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Tim Walker, Lily Cole & Giant Camera, Italian Vogue, 2005
© Tim Walker / Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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London's Victoria and Albert Museum is quite simply one of the most revered institutions in the world. In a fashion and photography sense it is close to peerless with over half a million works from many of the greats ensconced in its archives; Edward Steichen (1879-1973), Irving Penn (1917-2009), Richard Avedon (1923-2004), Helmut Newton (1920-2004), David Bailey (b.1938) and Tim Walker (b.1970) are just a few whose work is part of the fabric of the V&A. No small coup then that the Auckland Museum has secured the V&A's Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography exhibition which opens on Dec 6, 2013 and runs through to February 28, 2014 in Auckland's own revered building, situated on the hill in Auckland Domain, overlooking the harbour.
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Horst P Horst, Mainbocher Corset. Pink satin corset made by Detolle for Mainbocher, American
Vogue, 4 March 1939
© Horst Estate / Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Taking its name from photographer Irving Penn’s quote on seeing his role at Vogue as “selling dreams, not clothes”, the exhibition draws together 58 original images charting the evolving art of fashion photography spanning photographs by more than 20 major fashion photographers from the early 1900s through to the 1990s. All of the above mentioned legends feature, add Erwin Blumenfeld, Horst P Horst, Herbert List, Lillian Bassman, William Klein, Cecil Beaton, Arthur Elgort, Norman Parkinson, Deborah Turbeville, Corinne Day, Juergen Teller, Glen Luchford and Rankin - among celebrated others - and you get the drift - this is more than epic, more than major, for fans of fashion photography, this is essential.
To say we are excited about Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography coming to the Auckland Museum is an understatement, we are beside ourselves to see so many great works on New Zealand soil. Throughout the exhibition we will be involved; providing glimpses of the images on offer through December on our new BLK ON BLK portal, submitting a small, curated selection of our own images across Planet and Black Magazine that mean the most to us - and speaking as part of a series of Smart Talks about our own take on Selling Dreams here in Aotearoa on February 19 at the museum - "Dreams vs The Real World". So lock Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography into your summer calendar now. Unmissable!