Dovima with Elephants

Evening dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, Photographed by Richard Avedon, August 1955.
The model in this photograph is Dovima, one of the world’s most famous models back in the era, also one of Vogue’s highest paid models. Richard Avedon was a famous fashion photographer that was known worldwide, he took this photograph for Christian Dior in August 1955, to showcase Dior’s latest collection.
I found this image interesting because not only does the model portray the elegance of her dress by her posture and body language, the elephants in the background of this photograph also make this photograph unique and powerful. It is significant that subjects such as humans’ interactions with the nature, and the concepts of reduced life and old age, are evoked in this photograph.
Personally, I think this photograph is different than my own style when creating works, although I think it is a very successful photograph. I relate my work to this photograph in terms of its composition, its ability to lead the viewers’ eyes right to the focal point, and how although there are multiple subjects in this photograph, overall it depicts planned arrangements rather than chaos.

Le Smoking

Tuxedo by Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, Photographed by Helmut Newton, 1975.
This photograph was shot for the French Vogue, and had taken place on a narrow street in Paris. The idea behind the photograph was to portray femininity in a rather masculine way, and almost to portray an androgynous being. Newton took this photograph at night, and he chose to make the photograph realistic by not using flash and only using the lights from the street.
I thought this photograph was interesting because it had captured the moment very well and the message that was delivered is powerful and clear. The photograph had portrayed a woman holding her cigarette on a street, her body language shows her confidence and authority. The subject of sexuality is being presented in this photograph, in that the model’s facial expressions convey that she is rather masculine than feminine.
I believe that this photograph is somewhat similar with my personal works, in that the message that Newton tried to deliver is being delivered thoroughly through his usage of perspective in his photography, and the mood he had set for his photograph also enhances its effectiveness. In my works such as photography, I tend to take photographs with a perspective that captures the entire body of the model yet also reveal the settings of its context to illustrate the background and foreground elements.

Guy Bourdin’s Photograph

Guy Bourdin first showcased his photographs in Paris in 1952, later he began working for the French Vogue in 1954. Bourdin was inspired by Surrealism and especially by the work of Man Ray. He worked for clients such as Charles Jourdan, Chanel and Issey Miyake.
Bourdin’s works are very intriguing to me, his sense of composition, color, and content all appeal to my aesthetics. Bourdin’s works consist of the portrayal of many themes for instance fetishism, violence, and sexual desires. He does this by taking photographs with bright colors and high saturations, the cropped compositions also give the photographs a more dramatic effect. Moreover, it is notable how Bourdin’s photographs challenged the usual standards of beauty by having the models pose exaggerated movements and wear garments that are usually not defined to be beautiful and elegant. His works broke the conventions for fashion photography, and pushed the boundaries of color photography by having intense saturation.
I think my work is similar to Bourdin’s work in that when I design, I tend to incorporate vivid colors and geometrical shapes in my work. I also noticed that my designs are usually minimalistic and asymmetrically composed. I think that the cropped compositions are also potent in that they make the viewers focus on more details instead of the whole picture, making the piece more abstract and surreal.