Jerry Schatzberg

Jerry Schatzberg's Timeless Beauties

Filed under: Art, Books

Photographer and filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg did more than just chronicle the fashion and celebrity scenes of the '50s and '60s – he was a part of the action. Perhaps best known for the cover of Bob Dylan's 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, The Classicist covered his groundbreaking work for Esquire at the Paris fashion shows in 1962 in this 2008 column. His journalistic, documentary style ran counter to the usual carefully-posed fashion shoots of the time and influenced many to come. A conoisseur of gorgeous women with an unmatched eye for beauty, Schatzberg's alluring new book Women Then: Photographs 1954 - 1969, pays homage to 15 years of favorites. Featured in the lavish volume are the likes of Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Sharon Tate, Catherine Deneuve and Faye Dunaway, to whom he was once engaged. It also contains a few surpises, including the Rolling Stones dressed in drag.

Tags: art books, Bob Dylan, books, Catherine Deneuve, coffee table books, Edie Sedgwick, fashion, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Schatzberg, Photographer, photography, Rolling Stones

The Classicist: Dior and YSL in Paris, 1962

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Books, The Classicist

In 1962, Esquire magazine sent photographer Jerry Schatzberg to Paris to cover the behind-the-scenes action at the Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent shows, at what promised to be an historic fashion moment. Indeed it was, and Schatzberg's shoot turned out brilliantly; the full results have finally been collected in book form, under the title Paris 1962: Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, The Early Collections. Schatzberg was no mere paparazzo; a renowned fashion photographer and filmmaker, he's perhaps best known for the cover of Bob Dylan's 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. His journalistic, documentary style ran counter to the usual carefully-posed fashion shoots of the time, which gave the 1962 session added urgency. But first, a little background.

Famed designer Christian Dior had died five years earlier, in 1957. Yves Saint Laurent, only 22 years old at the time, had been named as his replacement, creating a stunning new collection in a matter of weeks. Laurent held the appointment for only a short time, however, as he was soon conscripted to serve in the French army during the Algerian War of Independence. The fragile fashionista lasted less than a month before a nervous breakdown saw him committed to a mental institution. Meanwhile, Marc Bohan had taken over at Dior, leading Saint Laurent to file for breach of contract.

Gallery: Dior & YSL, Then and Now