Assignment #1 - Research on Portrait Photographers PART 1

Louise Dahl-Wolfe (1895 – 1989)

Dior Ballgown, 1950, NY

Japanese Bath, 1954, NY

Mary Sykes in Puerto Rico, 1938.

Jean Patchett in Grenada, 1953.

California Desert, 1948

     Louise Dahl-Wolfe’s black and white images are formally quite beautiful, with simple, but striking compositions, which are often centered or just off-center. Showing the beauty of her time is a main aspect of her fashion photography.  Dahl-Wolfe was one of the first fashion photographers to decide to shoot her portraits outdoors and make use of natural lighting and put her models in realistic, and relatable situations, as well as having distant lands and countries as her backdrop. (Her style was then known as “environmental” fashion photography.) Her lighting is soft and not contrasty at all, giving her images a nice tonal range. I think this is the reason why she was so popular in her time and that her images are still timeless and beautiful today; many photographers today use that same concept she had and many were influenced by her, most notable Richard Avedon.

Richard Avedon (1923 – 2004) 

     Richard Avedon was well known for putting his models in real situations, but it seems like he took it one step further than Dahl, as he tried to engage his models and bring out their emotions, catching them in action, often laughing. This idea probably re-defined the idea of beauty, as he honored women and wanted to portray real situations with real emotions. Avedon’s black and white photography is also truly timeless, being a bit more punchy than Dahl’s but still looking realistic and not overly contrasty. In combination with his minimalist approach he didn’t clutter the frame, but really brought out the best features of his model as well as including the environment to make his images relatable. (The images posted are more about the environment and interactions; some of his other work is very minimal, but I wanted to focus on the ones where his models are really engaged and in real-life situations.)

     Both photographer’s had a great influence on the fashion world and even still influence photographers today, with their shared concept of portraying real-life situations while also showing the fashion pieces.