Scheltens & Abbenes’ glorious abstract salute to vintage tracksuits

Date
7 November 2016

Photography duo Scheltens & Abbenes is known for its high-end editorial work and ability to create beautiful compositions out of the most ordinary of objects. One of its latest projects is for Fantastic Man, where the pair was tasked with capturing tracksuits with “wild colour” transforming them into abstract arrangements.

“First we experimented with some blow-up figures in reference to the Dutch Gabber/House subculture in the 90s,” explains Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbennes. “Job van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers (creative director and editor-in-chief of Fantastic Man) knew how to get us down on the graphics of the garments and how they could become abstract together. With 2D arrangements pressed under a glass plate, we came up with layouts of the suits that would confuse people when we added a photographic layer of reflective white shapes.”

The result is marriage of tessellating, polyester shapes that come together to create a technicolour patchwork of fashion iconography. The 90s is still very much in vogue, yet Scheltens & Abbennes’ treatment of a garment so linked to the decade is treated in a refreshingly symbolic way. Using tracksuits sourced by the mag’s fashion director, Jody Barnes, the duo were free to compose the shapes and colours they felt worked best. “It’s so good that Fantastic Man steps out of the conventional approach to show only major brands, and rather believe in the power of the photographic idea as a series,” Maurice and Liesbeth explain.

The project was a learning process for Scheltens & Abbenes, where “composition became more complex” as they developed the original idea. “Our understanding grew during the making of the compositions by looking at how the shapes responded to the glass reflections,” says the duo. “We started seeing the project as a chaotic puzzle, in which you can look at the suits in a different way then they used to be seen.”

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Scheltens & Abbenes: Tracksuits, Fantastic Man

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Scheltens & Abbenes: Tracksuits, Fantastic Man

Above

Scheltens & Abbenes: Tracksuits, Fantastic Man

Above

Scheltens & Abbenes: Tracksuits, Fantastic Man

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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