Peter Lindbergh and Christian Dior never met. When the Parisian couturier died in 1957, Lindbergh was twelve years old and many more away from being one of the greats of fashion photography. And yet, the photographer and fashion designer, who died in September, associate more than death and their talent. They had an unerring sense of beauty and a similar attitude towards women, both of whom had much to thank.
Lindbergh, like Dior, was about showing feminine elegance as naturally as possible. Exaggerated make-up and styling were a horror to them. "Style is simplicity, good taste and care, and all that costs no money," was one of Dior's principles, which unlike Lindbergh was born on the bright side of life as the son of a great industrialist.
Lindbergh knew the industry only from the window of his nursery in Duisburg. He grew up in sight of the blast furnaces of Krupp. This sooty appearance shaped - apart from works of the German expressionist cinema of the 1920s - his imagery. Many shots were taken in front of a factory backdrop, the motifs plunged into semi-darkness.
Dior's stylistic triad - simplicity, taste, care - was in a way but also for Lindbergh's work: white shirts, little makeup and the relationship of trust over many years of friendly working relationships, he did not need more for one of his most famous photos: "White Shirts ", six models, raging on the beach in Malibu.
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Dior by Peter Lindbergh: "Only work for truly elegant women"Lindbergh's idea of documenting the history of the fashion house Dior - one of his last series of photographs before his death, taken in New York in 2018 and now published as an illustrated book - has more than just commercial charm. It can be seen against the backdrop of various parallels in the work of these two women's minds.
There's the clothes first. At Lindbergh she often became a supporting actor. That was new. With this approach, he missed a new facet of fashion photography. Although textile was the focus of Dior, it was also revolutionary at the time. The Second World War echoed when he dared to dream again of material in abundance: The acclaimed "New Look" of 1947. From a historical point of view, "the rebirth of haute couture," as the art and photography expert Martin Harrison in correctly writes his preface.
Costumes in safety transport
Lindbergh and Dior did not invent their subject, but developed and shaped it because they had the courage to break new ground. It may not be courageous to ask Peter Lindbergh at Dior's home if, according to Harrison, "more than a hundred priceless costumes from the Dior Museum could be brought to Manhattan by security transport." Many others would certainly not have allowed this extravagance.
"My intention was to present the designs from 70 years of Dior in an unexpected place, the streets of New York providing the perfect backdrop and the greatest possible contrast to play with unexpected emotions," Lindbergh wrote at the beginning of his book.
In addition to the originals of Christian Dior, the designs of all his successors were also transported across the Atlantic: Yves Saint Laurent's Avant-garde, Marc Bohan's classic, Gianfranco Ferré's architectural gowns, Playful by John Galliano, Traditional by Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuris's Dreams of Tulips, the first woman at the top of the fashion house.
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Peter Lindbergh
Peter Lindbergh. Dior
Publishing company:
TASCHEN GmbH
Pages:
520
Price:
EUR 150,00
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As elaborate as the preparations for the last major Lindbergh project were, the implementation was so relaxed. Lindbergh photographed the parts almost reportage-like, mostly in his typical black and white, mainly street scenes, some with motion blur. The series is supplemented by archive material from commissioned work for Dior from the years 1988 to 2016.
In his 1956 autobiography, Dior described the wishful thinking of his job as follows: "... working according to the rules of the great tradition of couture only for a circle of truly elegant women, and I would at first glance be simple, but in execution very much make sophisticated models. " That too connects him and his documentary, because Peter Lindbergh's job could have been described in a similar way.