Horst: Photographer of style exhibition at the V&A Museum in London

I'm a big fan of Victoria&Albert publications and the V&A Museum and do my best not to lose any chance of seeing its exhibitions.Being in London, I couldn't miss the Horst exhibition.  

Horst's career spans over sixty years. His style is distinctive and inspiring, elegant and mysterious, provocative and dark yet there is something so simple about it. 

Horst's life has definitely changed when he met the famous photographer George Hoyningen-Huene in the beginning of 30s. Hoyningen-Huene became his mentor and good friend in the years to come. By mid 30s Horst became Paris Vogue's primary photographer and worked for Vogue globally. 

The exhibition showcases Horst's style and pays particular attention to the work of the models, designers and editors as part of the process. It makes the visitor feel that photography for Horst was a team work. The dress, the model and the context are in a surprising harmony in each photograph. 

Surrealism influenced Horst's work immensely. Names like Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali are amongst his crew. Statuesque images of models create an illusion of time and place. His most celebrated work, the Mainbocher corset (1939) is one to admire. You may see the censured and uncensored versions (in the original one the corset is slightly untied, Vogue version was tied). 

I love to play "Guess who" game with myself when visiting exhibitions. Reading is a way of building knowledge, at the same time what matters is to make sure that knowledge doesn't fade. I did manage to guess many of the designers' names by looking at the dresses on the photographs. I remembered many of the names present in the exhibition because they all came back from the pages of "A dash of daring" http://www.fashiononbookshelves.com/search/adashofdaring.

If you can, read the book before visiting the exhibition and play the game.

The book of the exhibition is also available on V&A online bookshop.