J. Paul Getty Center
Department of Photographs, Curatorial
Yohji Yamamoto, Autumn/Winter 1995, 1995, David Sims, chromogenic print. Courtesy of and © David Sims
Icons of style: a century of fashion photography, 1911-2011
(June - September 2019)
Icons of Style presents a century of fashion photography as it coevolves alongside fashion innovation. This extensive retrospective heavily features the work of photographers such as Edward Steichen, Dora Maar, Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, and beyond. Some featured designers include Mariano Fortuny, Madaleine Vionnet, Charles James, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Mary Quant, Paco Rabanne, Issey Miyake, and Alexander McQueen. For this exhibition I supported Associate Curator Paul Martineau in selecting photographs and costume for loan, accession, and display. I conducted research and assembled a chronology to outline the Icons of Style exhibition catalogue, taking care to contextualize the exhibition content by featuring seminal moments in the history of women’s suffrage and technological development. With consideration of curatorial narrative and a revolving door of works with potential, I scouted up-and-coming contemporary fashion photographers for exhibition consideration and searched our collection for overlooked works with promise. I sourced options for costume loans from partnering institutions (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, FIDM, Brooklyn Museum, etc) that I felt best exemplified each decade in the last century of fashion history. Lastly, I assessed gaps in the object list in order to determine which areas of the exhibition required supplementary loans or potential acquisitions to the permanent collection.
Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas, Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico, Graciela Iturbide, negative 1979; print mid-1990s
In focus: women
(HALTED IN DEVELOPMENT)
For this exhibition on women photographers with women subjects, I scoured the Getty’s permanent collection to find under-displayed works, advocating for maximal inclusion of BIPOC artists and photography subjects. I also assembled and contributed historical research that would form the basis of exhibition narratives and themes. Having worked with catalogers, archivists, and collections management, I excavated lesser-known and underrepresented works from deep within Getty archives. I pulled art options, assisted in wall arrangement, and pushed for a more relatable and inclusive curatorial narrative. Given the history of art collecting and exhibition parameters requiring exclusive use of Getty Trust-owned artwork, I was considerably challenged in sourcing work that represented BIPOC women and local Los Angeles communities. Moreover, I struggled to sway overarching messaging to highlight the discrepancy in representation. As a post-undergrad fellow, I arguably had the most ineffectual voice in the room. Despite a firm belief that optics cannot be conflated with inclusion and that the exhibition required deeper narrative work, I was unable to contribute significantly to the overarching exhibition story before my fellowship came to a close. The exhibition was never finalized or published, Four years later, The Getty published this article addressing inclusivity in its photography collection.
