Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography

Overview

Fashion, that ever-glittering mirage, with its inherent promises of glamour and adoration, has fed the imagination of millions from Carrie B. to Tavi G. Photographer Irving Penn tapped into this exact sentiment when he described his collaboration with Vogue as “selling dreams, not clothes”.

The quote provides the inspiration for a current exhibition on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography, which showcases more than 60 images of international fashion photography from the past 100 years. On at the State Library of NSW from August 10 to November 10, the collection charts the evolution of the medium from its beginnings in fine art to its concurrent rise with illustrated magazines in post-war times to the introduction of commercial interests in more recent decades.

Among the curated works are the sensual images of Helmut Newton and the poignant black-and-whites of Richard Avedon. Combined with the art direction of renowned figures such as Diana Vreeland and Alexey Brodovitch, such moments of grace and style captured on film not only give audiences a glimpse into changing tastes but also see the hopes and dreams of the last century distilled in a shortened hemline or a provocative pose.