Arthur Elgort
Last month, while Richard Avedon was playing down his fashion photographer profile by showing Manhattan numerous images he has produced in other genres, another New Yorker, Arthur Elgort, was making personal appearances at the city's book stores and the Staley-Wise gallery to launch Models Manual, which focuses on his 22 years of fashion for Condé Nast and other magazines.
The Conde Nast connection began in 1971, when British Vogue summoned Elgort from Paris to shoot his first major European fashion feature. Aiming then - and since - for a spontaneous and natural look, whether photographing on location or in the studio, Elgort left electronic flash and studio techniques to the likes of Penn, Avedon and Hiro.
'With those guys around, I felt there was no need for me to do the same thing and, besides, I was drawn to what was going on in the street. I believe in pictures inspired by real life where, for instance, models behave like people, they see sitting at cafe tables,coming out of buildings and looking around, or walking across the street, casual, relaxed and smiling. I respond when models pick up on living examples and encourage them to watch out for things that just happen everyday.'
In the late 70s, fashion had ' loosened up and in 1980 Vogue's creative director, Alexander Llberman, credited Elgort with capturing the trend photographically. He wrote: 'With Arthur Elgort a new era opened up of marvellous American young women caught in action, going about their lives. This is what fashion magazines are all about today - the sense of purpose in a modern woman's life.'
Over the years, while shooting for Vogue on both sides of the Atlantic - often in locations such as China and the Caribbean - Elgort has been clicking away with his so-called 'unofficial’ camera' in between taking the essential editorial pictures. From the bulging files which house these personal shots, he selected over 500 for Arthur Elgort's Models Manual. Christy Turlington, whom he calls 'the model of our time', adorns the cover, and within are behind-the-scenes pictures of her and other famous faces who have also talked to Elgort about their experiences with him and in the profession at large.
Pleased to have known many household names before they hit the big time, Elgort says: 'In racing, a trainer has to be able to imagine which horses have what it takes to lead the field: photographers need to think like that about the girls who come along to see them. Can they wear the clothes, transform themselves, have the range to wear Comme des Garçons in the morning and Valentino in the afternoon and carry it off?
'It's a little like love at first sight and if I feel I want to take pictures of a girl for nothing, that's a pretty good sign. Sometimes instinct lets you down, you don't see the potential and they go to Ellen von Unwerth or some other photographer who thinks they're fantastic. But that's the fun of it.
There's a real thrill if you make the jump with a model, if you’re the first, or at least one of the first, to help put her on the map. I'll give you a good example: when I started photographing Linda Evangelista, she told me her mother had to send her the money for her test shots and stuff like that Then, when people saw her pictures, the news travelled fast and the word was out that she was fabulous.'
Evangelista herself recalls: 'When I went to see Arthur Elgort for the very first time, I knew that it was a very important go-see. I had just come out of hospital with a collapsed lung. I promised him that I could do whatever he wanted. I wasn't great right away- but I was trying hard.' For followers of fashion, the rest is history.