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Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 3B

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 38

NOIRE
From Page 1A
Anchored in the black
community
"It was two women who were
interested in creating something
that was serious about fashion, but
also centered in the black commu-
nity," said NOiR's vice president
Ciarra Ross, an LSA sophomore.
"They wanted something differ-
ent, something of higher quality
to represent the fashion industry."
Though NOiR has matured and
carved its own space among the
many student groups at the Uni-
versity, Ross said the original mis-
sion is still very much a part of the
organization.
"Now we're here and wanting
to encapsulate it, but also broaden
it a bit, always wanting to be more
diverse but to be anchored in the
black community, knowing that
that is what the vision was for it to
begin with."
Despite having close ties with
the African American commu-
nity, NOiR is a large advocate of
diversity and multi-culturalism.
"We have premier fashion in
our organization, and we are very
diverse," Thomas said. "You can
just look at our e-board."
Like many fashion groups on
campus, NOiR's style is distinct.
Rather than blending in with the
trends, NOiR highlights them
with clothing and accessory piec-
es chosen from both local design-
ers and big-name brands.
"We find (designers) on differ-
ent social networks like Twitter
and Instagram, and we're like,
'oh they have really cool stuff.' I
reached out to this guy from Okla-
homa, and he's donating wooden
bow ties this year," said Lou Pope,
Engineering senior and VIP coor-
dinator. "We are cognizant of the
different trends that are going on,
things that we want to show in
the show, but we also know who is
credible and who has good pieces
to represent."
In order to sponsor the show,
the non-profit student group
needs to spend a number of hours
reaching out to companies and
organizations, asking them to
help fund the show. Each e-board
member has a specific sector of
companies they contact, further-
ing the sponsorship relationships
along.
"The basis is gathering
resources, but where we gather
our resources from is all over the
place," Pope said. "Every execu-
tive board member has a role
or a specific sector that they're

COMM1J TY (AITiURE COLUMN
Learning from
the Occupy
movement

NOiR's annual fashion show sponsors an organization of their choosing, with this year's pick being Food Gatherers.

reaching out to bring in those
resources.
"Within the organization, there
are a lot of different dynamics and
pvenues that you can support. My
specific job is to coordinate the
experience our VIP will have and
when our models are coming on to
audition."
An outlet for creativity
NOiR models go through a
week-long casting process at the
beginning of December. Each
model comes in with contact
information and measurements in
order for the e-board to compile
the candidates' information and
be ready when the final selections
are made.
"People come in and we have a
sheet that says, 'confidence level,'
'eye contact,' things like that -
things we normally look for,"
Ross explained. "And then we rate
based on different categories, and
we have numbers, so at the end,
whatever your total is puts you
into whether or not you made it."
Though casting might seem
competitive and judgmental,
HoJeong Shin, Music, Theatre
& Dance freshman and NOiR's
fashion recruit, assures that the
models chosen aren't stereotypi-

cal cover girls and are selected
based on personality and presen-
tation rather than looks alone.
"Because our organization is
about diversity, we look for mod-
els that are diverse. We don't
look for the typical skinny, tall
girls. We go from small, petite
girls, to tall girls, to plus-sized
models and models from all
backgrounds and races, so we
look for that, too."
The girls and guys chosen to
walk at the annual spring show
are revealed at a party thrown in
order to raise money for NOiR's
cause and also to celebrate the
models.
"That helps us out, supporting
our cause, making sure everyone
is present," Ross said.
The different opportunities
presented in NOiR all stem from
their cohesive mission: to give
back to the community with a
fashionable touch. Sundai John-
son, model coordinator and LSA
sophomore, noted that the trade
doesn't matter as long as service is
a part of the mission.
"In whatever we're doing,
regardless of what industry it is,
it's important to give back," John-
son said.
In this way, NOiR is able to con-
tinue as a non-profit group, help-

ing the community and providing
an outlet for creative individuals.
Preaching the acceptance of oth-
ers and community service, NOiR
prides itself in continuing its tra-
dition of producing quality shows
with a purpose.
"Putting a face to some of these
causes and letting people know
that you can do something really
fun and exciting and participate
in fashion, but you can also have
something behind it," Johnson
said. "That fashion doesn't have
to be a place where you have to
look a certain way or be a certain
way, and knowing as an organiza-
tion we offer that space for people
to express themselves without
the limitations and restraints the
fashion industry can put on you
sometimes."
This year's show, "La Nuit,"
premiers March 30 at the Union.
Though the contents and theme of
the show are kept secret until the
last minute, tickets typically sell
out quickly as the shows draw a
large crowd and noticeable atten-
tion.
Despite its direct, meaningful
motto and mission, one aspect of
NOiR can be confusing.
"'Noir' is French for black,"
Thomas said. "A lot of people
don't know that."

