A century of fashion photos at the Getty
“The Dress-Lamp Tree, England” (2002), by Tim Walker; chromogenic print. © Tim WalkerVenus in Blue Jeans, a Ball Gown, and a Fancy Hat “Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, 1911-2011” at the Getty The late photographer Irving Penn described his role at Vogue as “selling dreams, not clothes,” because being stylishly attired often gave one the illusion that doors to one’s personal or professional life might now open wide. The intent behind this expansive display at the Getty (160 fashion photographs, several mannequins finely dressed, and 89 photographers) is to further the claim that fashion photography is an art unto itself, a genre as valid and as distinctive as portraiture and landscape, and deserving to be shown in the same museums and galleries that proudly display their Raphaels and Rembrandts. “The Mainbocher Corset,” Paris (1939), by Horst P. Horst; gelatin silver print. © Condé Nast/Vogue, September 15, 1939In 2012, the show’s curator, Paul Martineau, organized an exhibition devoted to Herb Ritts (“Herb Ritts: L.A. Style”). It met with resistance from some quarters, but might have gone over a little easier had Martineau mounted “Icons of Style” first. Little…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com