Fashion Capital Recommends:
03-12-2007
Following on from the hugely successful ‘Face of Fashion’ exhibition earlier in the year, the National Portrait Gallery presents an equally impressive fashion photography collection in the form of ‘Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008’ sponsored by Burberry and Herbert Smith.
{mosimage}Delving deep within the archives of Vanity Fair and publishers CondéNast the 150 image-strong exhibition is a mix of the contemporary and vintage gems, chronicling not only a history of the magazine but photography, fashion, celebrity and culture.
The first period (1913-1936) sees icons such as Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin and Jean Harlow realised through the lens’ of greats such as Cecil Beaton and Man Ray. The second period (1983 to now) sees legends like Madonna and Arthur Miller captured by Mario Testino, Helmut Newton, Bruce Weber and Annie Leibovitz.
If these precious photographs aren’t inspiration enough, expect to find works by lesser-known practitioners, rare portraits from the ‘Jazz Age’ as well as previously unseen and unpublished images.
{mosimage}The revolutionary and often controversial nature of Vanity Fair’s photographic commissions are impressed upon our minds and are just cause for an exhibition, think pregnant Demi Moore on the cover in 1991, Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley photographed naked over Tom Ford in 2006 and Al Gore, George Clooney and Julia Roberts gathered together for the first ‘Green Issue’ in 2006.
Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008 is on from the 14th February to 26th May 2008 in the Wolfson Gallery. £10, concessions £9/8. For further information on visiting the gallery visit www.npg.org.uk
By Becky Lyonbecky.lyon@hotmail.co.uk
