During Paris Fashion Week Colette hosted an art exhibition featuring, iconic Photographer, Arthur Elgort and all his brilliant photos in his latest book Fashion, Jazz and Ballet.
An avid lover of music and dance and a spirit filled with spontaneity and freedom, Elgort, a NY native, took the phtotography industry by storm with his ability to take dramatic risks, pushing the envelope and birthing new ideas of the endless definition of what fashion is and what it can evolve to be. Elgort brought an organic authenticity to his photos and selected models that were playful and comfortable with their natural beauty, wearing little to no makeup and enhancing the natural light Elgort was always in search of. A signature of his personal style that others would soon want to emulate is his creative decision to take the models outside the studio, venturing into the real world where the scenes that were naturally created were endless and where a more diverse range of fashion could be captured.
The Fashion, Jazz & Ballet exhibition and publication depicts iconic pictures to match the iconic influencers Elgort captured. From Dizzy Gillespie and Jenny Howorth to George Benson, Roy Hargrove, Kate Moss, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Wilhelmia Frankfurt, Carole Divet, etc.; Elgort truly understands the the full spectrum of photography and how it intersects with life’s realities, artforms and the people and experiences that make them.
For me, Elgort is the King of Expansion & Evolution when it comes to the artform of photogrpahy. And he most certainly has had the long career to affirm the aforementioned as he has worked on countless fashion spreads for over a span of 35 years with Vogue and other advertising campaigns along with publishing a series of books such as Personal Fashion Pictures (1983), Model’s Manuel (1993), Camera Ready: How To Shoot Your Kids (1997), Camera Crazy (2004) and The Big Picture (2014).
One of the most beautiful works of Art that Elgort brings forth within his artform is his limitless perspective. So I close out and leave you all with this quote from Elgort himself, “Taking pictures is what I love and I like my subjects to be varied, a little bit of everything – fashion, jazz, ballet, my kids, landscapes, and even “street” photography. I never want my work to be stuck in one category. Fashion might be what sells, but a girl on a subway could be fashion, a jazz musician in a club could be fashion, and a ballerina at the barre could be too. I’ve always like to integrate all of my interests into my photos and I think that’s reflected in this exhibit of nearly 45 years of my work.”
💜Love & Light🌞,
CRISTEN M. MILLS
