The Bite Magazine - Spring 2016 - Issue 15

as ethereal ghosts from the past, while others appeared like current Instagram pictures that one would have of their dearest friends. The exhibition goes decade by decade, era by era, exploring British Vogue ’s unfaltering position at the forefront of new fashion, its dedication to the best in design, and its influence on the UK’s wider cultural stage during some of the most inventive and exciting periods in style, taste, the arts and society. Stun- ning and well-preserved vintage prints from the beginning of the 20th century, innovative photos from legendary fashion shoots, unpublished and unseen works, as well as a few original magazines, have all been carefully chosen and brought together in this first retrospective assemblage of the magazine’s impressive history. Vogue , as one of the world’s finest printed media sources, it goes without saying that they would have beyond talented photographers at their disposal such as the skilled Cecil Beaton, Lee Miller, Irving Penn and Lord Snowdon. More recent works shown are by David Bailey, Corinne Day, Patrick Demarchelier, Nick Knight, Herb Ritts, Mario Testino, Tim Walker and Albert Watson. All of these artists-behind-the-lenses helped to emphasise British Vogue ’s keen editorial eye, their devotion to commissioning world-class photography, not to mention nurturing new and emerging talent. As such, these men and women have captured the faces and images that have helped shaped the cultural tapestry of the 20th century. Everyone from Henri Matisse to Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Damien Hirst, Marlene Dietrich to Gwyneth Paltrow, Lady Diana Cooper to Lady Diana Spencer, Fred Astaire to David Beckham, and let’s not forget fashion designers such as Dior, Saint Laurent and McQueen, who have aided in defining the looks of the last 100 years. A few standout pieces have to be a series of World War II images by Vogue ’s offi- cial war reporter, Kate Moss’ ‘grunge’ underwear shot taken by Corinne Day in 1993, Lee Miller’s rare version of Horst’s famous ‘corset’ photo from 1939 that ironically inspired the video for Madon- na’s hit song ‘Vogue’; and vintage prints by Baron de Meyer, the first professional fashion photographer. The list of celebrities and people of influence stretches on and on like a sea of beauty too perfect to ever dip a toe in. We mere mortal of the masses, who devour the pages of this glossy each month, can only ever dream in some teeny tiny way to immolate such perfection in our daily lives. True, these images, both staged and candid are all up to debate as to how much is really ‘real’, but hey, a girl can fall head over heels for the fairy tale if she wants to. Vogue 100:A Century of Style will be at the National Portrait Gallery from 11 Febru- ary to 22 May 2016. www.npg.org.uk/vogue100 Anne Gunning in Jaipur by Norman Parkinson, 1956 ©Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive biteexhibition