Saturday, December 29, 2007

Fernand Fonssagrives

Studio couch, 1956 (light and shadow)© Fernand Fonssagrives Silver Gelatin Print 11 x 14”


The Eye, c.1954© Fernand Fonssagrives Silver Gelatin Print 28 x 32 cm


Fernand Fonssagrives met his wife Lisa Bernstone at dance school in Paris. By 1936 Lisa’s career as a model escalated and she became the first recognizable ‘model’ working for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Their unique partnership produced a memorable series of pictures, including Fernand’s nude work of Lisa for which he is best known and most respected. Eileen Ford said of Fonssagrives: “I wish for Xmas I could give one of Fernand’s prints to every photographer who works with our models. If they lived with these pictures, they could learn how it should be done.”


Fernand Fonssagrives at Michael Hoppen gallery