The V&A has a special treat for fashionistas, magazine and photography enthusiasts.
Paper Movies is an interesting photographic exhibition that explores the work of the influential early twentieth century Russian designers who changed fashion magazines completely, Alexey Brodovitch, the art director at Harpers Bazaar, and Alexander Liberman at Vogue.
This exhibition at the V&A in London features vintage copies of the two magazines, photographs and prints, as well as exploring Brodovitch and Liberman’s backgrounds and influences, such as their escape from the Russian revolution and the radical ideas they found within the European avant-garde in Paris such as surrealism, constructivism and cubism.
Their magazines were modernised through articles often being inspired by cinematic influences, shown to great effect in one photograph on display by Lillian Bassman ‘Lighting a Cigarette’ which appeared in a 1952 edition of Harpers Bazaar, and captures a unique moment of wistfulness and mystery. This technique is revealed to be an effective tool for social and political criticism.
Other modernising techniques founded by the pair include the intended ‘photographic mistake’ such as the deliberate use of off centre compositions and lens flare, as well as the first great design of the modern double-page magazine spread we see in magazines today which toys with the idea of symmetry and parallelism through the opposition between image, space and text.
Articles of note to see on display include a humorous piece in a vintage edition of Vogue on how young ladies should deal with the dreaded onset of their first wrinkles. The skin is not described in our current politically correct terms: ‘like Ghandi, it shrivels.’
A fascinating photograph entitled Model and Mannequin by Erwin Blumenfeld, used on the front cover of a 1945 edition of American Vogue is also of interest. It places a live sombre looking female model next to a smiling plastic mannequin. The shot raises questions about the perception of female beauty as well as commenting on the fashion industry’s relationship between deception and reality, truth and fiction. Issues that are as relevant today as they were in fifty or sixty years ago.
Paper Movies runs until 18 November at the V&A in London.
