Behind the Image is an ongoing MODELS.com series taking a more personal look at both established and emerging creative talent.
Michael Scanlon by Sofie Kjørum Austlid | Image courtesy of Chandelier
Michael Scanlon, Chief Creative Officer
Hometown/country: Utica, New York
Based: New York, NY
How would you describe your work?
My work heavily draws on cinema, story, music, and the senses—emotional and instinctual. I always ask myself, “What is this movie we’re about to write about?” Then I ask, “Have we seen this before?” I like things a little tense but sensual.
What initially drew you to the world of art direction, and how has your aesthetic evolved since then?
My favorite movies as a child are still my favorites today, and the common thread is a certain kind of 1970s world-building. The Shining, The Wiz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Casino, Boogie Nights. I went to film school at NYU but was more obsessed with Tom Ford’s Gucci campaigns than creating a feature film. My first job at L’Uomo Vogue was eye-opening, and a masterclass in translating characters and narratives into 2D pictures on a page. You must draw up the vision, choose the right collaborators, and be open to new ideas but relentless in your focus. Then I started at Chandelier and immediately was given briefs that pushed my thinking into other mediums – TV commercials, a world tour for a pop star, experiential, branding and packaging, sonic branding… I’ve realized that my aesthetic hasn’t changed so much, as it’s become more dimensional through my practice.
Before art direction, what other roles or experiences shaped your creative journey?
I assisted the editor Rushka Bergman, and she taught me to be steadfast and determined in my ideas. Like, unapologetically proud and determined. Later, Richard Christiansen, the founder of Chandelier, who I’ve now succeeded, taught me about the power of pleasure – that selfishness can actually be selfless, and that the world needs more ambition and fantasy.
In your opinion, what makes for a truly successful partnership between an art director and a photographer or brand?
It’s my favorite part of the process, finding the right collaborator. I’m very loyal and love to build relationships and a short hand with people I admire, be it a brand or talent. But I also love working with new people who have compelling or provocative ideas. In either case, it’s about removing ego, being very clear, always ambitious, brave, open-minded, and a bit pragmatic.
What have you watched/heard/read lately that has inspired you?
Hannah Villiger at Meredith Rosen
Pierre Huyghe at Punta della Dogana
Christian Marclay at Paula Cooper Gallery
Yu Tanaka’s sculptures
You’ve worked extensively with brands like Khaite, rhode, and Equinox on art direction, branding, and packaging. Can you walk us through your creative process for translating their vision into an impactful brand identity?
Everything starts with understanding ambition. Having a hunch but also listening. Then it’s about either studying the brand foundation or, if we’re creating a new brand, crafting that brand foundation. What are the codes? The boundaries of this universe? What is true here and permanent? How do we speak? Who lives here, and what do they read and listen to? How do they live, love? And building that universe around what it is that we’re selling. That’s desire. I’m lucky enough to have a brilliant team around me – Chandelier is a group of magicians and misfits, creative and art directors, poets, producers, and polymath wildcards.
What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on, and how did you navigate any obstacles?
Without being specific, it can be difficult to work with your heroes. A couple of experiences showed me that being inspired by someone’s life work is sometimes better than trying to get them to revisit a period they’ve moved past.
What’s something outside of your work that fuels your creativity or gives you a fresh perspective?
Music. I’m a DJ and a record collector, and fully nerd out on histories, collaborations, and techniques. I’m endlessly inspired by the way jazz, soul, and dance music was made in the late 70’s, where live musicians experimented with new synthesizers and technologies to create sounds previously unheard of. It makes me so hungry to understand AI and everything weird and exciting that’s at our fingertips now, mixing analogue impulses with synthetic tools. So I’m fascinated by Midjourney and Runway, making images, then turning them into videos, and figuring out how to make crazy ideas for movies without any limits.
Who do you think is one to watch?
Pierre Huyghe. His work is so profound and aesthetically sumptuous, at the same time quite depressing. He has a chokehold on my imagination, and I can’t wait to see what he creates next. And on the absolute other end of the spectrum, Rachel Sennott – culture needs a canon comedy series, and I feel like we’re about to get it with her.
Selected Work
Hailey Bieber by Drew Vickers | Image courtesy of Chandelier
Rhode Skin Peptide Lip Tint 2023
For this rhode shoot, Hailey and I did not overthink it. It was about bringing the product to life in the most joyful, unexpected way. Here we were inspired by the name of the lip tint, Ribbon, for which Hailey knew it was time to channel her inner ballerina by way of 80’s supermodel-inspired imagery.
Mark Vanderloo by Arnaud Lajeunie | Image courtesy of Chandelier
Neiman Marcus
The magic of Mark Vanderloo and Peter Lindbergh formed some of my earliest images of man, so it was exciting to work with Mark in a later era. And to reimagine that manliness with him, especially as masculinity has evolved so much since those DKNY ads of the early 90s – men today are more vulnerable, softer. The idea came from a very talented person on my team, and I immediately knew it was one worth fighting hard for. The fluidity of Anthony Vaccarello’s draped Saint Laurent tailoring, combined with Mark’s classically stoic strength, feels perfectly timely and timeless.
Anok Yai by Hanna Tveite | Image courtesy of Chandelier
Khaite S/S 2024 Campaign
Catherine Holstein has an exquisite vision of the Khaite woman and world, and it’s a joy to get to play in, continually revealing new gestures and emotions within itself. With this shoot, Cate knew exactly what she wanted, and with very little time, we captured a new lightness, sensuality, and nuance. An image of a room by the architect Claire Bataille felt like an exciting way to bring bloomy softness while still maintaining a moodiness. Anok Yai works beautifully, and it was a dance of letting the clothes dictate form, creating this sculptural pose that I just find intoxicating.
Maggie Rogers by Warren Fu| Image courtesy of Chandelier
That’s Where I Am music video
I love New York in an obsessive way, even 20 years in. At the same time, I think New York is only as great as it is being mythologized in art. One of my biggest wishes is to direct an I <3 New York campaign, but until I get that call, I feel like I have a moral obligation to craft more New York iconography and mystique in my work. My ongoing collaboration with Maggie Rogers has been a personal triumph, but I think this single frame, the final frame of our first music video together, is so representative of it – electric, reverent, feral, ambitious.
By Zhong Lin | Image courtesy of Chandelier
Equinox Want It All
Equinox’s heritage is in iconic campaigns that marry artful imagery and bold provocations. Rarely about fitness at all; they were always about individuals living at their edges. Committing to their extremes. We’re surely in a time when idiosyncratic desire and individual ambition is dulled by the algorithm, but we believe desire is what invents you. My team at Chandelier wrote 16 “tenets” of desire and commissioned Zhong Lin to interpret them with us, Zhong is the modern master of ambiguous, artful extremes. A little Hujar, a little Magritte, a little Serge Lutens.
