Fashion Photography and Photojournalism: Posing the Body in Vu

Abstract

The first issue of the French photographic journal Vu (1928–1940) stated, in a manifesto of intent, that it would reflect: ‘le rythme précipité de la vie actuelle’. The director, Lucien Vogel, had begun his career working in fashion publications and his wife, Cosette de Brunhoff, was the first editor of French Vogue in 1920. Vogel and his wife were directly engaged in recording fashion styles for the magazine’s special editions. His stable of photographers included Kertész, Man Ray, Tabard, Saad, d’Ora and Krull. They produced innovative fashion shoots in response to the advances made in publishing and photography at the end of the 1920s. They experimented with montage techniques and explored the potential of the new lightweight cameras. The covers they created could include celebrities and students; the focus of their work ranged from haute couture to investigative journalism. This gave the work more edge in comparison with the more composed mis-en-scène produced at the time for Vogue . For example, the diversity of Kertész’s portfolio ranged from models at Longchamp (1929) to stylish students at the Sorbonne (1933), indicators of traditional glamour and street fashion. The choice of specific locations such as these encouraged more natural body movements which, together with faster shutter speeds, affected the recording of the pose.