Fashion Photography at the MFA

Woman and Mirror
Cheri-Rousseau and Glauth
1910

The photographing of clothing fashions was first undertaken in Paris in the late nineteenth century, and the earliest images tended to be rather static portrayals of socialites and actresses. Cheri-Rousseau and Glauth, the firm that made this photograph, specialized in making photographic portraits and fashion plates for magazines such as La Mode Practique. In an attempt at a more natural pose, this model in a diaphanous 1910s dress is shown adjusting her fashionable oversized picture hat in the mirror.

Mrs. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, in a Costume by Leon Bakst
Baron de Meyer
1913

The Pictorialist photographer Baron de Meyer exploited atmospheric soft-focus in his effort to document fashions in an expressive manner. One of the first projects that he undertook after moving from Europe to America at the outbreak of the First World War was to photograph Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt and founder of the Whitney Museum. For the occasion she wore a harem ensemble designed for her by the celebrated Russian costume and theatre designer Léon Bakst. The Orientalist fashions associated with the Ballets Russes that swept through Paris in the 1910s had a profound effect on couture designers of the period, and Paul Poiret, Jeanne Lanvin, and Callot Soeurs, among others, showed boldly graphic and vividly colored fashions inspired by the East.

Fashion Shooting, Vogue Studio, Paris
George Hoyningen-Huene
1931

It is unusual to come across behind-the-scenes photographs of fashion shoots from the early part of the 20th century, such as this one. Chief photographer at Vogue’s Paris studio from the mid 1920s to the mid 1930s, George Hoyningen-Huene recorded a moment in which the influential editor Carmel Snow adjusted the dress of Lee Miller, the well-known American model who was also a photographer herself, and the mistress of the Surrealist artist Man Ray.

Josephine Baker, for the Ziegfeld Follies
Murray Korman
1936

A photographer of the New York stage, Murray Korman made this glamour portrait of the celebrated African-American performer Josephine Baker when she appeared in the city in 1936.

Alberta Tibuzzi, model, New York
Hiro
1966

Hiro’s photographs are distinctive for their playful mod set-ups and crisp geometry. His images have a futuristic quality befitting of the 1960s period. Used for the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in 1967, the image features a hooded, sleeveless crepe burnoose designed by American designer Halston, who experimented with ethnic-inspired patterns and styling before his better-known minimalist designs of the 1970s.

Jean Muir with Friends
Deborah Turbeville
1975

Deborah Turbeville grew up in the Boston area and was originally an editor at Harper’s Bazaar and Mademoiselle. She infused this portrayal of the British designer Jean Muir and associates, taken for a Vogue feature on talented European designers, with psychological ambiguity.

Brideshead I
Denis Piel
1983

In Denis Piel’s take on fashion as vainglorious display, two fashionable characters shun each other.

Versace Dress, Back View, El Mirage
Herb Ritts
1990

Herb Ritts balanced clean, sinuous shape and pattern in his sleek evocation of a dress by Gianni Versace, worn by Christy Turlington and published in Versace’s September 1990 catalogue.

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