The Red Sheath
Melissa North Chassay knew how to party just as much as she knew how to use her artistic eye to put two and two together to create the perfect interior to a home, so it was no surprise when Tina Barney took interest in capturing the morning after of the British family party. For this family, it’s simple to see why they’re house is right at the centre of what’s going off living in Notting Hill, London. Their eccentric and out-going personalities fit perfectly with the vibrancy of the neighbourhood, along with its endless amounts of vintage and antiques stores.
Tina Barney began photographing in the mid 1970’s and soon began focusing and taking images on the daily lives of the social elite, catching the emotions as well as the psychological constrictions of what goes on within a family, particularly those of wealth and higher class. Her ‘Europeans’ photographs portray the lives of the British upper class and what really goes on inside their houses. In 2001 Tina received a letter enticing her into the unique, colour filled home of the well-known party hosts, Melissa North Chassay and her husband, architecture Tchaik Chassay. ‘I had had a late night, and we weren’t at all prepared for here,’ so when Tina arrived, camera in hand, the family did not expect the sharp, straight talking photographer to take over the house and family, using her ‘no bullshit’ attitude to boss the photo subjects around into natural poses.
In the photograph, ‘The Red Sheath’ dress is the cherry on top of the cake. Along with the candid pose and the fed up, ‘come on are we done yet’ facial expression, the dress almost cuts through the centre of the image standing out against the fun, eccentrically decorated background of the house. The colours and pop style furniture describes the individuals who live there and the beautifully unique taste of the home owners and other family members. The close-fitting sheath dress brings back a sort of 1960’s vibe and is accentuated by the interior influenced by the timeless era. The dress also adds glamour and sophistication to the casual actions of Melissa who is stood with a cigarette in her hand inside her house, looking completely uninterested in what Tina had come to do.
‘Everyone thinks my son, Clancy, is snorting cocaine, but he just had sinus trouble and was cleaning his nose,’ Melissa explained in an interview with The Guardian, reassuring the actions of the young adult below her, careful not to have people misread her son’s actions with what may be associated and assumed by the late-night antics of the regular party house. Almost a year on from the photos being taken, Melissa was in a state of shock when the print of her and her son turned up at the National Portrait Gallery, followed by the V&A, both in London. She almost wondered what Tina had seen in her family for her to use the photo in her finished project, but soon came to the realisation that just maybe her kooky and quirky family was different to the rest in the project and that’s why Tina must’ve really liked the image she had took.
