I recently visited the Horst exhibition at the V&A in London. The exhibition comprised of sets of images from the different phases of his work, these included; Haute Couture, Surrealism, Stage and Screen, and Fashion in Colour. It also included a small section on his studio and how he took his famous pictures.
haute couture
In this image Horst displays the glamour of Haute couture by capturing the model behind a canvas as if she is being painted. This accentuates America's rise in the world of fashion in the 1930s due to how she is being idolised next to the heads of the greek statues, likening her to someone of great power.
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Surrealism
Here is one of Horst's most famous images, it captures the model doing a very strange pose, exaggerating the theme of surrealism. With the shadow on her back defining the tones of her muscles makes her body seem very three-dimentional which is very hard to create with a 2d black and white image, therefore making the image very effective.
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stage and screen
Here is an image from the Stage and Screen section of the exhibition. It is my favourite image from this section because of the lighting in the image, it makes the photograph effective due to the fact that only her face is lit which draws the viewers eyes directly to her facial expression which is one of wonder. As well as this by having her leaning on the arms of the chair it makes her seem very imposing.
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fashion in colour
This was my favourite part of the exhibition due to the sheer size and complexity of each image. This is in my opinion is one of the best photographs in the entire exhibition. I find it so good because of how the colour of red is carried throughout the picture, drawing the viewers eyes from the roses, to her shoes, to the shape on the left, following the white strips to her red lips and finally to her belt. This circular movement around the image makes the audience delve deeper into the image the more they look.