When the Occupy
movement broke out
in September 2011,1
didn't have anythingto say. Con-
versation in the dining hall would
sometimes
break out into
a discussion
of the move-
ment, but
I never felt
comfortable
with my opin-
ions. I ate J
my food and JOHN
listened to BOHN
others speak.
When the
world seemed to be shaking, and
you could hear the people's voices
screaming through the articles
on Occupy, and you could see the
meetings in our own town, there
was an imperative to brush up on
your politics and do you home-
work if you hadn't already. When
the gadflies swarmed the pro-
tests and asked the famous ques-
tion, "What do you demand?" I
didn't want to be the one who
didn't have a response, who gave
the movement a bad rap as being
romantic or naive. "We want
equality!" some would say. And
the skeptics responded: "Great,
how?"
Nowadays, if you ever talk to
someone who participated in the
Occupy movement, they'll laugh
in a defeated way, shake their
head and say, "we failed." In his
keynote address to the retirement
symposium of University profes-
sor Alan Wald that took place last
week, British-Pakistani activist
and writer Tariq Ali chose to dis-
cuss the poetry of defeat, a rather
dour topic he apologized for in
advance. From John Milton to
Nazim Hikmet, Ali looked at the
works of literature that had been
written in the wake of political
defeat. As a former Trotskyist,
vocal against Pakistan's military
dictatorship and adamant in
organizing protests in London
against the Vietnam War, Tariq
Ali's lecture seemed to be a
chance for him to come to terms
with his own sense of defeat. But
I didn't leave the lecture a newly
born pessimist.
In many ways, we inherit
the defeat of our mothers and
fathers, but we also inherit their
endless energy. I had never been
so moved by a public lecture as I
had by Tariq Ali's. He measured
his words and spoke with sin-
cerity, a quiet anger rumbling

beneath the surface. For all the
charges of idealism that get
thrown in the face of revolu-
tionaries, he spoke with a sober
realism. And might I add with a
bit of wit? Ironic humor and keen
delivery filled the event.
When Michael Lowy, a Brazil-
ian and French scholar of the rev-
olutionary imaginary, introduced
Tariq Ali, he chose to read from
Tariq Ali's Wikipedia page, mak-
ing personal commentary and
(in his mind) corrections as he
went. He arrived at the publica-
tion of Ali's novel "Redemption,"
a critical and satirical book about
the major figures of the Trotsky-
ist party trying to come to terms
with the fall of the Eastern Bloc.
Lowy, who was the inspiration
for one of the characters, called
Ali's depiction of him one of ten-
der irony. To which Ali respond-
ed that if tender irony was how
Lowy had read it, then he gravely
misread the book. Everyone
laughed, and with that, Ali began
his lecture.
Protests come
and go, but
communities
last forever.
Professor Wald, whose career
had been dedicated to document-
ing the many lives of the Ameri-
can literaryleft, remarked that
people always asked him how to
write a good political novel. He
said he tells them that in order to
do so, you write a good novel, and
then change all the names to ref-
erences of political figures. Voila!
These small asides gave the
symposium a sense of a living,
breathing community. Many
of these people shared not just
a common struggle but also a
personal history. They read
each other's work, sometimes
met at various nodes of resis-
tance or simply had dinner
together.
In the wake of defeat, what
do we have left? Other than the
resolve to continue and endure,
we have community and that
too must endure.
Bohn is starting a
revolution. To join, e-mail
jobohn@umich.edu.

