The Impact of Avedon and Vreelands Cooperation in the Fashion and Photography Industry From the 1950s - Essay Example

Fashion and Photography In the modern history, Richard Avedon is recognized among the most significant and influentialphotographers to who narrowed their profession by only concentrating on the fashion industry. Avedon commenced his professional career as a photographer when he joined Harper’s Bazaar in 1944 before his twenty second birthday. It is after he joined Harper’s Bazaar that he began to achieve his prominence by revolutionizing the fashion photography industry by initiating unique concepts that provided statically posed formulas and introduced a more youthful, spirited, and distinct American style in fashion. While working at Harper’s Bazaar, Avedon met Diana Vreeland and together they collaborated in changing fashion photography from the perceptions of previous era where models where shot from within the walls of studios. Their fashion photography was based on shooting from outside where models would be free to express themselves in a natural way. This essay explores the impact of Avedon and Vreeland’s cooperation in the fashion and photography industry from the 1950’s. Vreeland’s journey in the fashion industry began when she opened a lingerie in London with the business attracting high profile clients during the time among them being Wallis Simpson, who went on to become the Duchess of Windsor. A few years later, Vreeland was offered a job to be a columnist at the Harper’s Bazaar when the editor in chief, Carmel Snow, saw her dancing during a function at one of New York’s hotels. The editor in chief was mesmerized by gracefulness with which Vreeland danced in addition to her dressing which ensured she stood out from the rest. Although she had never been employed before, Vreeland took the chance due to her vast interests in fashion (Vreeland, 2011). Vreeland launched her column called "Why Dont You…?" in the pages of Harpers Bazaar where she got the chance to work with the legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch for close to ten years. During the years, Vreeland used her knowledge in fashion which she had developed since childhood to introduce bolder hues of wearing clothes. Vreeland motivated her audience to break away from what was conventional and try new ideas by asking them fantasize what was not already in fashion as a way of being innovate. It was this ability to entice her audience that kept her at Harper’s Bazaar for years where she rose to be the magazine’s fashion editor (Vreeland, 2011). Richard Avedon first met Diana Vreeland when he joined Harper’s Bazaar to start his career as a photographer who was to cover celebrity events for the magazine. As a young photographer who had only started his career in New York a few years back, Avedon was given a chance to create fashion portfolios under Vreeland’s strict guidance. On her part, Vreeland had been working as the fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar for a number of years where she had put her skills into revamping the magazine to inspire and captivate its audience during a time of post-war bleakness. Consequently for Avedon, Harper’s Bazaar was the ideal outlet to take his career to the next stage while Vreeland was the perfect partner, to facilitate Avedon’s ambitions to pioneer and define his groundbreaking style in photography. For almost twenty years, the editor and photographer worked together at Harper’s Bazaar combining their talents to establish naturalness and ease to fashion magazines while at the same time instilling in the models a new movement, liveliness and narrative that had previously lacked in the industry. Given the wide experience that Vreeland had accumulated in the years as a columnist and fashion editor, she was able to guide Avedon into making some of the best pictures of the time while also introducing revolutionary concepts in the fashion photography industry. As fashion editor, Vreeland was keen on freedom to incorporate different cultures into fashion which was the basis for her passionate appeal towards foreign cultures. Vreeland could not hesitate taking a trip to far places such as Russia Egypt and Asia that were popular for their great taste in fashions and art. This revolutionary perception of fashion informed Avedon’s photography as he was able to learn to adapt his photos to the needs of the editor (Lipton, 2012). Amongst the changes that occurred in fashion photography during the period up to the middle of 1950s is shift in terms of how models where presented in addition to their posturing. The changes presented an opportunity to transform the way clothes were exhibited together with the models inhabiting them. A revolution of some sort occurred in the fashion photography industry, a transition that led to the disappearance of the traditionally reserved and stationary model 1940s and early 50s. The previously acclaimed motionless and elegant woman caught on camera exhibiting garments based on a photograph shot indoors in controlled studio settings had no place in the aesthetic of the fashion photography of the time. This setting created a rigidity that did not let both the model and photographer explore the unlimited creativity that outdoor shooting could provide. This shift brought a new dawning with it where models were no longer restricted to being static as if they were mere clothes hangers (Postrel, 2013). Richard Avedon and Diana Vreeland wanted to shoot models that were in motion by preferring to include such concepts as models leaping over puddles, playing roulette or starring in their own romantic stories. As a photographer, Avedon liked shooting who were models full of imagination and fun as expressed through the movements captured by the lenses of his camera. This ensured the model was always empowered and energetic through her motion, with her body and clothing distorted by her movements while the photograph was in most cases shot in unpredictable and spontaneous locations, usually out-door. Further, this new concept ushered in a new era in which a model was not an object to be observed but was occupied and offered independence based on what Avedon thought was the need for models to express their innermost character and collaborative spirit. Therefore, not only did Avedon encourage his models to express character and collaborative spirit, the photographer in addition made them famous for it (Westhead, 2013). For Avedon and Vreeland, capturing the social transition that women were going thorough that time was among their driving force. An important aspect of trend during this era becomes the capturing of the models youthfulness, single status in addition to her ambiguous economic and social situation. The new ideal persona represented in the image emphasized this age of transition while also capturing the aspect of surprise and the unanticipated of the continually new as a characteristic of what was considered stylish. As feminism was introduced to the world stage during 1960s to depict the rise of women in social and economic stage, the model now personified a sense of movement, corresponding to the cultural transition (Butler, 2005). In the course of their career, Avedon and Vreeland used this new