Beautiful Fashion Photography by Gösta Peterson in the 1960s

Gösta Peterson (1923–2017) was a Swedish-American photographer whose fashion photographs were widely published in the editorial pages of magazines including Elle, Esquire, Essence, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle, Marie Claire, and The New York Times, from the late 1950s to the late 1980s.

In the 1960s, Bea Feitler, the former Art Director for Harper’s Bazaar, Ms., and Rolling Stone said, “The most interesting fashion pages now – the ones that say the most about our times – are Gösta Peterson’s for Mademoiselle.” The photographer Duane Michals called him, “underrated.”

These vintage photos are part of his work that Gösta Peterson took fashion portraits of classic beauties in the 1960s.

Pam Barkentin, the red lip, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, October 1962

Diane Kinney, Sidney Stires, and Thorne Crouter, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, August 1963

Iris Bianchi in a Jantzen bathing suit, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, January 1963

Martha Stewart, seated, and Averil Crosby, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, August 1963

Model Agneta Frieberg (right) at the Montego Bay Country Club, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, May 1964

Models in Rudi Gernreich for Harmon Knitwear, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, January 1964

Pam Barkentin left, Astrid Heeren center and Audrey Sedor in gauzy headscarves, photo by Gosta Peterson, Springs, Long Island, Mademoiselle, 1964

Jane Birkin, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, March 1965

Models in bathing suits, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, 1965 

Agneta Darin in Harper’s Bazaar “Lunar Whites”, photo by Gosta Peterson, August 1966

Hongkongese actress Lucilla Ko in black-and-white striped cotton piqué dress by Rudi Gernreich, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, April 1966

Linda Morand (left) and unidentified model, photo by Gosta Peterson for Mademoiselle, 1966

Mod-tastic fashions, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, May 1966

Model Agneta Darin (left), photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper’s Bazaar, 1966

Model in pantie-girdle and bra in white Lycra and black nylon tricot by Formfit, stockings by Corah, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar UK, February 1966

Model in short white crinkled crêpe dinner-at-home dress banded in black satin by Bill Blass, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, May 1966

Model in white linen dress spiraled in black and brown by Oscar de la Renta for Jane Derby, white patent leather pumps striped and circled in black by Charles Jourdan, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, May 1966

Model in white Lycra corselette with plunging v-back and nylon front panel and cups by Gossard, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar UK, February 1966

Nineteen year-old Cheng Pei-Pei, among Hong Kong's most famous film actresses relaxes in white crêpe bloomer suit by Edie Gladstone, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, April 1966

Model in a bone-bare black knit bathing suit caught at the back of a plummeting waist with a bow by Sea B, coiffure by Roberto of Kenneth, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, January 1967

Model in an enormous pants cocoon striped in crinkly variegation from loose spread sleeves to buoyed cuffed legs by Guy D, earrings by Jack Gilbert, cigarette holder by Strega, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, January 1967

Model in black jersey dress totally exposing the shoulders, criss-crossing in the middle, front and back, exposing most of the hips by Sloat, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, January 1967

Model in deep purple double knit dress with an off-center hole beneath the heart and stiff little sleeves jutting out from the shoulder by Ulla, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, January 1967

Model in giraffe print ensemble by Rudi Gernreich, photo by Gosta Peterson, New York Times, 1967

Model in purple halter swimsuit with deep square-cut armholes by Catalina in Du Pont nylon and Lycra, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, January 1967

Model in silk surah poncho and flared pants etched in brilliant sundrenched blues, greens and reds by Edie Gladstone, sandals by David Evins, photo by Gosta Peterson, Harper's Bazaar, January 1967

Naomi Sims outside Metropolitan Museum, photo by Gosta Peterson, New York Times, 1967

Twiggy, photo by Gosta Peterson, New York Times, 1967

Fashion shot by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, 1968

Models in a window, photo by Gosta Peterson, Mademoiselle, October 1969