rA (ouaR FAsonp
fA focus on fashion photograph

By CARLY KEYES may like your work and use you,
Daily Arts Writer but the second the art director
changes, there's a new photog-
"There are a million and one rapher in there," Azzaro said.
people out there, and you never "So it's about building bonds, but
know who's going to lead you to you've got to do good work and get
where you want to be next." out there and be visible."
Charlie Naebeck has some wise Azzaro said less than half his
advice for those looking to break portfolio consists of fashion work,
into the popular industry of fash- partly because the Midwest is not
ion photography: get working and a big magnet for the industry, but
start chatting. thanks to the Internet, this once
A student at the University's cosmopolitan world is starting to
School of Art & Design, Naebeck find its niche in smaller cities.
isn't your typical college senior. "You don't need to have the
He has been operating his own fancy storefronts in big cities
photography business for the past anymore. More people are using
six years, and last summer, he had online stores, and with those, you
the chance to mingle with some can operate out of anywhere,"
of the elite fashion photographers Azzaro explained.
during a trip to New York, as well As the market expands,
as the editor of Vogue Italia while there's even more reason for
he studied in Milan. those with a passion for fashion
"I just sat there going, 'I'm not to pick up a camera and start
worthy, I'm not worthy,' " Nae- shooting. Azzaro echoed Nae-
beck joked. "It was my moment of beck's sentiments regarding the
aspiration. One of my goals is to importance of kick-starting the
get into one of the high-end fash- crucial networking process and
ion magazines out there." gaining experience - sooner
With thousands of other fash- rather than later - when he vis-
ion photographers trying to do ited the School of Art & Design
the same, Naebeck gave his take last week to mentor a few sopho-
on the competitive nature of the more students.
business. "I told them that now is the
"Everyone's looking to outdo time you need to be talking to
the next person and have their studios and clients you might
'wow' moment, but I'm looking to want to work with because if
make successful work and to con- you wait until your senior year,
tinue working, rather than go for you're not going to have enough
those 'wow' moments. Sustain- time," Azzaro said. "Start net-
ability is more my aspiration than working now. Start researching
having those 15 minutes of fame." where you want to work now.
Nick Azzaro, an alum of the That way, you get your foot in
University and former photogra- the door and start learning from
pher for the Daily, said in addition people who are in the industry
to skill and quality, networking is and by the time you're ready to
of utmost importance to working do that, you'll be well off."
consistently as a fashion photog- Azzaro mentioned the local
rapher. Photo Studio Group, located on
"An art director will be with the south side of Ann Arbor, which
a certain magazine for years and functions like a co-op for photog-

raphers and is a great resource for Acacia Shanklin, a working
professional networking. Anyone, fashion photographer in the area
from hobbyists to seasoned veter- who has given lectures at Photo
ans, can rent studio space to use Studio Group and will be doing
for shoots - professional or oth- a workshop with them over the
erwise. next few months, reiterated the
Owner Ben Weatherston called importance of harmony with the
the studio "a labor of love" and client.
said his primary goal for the busi- "There's a lot of talented peo-
ness isn't to turn profit but rather ple out there, but atthe end of the
to be a resource for others pas- day, people who choose to work
sionate about photography. with you do because they like
"I've been shooting profession- you," Shanklin said. "People will
ally since '97 so now I'm in a posi- pick you based on your person-
tion where I can help people, and ality, like how easygoing you are
I really like doing that," Weath- and how well they get along with
erston said. "The idea of a rental you. Personally, I have chosen
studio is not new or unique and not to work with certain people
they're all over the country, but or bring people onto my team as
we try to be unique in the commu- a stylist because of their attitude,
nity feel that we have." and vice versa."
Shanklin mentionedthatbeing
a woman in the business, though
it provides a challenge, has been
helpful when it comes to building
and business that pivotal connection between
photographer and client.
"It is a male-dominated indus-
try, especially fashion, when you
Photographers can also sign think about it, because fashion is
up for a membership with Photo primarily about women, adver-
Studio Group, which comes with tised to women and women are
certain perks like "Study Hall," the client base, but it's basically
when members gather for dinner controlledby men," she said. "But
and get to bounce ideas off of one one of the advantages is that a lot
another or even try out new tech- of women come to me, I think,
niques. because they feel very comfort-
"People like Nick (Azzaro) able. A lot of female models tell
and our other members are quite me they don't have to worry
loyal and like the feel," Weather- aboutbeingobjectified."
ston said. "We kind of consider Take it from the pros: Success-
ourselves an incubator for pho- ful fashion photographers must
tography business, because each not only continue to grow as art-
person is a small business, on ists and hone their craft but gain
some level, so we consider their fluency in the art of conversa-
clients, too. tion. The key to making a living
"We have this motto: 'It's not at what they love, that winning
good enough to know your client; combination of "who you know"
you have to know your clients' and "what you know," is integral.
clients,' and I think most photog- After all, it's art, but it's also busi-
raphy studios overlook that." ness.

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