Earlier this year, we revealed at the SIHH 2016 fair that Vacheron Constantin was working on a special project with Magnum photographer Steve McCurry. This was to drive the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Overseas collection, which saw the entire range being refreshed with a slimmer profile, a more nuanced design for gents and ladies as well as a patented interchangeable strap design that’s brilliant.
McCurry is of course best known for his work with National Geographic and in particular the cover of the Afghan girl, but he’s done numerous other projects that are incredibly important as well. Here are a few of them.
As part of the Overseas launch, McCurry was tasked to pick 12 unique locations in the world where he wanted to shoot, to feature certain unique ideas or things that could only be found there.
The starting point was Vacheron Constantin’s manufacture, but from then on, he was free to explore the world. Today, Vacheron Constantin presented the first six locations, as well as some behind-the scenes images of what they are doing there. Here are the six spots:
Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque, Mexico
This aqueduct was designed to channel water through the Mexican desert to remote villages, built between 1553 and 1570, stretching from Zempoala to Otumba, 45 kilometres in all. According to McCurry, “you fully grasp the visual strength of this aqueduct when you realise that it was built over 500 years ago with absolutely perfect symmetry. I see it as a work with a poetic structure, placed right in the middle of nowhere.”
Grand Central Terminal, New York, USA
It needs no introduction, has been featured thousands of times in films, documentaries and books (particularly in Elizabeth Smart‘s By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept). McCurry spent a night there shooting. It was fantastic to be able to spend a whole night there. We had the entire station to ourselves, as if in a waking dream.””
Chand Baori Stepwell, India
This incredible stepwell located near the temple of Abhaneri in Rajasthan is an incredible work of art and also a centre of social life through the centuries in the region. McCurry opined that ““This place immediately reminded me of the graphic work of the artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, notably expressed through his art of creating optical illusions through playing with lines… These are definitely the most beautiful and awe-inspiring staircases I have ever seen. The architects worked miracles in creating a work of pure Beauty.”
If you have doubts at all about McCurry’s commitment to photography and the project, just check out the last slideshow on India, where he literally wears a rope harness to carry out the shot. That’s determination.
We’ll release more cities tomorrow in order not to overwhelm you with all the visual impacts, and tell you more about the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Worldtime timepieces (you can see it in one of the pictures in the galleries) as well as the new dials that you have yet to see from our SIHH feature.
