The arts section of the Mail & Guardian is fortunate to have carried the work of major fashion photographer Crispian Plunkett who died last week.
None of Plunkett’s meticulously constructed images were commissioned by our newspaper but arrived with press releases from the well-known photographer’s clientele.
In 2006 we were privileged to run a breathtaking photograph by Plunkett of the late Lebo Mathosa in a sexy tiger and leopard-skin print dress in front of a mural of a Cape farmhouse.
Mathosa had been killed in a car accident and we had the perfect image for our obituary, which depicted the star as a South African icon. The photograph, with its surrealistic and contradictory elements previewed the fact that Mathosa was due to perform at the Spier Cape wine estate — thus the Cape Dutch gable in the background.
It is seems that Plunkett was destined for a life in the arts, having studied at Johannesburg’s well-known Art, Ballet, Drama and Music High School. According to a biography carried by the prestigious Design Indaba, where he spoke in 2006, he struggled to find his niche in the art world until embarking on studies in photography at the Durban Institute of Technology.
He also dabbled in jewellery design made from recycled machine parts.
His first big shoot apparently took place in 1997 for the popular glossy True Love magazine, and from there Plunkett became one of the country’s most sought-after fashion photographers.
His local clients that included Metro FM, Smirnoff, Diners Club, Cell C and J&B. His international clients included Coco der Mer, Alcott, Dido, Levis and Adidas Worldwide.
His creative agency, Infidels, distributed a press release this week that said the cause of Plunkett’s death had been a diabetes-related blackout and that a memorial would be held on June 25, the date of his 40th birthday.
Friends and colleagues, many of whom are high-profile achievers in the fashion industry, paid tribute to what one called his ‘creative geniusâ€.
The Crispian Plunkett memorial gathering will take place on June 25 at Roodebloem Studios, Woodstock, Cape Town.