It\u2019s billed as a fashion retrospective but the Getty Centre\u2019s current exhibition\u00a0Icons of Style: 100 years of Fashion Photography<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>is really about style and form and the elevation of commercial photography into an art form.<\/p>\n We see the boyish aesthetic of the 1920\u2019s evolving into the more feminine style of the 1930\u2019s as photographers play with theatrical poses and dramatic lighting. Witness their strong, simple black-and-white studies.\u00a0Model Wearing a Gown by Augustabernard\u00a0<\/em>by Man Ray is particularly impressive.<\/p>\n Photographers experiment with location, colour and gender as the decades fly by. Introducing men into photo shoots is a big deal in the 1950\u2019s and in the \u201860\u2019s the androgynous look appears.<\/p>\n By the time we get to the 2000\u2019s, anything goes. Fashion photographers shoot their models in the street to get an edgy documentary feel and set up fake tableaux like\u00a0Bath House<\/em>\u00a0by Deborah Turbeville. These later images go beyond technical proficiency; they tell a story and invoke emotional reactions. The fist pump from\u00a0Kate Moss, Times Square, New York\u00a0<\/em>is timely if contrived and Tim Walker\u2019s\u00a0The Dress-Lamp Tree<\/em>\u00a0is deliciously whimsical. The show is supposed to be about the evolution of fashion as told through photography but it really holds a mirror up to ourselves and our culture.<\/p>\n Icons of Style: 100 Years of Fashion Photography<\/em>\u00a0runs until\u00a0October 11<\/span><\/span>\u00a0at the Getty Centre in Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n