Elaine Constantine

Elaine Constantine
Born November 1965 (age 49)
Bury, Lancashire
Nationality British
Known for Photography

Elaine Constantine (born 26 November 1965 in Bury, Lancashire), is a photographer and filmmaker known for her colourful and upbeat imagery of British youth culture. She is the sister of designer, businesswoman and author Jan Constantine.

Career

Photography

Constantine came to prominence due to work published in The Face, where newly installed art director, Lee Swillingham commissioned her first fashion editorial. Constantine's youthful and energetic style suited his vision to introduce a new generation of younger photographers to readers. According to Constantine, her work "came at a point when people had seen grunge fashion for a few years and needed something else to look at".[1]

Constantine's first solo show was at Marion de Beaupre's Gallerie 213, Paris, in 1998. In 2002 Constantine exhibited Tea Dance, a show that documented the tea dance culture of Northern England. Tea Dance has toured Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam and Moscow.

Constantine's work has been exhibited at London's Photographers Gallery, Tate Britain's 'Look at Me' Exhibition, curated by Val Williams, and The V&A's Imperfect Beauty Exhibition, curated by Charlotte Cotton. A series of Constantine's prints are held in the photography collection at the National Portrait Gallery.

Constantine has contributed to Vanity Fair and American, French and Italian Vogue. Her commercial clients have included Adidas, American Eagle, Burberry, Clarins, Diesel, Evian, Gap, H&M, Lacoste, Levi's, Nike, Shiseido, Sportmax and Vivienne Westwood.

Feature film

In late summer 2012 Constantine returned to the north of England to direct Northern Soul, a film which tells the tale of two Northern boys whose worlds are changed forever when they discover black American soul music. Rejecting their small town existence working the production line, they dream of going to America in search of the super-rare records that will help them to become the best DJs on the Northern Soul scene. Written and directed by Constantine, the film was released in October 2014 by Universal and was a surprise box office success, reaching the box office top 10 on its opening weekend despite a relatively limited distribution .[2]

Pop promos

Constantine has made promos for Richard Hawley's "Baby You're My Light" and Moloko's "Familiar Feeling" (featuring Paddy Considine and centering on a Northern Soul club).

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Benedictus, Leo (24 May 2007). "Elaine Constantine's best shot". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/oct/21/northern-soul-uk-box-office-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles
  3. ↑ "The London Critics' Circle Film Section". Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/82935
  5. ↑ "Film in 2015". Retrieved 28 January 2015.

External links