OUGD401 - Fashion as Photograph Lecture

There are different types of fashion photography such as product / catalogue photography for online documentation for stores such as ASOS. Within this, you also get the technique of the 'ghost mannequin' where you can only see the clothing and no person wearing it. But in this lecture we are going to focus on the artistic aspect and the emergence of fashion photography.

The history of photography

First permanent photographs: A photograph of faint rooftops from a window in France from 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. 
After Niépce's death, Louis Daguerre continued the pursuance of photography's potential with his landscape of 'Boulevard de Temple' in 1838/9. This could be considered as the first photograph of human beings, as a man can be seen having his shoes polished. The subjects were able to be caught on the image despite of the long exposure time, because they were seated for so long. However, there is no traffic or other people on the image because they were not still for long enough to be captured.

The calotype photography process was introduced and invented by William Henry Fox Talbot.

Lady Alice May Kerr produced defined portrait images such as 'Portrait of Wilfrid Scawer Blunt', 1870.

Virginia Oldoni, the Countess di Castiglione was both a subject of early portrait photography and the director of these 'theatrical' style shoots where she would re-enact significant events in her life. Photographed by Adolphe Braun in 1856 and Pierre-Louise Pierson in 1863/66. There are hundreds of photos in these shoots to be explored.

Age of the Fashion Magazine 

First ten years of the 1900's we start to see an emergence of photography to be used in 
magazine culture in particular fashion, replacing the use illustration to exhibit the clothes.

Paul Poiret (1879-1944)
House of worth  (Charles Worth, considered the Father of Haute Couture)
Edward Steichen photographs Paul Poiret's designs for Art et Decoration, 1911.

Adolphe de Meyer - big fashion photographer in the 1920's that explored Romanticism and Mythical beauty in his work. Thoughtful, beautiful.

Martin Munkacsi - sports-style fashion shots with slight blur and movement with active poses and faster shutter speeds. 

The Conde Nast Years, 1923 - 1937 by William A Euring and Todd Brandow - modernism and experimental dramatic portraits. Marian Moorhouse, a celebrity of the time features in their images.

Cover of La Mode Pratique, 1938 uses photography on the cover, and is one of the early examples of this.

Vogue vs. Harpers Bazaar

Both leaders in fashion photography in the 20s/30s. A constant battle of the rival magazines in professionalism and moving forward with photography in particular.

Hoyningen Heune, 1931, Madame Vioumet - Romanticism.

Introduction of surrealism in fashion photography, Horst P Horst  - Costume for Salvador Dali's "Dream of Venus", 1939.

Cecil Beaton (1904-1980)

• British Vogue and Vanity Fair photographer
• One of the 'Bright Young Things' of the 1920s/ 1930s.
• Photographer of British Royals
• Vivien Leigh for Vogue, mid 1930's showing the glamorous backstage with movie style lighting. A beauty the general public cannot have access to.
• Stephen Tennant
• Queen Elizabeth II in 1968

Lee Miller (1907-1977)

• (photographed by Steichen)
• American photographer and fashion model aged 19
• Goes to Paris in 1929 with photographer Mon Ray
• Grungey fashion shots - first of their kind
• Became a war correspondant photographer - a vast contrast to the glamorous world of fashion photography.

Louise Dahl Wolfe

• Spent 1936-58 at Harpers Bazaar
• 'Night Bathing' 1939 is clever and dramatic in lighting and comparison between statue and girl in image
• 'Panorama of Paris, Suzy Parker in Jaques fath gown', 1953 - high end and international style.

In 1935 Kodak colour film is introduced but it is not really seen commercially until the 1950's. 

William Klein

• 1950s
• Movement in his fashion photography with long telephoto lens capturing peoples reactions.
• Although looked accidental, is in fact very stage to look natural.

Bailey & Donovan

• 1960s
• Self-taught photographers, the emergence of pop culture and the general public having access to photographic equipment.
• Mick Jagger portraits

Terence Donovan 

• Spy Drama style photography, almost like a story board put the fashion into context
• influenced by film

Richard Avedon (1923-2004)

• At Harpers Bazaar until 1966
• At Vogue 1966 onwards
• Tina Turner, 1971
• Bill Curry, Drifter, Interstate 40, Yukon, Oklahoma from the American West, 1985. (a 5-4 negative image) glamorising the everyday people who aren't models and putting them in a studio setting.

Helmut Newton, (1920-2004)

• Vogue & Harpers Bazaar
• wife and models 1981. 
• Much controversy over subject of his shoots because he was married. So he included his wife in one of the shots proving that it was 'OK'

Guy Bourdin

• Charles Jourdan Shoes
• showing only the part of the body that is being advertised
• rough relationships with on screen models

Jamel Shabazz's book, 'back in the days', published in 2002 showcases the street fashion photography of the 1980s hip-hop scene in New York City.

ID Magazine (& face magazine rival)

• 1980s
• straight-up photography, documenting in a more informal way, what the people of the street are wearing
• the new showcasing of street style 
• ID cover 'wink' 
• none airbrushed images, all freckles etc included

Jeurgen Teller

1990s

Works with musicians

none airbrushed photography

example - 'Annie Morton' in 1996

Corrine Day (1965-2010)

• British fashion photography and model
• worked for 'the face' and 'Vogue'
• invented the 'waif'/ 'warts and all' photography
• one of the first people to photograph Kate Moss
• 'cocaine Chic'
• 'Tara' documentary project- showing the deterioration of commercial beauty in her friend as she battles with drug addiction

Adobe Photoshop was launched in 2003. Gritty realistic style starts to fade and idealistic bodies and looks become popular imagery for fashion photography in particular.

Terry Richardson

• 2000s
• 'Terryworld' 2004

Nick Knight

• Mercedes Benz campaign 2009 - photoshopped, futuristic body of model and architecture inspired fashion

Introduction of Fashion Blogging

Rawness and realism comes back as photography becomes accessible to everyone. Is this a threat to the fashion photography industry? 
Tari Gevinsons becomes known in the fashion world at the age of 11 because she is a successful blogger.
Poppy Dinsey 2011 - 'What i wore today' - daily documentation of everyday outfits inspires others for their clothes and is more accessible than fashion magazines.
'Streetstyle Copenhagen'

Company magazine releases a 'Superblogger Issue' in Jan 2013.

'Exactitudes' exact/ attitudes by Avi Versluis & Ellie Uyttenbrock documents lots of peoples street style but groups them in similar styles proving that our individual style is not necessarily unique.