NYLON - November 2007 - (Page 102)

In her new book, photographer Autumn de Wilde captures the real life of legend Elliott Smith. “I really sympathize with the plight of the performer,” says Autumn de Wilde as she picks at a strawberry crêpe in a Silver Lake café. “People are so much more than one moment might capture.” It’s this sensitivity, as well as her talent for creating big, exciting images (shooting only ﬁlm, never digital), that explains why her portfolio looks like your iTunes library: Beck, the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, Rilo Kiley, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the late, great Elliott Smith, who is the subject of her ﬁrst book. A close friend of the singer, de Wilde photographed Smith regularly over the years, and conceived Elliott Smith (Chronicle Books) as a sort of multimedia memory book. So while a conventional biography of Smith might merely list the facts—singer-songwriter Steven Paul “Elliott” Smith, born on August 6, 1969, released ﬁve records during his life, two more posthumously; battled depression and drug addition; died at the age of 34 of possible self-inﬂicted wounds on October 21, 2003 in Los Angeles—de Wilde’s volume is an intimate collection of personal photographs, video stills, hand-written lyrics, ephemera, and conversations with the people who knew Smith best, giving fans unprecedented access to his life. The results are impressive—and affecting, thanks to the obvious bond shared by the biographer and her subject. De Wilde met Smith after an in-store appearance in the late ’90s—“I waved because I forgot that he didn’t actually know me”—and took a few cautious photos of him soon thereafter. But it wasn’t until the two collaborated on the packaging for Figure 8 (the cover of which was shot in front of Solutions Audio on Sunset Boulevard, a spot that now serves as the musician’s memorial site) that they became friends. “When we met to talk about the shoot Elliot said ‘I am warning you, I really don’t like having my photo taken and it won’t be your fault when I want to stop, so don’t be offended,’” recalls de Wilde. “His manager told me he would only want to shoot for two hours and we shot for 14.” From that point on, Smith demanded that de Wilde take his picture for magazines and record art whenever possible. Before Smith died, the idea of doing a book had come up, but the time never seemed right to de Wilde. “I was so stressed that it would seem like I was capitalizing on his life, and then I didn’t want it to seem like I was capitalizing on his death,” she says. But when other biographers tried to tell Smith’s story, it didn’t quite sit right with her. “What I was reading didn’t seem like the person I knew. I felt a burning desire to set the record straight or at least present a human and not this ridiculous rock star-sad junkie songwriter. He was so much more than that.” It was only after getting the ofﬁcial blessing from Smith’s sister Ashley Welch and his former girlfriend Joanna Blome that the project started to take shape. “I came to everyone with the agreement that they could withdraw everything they said at the last minute,” says de Wilde. A FOND FAREWELL all photos of elliott smith by autumn de wilde, courtesy of chronicle books. portrait of autumn de wilde by giles dunning.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of NYLON - November 2007

Contents Editor's Letter Par Avion Behind the Scenes Contributors Stars and Stripes Forever Mass Appeal: Los Angeles Mass Appeal: Austin Mass Appeal: New York Mass Appeal: Sneakers Haute Stuff Private Icon: Slums of Beverly Hills Cult Of: Ralph Lauren Blue Label Memory Lane Nesting: Top of the Block Factory Girl: Road Rules Fashion Road Trip Fashion News Mania: The Price is Right Canned Heat Counter Culture: Universal Picture Private Icon: Jane Fonda Beauty News The Future is Now Smoke And Mirrors King of the Jet Set Rock America Country Death Songs A Fond Farewell Personal Investment Stranger Than Fiction Film Strips Culture Club En Route: The Grapes of our Content Miller's Crossing I'm Too Sexy The Perks of Being a Wallflower Tourist Attraction Star Maps: Fair Isle Shopping List Bag Check: Roam If You Want To

NYLON - November 2007

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