Hedi Slimane‘s ability for discovering young talent and propelling them into the limelight is second to none. Whether he’s commissioning nascent bands to write original show soundtracks, selecting them to walk the runway, placing them in his campaigns or photographing them for his celebrated Diary, Slimane’s list of past collaborators includes: Littl’ans, Rexx, Dan Lyons, Waltz Disco, La Femme, Sunflower Bean, The Paranoyds, Sons of Raphael, Swmrs and Drug Store Romeos, amongst many more.

Back in Paris as creative, artistic and image director at Celine, Slimane’s latest project sees him focus his lens towards Russian-born tattoo artist Vova Slivka, who is currently living in the French capital. Photographed in black and white, the images capture Slivka in a leather jacket, with his snake chest tattoo in shot.

For Slimane, photography came before everything else he did and has remained an essential part of his work and life. At the age of eleven he bought his first camera – a Nikon FM – and began learning darkroom printing in monochrome. Taking portraits of friends and still life, Slimane evolved his practice. Since then, Slimane has photographed all his campaigns – from Dior through Saint Laurent and now Celine – and has shot the likes of Justin Beiber, Bill Skarsgård and Nick Robinson for HERO.

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