{"id":152231,"date":"2023-02-07T12:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T17:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/?p=152231"},"modified":"2024-08-19T09:18:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T13:18:48","slug":"top-50-model-and-photographer-malick-bodian-on-anchoring-fashion-within-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/top-50-model-and-photographer-malick-bodian-on-anchoring-fashion-within-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 50 Model and Photographer Malick Bodian on Anchoring Fashion Within Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.centerimg {padding:4em 7em;margin:20px 0;}\n.centerimg2 {padding:4em 4em;margin:20px 0;}\n.centerimg3 {padding:4em 3em;margin:20px 0;}\n.sidetxt {padding:16em 2em 16em 2em;;margin:20px 0;}\n.centerimg img {margin-bottom:0px;}\n.instagram-media {margin:auto !important;}\n#wp-content hr {margin: 40px auto 80px auto;width: 80%;}\n<\/style>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/hp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-152517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/hp.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/hp-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/hp-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/hp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT \/ AFP via GettyImages<\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was a natural evolution for Top 50 model <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/models\/malick-bodian\">Malick Bodian<\/a> to go behind the camera himself, taking pictures of the environments and people that invigorated him. With a soft-spoken, yet steadfast assuredness in his creative ability, Bodian took a leap to document his love for home and familiar places, first shooting around Dakar, Senegal, where he lives when he&#8217;s not in Paris, right before the onset of the pandemic. Since then, his photography work has been featured in some of the most prestigious fashion magazines and brands, including Vogue, Vogue Italia, Chanel, Dazed Magazine, Bottega Veneta, and Wales Bonner. Bridging the gap between his creative work and his day job as one of the most in-demand faces, he has also been the face of Louis Vuitton&#8217;s recent collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, shot by Steven Meisel, along with campaigns for Jil Sander, Dior Men, and Tom Ford, further cementing his status as one of the most sought-after models in the industry. We spoke to Bodian about how he first made that first transition to photography, his favorite marquee projects, and documenting reality within fashion photography.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CjaSxKgtIiU\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CjaSxKgtIiU\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/p>\n<div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CjaSxKgtIiU\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Malick Bodian (@malickbodi)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>You recently walked Haider Ackermann&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/jean-paul-gaultier-jean-paul-gaultier-by-haider-ackermann-haute-couture-spring-2023-show\/1861911\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">couture show<\/a> for Jean Paul Gaultier, and the last that I saw that you walked for him was back in 2020. How is that juggling process being in the middle of a crazy show season and still being able to be creative?<\/strong><br \/>\nAt the moment, I&#8217;m not doing too many things as a model. I have to be quite selective and since I&#8217;m quite selective, I found some time to take pictures. At this moment, when it&#8217;s fashion week, I&#8217;m really focused on just modeling and I don&#8217;t really shoot. I usually do my personal or photo project later in the month, around March or April, not in the middle of Fashion Week.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It&#8217;s amazing that many landmark shoots that you&#8217;ve done have been in Africa, whether it&#8217;s been in <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/chanel-31-cambon--dakar\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dakar for Chanel<\/a>, or shooting <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/american-vogue-american-vogue-november-2022-cover\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michaela Coel in Accra <\/a>last year for your [and her!] first Vogue US cover. How important is shooting on set for you and showcasing the depth and beauty of the African landscape?<\/strong><br \/>\nFor me, I&#8217;m really grateful to have the opportunity to shoot in Africa because it&#8217;s home. I would have never imagined doing such a project like Vogue there. I&#8217;m grateful about it, but it&#8217;s very rare and you don&#8217;t have those opportunities all the time of having such a crew to shoot in Africa. Then Senegal, where I did most of my photo projects, is my second home. I live between there and Paris. Every time I have the opportunity to do a story and I always push it to make it happen over there. Somehow I really feel good when I&#8217;m working there. I have my close people, I feel comfortable even with the light and everything more than I do over here [in Paris].<\/p>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/chanel.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1847\" height=\"1168\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-152513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/chanel.jpg 1847w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/chanel-640x405.jpg 640w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/chanel-1280x809.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/chanel-1536x971.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1847px) 100vw, 1847px\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Chanel Pre-Fall 2023 M\u00e9tiers d&#8217;Art Preview in Dakar | Courtesy of <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/DNA-Models\">DNA Models<\/a><\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>How was the experience of being able to shoot Michaela Coel in Accra for the November issue of Vogue? I imagine that that was a huge milestone for you.<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was a very unique project. I always say, sometimes you do a project and realize it&#8217;s a once-in-a-lifetime project. It&#8217;s something you will never do again because it was so special. It was, I think, the first or second time that Vogue shot in West Africa and was probably the first cover shoot like that. We were just very lucky to be part of it. I was really grateful because she was very humble. She didn&#8217;t have to be, but she was a very humble, nice person that makes it very easy for us to work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you remember when you first started taking pictures? How did you first start finding inspiration and what was the process for you making it a career for yourself?