GEORGES DAMBIER Passes away at 86
Born-April, 1925     Died-May 30, 2011

George Dambier was born in Paris in April 1925. In early 1942, with WWII raging,
Dambier, at age 17, began assisting the famous artist and poster designer Paul
Colin. Colin was responsible for introducing his budding young apprentice to the
world of fashion, interiors, antiques and, most of all, to beautiful Parisian women.

At the end of the war, Dambier got his first job with a magazine, Presse,
where he met and assisted the up-and-coming photographer Willy Rizzo. He
quickly moved on from assisting and became a photographic reporter working
on a range of stories for Le Tout-Paris. It was his natural skill with graphics
and penchant for stylish women which led him to concentrate on fashion
photography. Within a few years he was regularly photographing the beauties of
the day: Dorien Leigh, Suzy Parker and Brigitte Bardot.

It was not long before Helene Lazareff, the famous editor of ELLE, took notice of
his work and offered him a position at ELLE. This was a fantastic opportunity for
Dambier which he happily took advantage of. It was while working with ELLE that
he became one of the first French photographers to take models out of the studio
for their shoots. It is here, on the streets of Paris, that Dambier took some of his
most memorable and engaging photographs. In May 1954 his friend Robert Capa
suggested to George that they start up a "Fashion Department" at the photo-
agency Magnum. Unfortunately this never happened: several days later Capa
died unexpectedly while working in Vietnam.

Between 1960 and 1980, Dambier started and worked at two important
publications that helped spread his fame. In 1964 he created the magazine,
Twenty, which embodied a new publishing concept in the early 1960's:
presenting fashion and culture in a style to attract a younger generation of
readers. Twenty's fashion photographer, Jean Paul Good, was one of the most
important French photographers of the day, making the magazine even more
popular. The second magazine he worked on came about in 1980 when the
popular news magazine, V.S.D., took an editorial turn towards the arts, and for
the next ten years became the second most popular magazine in France, after
Paris Match.

Exhibitions:

2011    Who's That Girl? – Fashioning the Fifties, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY

2009    Globetrotting, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
            Hot Fun in the Summertime; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY

2007    A Holiday from Paris; Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
            Georges Dambier: Les Collections Années 50; Centre Culturel de Riberac, Riberac, France
            Fashion; Michael Hoppen Gallery, London England
            La Mode: Georges Dambier, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
            The Photography Show; New York, NY

2006    20/30 Vision: An Anniversary Celebration; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NewYork, NY

2005    Georges Dambier Photogrpahe d'Annees 1950's; Cenre Culturel de Marseilles, France

2004    Je t'envisage; Le Portrit; Musee de l'Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland

Publications:

Vu, Georges Dambier Aime Les Femmes… ELLE Magazine, (France), October 2008
Georges Dambier: 'Homme qui Aimait se Modeles; VSD, October 2008
Vanity Fair, November 2007
Time Magazine, October 22nd, 2007
The Art Newspaper; May 2007
"Georges Dambier"; Black & White Photography, January 2007
Twenty Magazine, January 1964
Twenty Magazine, April 1964
Twenty Magazine, April 1964
Twenty Magazine, November, 1964

Monograph:

Paris Fifties: Regards de Mode par Georges Dambier, Ramsay press (Hardcover) 2008