Gallery | Why Grannies Make the Best Fashion Models - New York Times (blog)

Sumptuous fashion photography is Tim Walker’s calling card. His newest project, “The Granny Alphabet” (Thames & Hudson, out tomorrow), a two-volume collection of pictures of grandmothers, might seem like an eccentric turn, but in fact it’s a sort of prequel to his celebrated work for international style glossies. Some of his first models were his 80-year-old neighbors. “They had time to give me when I was starting out at 18,” says the British photographer. A few of the photographs date back to those humble beginnings, while others are newer, featuring an assortment of friends of friends’ grandparents and models drawn from street casting. With its array of octogenarian subjects clad in nubby cardigans, sensible shoes, croc handbags and whimsical hats — not to mention a still life of fake teeth and the pattern from a plastic polka-dotted rain bonnet used as the book’s endpaper — “The Granny Alphabet” takes a droll view on aging.

Walker’s fanciful portraits fill the first volume, accompanied by acerbically tongue-in-cheek verse by the British composer and screenwriter Kit Hesketh-Harvey. A charming compendium of paintings by the illustrator Lawrence Mynott makes up the second. The book, which pairs photos and paintings with the letters of the alphabet, is Walker’s first effort for children, though it is sure to delight readers of all ages. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Friends of the Elderly.

Can the book advance the conversation about how women are represented as they get older? “There is beauty and elegance in age that isn’t celebrated enough,” Walker explains. “This is a reaction against photographing ‘girls of a certain age.’” In the course of the project, he adds, he learned a bit from his subjects. “Everything is accelerated in modern culture,” he says. “I enjoy being with people who’ve gone beyond deadlines. As a 42-year-old man, I’ve taken a leaf out of their book: appreciate things, slow down, enjoy simplicity.” $40; thamesandhudsonusa.com.

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