The Reflected Eye Fashion: Through the Lens of the Photographer

The Port Washington Public Library has brought together some of fashion photography’s most iconic and recognized artists of the 20th and 21st century in a new interactive and immersive virtual gallery presentation. This two-part virtual exhibit, curated by Patty Sicular and Vanessa Nastro, will look at fashion’s artistic impact through the lens of photographers such Erwin Blumenfeld, Melvin Sokolsky, Neal Barr, William Helburn, Alexi Lubomirski, Anthony Barboza, Chen Man, and many more. Part exhibit, part visual and oral history, part documentary, the artists will reveal the stories behind their photographs in their own words. With video commentary by fashion curators, historians, and editors, The Reflected Eye turns our attention to the mystery on the other side of the lens, the photographer.

This exhibit will be on view for a limited time beginning April 1st and will feature works from 37 photographers from 16 countries covering more than 90 years (both Erwin Blumenfeld and Fernand Fonssagrives started photographing in the 1930s.) According to Sicular, “This exhibition came about because Conde Nast, William Randolph Hearst and Alexander Liberman (Vogue and Conde Nast Creative Director) all had homes in Sands Point, Port Washington. To host the exhibit at the Library simply makes sense. Anyone can click a camera, but the work that goes into a unique image is often a silent relationship between photographer and model.”

Lucy Lara (former editor of Editor in Chief for Mexican and Latin American Editions of Marie Claire, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour) and Rames Xelhuantzi (Photographer and Cinematographer based in Mexico) recorded and produced several of the in-depth documentary-style video interviews which accompany the show.

All photographers included in the collection have had works appear in Conde Nast (Vogue, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Vanity Fair) and Hearst publications (Esquire, Town and Country, Harper’s Bazaar). “They’re from all over the world, Saudi Arabi, UAE, China, Lebanon, fashion unites us all, it’s beyond politics and it is worldwide.” Says Sicular.

Collected by celebrated model agent, historian, archivist, and Owner/Co-Director of IconicFocus Modeling Agency, Patty Sicular, the exhibition combines portraits and on-the-job snapshots from the last 50 years representing some of the fashion industry's most notable, and notorious photographers. “The image people see has immense work that went into it; photographers, their assistants, models, creative directors, editors, hair, makeup, stylists, model agents, designers, set designers or location scouts, not to mention the dress and accessories designers,” says Sicular. “It’s a thrill for me to be working with Vanessa Nastro and her team at the Port Washington Library.”

Photographers included in the exhibit include (in alphabetical order): Clive Arrowsmith, Anthony Barboza, Neal Barr, Erwin Blumenfeld, Sante D’Orazio, Gleb Derujinsky, Andi Elloway, Slava Filippov, Fernand Fonssagrives, Antonio Guccione, William Helburn, Axel Jozeph, Don Honeyman, Benjamin Kanarek, Mel Karch, Yasunari Kikuma, Tom Kublin, Alexi Lubomirski, Chen Man, Anne Menke, David Needleman, Tim Petersen, Denis Piel, Rico Puhlmann, Nagi Sakai, Jerry Schatzberg, Kristian Schuller, Bill Silano, Melvin Sokolsky, Bachar Srour, Rames Xelhuantzi, Jingna Zhang, Zach Zhang, and Armin Zogbaum.

Former Port Washington Resident and fashion model Dina Mori will be featured in the exhibition by way of several fashion magazine covers from the 1950s and an included oral testimony. “My photo fashion model career was truly a happy lucky accident and adventure,” states Mori in her testimonial, “I was discovered while being a ‘Popover Girl’ at Patricia Murphy’s Restaurant after school. They sent me to ’Seventeen Magazine’ as my First Job! The Photographers and stylists were great, we the models did ‘the dance within.’ I’m very grateful for my good luck I’ve had in life! I’m just lucky!”

Modeling industry insider and Port Washington Native Patty Sicular, is the Co-Director of Iconic Focus Models and has over 40 years of experience in the fashion world. Having spent most of her career with Ford Models, she has represented some of the biggest names in fashion including Beverly Johnson, Carolina Gramm, Lisa Berkley, Joy Bell, Carol Perkins, Pia Darin, Irina, Julia Gonnet, Cherie Butler and many more. She spends her time contributing her experience and expertise to documentaries, books, museum events, exhibitions, lectures, magazines, newspapers and online publications.

Vanessa Nastro is an archivist and special collections librarian at the Port Washington Public Library. Nastro holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Queens College with a certificate in archives and preservation of cultural materials. Her previous work involving photographic collections include the Aperture Foundation, Phillips Auctioneers, and Adelphi University. She is the author of Along Manhasset Bay (Arcadia Press) with accompanying walking tour app (available for Android and iPhone) and a committee member for the Preservation of Local History for the Long Island Libraries Resource Council.

Visit the exhibit at www.PWPL.org/Reflected-Eye

This exhibit is dedicated to Eileen and Jerry Ford, West Coast Model Agent Nina Blanchard, and to all Graduates of Paul D. Schreiber High School, Port Washington (especially the Class of 1970).