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Health & Fitness

Backdrop Magic

Have you ever perused through your favorite glossy magazine and found yourself mesmerized in a particular fashion story? The clothes, the models, the setting, the backdrop. What goes into that photo shoot? Was there music playing? Was the photographer barking at the model in some exotic accent? How does it even all come together from concept to reality? We did a little digging and discovered an intriguing company called Oliphant Studio in Manhattan who are the very source of the backdrops and backgrounds we see in these tantalizing photo stories.

Sarah Oliphant and Adelaide Tyrol started the studio around 1978.  Since then, Oliphant Studio has been painting scenic murals for photographers, film producers, advertisers, architects, interior designers, and many others. Their backdrops are used for film, TV, print, catalog, trade shows, special events, theatrical, interiors, and much much more. With New York Fashion Week wrapping up last week- Oliphant Studio was the mastermind behind the runway background of the Anna Sui Spring/Summer 2014 show.  Sarah’s typical strategy is to reproduce a real-world environment, like a street in Paris or Morocco, and introduce moody ambiance with a range of palettes and shapes and patterns. “It’s like the way you suspend disbelief when you to go to the movies,” she explained.  So next time you are flipping through Vogue or watching a fashion show on the Style Channel, perhaps you will have a new-found appreciation for not only the looks being shown, but also of the background.

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