The 1950's saw huge changes in society and the role of fashion. Years
of deprivation and rationing fuelled a new consumerism. A booming ready
to wear industry facilitated a huge shift from elitism to mass market
appeal. Fashions from Paris were transmitted to the general public through
the medium of magazines. Photographers such as Clifford Coffin, who adapted
the dentists Ring Light for fashion photography, covered the Paris Collections.
Newspapers also began to feature fashion. Models were beginning to attain
celebrity status as icons of beauty.
New, young photographers were vital. Injecting energy and redefining the
acceptable boundaries of taste and nudity. Richard Avedon pioneered a
semi documentary style, a shoot with a story. Irwing Penn's strong, graphic
images were instantly recognisable, often shot against a white background.
Norman Parkinson's career flourished, his natural and witty images having
timeless appeal.