Louise Dahl-Wolfe & George Hoyningen-Huene
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Press Release: September 2008 A PASSION FOR FASHION George Hoyningen-Huene (1900-1968), a debonair Russian born of nobility and gifted with an innate sense of style, gravitated toward fashion illustration at the outset of his career in Europe in the 1920’s. His artistic talent and social networking skills soon gained him éntre into the ranks of the Parisian artistic and literary circles that included members of the avant-garde such as Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, André Gide, Luchino Visconti, Coco Chanel and the expatriate photographer, Man Ray. His burgeoning passion for photography was evident in the 1920’s when he and Man Ray collaborated on a portfolio of photographs of the most beautiful women in Paris. Sensing a scoop, these elegant portraits attracted the attention of Vogue’s Paris editor, Mainbocher, and placed Huene on the radar of the magazines editor-in-chief, Edna Chase. Huene landed the position of chief photographer at French Vogue in 1925, demonstrating his uncanny ability to create photographs for the magazines layouts that were evocative of the distinctive style and elegance that is associated with pre-war Paris. While there he ushered in a new and more modern picture taking era. By the time he immigrated to New York in 1935, he had defected to the competition, Harper’s Bazaar, to create photographs for the magazines legendary editors Alexey Brodovitch and Carmel Snow. With his re-location to New York, his technique and set designs changed, but he still continued to produce an “on-location” look within the walls of his studio. A true visionary, he cleverly improvised, using props and lighting to create the illusion of smoky nightclubs, fancy restaurants and other hot spots that the idle rich might frequent. With glamour and high fashion serving as his trademark, he was able to sell a chic lifestyle to sophisticated ladies who perused the pages of fashion magazines seeking the latest ‘look’. Louise Dahl-Wolfe (1895-1989), an American born in San Francisco, began her career at Harper’s Bazaar in 1936. Trained as an artist at the San Francisco Institute of Art, she credited her successful work in photography to her studies in anatomy and life drawing. Dahl-Wolfe, working closely with magazine editors Carmel Snow and Diana Vreeland, imparted a casual and carefree sensibility into her pictures, which was well-suited to the changing styles in fashion. Often photographing on location and out-of-doors—sometimes in exotic locales—she favored natural light in order to achieve a sense of realism. She freed the fashion photograph from the confines of the studio, breathing new life into the art form. Her images were forward looking—she was instrumental in liberating high-end fashion photography from any contrivance or convention that had become the norm. Paving the way for women photographers in the field and inspiring future generations of photographers to emulate her look, Dahl-Wolfe’s images appealed to both career women on the go and to ladies of leisure. Dahl-Wolfe preferred to feature Hollywood celebrities in her photographs, not only modeling the latest styles, but also promoting their careers. Ginger Rogers was jauntily posed in a white hooded jacket after a tennis game, while Bette Davis, famously smoking a cigarette, was casually seated on a grass lawn dressed elegantly in pearls and a black pantsuit outfit. George Hoyningen-Huene and Louise Dahl-Wolfe are an interesting
study in contrasts. Their overlapping careers are emblematic of
both the past and the future of fashion photography; he represented
the prior generation, she was the new generation. By 1960 they had
both retired from the scene. Huene’s work remains classic,
while Dahl-Wolfe’s continues to inspire. Today, both are still
admired for having created archetypal images that altered the look
of fashion photography in a timeless way.
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