I love this style…. John French was an iconic Fashion Photographer in the 1950′s and 1960′s. London based he photographed the most famous people of the time. His stunning images appeared in virtually every newspaper and magazine. A Society photographer many of his subjects were famous debutants, using assistants such as David Bailey and Terence Donovan he quickly became the IT photographer of the time.
Excuse me what does this have to do with fashion??
This has to be the most bizarre fashion shoot ever??
This has to be some of the worst fashion photography ever. Is’nt modelling supposed to be fun??
Most of the stars in this wonderful exhibition of Hollywood portraits look just as stylish in 2011 as they did at the time. There are pictures of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe wearing Brigitte Bardot-style capri pants: they could walk down the street in those today. And 1940s fashion, of which we see a lot in this show, is very in for autumn/winter this year. Look at the current edition of Vogue, and you’ll see Kate Moss on the cover, wearing a 1940s-style outfit and looking just as stunning as any of these stars.
One of my favourite looks comes in a portrait of the silent-movie actor Louise Brooks, from the 1920s. She has a shiny black helmet of hair, a black dress, and a long string of white pearls. Everything about that look works: the monochrome colours, the simplicity.
Then take someone like Marlene Dietrich: in one picture, we see her in a black suit, with her incredible high cheekbones. She did her own thing – she dressed like a man at a time when fashion was very prescriptive. That, for me, is the essence of style.
The men look pretty good here, too. Cary Grant is smooth and gentlemanlike in a suit. Then there’s the famous portrait of Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire: the tight white T-shirt, the jeans. Wow – he looks just as sexy as he did at the time; you really wouldn’t say no.
Some of today’s fashion photography comes close to achieving the stylised glamour of these portraits, but when it comes to pictures of movie stars, we just don’t quite have anything like it any more. Everything – the lighting; the fashion; the makeup – is about creating an image imbued with glamour and mystique. Today, we tend to see our stars snapped in their Ugg boots on the way to the supermarket.
Gabrielle Teare was interviewed by Laura Barnett for The Guardian 19th July 2011.
Henry Clarke was a great great fashion photographer of Haute Couture in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
He worked for the American, French and British Vogue Magazine from 1950 to the late 70′s and was the photographer on major fashion shoots for the magazines.
Born in Los Angeles in 1918, Henry Clarke, the renowned fashion photographer, discovered his calling in 1945 whilst working as an accessorist at Condé Nast in New York.
During an encounter with the great Cecil Beaton during a photography session at Vogue’s studio, Clarke was entranced by the photographic image. He promptly abandoned his fashion job, borrowed a Rolleiflex camera and began taking pictures.
One of his gifts was “always making the women he photographed look beautiful.” His images were the epitome of sophistication, with wisps of veil making eyes mysterious and lens magic creating more swanlike necks than ever existed.
With the help of women like Suzy Parker, Ann Sainte Marie and Bettina, the most glamorous models of the day, Clarke captured the elegance of the modern woman: young, lively, carefree and seductive.
He also took celebrity portraits: Anna Magnani, Coco Chanel, Sophia Loren and Maria Callas were among his best known subjects.
Henry Clarke’s archives have been left to the Musee de la Mode et du Costume in Paris.
I just love these photos sizzling style….
Fabulously elegant iconic photographs.
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