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| Aroch in self portrait... | (image source) |
A citizen of the world, 1971 Israel-born Guy Aroch took flight with dreams in tow, in wings of spirited aspirations, when he immigrated to the United States in 1988 in pursuit of achieving attainment driven by a deep-hearted calling. Becoming a 1993 graduate of Manhattan's 1947-founded School of Visual Arts (a now-member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design encompassing thirty-six of leading nationwide American art schools), the walk to notability in the industry took off with is one-of-a-kind aesthetics and work coming to spread across not only fashion and beauty but celebrity, as well.
Principally, from a critical-eye observer perspective, Aroch's greater general work carries soften, romantic tones in evocative color play, and many other appreciators even agree that, to a degree and when most creative, subtle, beautifully even dreamy and magical in a way.
His work for Abercrombie & Fitch began rolling out in the summer of 2014 in June. Initially as Instagram lifestyle shots and worked into the revamped online lookbooks by Back-to-School / Fall 2014. That fashion season was the last to feature work by Bruce Weber for an Abercrombie & Fitch marketing campaign, and Aroch-work took over full-on henceforth Christmas 2014. Guy doesn't have a propensity for grayscale photography as what is a recognized signature of hallmark Bruce Weber photographic aesthetics, and this has been an element that has complimented in terms of the kind of newness that is being tried to push for the brand: that last Bruce Weber photography introduced by the Company for that A&F season was minimalist and in soft full-color, something starkly new and with color in general not having been seen for a lead A&F marketing campaign in more than a decade. With the phase-out of Weber-work (which has always been synonymous with the Abercrombie & Fitch of Mike Jeffries; fantastical, highly-produced, sensual, sexual and provocative riddled with exclusively-selected fresh faces and bodies exemplifying utmost ideal physicality), Guy's now sole standing work for the brand is a grounded lifestyle dream...sometimes rather not even a dream now in so much as being more so an idealized realism for Abercrombie & Fitch.
Samples of Aroch's premier summer 2014 work for A&F.
@abercrombie, Instagram.
@abercrombie, Instagram.
Currently, a core group of close models now represent the Abercrombie & Fitch brand seasonally through photoshoots with Guy. Models Bobby Nicholas and Amanda Norgaard can rather much be regarded as the lead male and female model, respectively, and have remained as A&F Faces since being introduced after Guy's summer debut as part of the original models group begun with BTS/Fall 2014. Along with them, Malik Lindo and Anastasia Suschenko. As models have come and gone, the four together have been working continuously with Guy for A&F consecutively for BTS/Fall 2014, Christmas 2014, Spring Preview 2015, and Spring 2015 thus far at the time of the publishing of this post. And we've never had that before at Abercrombie & Fitch.
From top, clockwise: Amanda, Malik, Ana, and Bobby.
A&F BTS / Fall 2014 pieces by Guy Aroch.
@abercrombie, Instagram
An element of practicality furthermore comes with Guy's work for Abercrombie & Fitch: there's a greater scope of diverse resulting material to work with, after a photoshoot for a fashion season, to easily incorporate in swift, continuous rollouts of daily postings for A&F social media as has become custom since 2014. On that scale, you just couldn't do that with highly-produced, highly-expensive, limited Bruce Weber work solely. Guy's work provides for fresh, engaging, swift visual lifestyle content 'round the clock across Abercrombie & Fitch social media which is now a powerful driving aspect of the greater marketing machine - the photography just really well set for the Insta-era, most significantly, a time different than when Bruce was the sole photographer and limited final-cut Weber-work for marketing was all that was needed per fashion season pre-Instagram/social media marketing in full swing.
Overall, the rise of Guy Aroch as lead Abercrombie & Fitch photographer for full marketing represents, and in an obvious way in presentation, a shift from the Mike Jeffries Era, and undergoing new beginnings, though still keeping in code with youth, energy, liveliness and appeal in a grounded idealistic realism. It feels real. Scenes that can be actually had and seen. Real, but still ideal, an aspiration, an inspiration.
Check out his website (here), his Jed Root profile (here), and follow him on Instagram, @guyaroch, (here)!
Stay FIERCE!