Claiborne Swanson Frank: Beautiful People 2011
By Alexis Swerdloff
It was at a yoga retreat in Big Sur that Claiborne Swanson Frank had a revelation. "This shaman told me, 'Leave San Francisco, break up with your boyfriend, go to New York, be an artist.'" Two days later, Frank says, she got in a car, called her sister and said she was joining her in New York.
With the first three of the shaman's instructions taken care of, she put the artist part on the backburner. Through a Vogue fashion editor (whom Frank had met on a shoot for the magazine that featured her and her two sisters, and yes, they are descended from frozen food pioneer Carl Swanson), she landed a job in Vogue's PR department. Three months later, she was working "in Anna's office," as in, assisting editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Of working for Wintour, Frank recalls, "Her office was a breaking ground for such huge ideas; I think that was empowering for me. The world seemed less out of my reach." This confidence led her to pursue a long-held passion for photography, which is now her full-time focus. Her first photo series, "Indigo Light," intimate portraits of her stylish friends and family (like Vanessa Getty and her sister Alexis Traina), debuted at last fall's Fashion's Night Out. Since then, she's been shooting for Vogue.com, and signed on to do an American women-themed photo book for Assouline. "I am obsessed with women who are leaving their marks in a graceful, poetic way," she says. "I want their granddaughters to find these pictures in an old box and be like, holy shit, that was my grandmother!"
CLAIBORNE WEARS DRESS, VEST AND HEADBAND BY MISSONI, SHOES BY PRADA, BRACELETS BY WINIFRED GRACE AND LIZZIE FORTUNATO AND A VINTAGE RING
GO BACK TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF 2011
With the first three of the shaman's instructions taken care of, she put the artist part on the backburner. Through a Vogue fashion editor (whom Frank had met on a shoot for the magazine that featured her and her two sisters, and yes, they are descended from frozen food pioneer Carl Swanson), she landed a job in Vogue's PR department. Three months later, she was working "in Anna's office," as in, assisting editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Of working for Wintour, Frank recalls, "Her office was a breaking ground for such huge ideas; I think that was empowering for me. The world seemed less out of my reach." This confidence led her to pursue a long-held passion for photography, which is now her full-time focus. Her first photo series, "Indigo Light," intimate portraits of her stylish friends and family (like Vanessa Getty and her sister Alexis Traina), debuted at last fall's Fashion's Night Out. Since then, she's been shooting for Vogue.com, and signed on to do an American women-themed photo book for Assouline. "I am obsessed with women who are leaving their marks in a graceful, poetic way," she says. "I want their granddaughters to find these pictures in an old box and be like, holy shit, that was my grandmother!"
CLAIBORNE WEARS DRESS, VEST AND HEADBAND BY MISSONI, SHOES BY PRADA, BRACELETS BY WINIFRED GRACE AND LIZZIE FORTUNATO AND A VINTAGE RING
GO BACK TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF 2011
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