Image above: ©Melvin Sokolsky, Over New York, 1963 / Courtesy of Staley-Wise Gallery, New York.
The work of Melvin Sokolsky is seen in this exhibition of black and white and color photographs. His work was pioneering and original, marking the transition from the staid and predictable fashion photograph of the late 1950s to inventive and experimental work which characterized the photographs of the 1960s.
Image above: ©Melvin Sokolsky, Faces in Window, Pars, 1963 / Courtesy of Staley-Wise Gallery, New York
Self taught and only twenty-one years old, Sokolsky joined the staff of Harper’s Bazaar in 1959. From the beginning he was a source of fresh, new ideas. Fascinated by surrealism, he played with scale and proportion. With great technical ingenuity he was able to translate his fantasies of flight into memorable images of flying mannequins in the latest Diors and elegant couture clad women suspended in bubbles flying over Paris. Throughout his career he expanded the margins with his non-stop imagination. His influence is still felt on the magazine pages and he continues to photograph for Harper’s Bazaar.
Image above: ©Melvin Sokolsky, Sidekick, Paris, 1965 / Courtesy of Staley-Wise Gallery, New York
Sokolsky was a major contributor to McCalls, Esquire, Newsweek and Show Magazine. In the 1970s he turned to film. He relocated to Los Angeles and became a highly successful director of television commercials. His work is widely collected and has appeared in museums throughout the world.