Few people know that Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) had an intimate relationship with photography that went beyond capturing his creations on the runway or for fashion magazines.
The famous French couturier and designer saw the camera as much more than just a marketing tool; he viewed it as a powerful creative device, collaborating with the 20th century’s most renowned fashion photographers such as Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Irving Penn, to define his brand’s iconic image.
Now the International Center of Photography in New York will honor Saint Laurent’s close ties to photography, forged over a period of some four decades, with Yves Saint Laurent and Photography – an exhibition featuring nearly 300 images and other archival materials from the photographers he knew and collaborated with.
Along with works from the aforementioned names, creations by a wider array of fashion’s most famous figures – including Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz, and Helmut Newton – will also be on display.
Saint Laurent recognized the power of photography early on, understanding its importance in shaping both his own persona and the identity of his fashion house, with his use of the artistic medium evolving in two key phases.
In 1957, Saint Laurent grasped the medium’s impact on personal branding, most famously exemplified by a portrait taken by Irving Penn when Saint Laurent was just 21 years old. A photograph of him following Christian Dior’s funeral cemented Saint Laurent’s image as Dior’s successor.
Later, in 1971, Saint Laurent demonstrated how photography could challenge boundaries and provoke scandal when he posed nude in a Jeanloup Sieff portrait to promote his men’s fragrance, Pour Homme.
Yves Saint Laurent and Photography will take place at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York from June 11 through September 28, with materials on display coming from the vast collections of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris, dedicated to the late fashion designer and his legacy.
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