find me in the kitchen experimenting with chocolate (the flatmates don’t complain); I just can’t get enough of the stuff. A great cookbook normally looks like it’s had a few rounds in the ring – battered, stained and falling apart. This is one of those books. Mine happens to have chocolate finger smears on every page. If you’re looking for spiritual enlightenment, look no further. 

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Cloud Studies

Cloud Studies

There’s just something mystical about cloud watching. This brilliant title from Spektor Books brings a healthy dose of science to the matter. It covers clouds as seen from Earth, from mountains and, fascinatingly, satellites. The book is ordered chronologically starting in the 1800s which gives you a great insight into the history of the practice. I found Cloud Studies to be a good source of inspiration for my Forge series as it explained the mechanics of the uncontrollable. I’m also too much of a recluse to go outside.

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GREY Magazine

GREY Magazine

Although GREY call themselves a magazine, I treat them much more like books. They’re hardback, chunky,and full of great content. GREY holds a subtle middle finger up to the fashion magazine stereotype of bright colours, high-contrast and glamour; regular contributors like Peppe Tortora and Chadwick Tyler give a timeless and ethereal feel to the pages. It’s a place I’d love to intern at. I’ll keep adding issues to my pile until it’s as tall as I am (admittedly not much more to go).

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Rick Owens

Rick Owens

This is my personal Bible, gifted to me a few Christmases ago by my all-knowing boyfriend Edd. Rick Owens is not only my favourite fashion designer, but my favourite designer. His architectural and holistic approach to design can be applied to almost anything; he’s recently moved into a joint furniture venture with his fabulously odd wife Michelle Lamy. This definitive Owens book is huge, it takes up most of the space on my bookshelf and weighs as much as a toddler. It’s a sort of retrospective look at Owens’ Hollywood drag culture influences and then his slow refinement into mainstream fashion. I’m whittling away my wardrobe – and my tiny student wallet – to just be filled with a handful his pieces.

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Wild Flowers

Wild Flowers

This is an odd one. I found it in a book jumble sale, flicked through, and fell in love. It’s arranged by colour with the page borders corresponding so it can be seen from the outside. Everything is hand illustrated and painted with watercolour; it looks like something that could have come from a botany lesson at Hogwarts. Speaking of which, I’m still waiting for that letter…

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About the Author

James Cartwright

James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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