Introduction
Gian Paolo Barbieri (1935-2024) was a renowned Italian fashion photographer. Born in Milan, the self-taught Barbieri opened his own studio there in 1964, which would become the start of a successful career working with international brands such as Valentino, Versace, Armani, Bulgari, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and Vivienne Westwood. Many of his photographs were published in Vogue magazine.
From the 1980s Gian Paolo Barbieri started traveling to exotic locations to photograph the local inhabitants in their natural environment, and several of those journeys were documented in published photobooks. One of the first of such projects is "Silent Portraits", a book by Barbieri published in the summer of 1984 with the sub-title "Polaroid from Seychelles". This exclusive book limited to 600 copies and personally signed by Barbieri is not only special for its photography, but also for a unique vinyl record that is included with the book and which contains two unique compositions by Vangelis, inspired by Barbieri’s photographs and only available as part of this release.
It is not clear how Vangelis and Gian Paolo Barbieri met, but possibly they were introduced to eachother by a mutual friend, the French director Frédéric Rossif, with whom Vangelis had worked earlier on documentaries such as “L’Apocalypse Des Animaux” (1973), "La Fête Sauvage" (1976), "L'Opera Sauvage" (1976-1980) and "Sauvage Et Beau" (1984). It is Rossif who opens the book of “Silent Portraits” with a introduction in French (accompanied with an English translation).
The photobook, housed in a hardcover velvet-lined box, contains dozens of evocative black-and-white photos, all shot on Polaroid T55 film, primarily depicting the inhabitants of the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean. The outer box is presented with a hard cover decorated in luxurious cloth. Within the cloth is the lining of the leaves of tropical plants, a styling that is consistently used throughout the pages of the book.
The 12" record is enclosed inside the outer box on top of the book, and comes in a cardboard picture-sleeve without any text. Inside the sleeve is the record itself, protected by a standard white paper-sleeve. The front and back labels on the record simply state ‘1’ and ‘2’, leaving no clues to the actual content of the record... The styling of the labels however reveal that it the record is printed by Polydor, Vangelis' record label at the time, as these labels also appear on other promotional records by Polydor.
Most striking of all however is the music of Silent Portraits, one track on each side of the record. The first track is a slow (electric) piano piece of just over 9 minutes, slowly building with added flute-like synths. Reminiscent of some music for "The Bounty" this is an instant favorite! The second track is a rythmic piece almost 11 minutes in length, building around electronic percussion and halfway adding a wonderful synth-layer on top. "Silent Portraits" is unique in many ways and an excellent example of Vangelis at his most inspired!
Tracklist and credits
Neither the book or record of Silent Portraits contain any references to music titles. The record labels simply state ‘1’ and ‘2’.
- Silent Portraits 1 (9:17)
- Silent Portraits 2 (10:52)
"Silent Portraits - Polaroid from Seychelles".
- Photos by Gian Paolo Barbieri
- Introduction by Frédéric Rossif
- Music by Vangelis
- Published by Massimo Baldini Editore.
- Printed by Garzanti Editore S.p.A
- Art Director - Designer: Eros Candusso
- Photographer Assistent:Claudio Alessandri
- A special thank to Rene Youpa for his generous help during the work on the islands.
Media
LP
- 1984 Silent Portraits (without catalog number) Polydor Italy
The boxset including the photobook (132 pages) and record is limited to 600 copies and as such a rare find. Each copy is numbered and hand-signed by Gian Paolo Barbieri.
Recording studio
The release does not disclose the recording studio, but undoubtedly the music of Silent Portraits was recorded in Vangelis' own Nemo Studios in London.
Links
Gallery
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |