Book Review: ISSUES: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines
Vince Aletti, Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines, Phaidon, $95, 468 pp., May 2019.
Prior to the advent of digital media, fashion magazines were the sole means of disseminating the most up-to-date collections and trends. They were also purveyors of art, offering an exclusive opportunity for artists to experiment before a receptive audience. ISSUES: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines by Vince Aletti is a chronological survey of photography charted solely through the medium of fashion magazines between 1925 and 2018. However, the unique characteristic of this survey is the fact that it is intentionally non-comprehensive in scope. After examining what must have easily been thousands of publications, Aletti has compiled what he appreciates to be the 100 most exceptionally representative issues of magazines that feature photography now inextricably linked to and associated with fashion.
Aletti mentions in his introduction that he “zeroed in on issues that are significant, and frequently groundbreaking, in their use of photography.” He wanted to feature “magazines that startled, challenged, even outraged their readers—magazines that took a stand and made a difference.” [1] Famous images, like Richard Avedon’s 1955 photo Dovima with Elephants, that are largely considered to be groundbreaking in fashion photography are included along with more risqué images of models, like some of Kate Moss taken in the 1990s. He also includes radical imagery, at least within the context of the time periods in which they were published, such as avant-garde material in the 1930s photographs by Man Ray for Harper’s Bazaar. There is even a controversial 1972 issue of L’Uomo Vogue that is entirely focused on representing black style to a European audience via African American models, although the majority of the photographers were white.
It is interesting to see the technical evolution of photography itself coupled with the creativity of artists who were given the freedom, or challenge, to explore its possibilities in the context of selling or sharing fashion. Photography as an art form is uniquely suited to explore subversive subjects, especially combined with a strong editorial voice, so it is not surprising that issues from Document and i-D make appearances on Aletti’s list. Throughout his book, Aletti highlights the seminal work of preeminent fashion photographers like Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Cecil Beaton who brought publications like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar into the twentieth century. For example, he pays due reverence to Avedon, who “defined many moments over the course of his career, but he seemed especially excited by Pop and sympathetic to the spirit of the sixties,” [2] and includes many entries that are heavily predisposed to Avedon’s photography. Aletti’s selections include other important photographers whose names have come to be associated with fashion, including Mario Testino and Nick Knight.
“In Aletti’s opinion, fashion photography, at the whims and talents of the artists leading the charge, developed to capture as much fantasy by creating elaborate tableaus and mastering aesthetic effects. ”
Aletti notes in his first entry on Harper’s Bazaar that in the 1920s, when illustrators were the dominant artists exhibited in publications, “photographs had to be as expressive and imaginative as the drawings that surrounded them.” [3] Drawings could be as fantastical as the illustrator’s imagination would allow, so, whether intentional or accidental, the groundbreaking contributions of photographers to fashion magazines combatted the perception that photography could only document what is “real.” These publications gave photography credibility as a means to express true representations of clothing as well as convey the same degree of fantasy that illustration had done for years. In Aletti’s opinion, fashion photography, at the whims and talents of the artists leading the charge, developed to capture as much fantasy by creating elaborate tableaus and mastering aesthetic effects. With the addition of photography, art direction adapted from the historically static layouts to include dynamic images that co-mingled with new styles and daring editorial spreads. While Aletti introduces issues containing examples of this, it might have been helpful to juxtapose images from earlier publications to show a side-by-side contrast.
Another important evolutionary step in publications that Aletti documents is the introduction of models to the outside world and how concepts of photojournalism influenced certain photographers’ craft. Photographers documented contemporary fashion in the context of a contemporary landscape, sometimes even making contributions of pure photojournalism that included narratives beyond fashion. In the case of the June 1945 issue of American Vogue, Aletti describes photos contributed by Lee Miller that she had taken while overseas in the horror-filled corners of places like Buchenwald and the remaining war-torn parts of Europe. Edna Woolman Chase (the magazine’s editor-in-chief at the time) and her colleagues debated whether to include these intense, documentary-style images along with Miller’s commentary in the issue. Historically, fashion editorials were fairly restricted to clothing, culture, and sanitized versions of global events, but with the addition of photography, more frank accounts could be shared and the inclusion of controversial material and editorials in publications like Vogue have become staples of these magazines. The contrast between decades is apparent due to contemporary events that Aletti acknowledges in the subject matter of the variety of issues presented.
In theory, these selections represent the most outstanding in terms of content, talent, and influence. While the issues are shown in chronological order, the scope of the subject is so vast and the range of the publications is massive; therefore, it is easy to see how a project of this magnitude could become awkward in an organizational sense. There is not a consistent structure or format to each entry, so the experience of reading the entries from issue to issue can feel frenetic and disjointed. For example, some entries focus on individual photographers while others take a more pointed analysis of the composition of some photographic contributions to the issue in question. Details about the personal lives of photographers are peppered throughout, and in some cases, almost completely make up the issue’s entry. In all fairness, no two fashion magazines are exactly the same in seasons, subjects, or scope, so it stands to reason that there would necessarily be some shift in analysis from issue to issue to accommodate the dramatic differences. That being said, it can be difficult to jump between magazines whose themes and preoccupations, while fashion-focused, are not equivalent.
“Historically, fashion editorials were fairly restricted to clothing, culture, and sanitized versions of global events, but with the addition of photography, more frank accounts could be shared and the inclusion of controversial material and editorials in publications like Vogue have become staples of these magazines. ”
Aletti admits that his “selection is subjective, obsessive, and rigorous,” [4] so it is not surprising to observe that his personal tastes and insights color his assessments of compositions, and there is an obvious preference for individual photographers. Aletti clearly has expertise in the subject matter, but his opinions can be distracting. Overall, the book feels like a digest intended for photography aficionados whose obsession with print magazines must be akin to Aletti’s own. For causal researchers or those looking for a comprehensive tome that chronicles the work of an individual photographer or the evolution of a particular publication, this may be an interesting supplemental source for background reading lists. Throughout the book, there is an assumption of the reader’s familiarity with the photographers, editors, and publications in general that may make it more relevant to researchers and other enthusiasts who already have a foundational understanding of the subject matter. While the criteria used to judge and select the entries is somewhat variable, all credit is due to Aletti for assembling issues that feature what he deems to be the “best of the best” in terms of innovation, especially in the international and contemporary publications that he includes. Mercifully, a catalogue is included at the end that lists each issue with the names of the publication’s editor, art director, and cover artist.
The point of this book, according to Aletti, is to present “magazines that push the culture forward, challenging conventions and offering an entirely new way of seeing.” [5] His careful editing down of issues to come up with this final 100 is intended to supply readers with a jumping-off point to explore this style of photography more in depth on their own and hopefully to assist in guiding their thinking about it. Ultimately, it would have been more fulfilling to read a book that followed photography through a single publication’s history rather than an assemblage of different ones, crisscrossing between more traditional magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and contemporary ones like Arena Homme+. At the end, it is unclear if any new comparisons or conclusions are more easily made and understood by readers. However, Aletti’s obsessive knowledge and fervor for the subject matter are infectious. It will undoubtedly inspire readers to fall down the research rabbit hole into the world of fashion photography.
Notes
[1] Vince Aletti, Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines, (USA: Phaidon, 2019), p. 6.
[2] Ibid, p. 180.
[3] Ibid, p. 10.
[4] Ibid, p. 6.
[5] Ibid
