Born in southeast Asia, Napoleon cut his teeth at the hard-edged school that was London’s Plough Studios, working on informative advertising material for the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy. This was the type of work, which demanded of photographers, the ability to instantaneously and succinctly tell complex stories. He was soon lured into the more expressive world of fashion and worked with names like Amanda Wakeley, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Banana Republic, Just Bluff, Betty Jackson, just to name a few.
Going far beyond the predominant aesthetic of studio props and lighting Napoleon has photographed instinctively posed models outdoors and out of sorts, on location in far-flung places, from Africa to his native Asia, in shabby-chic intercity lairs and on glamorous desert shoots . His seductive depictions of the venerable but erotic London style captures the essence of today’s woman: independent, spirited and edgy.
In Hemyca, Napoleon seems to have found a perfect vehicle through which to tell his particularly compelling kind of stories. These stories are not as one might expect told from the perspective of a southeast Asian Archipelago, but with the lightness of touch and sophistication of an artist at the height of his powers, who through this Muse, shows us that if anything, he should be described as international and urban.
PHOTOGRAPHY
from £P.O.A