<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen I first started taking pictures, I was doing it to keep myself busy, just to distract my mind from modeling, because I was just doing a lot of modeling. I wanted to do something more creative. I take it very slowly. I started by documenting the places I was going as a model. With time, I tried to do fashion shoots. Then going back and forth home to Senegal, I actually realized that fashion photography was not really what I really wanted to do, it was more documentary photography. From that moment, I was a bit stuck because I was a model and I&#8217;m completely in fashion. But at the same time, I love documentary photography, so I had to find something in between and that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m trying to do.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;&#8230;sometimes you do a project and realize it&#8217;s a once-in-a-lifetime project. It&#8217;s something you will never do again because it was so special.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>When you talk about documentary photography, it&#8217;s quite different from fashion photography, which focuses on fantasy, and has muses and characters. You&#8217;re trying to capture reality. What&#8217;s the process of finding subjects? Do you have muses or at least someone that you constantly look to for inspiration that appears a lot in your work?<\/strong><br \/>\nAs a photographer in fashion, I think my muses are mostly my friends. I like to photograph my friends. I always did since the beginning. For example, that <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/bottega-veneta-bottega-veneta-fw-2022-campaign\/1762631\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bottega project<\/a> we did with my friend Dara [Gueye]. I just feel very comfortable taking a picture of him. Then in my personal work, it&#8217;s mostly my family. I think it&#8217;s very, very, very important for me. I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s the most important, but I like to photograph people I know because I feel like it&#8217;s more intimate and personal. I just like to document people&#8217;s emotions. I don&#8217;t take it so seriously, to be honest with you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you ever feel pigeonholed as a model before branching out into your photography career, or was it a natural evolution?<\/strong><br \/>\nI think it was a natural evolution. I think I could not do only modeling for such a long time. I never wanted to do it since the beginning, and I did it because I was scouted and someone told me, &#8220;Oh, I think you could be great for this,&#8221; so I tried, but it&#8217;s not something I dreamed about. I felt like I was designated to do something else, like photos or anything.<\/p>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/MBO_ARCHIVE_183.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1250\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-152512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/MBO_ARCHIVE_183.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/MBO_ARCHIVE_183-512x640.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Dara Gueye for Bottega Veneta F\/W 22 | Courtesy of <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/DNA-Models\">DNA Models<\/a><\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>I remember we <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/?p=147726\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">interviewed Piotr Chamier<\/a>, and he told us the story about when you got scouted and not wanting to initially do it. It&#8217;s funny for you to say that right now.<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the beginning, when I first met him, he was just like, &#8220;You want to model for this job?&#8221; but I was not completely scouted by him. He scouted me <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/double-magazine-in-residence\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">for a magazine<\/a>. I was in Corsica, out with friends, and then I said no, since it was so late. Then I ended up going to the shoot and did it, and I was happy that I did. I&#8217;m grateful that I did. After that shoot, when it came out a few months later, there was an agent called Benoit, who lived in Paris, and he contacted me and proposed to be my mother agent. Then he presented me to my agency, Success.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking back at 2022, what was the most important thing you&#8217;ve learned in the last year?<\/strong><br \/>\nIn this last year, I learned a lot of things, to be honest, but the thing I learned the most is that if I have, or if anyone has just something that they have in mind that they should do it because you never know what can happen. The world changes so quickly. Sometimes you have plans of things you want to do in five years and then in six months, you realize you really don&#8217;t want to do that. I&#8217;m just in this period of my life where I want to do everything I want to or at least try, and I want to keep that mentality this year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/DC276_Covers_RGB_05.4507c7980710.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1349\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-152509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/DC276_Covers_RGB_05.4507c7980710.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/DC276_Covers_RGB_05.4507c7980710-474x640.jpg 474w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/02\/DC276_Covers_RGB_05.4507c7980710-949x1280.jpg 949w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Dazed Summer 2022 Cover | Courtesy of <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/DNA-Models\">DNA Models<\/a><\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--pp-thumb-start--><!--PictPress found no dir \/2023\/02\/152231--><!--pp-thumb-end--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT \/ AFP via GettyImages It was a natural evolution for Top 50 model Malick Bodian to go behind the camera himself, taking pictures of the environments and people that invigorated him. With a soft-spoken, yet steadfast assuredness in his creative ability, Bodian took a leap to document his love for home&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":152517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10414,16],"tags":[10448,11478],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152231"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152670,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152231\/revisions\/152670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}