Norwegian photographer Solve Sundsbo is the latest photographer to sue Rihanna over unauthorized use of images and ideas in her videos.
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RiRi’s latest debacle involves her new video, “You Da One,” where the Bajan singer can be seen gyrating as shadows are projected onto her body. Those images looked very familiar to the fashion set who pointed out the similarities of RiRi’s imagery and Sundsbo’s earlier work.
Sundsbo has shot editorials for Vogue, i-D, and a host of important glossies. He has also shot campaigns for Hermes, H&M, Puma, Emmanuel Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and has a technique that is sophisticated and ever changing.
Taking a page from Dave LaChapelle, who also sued RiRi for the five finger discount perfomed in her “S&M: video early this year, Sundsbo filed a lawsuit over the weekend and hopes to collect some serious cash like LaChapelle whose settlement is still undisclosed.
Solve is no stranger to controversy. You may recall he caught heat for his work with Gisele Bundchen when she was photographed with muscular black men for Numero Tokyo in 2009. Those images upset many people who argued that the men were merely props used to uphold and emphasize European beauty standards.
Some of those images appear in the gallery above.
So who sis this guy suing Rihanna?
As mentioned above, Sundsbo is from Norway. He faced rejection very early in his career until he moved to London, in his 20s, where he apprenticed under, and assisted, visionary fashion photographer Nick Knight for four years. In a profile in the Independent Sundsbo said this about his experience with Knight:
“It was hard – almost medieval in the way that you devote yourself utterly to your teacher for nearly four years. But you get that same devotion back from your teacher.”
That dedication and hard work paid off as evidenced by clients he’s amassed and the praises he’s received from designer Tom Ford.
“Solve is a great talent in the fashion industry,” Ford said in the Independent. “His photographs speak for themselves. They are powerful, beautiful, always fresh, and I am lucky to have worked with him over the past decade.”
We don’t think RiRi stole Sundbo’s ideas, the director, Melina Matsoukas, maybe. This is the same director who directed RiRi’s S&M video.
Read more of Sundsbo’s profile in this 2008 article on The Independent.
