Power is as elusive as it is potent. If one pushes too hard, power swiftly triggers resentment. But abdicating power is as much a travesty as abusing it. For our current issue, Glass has invited some of the world’s most powerful names across film, stage, fashion, art, photography and architecture to explore this ever timely and contentious theme and to describe what gives them a feeling of power.
In an ironic play on the ancient power struggle between the sexes, we proudly present our first male cover, cinematic icon Vincent Cassel. Since his breakthrough debut in Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1992 cult classic La Haine, Cassel has been a tour de force, achieving the rare feat of uniting art house acclaim with Hollywood success.
In honour of the power of the photograph we ask three of the world’s most renowned photojournalists, Charles Harbutt, Stephen Shames and Steve McCurry to talk us through the fascinating journeys which led them to take the haunting and enduring images which have shed light on some of the most difficult political and social issues facing the world today. We explore the voracious movement of postmodernism and how it never truly died, and in fashion, photographer Trunk Xu shoots the Autumn women’s collections in Beijing’s opulent Ritz-Carlton, Jason Hetherington previews the best menswear from the catwalks and John Spinks pays tribute to the enduring style of the dandy.
In muse, Jeff Wall, largely credited as the man who introduced photography into the realm of art, explains why we must never try to categorise. Inspirational virtuoso pianist Alice Sara Ott gives her thoughts on the power of music and fearless architect Massimiliano Fuksas speaks about the social power of conciliatory design. And we proudly showcase a previously unpublished series of striking images taken during the heart of the Tunisian revolution in our study of the history of uprisings and how, whilst hegemony will come and go, power ultimately lies within our hearts and minds. We only have to find the strength to use it.