British photographer Jonathan Hallam had an unusual introduction to Maison Martin Margiela [for a photographer]. Rather than starting taking photos backstage, in the pit shooting a show, or working on lookbooks etc., Jonathan first worked as assistant to renowned hair stylist Eugene Souleiman on the puppet show defilé in Paris for FW 98-99. After living in Paris for six years, Jonathan has now returned to London, where he is a contributor to magazines such as Purple Fashion, Self Service, i-D and Encens.

For A#1, Jonathan offered an intimate black and white portrait series and four candid shots from the unconventional parade – when stylist Jane How offered fifteen silhouettes from the collection on life-size puppets at Le Foyer de L’Arches, La Grande Arche de la Defence, Paris. In these simple photos shot on film in the dark with bright flashes on their subjects, the puppets are slumped backstage on black utilitarian office chairs – as though stiff corpses that have been removed from an awkward horizontal pose and made to sit vertically.

The portrait series is however a very different offering, and a reflection of ‘white’ for the thematic concern of the magazine (the snapshots of the show offering that ‘specific’ Margiela link). The close-up portraits are rendered in blown out black and white film, overexposed to offer movement and blinding whiteness. The four girls featured are Roxane Danset (stylist, formerly PR for Margiela), Mickaëla, Valentine and Emilia.