Venturing to a big open-spaced studio on a particularly chilly morning was never going to be the highlight of the day. However, towering photographer Marko Righo, (he stretches an immense 6’ 8”) filled the vast space with warmth, friendly banter and an air of French tranquility.
The eclectic space, which shows hints of the studio’s former existence as a factory, is bursting with character. Scattered around is a piano, clothing rails, mismatched furniture and quirky signs, which add a sense of vibrancy and creativity to the otherwise minimalistic space. Righo, himself, brings the colour.
“I have my finger in many, many pies.” Righo says in his French accent, which has a hint of East London twang about it. A latecomer to photography – he didn’t pick up a camera until aged 23 – Righo has managed to build himself an impressive CV. “I started assisting photographers like Tara Derby, Donald Christie and Nick Knight, before moving onto more commercial projects with RGA and then taking up an MA in Photography Studies at Westminster.”
It was meeting his business partner, Mark Wagner however, that prompted him to take the next step. “We decided to take a big studio space, initially as a more creative option for us to be able to choose and do our own work.” This has brought them a plethora of reputable clients including Vogue, Dazed and Confused and iD, as well as big commercial clients like Coca Cola.
The stunning space also houses five artists’ workshops, a recording studio, and they even have plans for a bike shop in the back. The space is also used for exhibitions, events, and organising their own festivals; it seems they’re set on establishing themselves as the creative hub of Clapton.
“The weirdest thing that’s happened [in the studio] was some guy pissed on the wall. Also people have filled the place with oil and horrible powder paint. We were meant to have a cow at some point also but unfortunately that didn’t happen. One of my highlights, however, was having Laurence Llewellyn Bowen here.”
Righo, and his cheeky but charming character, has the ability to grip you at his every word as he flows from one hilarious story seamlessly into the next.
With plenty of work going on in the studio, Righo still manages to keep his own projects going and loves to experiment with his photography. His latest work, Nude Girls from Clapton, will be exhibited in the MKII space this Thursday. “The series started from me just hanging around out the front, checking girls out. Eventually it turned into a project, which redefines the whole relationship a man and a woman can have. I also got engaged during the project, therefore starting it as a single man checking girls out all the time, to then being very much in love, was a really interesting concept.”
Putting his nude girls aside, today he was focusing purely on his collaboration with LOOKK. We gave Righo total creative freedom to interpret one of our new products whichever way he fancied and he chose the mustard, oversized coat by Von Bardonitz as his starting point.
“I took a picture of my girlfriend wearing one of my jackets a while back, and it looked as though she had no head [in the image] because the jacket was too big. It’s a really intriguing shot because it looks like it could be me. So I thought it would be interesting to create a shape like that, wandering in a semi-countryside setting.” Slightly coy, Righo didn’t give too much away about his plans for the coat and typically he’d arranged for his model to show up after we had left.
After meeting Righo and being pulled in by his fascinating character, we were a little gutted that there was so much secrecy around his plans for the shoot. Though it did make the wait for the final images to come through all the more exciting. We’re just glad that absolutely no urine was involved this time.
Presenting…
The LOOKK CO-LAB Series | October 2011
See Marko Righo’s portfolio here:
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Tags: clapton is good, Marko Righo
