MFA Houston Iconic Photography Exhibit…A Second Look

This past weekend as the deep heat of summer has really made its mark, we decided to take in a favorite pastime of ours and make a breakaway from the stifling heat. That is for us, a visit to the cool, comfortable interior of a museum. In this case, it was MFA Houston. I had quickly visited the preview of the Icons of Style fashion photography exhibit but since it was a topic that I related to so wholeheartedly from my former fashion director days, I wanted to grasp more and I’m here to say how I highly recommend it for the quality of the exhibit but also as that quick summer escape where you can get cool to be cool.

What intrigued me about the exhibit from the beginning was to grasp how fashion photography has grown from a niche industry, which is personally reflected in my home in many oversized collectible coffee table books, to a full-fledged art form that has expanded to reflect much of our globally diverse society of today. I was also very taken by the excellent job that MFAH photography curators, Malcolm and Lisa did in organizing the collections not merely in chronological order but also by category and/or impact that was a reflection of a bigger story, making for an interesting learning experience.

This exhibit which was first organized at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has been augmented with works from the MFAH collection, as well as local, national and international loans, with a desire by the curators to be more of a reflection of the diversity of our city and its culture. Icons of Style explores a broad and diverse view of fashion and fashion photography from elegant portraits taken by many of the pioneers of this medium to trendsetting fashion of celebrities that span the century. Examples can be seen from Audrey Hepburn to Selena to Beyoncé that have graced the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Ebony.

“Icons of Style not only chronicles the trends in fashion over the past century, it also reflects broader cultural shifts. From aristocratic aspirations to the rough and tumble of street style, from Hollywood stars to supermodels, from the Black is Beautiful movement to the globalism of today–fashion photography has often defined the ways we see ourselves.” said Gary Tinterow, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

The following is an overview of some of the highlights of the exhibit as I saw it. However, there were so many photos by many of the photographers that I have followed for years that I knew, loved and felt a personal connection to so many. My advise, as always when viewing one of these amazing exhibits at MFAH is to use the headset and listen closely……so much to learn here.

In closing, as you can tell, there is so much to see to learn about the modern world we now live in and how we got here, which makes this a must see.

**It must be noted that fashion photography cannot be discussed in modern times without talking about “the street” and where fashion photography has gone with that. Street Fashion cannot be discussed without the mention of the master of it all and that is the late, great NY Times’ Bill Cunningham, of which I am a huge fan. In this exhibit there is a bigger-than-life video presentation on much of his work. There is a bench to sit on and to watch this……don’t miss it!