Arthur Elgort

In the 1970s, despite not yet knowing each other, Azzedine Alaïa and Arthur Elgort were responding to a similar current within the cultural landscape. Alaïa realized that fashion had changed; its locus had shifted from the salons to the streets. Elgort, then a young photographer for American Vogue, was in the process of establishing a new vision for photography that also moved outdoors, away from the studio; his “snapshots'' ushered in a more informal photographic style marked by its spontaneity. Both actively contributed to popularizing the mobile, assertive and independent woman within fashion.
This book commemorates the long collaboration between Alaïa and Elgort. Many of the images produced by the duo are considered classics, emblematic of the late 20th century. This volume reproduces approximately 200 of these dynamic, playful photographs, many of which feature Alaïa himself.
Arthur Elgort (born 1940) studied painting at Hunter College but quickly transitioned to photography. In his long career he has worked on many major advertising campaigns, including for Chanel, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, shot countless fashion spreads and published several books, including Personal Fashion (1983), The Swan Prince (1987), Models Manual (1993), Ballet Camera Crazy (2004), The Big Picture (2014), Jazz (2018) and I Love…. (2019).
Azzedine Alaia (1935–2017) was a Tunisian couturier and shoe designer. He produced his first ready-to-wear collection in 1980. When his clothes were first sold at Bergdorf Goodman in 1982, it was considered so momentous that the New York Times later listed it as among the landmark events that altered the city’s cultural landscape. Among his devotees were Grace Jones (who wore several of his creations in A View to a Kill), Tina Turner, Raquel Welch, Madonna, Janet Jackson and Naomi Campbell.

In his latest book, the great American fashion photographer Arthur Elgort presents photographs of women that he has taken throughout his career, in homage to their power, their beauty, their joy and their strength. Depicting a variety of subjects, from young ballerinas at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg to snapshots of fashion’s most influential women, this collection portrays many aspects of femininity across generations. Designed in the style of his classic 1994 book Arthur Elgort’s Models Manual (by the same designer, Steve Hiett), and printed on sumptuous matte paper with a vinyl cover, this book combines text and photographs in one seamless flow, deploying a rich range of color with graphic snap. Featured here are idols such as supermodels Gia Carangi, Cindy Crawford, Karen Elson, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington, and legendary editors such as Franca Sozzani, the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, and Polly Allen Mellen, a former editor at Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Allure.

Arthur Elgort (born 1940) studied painting at Hunter College but quickly transitioned to photography, finding painting too slow and solitary. Elgort attributes much of his spontaneous and liberated style to his lifelong love of music and dance, especially jazz and ballet. In his long career he has worked on many major advertising campaigns, including for Chanel, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, shot countless fashion spreads and published several books; his most recent publication is Jazz (2018).

This limited edition of 30 copies is signed and numbered by Arthur Elgort and comes with a gelatin silver print measuring 14 x 11 inches, titled Gia Carangi, Fire Island, 1980.

This collector's edition of Arthur Elgort: Jazz is limited to 30 copies and contains a 11 x 14" gelatin silver print signed and numbered by Elgort. The black-and-white print is titled Wynton Marsalis, New York City, 1992.

Fashion photographer Arthur Elgort has loved jazz since he was nine years old, when a childhood friend introduced him to the music; he soon found himself frequenting jazz clubs all over his native New York City.

The dynamic style that made Elgort such a sensation in fashion photography was directly informed by his love for jazz and dance. His talent as a photographer grew alongside his interest and knowledge of jazz. By the time he was a well-known working photographer, Elgort could parlay his influence into meetings with his boyhood idols, requesting to have his favorite musicians appear in both his fashion and personal work.

Countless jazz greats have appeared in front of Elgort's camera, including Illinois Jacquet, Dexter Gordon and Dorothy Donegan. Each sitting produced not only images but memorable stories: the time Elgort took Dorothy shopping at Chanel; what it was like to shoot Dexter in his Hell's Kitchen apartment; getting to know Illinois and his wife personally. Arthur Elgort: Jazz collects these moments and more, exploring for the first time the creative exchange between the photographer and his musical heroes.

Arthur Elgort (born 1940) studied painting at Hunter College but quickly transitioned to photography, finding painting too slow and solitary. Elgort attributes much of his spontaneous and liberated style to his lifelong love of music and dance, especially jazz and ballet. In his long career he has worked on many major advertising campaigns, including for Chanel, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, shot countless fashion spreads and published several books.