Show Spotlights Avedon's Melancholy Fashion Genius

Renowned art director experienced revival in 1990s

(NEWSER) - Lillian Bassman, who shot to fame as a self-taught photographer and the daring art director of a Harper's Bazaar spin-off, died yesterday at 94 in her Manhattan home. Bassman, born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx, studied fabric design and fashion illustration, and became a protégé of Alexey Brodovitch, the Bazaar art director. She studied graphic design under him and soon became his first paid assistant; by 1945, she was sharing the art director title with him at Junior Bazaar. On her own, she experimented with darkroom methods and soon began taking her own photographs. More»

October edition triggers debate on racism

(NEWSER) - A Dutch model painted black from face to toe in French Vogue has triggered angry charges of racism. The photos of model Lara Stone, taken by US photographer Steven Klein, are part of the magazine's October issue honoring models and photo shoots through history. What French Vogue and the photographer "should know is that painting white people black for the entertainment of other white people is offensive," notes a comment in Jezebel. More»

(NEWSER) - Irving Penn, a giant in photography whose images can be found in fashion magazines—he started at Vogue in 1943—as well as museums, is dead at 92. A roundup of obituaries of the man who photographed everyone from Picasso to Gisele Bündchen:

• New York Times: He's "one of the 20th century’s most prolific and influential photographers" with a "signature blend of classical elegance and cool minimalism."
• Los Angeles Times: "A grand master of American fashion photography whose 'less is more' aesthetic, combined with a startling sensuality, defined a visual style that he applied to designer dresses or fleshy nudes, famous artists or tribal chiefs, cigarette butts or cosmetics jars."

Lawmakers look to require label on digitally altered photos

(NEWSER) - Amid the uproar over fashion photos whose models are airbrushed to teeny-tiny perfection, French politicians are proposing a law that would require any such photos to include a health warning, Reuters reports. Digitally altered ads, press photos, campaign art, packaging, and art photography would have to include “Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person” or be subject to a fine. More»

For celeb designers like Timberlake, recession means hard times for fashion lines

(NEWSER) - The latest casualty of the economic crisis: celebrity clothing lines. “Every D-level celebrity who thought they could make a quick buck by designing a handbag or whatever is going to disappear,” Vogue editor Anna Wintour tells the Wall Street Journal. “And I think that's a good thing.” Wannabe-designers including Jennifer Lopez, Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, and Nicky Hilton have had to call it quits on their collections due to disappointing sales. More»