Abstract:
Fashion is seen as a glamorous world full of beautiful people and exorbitant amounts of
money. I t was decided to get a closer look at this world as seen through the eyes of those
who participate. This study consists of two components. A practical component comprising
studio and on location photographs and a theoretical component dealing with fashion
worlUng environment. As South Africa is becoming a non-sexist society and women are
part of the main business stream, it was decided to focus on the highly successful
photographic icon of fashion photography, Merwelene van der Merwe. The main aim of the
study was to research the interaction between the fashion photographer and the main
participants in a fashion photograph, in order to get each individual's interpretation of what
makes a successful fashion photograph and fashion photographer. This was achieved
through a preliminary intervic'W with Merwelene van der Merwe to see if the aim of the study
was feasible. As the f,rst interview was most successful, the decision was made to place
more emphasis on Merwelene van der Merwe. Follow-up interviews and a week's stay
with Merwelene resulted. Articles, two television interviews and all other available material
was researched to get a more comprehensive picture. As Merwelene has a unique way of
speaJUng, the author decided to give her interviews verbatim so that the reader can feel the
"electricity" generated by Merwelene. The intervi~ws were done in Afrikaans, Merwelene's
home language. In this dissertation, all questions are given in English and Afrikaans. All
questions are preceded by a Q and all answers by an A. To get a more comprehensive
picture, the following people who form part of Merwelene's team were interviewed: (1) Her
assistants Doret, (2)her model Simone,(3) her hair and make-up artist Marilyn, (4) an art
director of an advertising agency Sandy and (5) a client Mariette. The dissert.ation is devided into four chapters, the first chapter, Merwelene van der Merwe discusses her background
and outlook on life. In chapter two, Merwelene discusses fashion photography as a
success ful busin ess. Chapter three covers the team she works with and their yiews. The
final chapter concentrates on Merwelene's work as a fas hion photographer. Here two
divergent photographs are discussed.
