6/06/2013

erwin, you were ahead of your times



He was ahead of his times. He knew it all before Juergen Teller or Terry Richardson. He was one of a kind. Yeah, you were so cool, Erwin Blumenfeld.

His pictures are sheer understanding of two factors that apply to contemporary fashion scene: beauty and commerciality. Everything full of taste and ingenuity, originality and spark, charm and longevity. It could be Vogue, it could be Harper’s Bazaar, it could be a portrait of Cecil Beaton. It could be fashion or advertisement. I just admire those who can grasp it all.

Enter google images and find more commercial pieces of his work. Look further to see his depth, type in a specific term like ’cigarette’ or ‘lighting’ to decipher his vision. There is something continuous and consistent about his work, but they are so perfectly adjusted to the circumstances or publication. Because fashion is full of specification. Model can easily get ascribed to a certain canon, designer to a defined style. Once you avoid that, you can have it all.

Erwin got away from any label, at least that was my first thought while seeing his exhibition at Somerset House. It’s still there, Blumenfeld’s private world of art for free. 

It is like walking into his mind and examining thought by thought. Nothing is more pleasant than such an intimate insight into fashion.