Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast

An exhibition of images from the fashion world as seen at Conde Nast. The thing that is so wonderful about this exhibition is the amazing photographers who have contributed to the magazine over the years and the truly exceptional images they created.

Erwin Blumenfeld, American Vogue, March 1945Photograph: Erwin Blumenfeld/Condé Nas

A new exhibition in Edinburgh gathers the work of over 80 notable fashion photographers, including Edward Steichen, Norman Parkinson, Albert Watson and Sølve Sundsbø, to showcase their work for the publishing house.
Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast is at City Art Centre, Edinburgh until 8 September

Fashion photography – glamorous, provocative, beautiful, accomplished, and magical – has been associated with some of the most famous names in the history of the medium since the early years of the 20th century.

Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm; Sunday 12pm – 5pm

Who is this for? – All
Dates: 15 June 2013 – 8 September 2013
Cost: £5; Concessions £3.50; £2.50 for children aged 5 to 16 inclusive; £11 for a family ticket for two adults and two children or one adult and three children. Other ticketing options are available; please ask at the venue.
The great American photographer Edward Steichen took what were probably the first fashion photographs in 1911. Since then it has become a unique platform for experimentation, balanced between commerce and creativity, recording the Zeitgeist and capturing individual dreams and desires.

The legendary publisher Condé Nast recognised this very early on and created a distinctive style for his magazines, elevating haute couture and turning fashion photography into an art form. With his keen sense for discovering new talents, he found the best photographers and promoted their careers, a tradition continued by subsequent editors and art directors at Condé Nast.

The exhibition shows early work by such luminaries as Cecil Beaton, Erwin Blumenfeld, Helmut Newton, David Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Corinne Day, Mario Testino and Sølve Sundsbø as it appeared in the pages of Vogue, Glamour and other Condé Nast publications.

With unprecedented access to the Condé Nast archives in New York, Paris, London and Milan, the curator Nathalie Herschdorfer has gathered original prints, as well as pages from the actual magazines. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see the work of over eighty photographers right at the outset of their careers.

This exhibition has been organised by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis/Paris/Lausanne, in collaboration with City Art Centre, Edinburgh.

Edward Steichen, American Vogue, December 1923Photograph: Edward Steichen/Condé Nast

Clifford Coffin, American Vogue, June 1949Photograph: Clifford Coffin/Condé Nast

Norman Parkinson, Glamour, October 1949Photograph: Norman Parkinson/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

John Rawlings, American Vogue, March 1943Photograph: John Rawlings/Condé Nast

Image: Miles Aldridge, Vogue Italia, September 2002

See more images on The Guardian pages here

Vogue Magazine article
Glamour Magazine article

100 Most influential photographers of all time

From Professional Photographer magazine we find this intriguing post, there is no doubt a list like this will generate some debate but I doubt any of your favourites will be missing

Richard Avedon American 1923-2004
Avedon was the epitome of the modern photographer – a charming, sophisticated man-about-town and a photographer who was able to cross photographic genres. It did not matter where he was, which format he chose to work with or who his subject was, the image would be an Avedon image. It would have that unmistakeable elegance and confidence that marked him out, not just as a great photographer but as a highly successful commercial photographer, who was able to create instantly iconic and memorable images. So what’s his influence? His large-format portrait style with the stark white background, his use of two images to tell one portrait story, his use of strobe lights in fashion, the book In The American West? Of course it’s all this and more.Avedon is a photographer whom every photographer should get to know via his books. They cover his whole career and not only chart his own photographic and personal development but also, that of commercial photography over the last half of the twentieth century. Quite simply he is our No.1.www.richardavedon.com

here are the next nine, to see all one hundred go here

 

 2. W. Eugene Smith American 1918-1978

Intense and at times obsessed with his work. He helped establish the photo story and the power of black & white printing. www.smithfund.org

3. Helmut Newton German 1920-2004
Newton created erotically charged and powerful images of women, and developed the use of ring flash in fashion images. www.helmutnewton.com

4. Irving Penn American 1917- 2009
Every portrait shot in the corner of a room or simple symbolic still life owes something to Penn. He is the established genius of American Vogue magazine.www.irvingpenn.com

5. Guy Bourdin French 1928-1991
No one has been more imitated over the last few years in fashion and art photography than Bourdin. Erotic, surreal and controversial. www.guybourdin.org

6. Henri Cartier-Bresson French 1908-2004
The creator of ‘The decisive moment’. He never cropped his images and only shot in black & white. A Leica-wielding legend.

7. Diane Arbus American 1923-1971
Freaks, loners and people on the edges of society’s norms were Arbus‘s subjects. Her direct and simple portrait style and subject matter have inspired ever since.www.diane-arbus-photography.com

8.Elliott Erwitt French 1928-
Magnum member and humorous observer of everyday life. His juxtapositions of form and images of dogs show art is where you find it. www.elliotterwitt.com

9. Walker Evans American 1903-1975
The chronicler of American life who brought a detached observer’s eye to all of his images. He created order and beauty through composition where there was none.

10. Martin Parr British 1952-
Parr’s use of intense colour and his ability to raise the snapshot to the level of art has led to him being recognised as the master chronicler of the every day.www.martinparr.com