ARTHUR ELGORT
Arthur Elgort was born in New York City in 1940. His parents came from Jewish families that had left Eastern Europe and moved to America. He was raised in Brooklyn and attended Stuyvesant High School and Hunter College, where he studied painting and art history. Elgort’s debut in the world of fashion photography created a sensation; critics called him the ambassador of the new aesthetics of deliberate carelessness. Alexander Liberman, art director of Vogue in the USA, said that Elgort started a new era of dynamic photographs of amazing young American women easily wending their way through life. In addition to Vogue, the photographer also worked for Glamour, Mademoiselle (as one of its founders), and other fashion magazines. Elgort also collaborates with magazines of adjoining themes: GQ (magazine for men), Rolling Stone (music), etc. Arthur Elgort turned glossy magazine pages into works of art. His photographs were perfectly understandable to the public and well loved, but strict discipline and meticulous planning lay behind the simplicity of his images. During his long career, works by Elgort have been exhibited in New York, Tokyo, Monte Carlo, and Milan. They can be found in private collections all around the world.
LINDA EVANGELISTA WITH POLKA DOT HAT, FRENCH VOGUE 1989
In this photograph 24-year-old Linda Evangelista is posing with a big polka-dotted hat in her hands—the main accent of this shot. As a true fan of unstaged photographs in motion, Elgort captured the model in a non-static posture with her gaze directed off to the side. This image became the cover of French Vogue in 1989. © Arthur Elgort
CLAUDIA SCHIFFER, ROME, VALENTINO 1994
Elgort photographed Claudia Schiffer for Valentino in the major historical attractions of Rome for three days. This image was produced in 1994 on the trunk of a black convertible. According to Violante Valdettaro, Valentino’s publicist who was present at the photo shoot, Claudia attracted a record-breaking number of spectators. ‘Rome went crazy,’ the model recalled. Journalists and TV crews followed the team everywhere and asked for permission to take pictures and video. Even the mayor of the city wanted to meet Claudia Schiffer. © Arthur Elgort
KATE AT CAFÉ LIPP (HORIZONTAL). 1993
The second after meeting a model, the photographer already knows if they will collaborate again. Talking about his work with Kate Moss, he recalled: ‘I was not the first person to photograph Kate Moss, but maybe the second.’ Kate was his favorite model; he joked that it is impossible to take a bad photograph of her, even if someone tried. The image of the model surrounded by businessmen and triumphantly interrupting their lunch was taken in the legendary Café Lipp in Paris for Vogue Italy in 1993. © Arthur Elgort