concept in photographing almost every popular model of the time ranging from China Machado to Audrey Hepburn. Under Vreeland’s supervision, Avedon asserts that they struck an unspoken understanding of how the final product should appear on the page of a magazine. For instance, during the shooting of Dovima that took place in Egypt, Vreeland’s only direction to the photographer was for him to think of Cleopatra (Edwards, 2005). The fact that this photo of Dovima, shot among the elephants went on to be among the most recognized for Avedon’s entire career demonstrates the merging of both the editor and the photographer’s interests which resulted in most of the epic photographs produced by the two. This photo blended well with Avedon’s interest on the how portraiture best captures the naturalness in the model’s outlook, their personality and soul of its subjects. It is such creativity that that made Avedon’s photos to distinguishable from the others as his final products exhibited a minimalist style, where the model is shot while looking directly into the lenses of the photographer’s camera while posed in front of a white background (Keene, 2000). According to the photographer, fashion photography was a complex field that deeded a combination of different aspects such as a cast of characters, props in addition to a location for it to be complete. Most of these portraits were also placed on large prints that in some cases measured up to three feet in height. It was based on such simple concepts of photography Avedon’s large-format portrait work from the western US went on to be included in a best-selling book in addition to his famous traveling exhibit with the tittle “In the American West” being among artistic works that left a significant trademark in 20th Century portrait photography (Keene, 2000). As early as 1957, Avedon’s reputation of being among the best photographers had been established to the extent of being the motivation and visual adviser for Stanley Donen’s film Funny Face. Avedon was now recognized as the embodiment of a modern fashion photographer, with this new status was solidified by Avedon’s photography concept that had at its core the endeavour to reflect the mood of the time that ranges from post-war optimism to Pop exuberance. The photographer was sensitive and responsive the ongoing social changes that women had gained by allowing his models not to suppress the new sense of power, determination, and freedom of the later twentieth century period. When Diana Vreeland left Harper’s Bazaar to join Vogue in 1966, Avedon followed his fashion editor where she was now the editor in chief. When the two reconnected for the second time, Vreeland and Avedon worked to raise the profile of many more models that were previously anonymous. The camera lenses of Avedon while working with Vogue gave many models a new celebrity status that introduced the age of supermodels who consequently raised the profile of fashion photography as an important component of popular culture (Akhatar, 2009) During the course their career, the editor and photographer could pick any woman and make them famous models. Introduction of the concept of supermodel in the fashion photography bridged the gap that was previously present between show and photographic models. The world of contemporary fashion was ushered in where there were no differences between the models as presented in a photograph or the runway. The audience did not expect to any blemishes in the photographs thereby raising the level of expected perfection in both realms with photographers being responsible for presenting this illusion of perfection. Apart from the need for perfection, there were other changes especially in terms of how the concepts and conventions of beauty were presented in the fashion photography. Among the top models of the time were Dovima together with Dorian Leigh and Suzy Parker with people considering them cool, distant and were seen as being different from the regular women (Akhatar, 2009). In the later years of their careers Avedon and Vreeland went their separate ways when the later was fired from Vogue and later on become a consultant in museum exhibition. On Avedon’s part, the photographer continued to capture epic photos through his ability to adapt to the changing trends which is a characteristic of fashion itself. Among the photographer’s radical shift from his more traditional way involves his collaboration with Calvin Klein during the later fashion photography years. Avedon was hired to direct a series of commercials for Calvin Klein, the designer, launching a new line of blue jeans during the 1980s where the central character for this television advertisement was fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields. This project represented the photographers flexibility to embrace a new type of sexualized job that represented an exit from his past images of appropriate and controlled ladies posturing alongside flower stalls and parks (Dumenco, 2007). Further, the use of a young actress in for this campaign by Avedon also contributed to the popular discourse concerning the increased overlapping and removal of some traditional distinction of what and who constitutes a model. Consequently, Avedon’s transition in style and concepts of fashion photography illustrates the versatility and continued evolution of fashion to cover different taste, suggestions and propriety in presenting the clothed or unclothed body. The photographer’s work was made successful through his collaboration with Vreeland which ensured they incorporated new trends in their productions during the post-world war era. References Akhatar, A. (2009) ICP Celebrates a Lifetime of Avedon. The Cut [Online], Available at: http://nymag.com/thecut/2009/05/avedon_fashion1944-2000.html Butler, T. (2005) Interrupting the Age of Innocence: Fashion Photography in the 1950s [Online], Available at: http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0507d-tina_butler.html Dumenco, S. (2007) Calvin Klein’s ads had plenty to look at. More important, they were something to talk about. New York magazine [Online], Available: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/anniversary/35th/n_8554/ Edwards, O. (2005) Fashion Faux Paw. smithsonianmag.com [Online], Available: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fashion-faux-paw-69964267/ Keene, A. (2000) "Avedon, Richard" [Online], Available: http://www.anb.org/articles/17/17-01986.html Lipton, G. (2012) Fashion Documentary Shows the World as a Runway. Travel and Leisure [Online], Available at: http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-blog/carry-on/2012/9/21/fashion-documentary-shows-the-world-as-a-runway Postrel, V. (2013) The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion. [Online], Available at: http://www.academia.edu/4475531/Glamour_and_the_Striding_Woman_The_Evolution_of_an_Icon_slides_at_link_# Vreeland, I. (2011) Diana Vreeland. Harper’s Bazaar [Online], Available at: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/diana-vreeland-bazaar-years-0911 Westhead, G. (2013) Avedon: Women at Gagosian Gallery. Ultra Vie [Online], Available at: http://www.ultravie.co.uk/blog/2013/09/13/avedon-women-at-gagosian-gallery-women-in-motion/ Read More