Extraordinary Black and White Fashion Photography by Frank Horvat

Frank Horvat is an internationally renowned fashion photographer, who has recently celebrated fifty years experience in the field. Throughout these years he has not only embraced fashion photography, but also been unafraid to experiment and adapt to new technologies, transcending the confines of photographic borders. His photography is diverse and considerably more complex than a cursory glance could reveal. He is perhaps best known for his spontaneity, trust and empathy, qualities that express themselves in his sophisticated photographs.

When Frank Horvat presents his work, in 1950, to his idol, photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, the latter takes his images and turns them upside down: ‘your eyes are not on your stomach and you haven’t understood a thing. Go to the Louvre and look at Nicolas Poussin’s paintings to understand what composition is.’ More than a failure, the French photographer understands it is now time to renew photography and to stop treating it like painting: ‘a good photograph is a photograph that we cannot redo’.

From the late 1950s, he becomes one of the first fashion photographers alongside William Klein to bring models outside and confront them to crowds, busy streets and realistic interiors, a manner that ironically irritates Henri Cartier-Bresson. With his elegant and modern style, Frank Horvat managed to create legendary pictures that have remained exclusive despite the numerous reproductions and publications.

1958, Paris, ad for Chantelle lingerie

1961, Rome, for Harper's Bazaar, High Fashion with Deborah Dixon

1961, Rome, for Harper's Bazaar, High Fashion with Deborah Dixon

1976, Paris, for Vogue France

1970, Paris, for Queen, High Fashion collections

1965, Djerba, Tunisia, for Harper's Bazaar UK, bathing suit

1959, London, for Vogue UK

1958, Paris, for Jardin des Modes

1972, Paris, for Vogue France

1955, London, Mate in the street

1984, Paris, ad for Pommery champagne

1961, Paris, for Harper's Bazaar, High Fashion at Café Flore

1959, Paris, for Jours de France

1961, Paris, for Vogue UK, wedding gown

1958, Paris, for Jardin des Modes

1961, Rome, for Harper's Bazaar, High Fashion with Deborah Dixon

1972, Paris, for Vogue France

1961, Paris, for Harper's Bazaar, High Fashion with Iris Bianchi and the writer Marie-Louise Bosquet

1960, Auvergne, France, fashion for Elle

1951, Firenze, First Fashion Picture

1951, Rome, High Fashion

1956, Paris, Josephine Baker

1958, Paris, Coco Chanel

1947, Paris, Shoe and Eiffel Tower

1964, Yves Saint Laurent