Plaster Magazine offers an insight into Harley Weir’s world
The renowned fashion photographer, artist, and filmmaker reveals less well-known sides of her work in the new issue — and gives us a glimpse into her very unusual studio
Harley Weir is the star of the show in the stunning new issue of Plaster magazine. Now on its fifth iteration, Plaster is described as a “collectable poster magazine with each issue dedicated to a genre-defining creative”, with the concept inspired by a 70s Kung-Fu magazine that folded out into a poster.
As such, Plaster combines images, essay texts, interviews, and an A1 pullout poster. Issue 5 is billed as a “bible into Weir’s world”; and features some superb shots that reveal her unusual studio — housed within a converted church in Kent, which she shares with her artist partner George Rouy.
Through an in-depth interview and still life shots, the magazine reveals Weir’s more recent interest in ceramics. She discusses how her foray into this new discipline was inspired in part by her father, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s a few years ago.
The diagnosis pushed him to buy a kiln and finally give ceramics a go, having always dreamed of doing so. Weir’s own ceramic works act as an extension of her already-multi-hyphenate artistic practice, and she discusses seeing these pieces as an extension of her photography work — but they also serve as a way to connect with her father.
Many know Weir for her commercial work; she has shot campaigns and lookbooks for the likes of Balenciaga, Céline, Stella McCartney, and Jacquemus. With Plaster, however, we get a far wider perspective on her work and process. Her distinctive way of creating intimacy in images is still very much here, but it’s far less slick: experimentation and collage come to the fore.
In the A1 poster, a piece called Bella Donna, Weir presents a photographic collage that was produced through playing with negatives and light-sensitive paper. The lighting feels warm and dream-like; while contrasting colours, crackling textures, and unusual splashes of hieroglyphic-like lines and scrawls make it both arresting and layered with complexity.
Plaster launched in 2020, and was created by brothers Milo Astaire and Finn Constantine, in part inspired by their grandfather — none other than legendary graphic designer Alan Aldridge.
Designed by Josh Crumpler, this new issue boasts a mixture of paper stocks, with a deliciously shiny, smooth splash on the cover, as well as some great typographic choices throughout, which make for striking pull quotes.
