In addition to its French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 to 1950 exhibition, on view in the Holmes Gallery until June 22, the Vero Beach Museum of Art is showcasing more than 150 years of fashion-inspired artworks in two exhibitions curated by Caitlin Swindell, VBMA chief curator.
Timeless: Robert Farber’s Fashion Photography, an exhibition of Farber’s commercial and fine art photography, is presented in the Stark Gallery through Aug. 31. To complement that show, Swindell has selected paintings, photography and sculpture for an exhibition titled Well-Dressed: Artworks from the Permanent Collection, which is on view in the Schumann and Titelman Galleries through Sept. 14.
A prolific, self-taught photographer, Farber enjoyed a 50-year career in fashion and fine art photography, mostly in New York City, with frequent international travel. He has lived in Vero Beach for just over two years.
In addition to his innovative commercial photography, highlighted by advertising campaigns and fashion shoots, Farber has published 15 fine-art photography books. His inaugural 1976 publication, a collection of fine art nudes, was titled “Images of Woman.”
“There are so many different bodies of work that I could have chosen from in organizing the exhibition, but what was really striking to me was the Deterioration series,” says Swindell, explaining that the show is divided into two parts.
Vintage Fashion, at the forefront of the exhibit, features fashion photography taken in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s for major publications, ad campaigns and his fashion books. Toward the back of the exhibition are selections from his remarkable Deterioration Series, images from those prior eras that organically transformed over time.
This is the first time the two series have been displayed together in a museum.
“The Deterioration series, a newer body of work, is in conversation with these older photos. A lot of the early fashion photos, he realized, were getting distorted from heat and humidity, and he decided to keep looking at how they transformed over time,” Swindell explains.
Visitors may recognize the supermodels and the photographs themselves in images such as “Empire Diner,” 1979/2017. In the black and white photograph, originally an editorial advertisement for Bloomingdale’s, Farber made use of more avant-garde staging; the models’ edgy black clothing contrasting with a retro white Thunderbird and the Art Deco style of New York City’s iconic Empire Diner.
The shot, which featured as a double-page spread in Bloomingdale’s 150th-anniversary coffee table book, is one of several works later sublimated on ChromaLuxe aluminum.
“Iman,” 1977/2017, a striking photograph of the Somali American supermodel, was taken around the same time for his second book, “Professional Fashion Photography.”
At first glance, viewers note the dramatic interplay of shadows and colors; her luminous dark skin contrasting with an intricately crocheted white veil and vivid red lipstick. On closer examination, the connection is made between the web-like headpiece and its decorative red and yellow spider orchid.
Farmer says “Amazon,” 1998, a black and white minimalist photograph, was taken for the Cunard cruise line on the Amazon River in Brazil. A simple yet sophisticated shot, here he placed the model looking out at the river from the ship’s deck. The photograph highlights the effects of varied horizontal lines, including the ribbons on the model’s hat, a focal point of the shot.
Farber says a suite of photos were taken in 1989 for the German fashion house Loden-Frey at locations in Harlem, the Meatpacking District and Chelsea.
“They wanted New York on the edge. A lot of them were just spontaneous; where the light was,” Farber says, explaining that he wanted to contrast the elegant fashions against the areas’ stark urban landscape.
“It’s very much a collaborative process between his vision, and some kind of impromptu moments,” Swindell says.
During the photo shoot in Harlem, a man walking by with a boombox on his shoulder became an integral part of the photograph “Boombox,” 1989/2017, as Farber shot the two in tandem.
Likewise, a borrowed bulldog became a second focal point in “Walking the Dog,” 1989/2024.
The Deterioration series, Farber explains, resulted from accidental environmental distortions of photographs, with some becoming almost unrecognizable from the original image, others fading, and some turning more vibrant.
“It was just the greens or the magentas that were in the film, it’s just the chemistry. The deterioration wasn’t planned. I just didn’t know better at the time,” says Farber.
“They were non-archival vinyl sleeves that you put the slides or transparencies in, and they were stored like that for years.”
He notes that the photos had primarily been shot using Kodachrome and Agfachrome.
“I was really angry. There were some famous models and images that I liked and they were organically changing.”
Rather than toss them out, he decided to watch the process as it unfolded over time, and selected those with flaws that had reached the aesthetics he desired.
“They became things that I never would have been able to do. There is no retouching or digital enhancement.”
“Deterioration #117,” 1981/2017, is a spectacular distortion of a photograph taken of model Carol Alt. In it, blue eyes seem to peer out from a mask of purples amid a background of vibrant shades of green and aqua.
Karl Lagerfeld selected the image for his book “Colour at Paris Photo,” which was featured in the National Gallery of Art’s Photography and the Book Arts from the 21st Editions Collection.
A monitor loops “Motion,” 2024, a film he created that simulates the fascinating morphing process from the original image to deterioration.
For more information, visit VBMuseum.org.
