A Fashionable Photographic Review, Essay Example

“Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior” is one of the most magnificent fashion photographs taken by Richard Avedon.  The photographic art is presently shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the exhibition “Richard Avedon: Photograph 1946-2004”. (Richard Avedon 2010).  Richard Avedon, born May 15, 1923, is a well-known American photographer in the fashion world. Unfortunately he passed away at the age of eighty-one in 2004. He did not die without leaving behind a legacy though. He shot the Paris collections for nearly forty years and was staff photographer for the famous magazine Vogue for over thirty years. From the commencement of his career in 1966, his name became synonymous with fashion as well as portraiture. He photographed famous stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Parker and the Duchess of Windsor.

The “Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior” is a black and white photograph that depicts the lady which looks like a ballerina in her best form in elegant posting. She places her right hand on the trunk of the elephant and her left arm at her left side whilst wearing an evening dress and high heel shoes. The dress has a white drape fold around her waist with a sash which falls gracefully to the ground. There are four lively elephants in the background of the photograph that appear to be dancing with their feet in the air with their trunks swinging about the photograph. The combination of grace and beauty are foretold entirely in this beautiful piece of art/photography.

The focal point of the photograph is the lovely female model of Dior herself.  This is very easy to find because she is the center of the photograph whilst there is a contrast between the whiteness of her dress and the darker gray tones of the elephants in the background. The elephants are rough in appearance whereas the dress on the lady is very smooth creating a lovely contrast in the photograph. The combination of rough and smooth is needed to portray the vision of real life luster and engulfment of charisma that sucks you in as you gaze into the photograph.

As you compare this photograph to the photograph of “Hermes Spring/Summer 2008” and “The Girl and the Elephant” by Kevin Pinardy, you find these other photographs have truly been an inspiration to the fashion photographic world. They are similar to the “Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior” photograph in that they all have a focal model and have an animal in the background to contrast. In addition they all have light colors and darker tones in the background to contrast the tones of the photograph.  All of the photographs use a focal point model in the scene to deliver a lovely transcending exhibition of light, color and risqué to the fashion world and exhibition of new art.

The contrast between the model and the animals, which in this case are the elephants, present a true depiction of harmony and movement the way Richard Avedon wanted his photography to be viewed. There is one issue with the photograph though; the elephant is not in full asymmetry as it appears to be off scale and the models feet are too close to her frame. It would be much better if there were more available space on the lower ground. This would make the picture appear to be pushed further back giving it an appearance of depth.

My personal reaction to the “Dovima with Elephants” is one full of vision and beauty overall except for the minor details with the elephant and the proximity of the lady’s shoes to her frame. The photograph is a great combination of light and appearance of charcoal and gives one the feeling of ambiance, love, tenderness, royalty and charm. My mind wanders with ideas of chivalry and grandeur as I gaze into the figments of this photograph that perhaps the lady is going to a royal ball and will be escorted in a chariot led by the bold elephant brigade.

The photograph is a magnificent display of character, style, color usage, texture and creation of mood. Photographer Avedon has simply made another great creation with this art work. Photography is a work of art for it takes a keen eye to bring about a vision of beauty through the eye of a lens. Black and White photography is the new fashionable art of today as it was the “in thing” when Avedon was a rising star many years ago. He simply knew how to make the lens work wonders and saw vision and beauty and created nearly two hundred masterpieces throughout his career. He could encapsulate a moment through motion and emotion which made him renown.

Works Cited

Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior FraenkelGallery.com.17 May 2010. 17 May 2010. http://www.fraenkelgallery.com/index.php#mi=&pt=1&pi=10000&s=4&p=2&a=3&at=1

The Girl and the Elephant Photo.net. 17 May 2010. 17 May 2010. <http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=9308272>

Richard Avedon sfmoma.org. 20 Aug 1980. 17 May 2010. <http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/384