The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman’s online fashion blog, is a basic concept. A continuous stream of beautifully composed shots of men and women - sometimes at fashion events, sometimes just people passing on the street – and, this is the key, very little text. “It’s easier to update more when it’s not text heavy,” he assures.

Nowadays, web fashion documentary is a saturated market - “Every dog has a blog,” fellow fashion photographer Paul Hartnett recently decried when asked if he was ready to upload and stream his newest shoots for L’umo and the like - but, at the time of The Sartorialist's conception, in mid 2005, there wasn’t many people doing what Schuman did. Well, not well at least. Not as well as Schuman. “The bellwether American site that turned photo blogging into an art form” harks the New York Times in praise. And they're right. In a matter of months, the website led to offers from GQ, for whom Schuman now shoots regularly, as well as editorials for French Vogue, Esquire, and, to be honest, pretty much every fashion magazine on the newsstands. Suddenly Schuman had a new career a million miles away from his current position as stay-at-home dad. He was instantly a fashion auteur with the world waiting – breath certainly bated – for his latest batch of everyman fashionistas.

Four years later and Schuman is a global brand. Fashion designers use his images in their mood boards, he consults, aids, and acts as a permanent fashion fixture, steeped in superlative praise in whatever he does. Every endeavour is heralded by the mass media. His latest - a glossy book of his fashion shots - is no exception to the rule. Schuman downs equipment and takes time out of his international Fashion Week circuit for a transatlantic tête à tête with Ponystep to discuss this latest incarnation and the new style guide book of The Sartorialist hitting our shores, tentatively titled, well, The Sartorialist.

 

Hynam Kendall: You seem very selective, what exactly do you look for in a subject?

Scott Schuman: I don’t really look for anything I’m just kind of reacting to what I see.  I find a variety of things inspirational in a picture, a potential picture. My subjects come in a variety of shapes and sizes

HK: So how does someone get shot by Scott Schuman?

SS: Just do something that’s interesting. Everyone thinks, “I’ll just put black on and I’ll be well-dressed.” Boring. I was recently in Dublin and shot a bunch of guys playing rugby, because the uniform didn’t look like anything that belongs to American sports, you know. So I stumbled on this scene by accident, with the light and everything – it was the end of the day so there was a beautiful kind of yellow haze - it was just a beautiful moment.  And it’s not like any of them got dressed that day and said, “Oh, what shall I wear to get shot by The Sartorialist?” It was just an interesting picture

HK: What are the mistakes that people make in trying to get snapped by you?

SS: There was a guy trying to get my attention yesterday. Yeah he looked cool, but he’s walking around following me, watching me, walking around me, here, there, all over the place, and it made me feel uncomfortable. It’s like a girl hanging round, waiting for you to ask her out on a date or something. I usually like to see people before they see me

HK: You asked to take my picture at the Charles Anastase show at London Fashion Week; you came up to me to ask if it was OK to take my picture before you actually did…

SS: Really? What were you wearing?

HK: An enormous bow tie

SS: Oh yeah, and the show was at night? It was a really closed portrait, right? For me that was an itty bit about what you were wearing, I liked the bow tie, but it was just the whole picture, you were the exact right place at the right time. I don’t usually shoot front row shots, but you looked like you were in some kind of dramatic portrait because of your positioning right under the light. So you got to see firsthand exactly how I work. But I don’t always approach and talk to the subjects

HK: It was very fast...

SS: Yeah, I don’t really like to move people, like, you know, I barely talked to you at all, I just came up to you, took a few shots, that was it.

HK: Do you have any weaknesses when it comes to spotting someone you want to photograph?

SS: Beautiful girls. (Laughing) But then again I see beautiful girls all the time that I don’t shoot. A guy in a suit that fits him just right is probably my biggest weakness, because you just see it so rarely

HK: Do you think your background in fashion sales and marketing has a bearing on your eye when you’re shooting?

SS: I don’t think so; I’m not trying to sell anything.

HK: But in a way you’re trying to please your readers and, in effect, sell the pictures to them, not in a monetary way…

SS: One thing I say is when I shoot, I shoot very generously. The first thing I want is to get a nice picture of this person. I mean, I have nothing to gain. I don’t know the people. I don’t have an ulterior motive, I’m not trying to promote the subject as the epicentre of great style, or use the picture to sell a trend or something.

HK: Do you ever shoot thinking, “what would my readers like?” or is it always, “what do I like the look of?”

SS: Sometimes I won’t take a shot because of the response that might come from it, but so far it’s been from my instincts. I think I’m very much like a lot of my readers. I’m not like a lot of other street photographers, they always try and shoot the wildest people, this is how they think you document style. That I can’t relate to. I think by shooting something that’s relatable, it’s inspiring.

HK: Is it the clothes, or the wearer?

SS: Ultimately it has to be a little bit of both. I mean, for example, that picture I took of you, it’s not about selling the clothes, it’s not about selling the person, it’s an aspirational photograph. It’s an abstract shot. People get inspired by that moment, by that person’s style. They’re not looking to buy the tie he’s wearing, or copy the suit. They notice the style, the personality. They’re influenced by the “idea” of that person.

HK: What is style?

SS: Style is the pieces of your wardrobe you wear all the time, the pieces that you love and put with lots of things – they’re stylish. Fashion creates pieces that you’ll never wear, or wear once. Fashion needs to connect and be more realistic - I think what I would love to see in these economic times is designers doing something realistic, reusing and incorporating pieces from old shows. I mean, if Carine Roitfeld can wear the same floppy suede hat to two or three shows...

HK: What are the rules of style?

SS: The most important style rule is the fit. When I put up a picture of a guy with a suit that fits him just so, a certain amount of cuff showing, that’s when the readers are like, “That guy has great style.” It’s strange that people are too lazy to look at this rule. You’ll get your people buying a $4,000 Armani suit, even if it doesn’t fit well, and then at home they put it on, look in the mirror all confused, “Hey, I paid $4,000, I should look great.” Whether it’s designer clothes or Zara; length, shoulders, fit - it’s the key.

HK: Arguably the internet has more permanence than a book, new media is infinite. So why did The Sartorialist need to be turned into a book? Especially seems the book is filled with images people have already seen from your four years on the web...

SS: I’m a photographer. I think all photographers dream about having a book. I can’t talk for the next generation of photographers, but I started with film, and when I taught myself, I was used to taking images that I would, once developed, be able to hold in my hands. The other day I was shot for Self Service magazine…

HK: For that series they do of people in the fashion business?

SS: Yeah, for the fashion people section. They did a series of Polaroids, and instantly the photographer is peeling off the picture, holding it, touching the image. That’s why I wanted a book, so that people could hold my pictures in their hands. When I got those Polaroids taken it was amazing, and it made me think about all my pictures that I’d never printed. I’m thinking of this as I’m holding these pictures in my hands, it’s just the possession of it. It’s an innate human thing. You possess them. You hold them, like you hold your clothes. It’s cool holding photos in your hands, I can’t even articulate why. And this book, you can take everywhere, you can put it in your bag, read it on the plane, that’s one of the reasons I got it in that size. I didn’t need to do a big vanity coffee table glossy. I didn’t need something to tell people what a great photographer I am. I wanted to create something people can actually use. I tell you what I love, love, love; when people come to the book signings with post it’s inside marking all the different looks they like. That means they’re using the book.

HK: So is it a photography book or a style guide?

SS: That’s the question. I see it in the photography section, I see it in the fashion section. I don't know myself what it is. If you find out, tell me.

 

The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman, £19.99, is out now on Penguin.