Through January 8, 2017, the Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier, France, exhibits the works of the American Louise Dahl-Wolfe, now considered as one of the pioneers of modern fashion photography.
Photographs in black and white or color, still lives, portraits of celebrities or original covers of the famous Harper’s Bazaar magazine: over 100 works are well exposed in the central nave of the Pavillon Populaire and its adjoined rooms. This retrospective, the first outside the United States, reveals the work of this leading figure of a genre where she reigned in her time.
Working throughout the 1930s through to the 1960s in the wake of the prestigious magazine Harper’s Baazar, Louise Dahl-Wolf created, breaking with studio practices, a new style for fashion photography. Her models were photographed in black and white and then in color, with the only natural light, and in outdoor settings, in all countries of the world: Asia, Europe, to South Africa. Her mastery of subjects ranges from photo shoots to magazine layouts, giving her work a totally assumed creativity. As for her models, she creates portraits who became iconic, with famous people such as Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart, Jean Cocteau, Colette and Yves Montand … Her work had a major impact on illustrious names such as Irving Penn or Richard Avedon.
This is an unprecedented set of prints and antique documents that are shown here, including the most beautiful covers made by Louise Dahl-Wolfe for Harper’s Baazar, covering the entire career of this too little known photographer in Europe. Hollywood glamor, history of fashion photography, beauty collections of great masters of haute couture, mythical landscapes mingle here with panache and style.
Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Continuous elegance
October 19, 2016 to January 8, 2017
PavillonPopulaire
121 Allée de Jerusalem
34000 Montpellier
France
http://www.montpellier.fr/506-les-expos-du-pavillon-populaire.htm
