As you may have read from a previous post on this blog, I don't really like any edition of fashion magazine Grazia.
Yet while in Florence I was unexpectedly reminded of the best side of it first through a cabinet at Palazzo Pitti's Costume Gallery in which old issues of Grazia were neatly arranged, and then at the Momaboma stand at the Fortezza da Basso.
Since vintage mags and newspapers are the main materials Maurizio Longati & Co use to make their bags and accessories, Longati brought a few vintage issues of Grazia with him to show his customers and visitors.
I didn't have the time to flick through all of them, but I was pleased by what I saw: there were indeed quite a few issues with fashion photo shoots by Elsa Haertter.
The German journalist and photographer left her home country when she was 20 years old to work first in Paris and then in Italy.
From the 50s on she moved to Milan and joined the staff at Grazia magazine where she worked first as a stylist, then as a photographer (her work was often published under the pseudonym "Erti").
Some of her best photo shoots were part of the "Viaggi di Grazia" (Grazia's Travels) series, published from 1959 till the end of the 60s.
Haertter travelled through exotic locations and countries with her own crew and models, taking beautiful images that eventually entered fashion history. Her photographs were also very important on a social level since they incarnated the new desires of modern women, that is looking stylish and beautiful, being independent and travelling around the world.
Among the locations were Haertter stopped there were also Hong Kong, Mexico and even the Arctic Circle.
Haertter's photographs were particularly beautiful since the clothes and accessories worn by the models were carefully chosen or created on purpose to go well with the environment that surrounded them.
A perfect example is the Grazia issue I leafed through at the Momaboma stand with a special photo shoot made by Haertter in the States that featured models wearing brightly coloured raincoats or woollen suits surrounded by the New York skyline.
Haertter's shoots were also accompanied by interesting interviews, historical features and travelling tips about that specific country were the shot had taken place, things that could never happen in our superficial times in which images are given more space, but are rarely accompanied by intelligent features.
Add to Technorati Favorites
Lijit Search
Comments